May I ask a question please?

[Diggerjonny]

shallow nickle

this is why I dig shallow nickel signals.

 

[sandgroper]

The lowest denomination coin we use in Australia is the 5c coin, and I too dig those, even though I know I could make more money by digging $1 and $2 tones. By digging those lower tones, (12:07 on the ctx, and 8 on the xterra) I've been surprised a few times with a gold ring. In fact, my only proper diamond ring rang up as a 5c coin. I though that's what I was digging so as expected I was quite shocked to pull out an 18k ring.

This year I've found 437 5c coins, which is $21.85. Could've found that with 11 $2 coins, but I still choose to dig the lower denomination coins.

 

[Mud-puppy]

All the war nickels I’ve found fell right in the nickel range,they didn’t ring up as a high conductor

Same here Woody!..War Nickles are accidental bycatch often found by doing a Nickel Quest..They sound and TID just like regular nickel!.

Nickel Quests are fun! It would be nice to pull a Real Hobo nickel, or a genuine Henning Nickel, or a gold coin instead of going after the high tone silver/clad pings all the time...and yeah, the gold rings that hide right in that realm...

Nobody gives one diddly damn about hunting nickels though! Its tough! Lots of tabs and scrap to deal with! Most Detectorists are high grading silver!...Understandable! I Dont blame them a bit!

But a 'Nickel Quest' is really something to do! To Go out and pull 1000 dirt nickels? Especially out of places a guy has highgraded the silvers? Its a lot of fun and a challenge...

In fact, I bet a guy could get a 'Nickel Quest' side Forum going for next year!...Sorta like the CRH hunters have here?...Going out and hunting Nothing but Nickels and documenting the totals and side finds!

 

[BaldAssCat]

I don't think any of us dig Nickel's to find Nickel's. Gold and Silver will sometimes ring up as Nickel range. I've hit 2 Gold that way.....

I like digging nickels. I get pennies and dimes all day, quarters on occasion but nickels are maybe 10% of my clad so I'm happy to find them.

 

[diggin4clad]

Also, I remember way-back-when, during the "silver rush" of the late 1970s and early 1980s, that a lot of guys cranked the disc. and angled for silver only. Ie.: why dig tabs and foil, when silver was easy-for-pickens in the then virgin parks ?

And sure enough, someone else would come along and chide them: "You might miss nickels". To which I recall one wise sage challenging the dissenter : "Take a look at the coin book. See what dates/mints of nickels are worth anything. Then take a look at the dime & quarter pages, and see which dates/mints are worth something " (especially us, who is near the SF mint).

And you would see that very few nickels are worth much numismatically. And, let's be honest: The ground "kisses" nickels with corrosion that leaves them numismatically worthless anyhow (ie.: even if it WAS a key date). Versus silver, which comes out shiny and un-damaged.

This has no bearing on relicky site strategy (demolition, cellar holes , stage stops, etc...). But when strictly coin hunting @ junky parks, it DOES have merit as a strategy.

Very well said Tom.....

Metal-addict & toasted : Couldn't the same thing be said of past machines, before the Nox ? Can't the same thing be said of a whole bunch of machines that aren't necessarily "more sensitive to lower conductors" ? After all, it's not hard to simply lower the disc. on any machine, and get "nickel" or "pulltab" signals. On a wide array of past machines.

So when something comes along and hits the market (like the Nox) touting "more sensitive to lower conductors", then ... I agree with IDX monster: If angling the parks for nickels is the objective, then "more sensitivity to lower conductors" is hardly a needed goal. The parks and fields are ALREADY loaded with low conductors, that generations of lazy md'rs have passed.

As said, this is a noble concern if someone is angling for earring studs, tinsel thin chains, nuggets, etc.... But when it comes to turf , then .... Simply lower the disc. knob. And you'd be guaranteed no lack of signals to choose from already.

and again.....very well said

 

[Tom_in_CA]

this is why I dig shallow nickel signals.

Diggerjonny, Was that a relicky site ? Or a turfed park ? Assuming it was a turfed park (where age & depth tend to be correlated), I'll be the devil's advocate here (a job I'm good at, haha ) :

1) Take a close look at your shield nickel's numismatic condition. Ie.: How the ground treated the metal. What it would merit, if floated to a collector.

2) Now take a look at commensurately old silver coins you've found there in Indiana (1800s and early 1900s barbers, mercs, seateds, etc...).

3) Would you agree that the silver often comes out like the day it was lost (ie.: no "ground kiss") ? Versus nickels (such as that one) that are kissed 100% of the time ?

4) And let's be honest: While it's true that "sometimes an old coin can be shallow", yet ... in all your time of "digging shallow nickel signals", how often is a shield nickel (which are fun for sport's sake) found ? Wouldn't it be safe to say that 99.99% of the time it would be a new nickel ? And if it was a buffalo or V, it would be that burnt-orange/brown scenario ?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Re.: Stratified turf (where age is most-often commensurate with depth) :

One time I got ready to hunt with someone new. In a park where I'd been pulling old silver up to that time. As we discussed our plans prior to the hunt, he BRISTLED at the notion that I was going to pass anything less than 6" (my normal tactic at THIS particular park). Because he reasoned that "sometimes an old coin is shallow".

And then he bristled even MORE , when he learned that I was going to pass low conductors. Because he reasoned "you might miss a gold ring", or "you will miss nickels", etc... I tried to explain that if I was that hot & bothered for gold rings, I'd simply go to the beach, not junky urban parks.

In his mind's eye's, he has the "best of all worlds". Eg.: Since he was going to "dig all", then .... logically ... he would get a) old deep silver and nickels, b) not miss the jewelry, and c) get nickels too (which, maybe if not numismatically redeemable, yet are still fun).

At the end of the day, the results were predictable : I had a few silvers, a dozen or 14 wheaties, only a couple of clad, and hardly any junk. He had 1 or 2 wheaties, a bunch of clad, and an apron full of junk.

He simply couldn't understand why the oldie ratio wasn't the same. After all, he's "digging all", so "shouldn't he have the best of both worlds ?"

Granted, he would end up with the old nickel I'd miss. Or the gold ring I'd miss. But as said, I'd end up with the most old coins. And if I wanted gold rings, then why oh why hunt blighted urban parks ? Why not simply go to swim beaches ?

It's like blackjack : If you have 20 in your hand, do you take another hit ? Or do you hold ? After all, the next card MIGHT be a 1 card, right ? But the odds are, that it WON'T be a 1 card. So despite the "possibility", the blackjack player holds, right ?

 

[Diggerjonny]

Diggerjonny, Was that a relicky site ? Or a turfed park ? Assuming it was a turfed park (where age & depth tend to be correlated), I'll be the devil's advocate here (a job I'm good at, haha ) :

1) Take a close look at your shield nickel's numismatic condition. Ie.: How the ground treated the metal. What it would merit, if floated to a collector.

2) Now take a look at commensurately old silver coins you've found there in Indiana (1800s and early 1900s barbers, mercs, seateds, etc...).

3) Would you agree that the silver often comes out like the day it was lost (ie.: no "ground kiss") ? Versus nickels (such as that one) that are kissed 100% of the time ?

4) And let's be honest: While it's true that "sometimes an old coin can be shallow", yet ... in all your time of "digging shallow nickel signals", how often is a shield nickel (which are fun for sport's sake) found ? Wouldn't it be safe to say that 99.99% of the time it would be a new nickel ? And if it was a buffalo or V, it would be that burnt-orange/brown scenario ?

1To a collector this nickle wouldnt bring much.

2. Most silver comes up looking good here. Not kissed by the ground.

3.this is the second shallow shield from this area, so guess im lucky.

4.the buffs, v nickles from this spot are decent most of the time, lucky for me again. This is an old picnic grove/ old fair grounds that is now a 20 acre city park.” 99 percent of the time it is a newer nickle though. For me it comes down to a good location/ how much you wanna dig..

 

[L0S3R]

If ill bother digging a penny I might as well dig a nickel, 4 less holes for the same price.


Bounty hunter - treasure hunter - cabelas
Best find to date - 15g platinum ring and 1876 love token

 

[mdtrapper]

Almost every wedding band I have found. Has come up in that range, same as pull tabs. On the nox looks like that number is going to be 13.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Almost every wedding band I have found. Has come up in that range, same as pull tabs. On the nox looks like that number is going to be 13.

Ok, sure. And some come up in the nickel range. And some come up in the foil range. Thus the "takeaway " is: Dig all foil, nickel and tab range signals "lest you miss a gold ring" , right ?

Or ... if gold rings are an objective, why don't md'rs just go to places that have higher gold ring ratios TO BEGIN WITH, and then THERE practice the "strip-mining" admonition ?

 

[Rattlehead]

It really depends on the site.. If I'm on a fresh permission I'll cherry pick those silver signals first, and then come back and get the low tones if I have time. If I'm hunting in a park its usually because I'm bored and don't have any other good permissions available. Even though I know dirt nickles aren't going to have any real value, I like to dig them anyway just because I enjoy seeing what other detectorists have passed over through the years... And every now and then I get a nice yellow surprise! While I'm not targeting jewelry specifically, leaving that nickle window open does offer the possibility of getting lucky and hitting SOME rings or other jewelry without having to dig every piece of foil that I pass over. The way I see it, if all the nice easy silver signals are long gone and I don't have any place better to hunt, why not? Do I dig a lot of trash? Yep. I still enjoy it.

I also dig a lot of targets in the zinc range if they're fairly deep. I've found some really nice silvers that had iron nearby which pulls the numbers down.

 

[Porsche914]

From now on I am going to leave all nickles in the ground after I discover that it is actually a nickle and not gold. Unless you have a machine that allows me to know 100% what is in the ground....I'm going to keep digging them.