Unmasking the Coins Experiment

Nice video! Man that looks rough!


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Good vid.
Iron is a problem at most sites but there are many variations at all kinds of sites throughout the country.
You only showed those iron bits swinging over them for a short time at the beginning but from what I saw yes, there was a lot of iron there.
Would you believe I would kiss the ground here if that amount of iron in that site was normal where I hunt?
I lived in Kansas, except in some sites where there were torn down houses iron wasn't a huge problem, here in the southeast and not everywhere but in the older sections and parks in the city of Birmingham, even in the lawns of private homes, my iron problem is 10X's worse than that spot you were hunting.
Here is a vid that shows some of that.



I used to use an F2 here among others, most of the time I just knocked out iron completely and found plenty but I am sure I missed much due to masking.
Hunting with iron in there was just too much to deal with on that unit, too noisy, too much jumping around.
Like with your Ace it worked well and held its own in normal open less trash and iron infested situations but it had its limits in challenging sites.
I deal with red clay mineralized soil here, tons of trash and extra heaping helpings of iron which limits depth but also all works to hide things extremely well on open of all those millions of signals I can get.

You have done well picking out what you can using that Ace but cleaning out sites as you did in this experiment is not really feasible in most places, most don't have the time, energy or patience to do that...but there are other ways to be successful in sites like these, very successful, but that usually entails an upgrade.
Moving to higher end tools is not just about getting more depth but to me it is all about adding more settings, features and abilities to be able to pick through sites like that and especially in sites like mine to be successful without having to dig up every piece of masking trash to do it.
An AT Pro can probably deal with that site better than that Ace, I am positive it can and why they added iron audio and other features to that tool...and why it costs more than the Aces.
My F70 can do it too, but because of my extremely challenging conditions the features and abilities this one has over my F2 still wasn't enough...I still had to learn a new language, new indicators and way more strange target behavior that I never needed to know when I hunted in way better non mineralized and much less iron infested soil out west.
It took hundreds of hours to learn to hunt in this mess I have here, and I continue to learn because every little extra piece of the puzzle seems to help.
Just the other day I changed my way of thinking a bit, used the same tool and features I had before but was able to find an extremely masked coin I have missed for over a year in a private lawn I have been hunting.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=245759

You do pretty well with that Ace, many do and have over the years but someday consider upgrading.
Iron heavy sites like that won't be so daunting, more treasure will find its way into your collection much easier and you won't have to dig up the earth like that to find the good stuff.
Getting all problem metal out of the way is one way to do it, using feature rich tools and learning to make sense out of sites like that and targeting non ferrous targets with decent accuracy without all that extra digging is better...also less energy depleting and much more productive and fun.

thanks for the information I see possibilities now.

Here is my next question. If I had to choose one option, would it be better to buy a sniper coil for my ace or upgrade to an at pro with a stock coil?

Bank Fisher said:

thanks for the information I see possibilities now.

Here is my next question. If I had to choose one option, would it be better to buy a sniper coil for my ace or upgrade to an at pro with a stock coil?

Click to expand...

If you got the bucks an upgrade will give you much more to work with...everywhere and not just at that site either.
Plus more depth I bet, and don't forget the hunting in the rain or water thing.
It's like asking should I go from a Chevy Chevette to a new Camaro...heck yes if you can swing it and not put yourself out.

On the other hand just adding a sniper to that Ace would make it a little better and a more potent tool for hunting in iron and heavy trash too...that is exactly what those small coils are designed to do.
However there us still a limit on on most tools because of their inherent and natural abilities.

Add all the accessories you want and throw money at that Ace like crazy and there is still only so much you can do with it...it is an entry level model after all.

It all depends on what you want to get out of the hobby.
Some use the lower end types and love them, find plenty enough to keep them happy and see no need to spend a whole lot more for any reason.
Others see the limitations of their current units and upgrading for them is logical, they want more out of the hobby and need better tools to help them advance along that path.
Some get crazy and keep buying new tools at a fast pace looking for that edge, that perfect tool...too bad there really isn't one made...yet.

One guy on another forum just posted about himself and how he just realized he has a problem.
He has been in the hobby for only about 6-7 years but he has bought about 20 detectors in that time always thinking the next one will be the best one and find everything there is to find...these detectors weren't the cheap ones either and ranged all the way up to the CTX.
Recently he has finally come to he realization that if he just kept one long enough to learn it well he probably would have done better overall than he has done spending time trying to learn all those different tools over time.

The skills you have a very important in this hobby, some say more important than the tools we use...but combine great knowledge with a very capable detector, maybe not top of the line but not a starter unit either, and that is a combination that can have some great results.

That makes me feel a lot better about all the deep iron I dig lol thanks for sharing!

Nice little experiment or maybe big experiment.

One note here worthy of mention.

In an old site,,,even if a person detected and dug all the ferrous materials,,,this doesn't necessarily remove all the very small ferrous particles that can still blind a detector from seeing some nonferrous items.

So the site done as it was was not sterilized of ferrous so to speak.

Folks interested in experimenting try this.
Get you a #9 shot shotgun shell,,cut it open,,and see what your detector does detection wise on just one of these little critters.

Imagine if you had some iron this same size,,sprinkled over the top of say a 9" deep half dime.

The small things may indeed be invisible from a tonal standpoint,,,but they can still be affecting the detector's circuitry.

Meaning there is both real small nonferrous and ferrous we never here tonally that our coils are swept over.

Now,,not all detectors the exact same here,,,some will see some of the smaller(est) things. Those super high Vlf detectors have a better chance of seeing.
Fisher Gold Bug,,Makro Gold Racers,,to name a few.

Listen to the places i hunt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zo27AMmgdU&t=2s


To do any good you are going to have to upgrade, if you are looking for old coins only, the cz3d with the 5 in coil is one of my favorites in high trash it can be had used for around 400 dollars. Or if you want to hunt for more than just old coins i would go with an At pro and sniper coil, you could also beach hunt at the lake in the water with it.

Two of the best machines i have in trash are the deus and the ctx with 6 in coil but i realize that might be a stretch. Especially if you have a wife and family.

Very interesting, well thought out and well executed plan! I am very impressed. At the very least, you were successful at learning your machine even better!

Living up here in New England, there doesn't seem to be any land that hasn't been used by humans over the past 300 years. Everywhere you go, there is stuff (iron, junk) in the ground. It can be difficult sometimes to find good soil to swing your detector over.

The other thing that I find quite often here in NE is the 'hot rocks' scenario. I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a GREAT signal, dug the plug and the signal vanishes.

go to higher KHz machine old school

some of the old arm breaker curve over handles are 100 KHZ machines. they don't have depth, stink on that, but they can run thru the iron pretty good. OLD GARRETT American series, some old Hayes, a few other 100 kHz.

Montes nail board test is a must to do with your machine. shows you the direction you swing into a target with in proximity of iron makes a difference. that's one reason why the proverbial hunted out place will yield again and again.


there is no magic wand. but if there was we would not have as much fun.... its the getting out and hunt, not the find in my case. a pocket full of pennies is better than no detecting..

Vance detectors did a test with the owner of another forum and big time Relic hunters who were on tv, the PROS. ( not the morons) and demonstrated a Deus that way and it was superlative at unmasking. BUT I CANT AFFORD ONE NOR CAN I JUSTIFY ONE WITH FAMILY OBLIGATIONS. just the way it is. so use what you have and enjoy.
good work you did.

WOW! You are really into this Huh?..

Bank Fisher said:

thanks for the information I see possibilities now.

Here is my next question. If I had to choose one option, would it be better to buy a sniper coil for my ace or upgrade to an at pro with a stock coil?

Click to expand...

Upgrade! I had my ACE for a full year and no good coins, even in places my buddies were digging seated and barbers... when I upgraded I started to find the good stuff.

The ace is a good way to find out if you enjoy the hobby without investing much into it. If you still like detecting a year after starting on an ACE machine, you are hooked and can justify investing more into better equipment.

With that said, removing as much iron and trash from any site, using any detector is going to pay off in the long run. It requires more work, but keeping a low discrimination will surprise you with some iffy signals that turn out to be pocket spills or a merc resting on a nail etc... alot of those signals get missed because of too much discrimination.

Good luck!

Scientific research = talking my language! I don't see any p-values though....

But seriously, interesting approach and thanks for posting your abstract.

I was on the same train of thought if I kept buying another detectors I would find more silver! Luckily DIGGER slapped some sense to me and with coaching I'm learning the f70.

Any machine you buy (well most) $500-$700 range you will do well.

I also have an at pro and love it. I need to add a sniper coil to it, but I normally swing the f70 due to it being super light and really fast response time.


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