Big Boys Hobbies

Can't find nickels with Tesoro Cortes! Help

chipper01work

chipper01work

Full Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2010
Messages
143
I am new to detecting and bought a Tesoro Cortes. Today I went to my parents home and found 54 coins in the yard. Not a single nickel in the lot! I've had the detector for about two weeks and have found about 100 coins so far and not a single nickel. I keep the descrimination low enough to find them and have even tried throwing one on the ground- the machine picks them up on the surface and usually accurately displays what it is. Every time I think I'm digging a nickel it turns out to be a pull tab or piece of foil.
 
Welcome to the family !

Aaah the nickel. It is notorious for falling under the pulltab range as is gold.
They're under the ground, try burying a few at different depths and see what happens. I'm pretty sure I was well over a hundred coins before I found one.
They also appear to be used less in change and therefore less likely to be dropped. I think that's correct.
Marty
 
Congratulations on your first metal detecting revelation :lol: Seriously though there is nothing wrong with your detector, nickels are just elusive sometimes. Remember objects in the ground behave differently then test coins on the surface, try setting your discrimination down just another notch... that might help...


....or by sheer coincidence you haven't passed your coil over a nickel yet..:confused:
 
Try burying some nickels at a few different depths and see what happens instead of just on the surface. Then you'll know if something is wrong or if you are just having bad luck.
 
Thanks all for the input, It's 6AM Eastern time and I'm on the way out the door for a 6 hr. detecting trip. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.
 
Had to cut the hunt short due to rather heavy rain. I did find 12 coins today and one was in fact a nickel. During the 2 days of searching my parents yard I found a total of 66 coins. The best seems to be a 1894 IH penny and a 1911 wheat penny. On a side note my father found a 1901 Barber Half last fall while removing a lilac bush. Just popped out of the ground when the roots were pulled up with a backhoe, he said it was laying there on the grass face down. I'm sure there is more to be found there when it quits raining. All the dimes and quarters I've found there so far have been clad.
 
With my Cortes,I know its a nickle if the numbers never go over 39.

Over ~40,its usually a tab.Also nickles tend to sound scratchy,tabs usually sound off loud and clear.

I don't have alot of time on mine yet,but I am getting better at picking up the differences.
Good luck!
 
Nickels are hard to come buy because mostly they were not used that much. Look at us mint and they did not make many back then. Same today. Your pocket has more pennies dimes and quarters. On my Cortes i have never had one come in over 39. Yes i; like everybody else find maybe 1 in 30 pulltabs if i am lucky. The Cortes is a good machine it will find them. I have at least 80 nickels since i haved owned my Cortes.
 
I noticed the same thing with the DeLeon.
It really does not like to lock onto the nickels and my numbers are 40 -46 on them. On all my test i rarely get a full bar but if i get the numbers in the range i mentioned and even just part of the bar for a nickel, then its a nicke.
 
Consistently finding nickels is much harder than finding pennies, dimes or qtrs. I found the Cortez to be pretty good on nickels. There are plenty of nickels out there it is just most people don't take the time to learn their machines well enough to find them without digging lots of trash. With my MXT I frequently find more nickels than pennies or dimes at new sites. Many times you have to use your all metal pinpoint signal to help tell the difference. To do that takes many hours of practice. For instance on my MXT a nickel at say 2in gives a louder pinpoint signal than a pulltab or similar trash target with the same VDI at the same depth. Learning my machines well has gotten me 1000 nickels a year without digging excessive trash. Of course the not digging excessive trash comes after the learning the detector part.:lol: Good luck with your Cortes, it will serve you well if you take the time to learn what it is telling you.
 
Don't feel bad, I've found around 2-3 nickles in two years with my Explorer II..:roll: I'm starting to think maybe my machine just don't like them.
 
OK here is what i mean when i say i do not get a full bar.
If i get anything in the the range i mentioned above and anything in the nickel line then i can pretty much bet its a nickel..
Hope this helps...
These are air test but i get the same results in the ground,,
Zinex102.jpg

Zinex103.jpg

Zinex101.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Ace 400
Replies
3
Views
49
Xxray
Xxray
T
Deus 2 seems has a horseshoe button…hmmm
Replies
1
Views
51
tnsharpshooter
T
B
Does the Nokta LG24 have any advantages over stock coil?
Replies
8
Views
132
Jose159
J
S
Minelab Sale
Replies
10
Views
474
Beachhunt1
B
J
Xcal coil question
Replies
0
Views
94
jimsvillage
J
Back
Top Bottom