Weaman's Finds 2015

[Paulmarr]

Doesn't make sense guys - no disrespect - but why would you discriminate out (by using numbers or otherwise) gold jewelry and instead go for $1/$2 and copper coins or silvers? My experiences have been the gold finds outweigh all the rest of your finds out together $$ value wise ... In 2014 we found over 250 silver coins and around $1k of clad modern coins - the silver scrapped out at $300 - the gold scrapped out at more than double all the rest. 35 gold targets for 12 months of detecting vs 1000-2000 coin and silver targets for same period and yet the gold was worth twice as much.

If your not a maths guy or numbers person and happy to find targets of little value then happy days ... And I want to thank you for leaving the gold for me!

 

[rocketaroo]

Doesn't make sense guys - no disrespect - but why would you discriminate out (by using numbers or otherwise) gold jewelry and instead go for $1/$2 and copper coins or silvers? My experiences have been the gold finds outweigh all the rest of your finds out together $$ value wise ... In 2014 we found over 250 silver coins and around $1k of clad modern coins - the silver scrapped out at $300 - the gold scrapped out at more than double all the rest. 35 gold targets for 12 months of detecting vs 1000-2000 coin and silver targets for same period and yet the gold was worth twice as much.

If your not a maths guy or numbers person and happy to find targets of little value then happy days ... And I want to thank you for leaving the gold for me!

Its not about making money, for many of us here. Its the fun, the exercise, people you meet, and freinds you can make. You can have all the 9ct gold that I walk over, its a trade-off that I am happy to make. I do dig the odd low signal though, especially if there is bugger-all else. I get enough goldies for pocket money Unless....we are talking beach hunts.....then 9ct signals are less likely to be junk

 

[Paulmarr]

My point is that you only discriminate out iron - your walking over it anyway ... I also find silver, goldies and brown buggers and enjoy finding them but the motivation is to find something fantastic like a diamond ring or at least have the chance with a good detector and some luck. Discriminating the gold out insures you won't find the diamond ring ... It's like buying a lotto ticket with only 4 numbers instead of the six you need ... To each their own I guess but I would have thought its part of the hobby that is most satisfying ...

 

[rocketaroo]

I could be wrong, and happy to be corrected But isnt the better rings, with better stones going to be 18 or 24ct? I would love to find gold, and buy a high end machine, but digging 12s is so much work, the turf is littered with them. Maybe digging 10s, would be a good comprimise?

 

[Paulmarr]

All I can add is my experience which is the minute I turned off the discrimination and only left on the iron mask- my luck dramatically improved. Yes you have to be willing to dig but all the good stuff we find is pretty shallow - even Heatho and the Aldi found a gold ring recently... I wonder how many you've walked over already?

 

[rocketaroo]

I do run all metal, good signals seem to sound choppy with any discrim on. The 705 has iron mask, but only in prospecting mode. Look, I dunno....what your saying makes sense, but if I dig pulltab signals in turf, I am going to get pretty frustrated. I thought that by digging 24 plus, I am getting a chance at gold, and that was a decent comprimise. Yet I know that I wouldave walked over 9k, which isnt a good thing. Thanks for your input, I am here to learn

 

[Heatho]

All I can add is my experience which is the minute I turned off the discrimination and only left on the iron mask- my luck dramatically improved. Yes you have to be willing to dig but all the good stuff we find is pretty shallow - even Heatho and the Aldi found a gold ring recently... I wonder how many you've walked over already?

Even Heatho.....lol. Look my take on the matter is I'm with you Paul Marr, the thing with the Aldi is I totally ignore the readout of what it's saying a target is and only use my ears, Gold will be solid mid tones mostly...... whether 9k or 18k, same as $1 and $2 coins, the ring I got the other day though jumped up to one or 2 high tones from a majority of mid tone (high conductor tone) due to the copper/gold alloy. All pennies are usually a high tone as is sterling silver. Old ringpulls give the same solid mid tone as goldie coins usually do and I dig a hell of a lot of old ringpulls, hundreds each week.

Modern pulltabs jump from mid to low to high. With the Aldi the trick is to wave it over the target at least 10 times quickly from different directions, if the tone doesn't drift to a low tone it is worth digging, if it drifts from mid to high it's still worth digging, if it's a solid tone with no drift from mid tone then it is nearly always a 1 or 2 dollar an old ringpull, gold ring or medium conductivity target.

I'm even starting to recognise old ringpulls due to the detector being less reactive over them, 1 or 2 dollar coins and rings make the detector react very quickly, it's a tad slower over ringpulls but you still can't be sure, modern pulltabs are pretty easy to pick and ignore mostly.

The best thing is it totally ignores beer bottle tops, you'll very rarely find one in my junk pile. It's mainly ringpulls, aluminium screw caps and other aluminium junk.

I've found 3 nice gold rings so far with the Aldi, one had diamonds....., I like the 9k ring I found the other week, fits perfectly lol, though I almost dismissed it as a modern pulltab, just there was no low tone so I dug it thankfully. The only reason I haven't upgraded yet is because I know I'll be digging even more junk than I already do. Within a month though I'd say I'll have a 3030.

My back and knees hurt too, last time gold detecting they were 4 x 10 hour sessions and my feet swelled up but gold always relieves the pain......

 

[Paulmarr]

LOL - didn't mean "even Heatho" but I should have said "even the Aldi" which is what I meant to say ... no disrespect Heatho as I do love your threads and what you find!

I just cringe whenever I see some detecting banter going on - especially with our "new to the hobby" members - as they chat about discriminating "all the rubbish" because they are tired of digging pull tabs ... and you know what they are missing out on!

You have to get past the "tired of digging rubbish" attitude in this hobby - especially when you realise your detector responds to rubbish and gold in the same way! Yes some detectors give off different nuances of sounds depending on depth, orientation of the targets, and the type of target it is - while others are only 3 tone machines that rely on numbers to give the operator a clue of what it might be. I remember on my last gold ring find - mid way through retrieving it the sound was a lower tone which fluctuated - I called out "another piece of rubbish" before I saw the gleam of gold - in fact - very few of my gold finds were identified as a definite gold signal when first detected.

Another tip to pass on for new players is - the number of rubbish targets is dependent on where you are hunting so if you don' t like digging a lot of rubbish then you need to research sites to detect where you won't find it - there were no pull tabs before 1962 - and most silver coins also are older than 1962 - so it is possible to find areas that were well visited with people dropping coins and jewelry prior to 1962. Once you learn this location tip - your luck will also change as well as the need for discrimination.

Sorry to Weaman for the long conversation in his finds thread - I am hoping you finds some "gold" in the experiences above to assist you in finding that diamond ring!

 

[Weaman]

I appreciate all the input

Still very new and i want to learn and do everything properly, i certainly don't want to miss any gold finds and will continue to dig most signals

According to the charts and my experience the 4 - 6 - 8 signals are all most all ways rubbish, should i still dig all those anyway just in case? or stick to 8 or 10+ signals

Weaman

 

[rocketaroo]

As long as we enjoy ourselves Your last post today Paul, "rings" home the best for me. Some places, you are nutz not to dig mid tones, others not so much IMO.

 

[Weaman]

Hit the Beach for a good 3 - 4 hours today - My god my arm is sore :lol:

First time i have ever detected at a beach, certainly a lot different from parks and i had a few set backs. Took me an hour or so to realize i shouldn't touch the sand with the coil, was getting a lot of readings digging holes for nothing in the first hour 8.( - but u live and learn

I had the sensitivity on 20 - 23 for the most part once i got it all sussed and i dropped it to around 10 - 15 when i went close to water

My headphones started playing up, only used them once before but 2 hours in no sound was coming through them, was very intermittent, would work for a while then just stop so i may have missed a few signals :/ - stupid things, took em out and just turned volume up max.

Hit a Battery Treasure Trove, Bottle tops, cans and can tops, condom wrapper :8

ONE 10c PIECE!!! for the day :lol: and 1 x Junk ring ( still my first ring found tho )

Weaman

 

[treasureman]

Disgraceful battery dump. No real idea of the impact these have on the natural environment.
Glad you had a good day out. Do those arm stretches

 

[Sandta]

No beach hunt would be complete without finding at least one condom wrapper :lol:
All your finds prove your doing everything right ... Now you just have to survey the site and think ... Where is the most likely spot to look..

 

[Weaman]

Yea i hear ya sandta, being my first outing i just went down to a local spot, but there wasn't really much space where family's would sit and relax, gonna hit somewhere more popular next time

 

[silver]

Condom, batteries, sunset, what was going on, there should have been money flying everywhere.

 

[Goldpick]

This is Adelaide beaches we are talking about here, not a hell of a lot to find during winter, especially after sand reclamation works burying anything of worth on most areas. Still, it's a nice buzz to pull a ring out of the sand, regardless of metal. Best to stick to areas around the jetties, as most activity is concentrated around there.

 

[Weaman]

Will do Goldpick, thanks for the tip

 

[Weaman]

turns out the ring is not a junker - i found the hallmarks

Its a Pandora Silver Birthstone ring
http://www.pandora.net/en-au/explore/products/rings/190854pe/by/metal/05,04,11,06/color/18,17

so..... My first silver ring Yay!

Weaman

 

[Sandta]

Sweet ! Now your talkin
Congrats

 

[Goldpick]

Congrats on the ring confirmation, pays to have a good look before ditching in the junk jewellery container.

I've had silver rings previously where no hallmarks appear, sometimes too worn for an ID.

Another hint for beach detecting, especially during summer, is to detect on moonlit nights for recent drops. For some reason the towel marks from where people have been sunning themselves really stand out from undisturbed areas under the moonlight. Quite often jewellery and coins are flung off the towels when packing up for the day, so it gives you a few areas to concentrate on vs just wondering all over the place.

Another thing to do if you want to have the best chance of finding something is to grid up a well frequented area. I used to just drag my foot a bit to leave a trail in the sand to see where I had already detected, that ensures you leave nothing behind - also works best under moonlight. I found a few rings and plenty of coins by doing this, and would have most likely missed them if not for gridding.

Best to work parallel to the beach vs from the dune line to the wet sand, this will help the ground tracking and result in better stability and less falsing vs transitioning from dry to wet, and back to dry again. Also look for low spots or depressions down near the waterline, even on sanded in beaches. Seacliff beach provided me with a honey hole of coins in one of these low spots, not just once, but several times in the same spot.