Metal Detecting discussions and finds

Yeah, I would run the biggest coil you have while at the beach. Punch down as far as possible.
There are many factors that can affect your signal: sand/soil mineralization (can be a big deal at the beach from black sand) other targets near your treasure, sweep speed and angle of attack, RFI and other noise, detector settings, and the list goes on...
Either way, you found a keeper!
What’s a 925??

 

.925 Silver

The "925" stamping on the head indicates that it is supposedly 92.5% Silver, but my research also tells me that there are "Pandora fakes" out there.

 

Hmm guess it only matters if you are going to melt it down...or try to sell it. Neat find

 

here's a bit better knowledge base of what 925 is:
https://royisal.com/sterling-silver-jewelry-real/

Here's more research into this Pandora bead and I've done the "magnet test" and I'm pretty convinced my find is not "fake". I've also done what I like to call a "sound/vibration test" as I've noticed that silver makes a very distinct sound when very lightly dropped on top of a surface, say the top of a dinner table or wood desk of sorts. If you have an actual silver dime (i.e. 1964 or older), for example, drop it from about 1/2in and compare the sound to a much newer dime. You're going to notice a very distinct sound the silver one makes vs the silver, but mostly copper dime. Plus, the weight is very noticeably lighter with the silver dime, which in this case of a dime vs dime would be considered a "weight test", which I have actually done/compared.

Anyways, I'm pretty stoked with my find.

value: approx $40

Pandora Jewelry Merry Christmas Sterling Silver Charm

https://www.amazon.com/PANDORA-Merr...gid=pla-566532615539&ref=&adgrpid=62823161506

https://www.ruelala.com/boutique/pr...dsi=DIR--e84c893a-6fc5-4320-a776-b6320ac01677

Oh, and if I didn't mention it, how I usually detect is I hunt with 1/2 of full scale sens. When I "hit something" and it sounds kinda "loud" on the return, I knock down the sens to about 1/4 of full scale. This also helps with approx depth indication and better signal return overall. Knocking down the sens also sometimes helps with "jumping". It's almost as if the signal going down is just too "strong" and it just HAMMERS the "receive" part of the coil circuitry for the signal return. Something I've learned over the years with my MD'r.

My sweep speed I have to admit is kind of "fast", but that is mainly due to not having enough time. In this case, my parking, although "free" had a 2hour max limit so I had to time myself to get from the car to the sand, time my hunt, and get from sand back to the car. I doubt they're that strict on the "free" timed parking (i.e. the sign literally says 2 hours max parking), but I didn't like the idea of taking that chance.

My telemetry screen:


99.99% of the time I'm in "ZERO" (a.k.a. All Metal Mode). If I do "CUSTOM" I'll set it to "COINS" first and then edit the discrim to include the thresholds on either side of the 5cent mark.

The ACE250 is very similar to this screen for those that don't know.

Finally, I typically dig everything because your find could be silver and/or gold, but with mixed metals of sorts, if you know what I mean. But... if it is dead on IRON, or has a definite "bounce" on signal return, I will usually just leave it. If I was looking for IRON (i.e. relic hunting, etc) then that is a totally different story. More to the point, it all depends on what I'm mainly looking for in the end. I'm just glad I decided to retrieve this one as it bounced a bit on signal return, but that could have been how it was orientated in the ground, sweep speed as you have mentioned, alloy content, etc etc etc and the list goes on. What also helped was that the bounce stayed within the "silver range" or HIGH TONE, but you could hear and/or see, in my case on the screen, it was slightly bouncing. If it was bouncing from the Silver range (HIGH TONE) to the IRON range (LOW TONE), then it is typically trash of some kind and this Pandora bead was not doing that. I was thinking it was going to be a "pop top" is how it was reacting with the signal return.

The one thing first time beginners and/or people that just don't really get it is that a metal detector, no matter how good/expensive, is just giving you an approximation of what is beneath your feet as far as metal content and/or whatever object it is. Some metal detectors are definitely better than others, but you still have to understand what your machine is trying to tell you and THAT is what people don't get and lose interest as they likely saw metal detecting as $$$ when most of the time it is trash especially when doing some kind of "all metal mode" type of detecting (i.e. not having any particular metal range). I really don't know how much to further elaborate on this, but that is how I see it with people thinking they're going to be ZILLionaires with metal detecting!!!

For me, I like it when I find "laundry money" and has indeed helped with doing just that!!!

 

That is a neat piece you found!
Yep, I know what you mean by the silver sound as it is very evident.
Interesting the way you change your sensitivity when you find a target. I am gonna have to try it. I adjust my sensitivity based on soil conditions and how much metal is in the ground, which I find changes dramatically from place to place. I am also able to tweak the recovery speed which makes a big difference on how the audio signal is reported. It really adds flexibility to the machine. The more I learn about the Equinox, and the more time I put behind it, the more impressed I am with it!

I have been fine tuning my sweep speed and I am seeing the benefits. It puts me more in tune with the process.

I know what you mean about folks new to the hobby getting frustrated and giving up. I hope that ALL new detectorists give up!!! More treasure for me!!!
All kidding aside, it is a fun hobby, but almost nobody is getting rich swinging a coil.

 

Yeah, there is no "ground balance" per se for the 250/350. The ground balance is automatic, if you will. Not having that ability to manually change and/or adjust the ground balance hurts and the only remedy is turning down the sens, which in turn kills your depth as well.

The reason I automatically hunt with 4x bars out of 8x is to get decent depth trying to hit whatever deeper targets there are and not going full sens with the signal returns being "too strong", if you will. It usually works out very well for me that way.

Then if/when I hit a target and it tends to "jump" a bit, I quickly turn down the sens to see if I get a more stable signal return and it usually does. That is if it tends to jump. I'm not talking about going from a silver range to iron as that is typically a trash target signal, trashy ground, etc. and at that point I make a decision whether to investigate further or just move on.

Anyways, that's the best way I can describe it. But yeah, try it out and see what you think with your machine.

Gonna hit a few parks tomorrow.

Oh, one last thing I want to mention that I have a strong tendency to do... I CIRCLE my target. It's no different really when you hit a target and then hit that same target 90°. Hence, I'm doing the 90° and then some to see how the signal is reacting as I'm hitting it from all angles. HAHAHA, just like a vulture circling its prey.

When I found my other silvers the signals were a very strong "DIME" reading. This particular one was the same thing, but it tended to slightly jump around in the silver range and had that almost very subtle "double sound" like a pop-top, but yet it didn't??? Probably why I went to retrieve it because it was not very typical for a pop-top, but it kind of was... HAHAHA, dig EVERYTHING, right?

Really... I just got lucky that I took the time to retrieve it to see what it was and that is the story behind this particular find.

Thanks for the kind comments.

 

No ground balance?? Hmmm, that sounds weird. Does your machine have a frequency scan/frequency selection option?
Sounds like you hit on a lot of trash, the way you talk about setting your sensitivity and getting your return signals. That is really the key, determining what to dig and what to pass on.

Yep, I always hit a potentially interesting target from multiple angles. The less confident I am the more I circle and swing. I try to get as much info as I can. if I really don't get much more info but still think something worthwhile might be in the ground, I dig it and have a look. You never know until you dig and have a look...
I get the whole "dig everything" mantra, but with some of the old sites I detect that are loaded with sketchy iron signals, I would need a backhoe.

 

This is navy button i found

 

It does have ground balance, but it is, more or less, a predetermined setting by the factory, if you will. You just can't manipulate the settings other than raising/lowering the sens depending on how your detector is reacting. For example, if I'm coming upon "black sand" and the detector is starting to go nuts on me, the only thing I can really do is lower the sens on it.

And yeah, you never know until you look and I was hitting a TON of pop-tops that morning with very little time because of the 2hr parking limitation. I pretty much figured the targets were pop-tops as such, but the hopes of $$$ kept getting in the way inside my head!!!

The little Vodka bottle I found in an earlier post, I kept it because I liked the logo on the bottle:


I figured it was going to be a pop-top and it was, but I liked how the bottle looked.

 

Pre-determined ground balance?? You sure? Auto-ground balance I could see... But, I am not in the least familiar with your machine, so...

Tito's from Texas! Call 'em up and see if they give free re-fills.

 

Auto to me is "predetermined" since I am unable to control it. Call it whatever it is, but if you can't change it... it's predetermined. HAHAHA,

The only machine I have that has manual is my Infinium LS, but the coil is just too heavy to swing for me, even for a little while.

Anyways, I was getting ready to buy a smaller different coil for the LS, but that is when everything just went downhill and I'm just now getting my "feet back in place". That was around the middle of 2016, so go figure.

Annnnnywho, I brought out all of my detecting machines and gear towards the front of my storage unit to easily grab. I brought my GTI home the other day and was gonna hit the parks this very morning, but woke up to rain?

All good though, I've never found a park near me yet that has "old coins". 1965 quarters yes, but those are ridiculously abundant!!! There was one time I even threw a '65 that I found I was so mad because that is all I ever find as far as "age".

I don't know if I've ever posted my GTI? Here it is and I haven't used it since about 2016 so I have to relearn it a bit. Plus when I moved, I'm missing the bigger coil for it. I have it, I just have to find it.

 

So, not to beat a dead horse, but I cleaned the bead with a "silver bath" and polished it with a rag after...

Came out really nice looking

 

Id love to get into this but no clue where to start

 

Page 1 of this thread.... the information is all laid out in the 175 pages.

 

That would be AWESOME as it is actually a pretty "relaxing" hobby. Well, just don't go throwing '65 quarters like I did one time!!! Hey, I had a "moment there" okay , so don't judge me.

All joking aside though, it isn't for everyone. Try to either try out a detector if you know someone or watch some videos.

Also, some people like "tone only" machines and some people like more of the VDI type machines. Then you have people, like me, that doesn't care what type of machine it is just as long as the end result is the same, you find stuff.

I started by just buying something I could afford, which was my Garrett ACE250.

With THAT said, try to veer away from super cheap units like ones at Harbor Freight. Just my humble opinion.

At the very least, if you are on a budget, I recommend the Bounty Hunter Quick Silver because it is something that is affordable and easy to use. Then if you like the hobby, you can eventually get a better unit. There are quite a few budget machines that are decent beginner machines.

The one thing I've always come across was someone that bought an expensive metal detector only to lose interest in it pretty quickly. So the "buy once cry once" saying doesn't necessarily apply here. Just please keep that in mind.

 

You know what brotha Jay, I'm going to eventually edit the OP and lay out some of the very basics on how to start the hobby. I have to think about how to say it?

HAHAHA, you know me, I get LONG winded!!! Well, you can't say the passion isn't there?

 

Start here... Garratt, White, & Mine Labs are good brands, Garratt, IMO, seems to be better suited to those new to the hobby, such as me. A few hundred dollars, a few YouTube videos, the information here, and other detecting forums... the basics really are simple.

 

Don't rule out Bounty Hunter. I've had some personal experience with a couple different models and they're not bad for beginners either. They are also budget friendly as well. The two I would recommend if one is on a budget is either the Quick Silver or the Fast Tracker depending on whether one wants a "VDI" or "tone only" machine.

Me personally, I came very close to buying the Quick Silver. I just bought the ACE250 because it happened to be there in front of my face as I was walking by it... So I just and that's how "I" started.

 

@Jeffvt0508 also, get a pin-pointer to help aide in the recovery.

Is it necessary? No, but it helps narrow down the item.

The cheap ones will likely break on you pretty quick depending on how gorilla like you are with it.

I can personally tell you that the Garrett Pro Pointer is a rugged tool. It costs just as much as your beginner detector though.

The alternatives, although pretty cheap, definitely work, but you just can't handle them all that rough.

I have the Harbor Freight Handheld Metal Detector and still use it too. I even modified it by installing a cell phone vibrating motor.

Anyways, I'm just not as rough with Harbor Freight pin-pointer like I would be with the GPP.

Just something to consider in having if you get into the hobby.

Oh, and DO NOT get discouraged if you dig up LOTS and LOTS of trash!!! It just happens more often than you think!!!