Tough Beach Hunting

Hello, I went to a new spot today. It is where a bay meets the ocean and there is considerable erosion from hurricanes and such. A friend of mine, who doesn't detect, found a 1864 2 cent piece on the surface a few days ago. I know there are things to be found there.

I am using a nox600 with a standard coil. The ground is very trashy and full of bricks/clamshells/rubble and I had a really tough time digging through it.

My thoughts are that a small coil with high response time and iron discrimination would help. I need a heavy duty shovel as well. It was hard finding targets but I found a few fishing weights, bottle caps, and a lincoln cent today.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!