Pull tab versus Gold debate

DiggerCharlie · Oct 17, 2013

I have a debate going on with a friend of mine who hasbeen detecting for much longer than I have. There is a background story to this debate. An old swim hole thats about 1 acre in size with a small sand beach from the 70's exist near us. He had once told me that a few old timers used to pound the place and that it probably would not be worth doing. I decided to stop one day and check it out for a few minutes. I did about 20 test digs and found 20 of the old beaver tail pull tabs and had to leave. Depending on size and orientation of the tabs, they would hit from thehigh 40's to high 60's on my AT Pro. I was immediately excited, thinking there must be gold here. Maybe this place was only cherry picked for silver. I told him about my results and he said "See, the gold at this place was cherry picked long ago". My arguement was that if there are so many pull tabs, there must be gold. We went on to find 8 gold rings on this incredibly small beach and 1000+ pull tabs. He called it luck, but I didn't think so. My thoughs were the amoutn of pull tabs discouraged previous detectors who only cherry picked the high signals.

Now fast forward to today. I found a similar location that we both know has been pounded due to it's location but again it is loaded with old pull tabs. Once again he is arguing that someone has definately "cherry picked" the gold using high end machines. Are there machines out there that can truly distinguish between gold and pull tabs? I have found gold as low as 48 on my machine and as high as 72. All feedback is welcome.

bigstemz · Oct 17, 2013

to easily answer your question, no there are not machines that can exactly distinguish between gold and metals with similar conductivity. However there are machines that get closer to telling you its gold than say if its aluminum or foil. Pull tabs fall rite in the range of gold. I have found big golds that sound like copper on my excalibur. If you are very very very good with your machine you might be able to tell the difference between some gold and and some pull tabs but not every time and surely not all the time. I know for a fact that sometimes I can tell a gold ticket when its under my excalibur coil, due to the tone and smoothness of the target, but id say about 50% of the time when i find gold it doesnt sound like the classic low smooth hum on my machine that I am told is the "classic" gold sound.

Cfmct · Oct 17, 2013

If there are still old pull tabs there then there is likely to be gold... that is unless those in the past only kept the gold and threw the pull tabs back into the holes :roll:

I like it when I am finding pull tabs from the 60's because I know sooner or later I will find some gold once the junk is cleaned out.

Malibu · Oct 17, 2013

Well, I'm just a rookie at this, but I agree with your theory that the old pull tabs are indicators there's got to be some gold left there, too. It may have been cherry picked, but who cares? Based on your finding 8 gold rings amongst 1,000+ pull tabs at the last swimming hole why wouldn't you go forward with the theory?

DaviDs · Oct 17, 2013

From White's website....

5. Can a detector be set only to respond to gold?

No. There are too many variables with exact alloys and sizes to pin it down tightly enough to dig only one type of metal. For example, a large piece of gold may read high on a display or audio discrimination scale and a small piece of gold may read low on that same scale. Gold with some copper, silver, or platinum within its natural alloy will indicate differently. And other metals with similar electrical characteristics may read identically. Lead and aluminum are the most difficult common trash metals to eliminate. Even with the most sophisticated detectors available, expect to dig some trash. But a good discriminator increases the odds in your favor.

DiggerCharlie · Oct 17, 2013

My friend who was making this arguement has a Whites machine. He is claiming he can tell the difference 100% of the time and told me to set up a test. I am just going to grab a few rings and some tabs and see what he can do. I think he will be on board with what you guys are saying once he digs up a few of the tabs

Thanks for all of the feedback so far.

Cfmct · Oct 17, 2013

DiggerCharlie said:
My friend who was making this arguement has a Whites machine. He is claiming he can tell the difference 100% of the time and told me to set up a test. I am just going to grab a few rings and some tabs and see what he can do. I think he will be on board with what you guys are saying once he digs up a few of the tabs Thanks for all of the feedback so far.

Its his opinion... go there without him and pull some gold... remember one who digs the most gold wins :yes:

bigstemz · Oct 17, 2013

Cfmct said:
Its his opinion... go there without him and pull some gold... remember one who digs the most gold wins

ah dang,,,,,, i lost

Porsche914 · Oct 17, 2013

I had a similar location only it was loaded with every kind of target except silver coins. At first I only hunted high tones then as the targets thinned out I started digging pull tabs. I was limiting myself to 50 per trip. In my case I never did find gold and now the property has changed hands and I do not have access. It is killing me because I know there has to be gold on the property. My clad count there was $75+ along with severla junk rings and 8 silver ones.. I called this place the "Land of a Million Targets" :laughing:

Outdoor concerts were held there and lots of beer consumed :lol:

DirtyRob · Oct 17, 2013

If I only got 8 gold rings out of every 1000 pull tabs.....I'd have quite a few gold rings!!!

We're talking dry land, too!!!

Porsche914 · Oct 17, 2013

I run an M6 and I have to say that the ID on tabs is pretty good but not that good. Get one of those Big beer can tabs or cut one of the stay tabs in half. The best thing you can do is find a ring that mimics the pull tab range. 10k ladies should do it.

zeemang · Oct 17, 2013

Depending on the karat of the gold and the size it can sound off all over the scale. The only id screen detector i have is an x terra 705 and i did a test last year with over a dozen different gold rings, and i got close to a dozen different readings from 8 on the lighter ones up to in the high 30's on some of the heavier ones... On my excal i've been surprised by gold quite a few times, and bracelets can make the trashiest most terrible sound you've ever heard...
Anyone who doesn't dig pulltab signals is missing gold, very simple.

Crumble · Oct 17, 2013

If he wants to see cherry picked, he should hunt some of my beaches. You will be lucky to get 2 or 3 mid tones in 6 hours at some of my beaches... but high tones are everywhere...

itsaring! · Oct 17, 2013

DiggerCharlie said:
My friend who was making this arguement has a Whites machine. He is claiming he can tell the difference 100% of the time and told me to set up a test. I am just going to grab a few rings and some tabs and see what he can do. I think he will be on board with what you guys are saying once he digs up a few of the tabs Thanks for all of the feedback so far.

There is a trick you can do with a DFX to sort of try and cherry pick a few gold. Not much of it. Time it takes it's quicker to dig it and see if its a pulltab :lol:

DFX you got to keep circling and watch the numbers. Only one I ever heard could cherry pick just gold works for Minelab and hunts south of me :lol:

The Traveler · Oct 17, 2013

Tell him he is right and go clean that place out. Show him the results when you are done.

If you decide to test him, bend some tabs and cut one in half. Also use rings that respond in the same range. Please post the results. One way or the other, it would be very interesting.

I dug over 600 tabs on my last vacation with an excal. A guy responded that he doesn't dig tabs because he can tell the difference between them and gold. Maybe he can, but I know I can't. I tested myself and failed.

SeabeeRon · Oct 17, 2013

Here's a White Gold Pull tab I recently hit.

itsaring! · Oct 17, 2013

The Traveler said:
Tell him he is right and go clean that place out. Show him the results when you are done.

If you decide to test him, bend some tabs and cut one in half. Also use rings that respond in the same range. Please post the results. One way or the other, it would be very interesting.

I dug over 600 tabs on my last vacation with an excal. A guy responded that he doesn't dig tabs because he can tell the difference between them and gold. Maybe he can, but I know I can't. I tested myself and failed.

Yeah for the test, bend a tab until it shows up as a nickel. Then bury a nickel, pulltab, and 10k ring that shows as a nickel.

Porsche914 · Oct 17, 2013

This is a test I ran earlier this year....hope the picture came through
Attached Images

DIGGER27 · Oct 17, 2013

I don't believe this at all.
On very large rings like class rings at low zinc I can tell gold most of the time with my Tesoros because that signal is different than all others with a unique sound, but anything smaller in tabs, nickel or below it is just a solid signal to me but no clue it is gold.
Using my F2 I have dug rings of all sizes and again solid signals, numbers and tones but no clue they were gold till I dug them.

Lots of trash I can tell on all of them but several trash targets will come in solid on all my detectors including many that are those beaver tail tabs.

Maybe someone with a more advanced machine might be able to pick out one or two before they dig because they have a little more info on the screen, but cherry pick a whole site and find every bit of gold...no freakin' way.
Not only because the numbers on gold could be exactly the same as tabs but other targets , good and bad, near gold can change the signal or mask it partially or completely.

This is a 14k ring I found with a real diamond that I liked so much I had it re-sized and it is the only one I wear and it came in exactly at numbers and in the area where tons of beaver tail tabs do.

I love it when know-it-alls try to warn me off of sites saying everything good has already been found.
These types do not have X Ray vision so they actually have no clue and I always find silver and gold at these sites because they have too much confidence and are too lazy to dig the trash.
They say there is nothing left to find because their ego could shatter if they are proved wrong, or as in this case they just call it luck.
When I started digging more trash signals I started finding way more gold along with that trash.
Sometimes we just make our own luck.

dewcon · Oct 17, 2013

They may have cherry picked it.... if so that was their first mistake when looking for gold. Based on the pull tabs they clearly werent digging most targets for med. sized gold. Like you said gold has a very large range based on size, karat, depth, other metals.... and even stones make a difference. All it takes is the right angle of swing and heights to make the difference of finding or not finding gold. Yes.... luck, timing, and skill comes into play.

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