Max is right, a 12 in coill on a soveriegn is DEATH. Except if you've got a gold ring 6 ins away from a tab, then you're going to miss one or the other 'coz you're likely as not covering both and the detector's got to make up it's mind and it doesn't know if a tab is more valuable than a ring or vice versa. But on the beach, the density of targets isn't so great that this is a big issue. Yep, go for the bigger coverage and depth with a 12!!! As to auto or manual, I advised auto just because I know a guy who FINDS stuff in a way you wonder what you're doing wrong, and he told me Auro on the beach. So it's just heresay. Could be once you really know what you're doing, manual is the best option. Anyhow, the fact is that once you're in the top end of the market, a lot of machines do the job. The Sovereign happens to be switch and go so even an idiot like me can use it out of the box. The other machines have a steeper learning curve in my opinion.