Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Finding rings

D

Dirk Diggler

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
34
I have a couple of questions for the guys who like to beach hunt. I don't live on or near a beach, so unfortunately I can only hunt during vacations. Fortunately, my folks own a cottage in south Nags Head, so I do get detect a couple of times a year, and occasionally I'll make it out after a good storm has passed. I was wondering if anyone has any idea how many coins, on average, they will dig for every good ring they will find. I have about 3/4 of a cool whips container full of clad coins that I have found, but only one small gold wedding band found during the same period. Sometimes I'll find a washed out area where coins seem to be everywhere, in fact, I sometimes wonder if I would be better off skipping some of signals that are probably just clad coins, in order to save time, and just focus more on the signals that would better indicate a ring. But I'm always afraid that the clad coin I might choose not to spend the time digging might be something better. Is there a trick to increasing my ring percentage or is just a matter of spending more time looking? Thanks.
 
Sounds like you are doing the right things, checking wash out areas. Look for cuts and areas where pebbles and color changes in the sand appear as well. It's just a matter of getting your coil over the jewelry, really no magic to it!
 
I do not know what metal detector you are using, but with the Whites DFX, you can set up a cherry picking program to only recognize VDI numbers in the gold rings and chains range (+5 - +50) and I am sure some other machines will do this as well. With this set-up, less coinage would get detected except for nickels. Pull tabs and foil would fall in this range also. But, as said above, the ring has to be there and the coil has to pass over it. I hope to make it back to Nags Head and Kitty Hawk one of these days. Good luck and HH.
 
Dirk

Keep on and remember rings, especially gold/silver are heavier and will be deeper.

Know your MD and if you are doing much wet sand and water hunting consider a PI machine like the Whites Surfmaster Dual Field. They are deeper than any VLF MD.

Luck to ya!

If you find a hot spot of clads, gold may be underneath. Always rescan after you find anything.
 
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What makes it such a fun hobby...

[ Is there a trick to increasing my ring percentage or is just a matter of spending more time looking? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

...is that gold can be anywhere. There's nothing better than hunting a spot that's producing nothing but pennies and pulltabs, and while walking back to the car in total disgust, BANG! There it is, a big gold ring in a totally unexpected spot! Makes you feel like God put you there just for that. Enjoy!
 
Dirk Diggler said:
. Is there a trick to increasing my ring percentage or is just a matter of spending more time looking? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'd say the "more time looking" equal more ring finds. Understand that "more time looking" doesn't have to be actually at the spot, digging targets with your MD and scoop. A little historical research and simple observation can increase your odds. Local knowledge of your area is key.
 
Excalibur 800 and clad coins only

My first post. Great forum! Great to be here.

Bought a used detector on Ebay. Had a 9 volt battery in it. I of course replaced this with a proper pack, detector works great, whew! Not sure I'd chance it again. It's an older Excalibur and has the knobs with double hex screws and 8" coil. It took some understanding after I freaked out from all the sounds my 1st trial time out. Learning curve yes, but many good things require practice and some understanding. I am impressed with the depth when you tune in and get in the zone.

I am out twice now and have bought several books (Clynick). He's a very excellent writer. I have not really entered the water in Ocean City MD area yet, but scan the low tide shore. I have found lots of clad coins, some being 10 inches deep with almost non existant signals so I am using the excal correctly and basically run All Metal, max sensitivity in manual, and checking with very mild discrimination settings of maybe 2. I may try different settings gleaned from Clynick using max sensitivity, Threshold just on and non-audible, volume up to max and disc. on 1. Still, if gold is 3 feet deep, nothing will catch it.

Ok, I did find a brass heart charm and a silver earing (I think it is), but no gold. Is the gold hanging in waist deep water??? I have purchased a wet suit, gloves, boots, and am going for it. Am I on the right track or not? Where is that gold?:shock:
darksky
 
Dirk.... sounds like you are doing things correctly, persistance and patience ... the gold will surface.

Darksky, welcome aboard... What type of detector are you swinging? Clive's books are excellent .. good choice. HH RickO
 
I don't know about coins to rings ratio, but I will find rings maybe every 15 times I go out on average. That said, there are alot of varibles such as storms, winds, currents, sand movement (both good & bad). For example, I found 2 14K rings on 2 days in a row of going out. All in all, when it comes to beach hunting go figure! There is also alot to be said for timing and luck too:lol::D:no::?:
 
Maryland/Delaware Beaches with Xcal 800

I am swing'n an Excalibur 800. I have an old Whites PI 1000 that I started with years ago. Quit for many years, kids came etc. etc. Problem was lack of any discrimination but I did find some gold that actually financed this second hand Excalibur bought on Ebay. I still have the Whites PI and may try it again in areas where there is very little junk but digging 15 inches for rusty nail after rusty nail is not pleasurable. I bought 4 of Clive's books including "Pulse Power". This go round, I am trying to be more methodical and learn things instead of just winging it.

I cashed in a .7 OZ 18K mens bracelet I had found years ago with the PI in the Chesapeake Bay and was able to pay for much of the cost of the Excal with that. I live near miles and miles of beaches: Assateague Island, Ocean City, Indian River, Dewey Beach, Rehoboth, Henlopen so I just need to analyze and go for it. I think pulling up some gold will fuel ,my enthusiasm so I'll keep at it. When my wetsuit boots and gloves and hood arrive, I'll hit the water and see what I come up with in there and can let the forum know if I find the motherload. I realize that summer presents different opportunity than fall/winter where nothing has been lost for a while. I mean, hitting the shores after busy weekends is a no brainer of course. I'll be doing that for sure.

For off season hunting, I have concluded that either there is not much gold to be found along the shore and higher up on the beach, or that it is too deep, or that it is further out in the water. I am not missing detectable signals, at least with my machine. I think perserverance is key in this and the willingness to change what is not working. So, we will see. The Excalibur is rated very high among experienced hunters, but I am not really qualified to speak about other machines and how they compare with this! I consider myself a greenhorn. Or maybe I should say, I've not earned my eyepatch and peg leg yet. Arrrrrrrg.

Darksky
 
OK, thanks for the all the input. DFXrus- I am actually using a DFX. I pretty much dig anything that gives a good signal, but I spend a good bit of time digging up pennies. It sounds as though I'm not on the wrong track at all, I guess I just still need to put in my time. I went to Nags Head over the Thanksgiving holiday, and of course the east coast had one heck of a storm just a couple of weeks prior. On top of about 200 clad coins found in about 12 hours of total searching, I did manage to find 3 pieces of jewelry- just no rings. One is a sterling St. Christopher pendant. Another one was a silver plated pendant with the virgin Mary on one side and Jesus on the cross on the other side but the plating is almost all worn off. The last was I think some sort of pin, it also has sterling written on the back along with the words Cortes Crosses The First Cattle Brand in America. It has three crosses on a black field on the front. Three pieces of jewelry and all three were religious, I wonder if someone was trying to tell me something.:?:
 
Firts timer!

I just took my detector out for the first time this last weekend and found a ring! Its not really all that cool but it is silver and I can say that I got very lucky! I still can't tell one sound from another coming from my detector. Question: how can I seperate the different sounds coming from my detector? Experience????

Jonathan
 
My two day finds

Hunted two beaches I know to be well populated. Spent serval hours out each time. Nothing impressive. Many of the coins were deep, but the dates are not very old. I was surprised to see the level of corrosion on these fairly new clads. The later date's finds were mostly right along the shoreline, close to low tide. No jewelry other than the little brass heart and the earing "Sheena" which I assume is silver. Should there not be a possibility of gold among this class of recovered items?
I'll keep trying different things, and more of the same too.
 

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darksky said:
Hunted two beaches I know to be well populated. Spent serval hours out each time. Nothing impressive. Many of the coins were deep, but the dates are not very old. I was surprised to see the level of corrosion on these fairly new clads. The later date's finds were mostly right along the shoreline, close to low tide. No jewelry other than the little brass heart and the earing "Sheena" which I assume is silver. Should there not be a possibility of gold among this class of recovered items?
I'll keep trying different things, and more of the same too.
Click to expand...

Let me guess. You were using the Excaliber, not the Whites? :?:
 
Dirk, I too swing a DFX... Finding gold rings in the wet/dry sand and not in the water can be few and far between. Most rings and other jewelry is in the water. The cold water shrinks the fingers and rings tend to slip off.

Other then that, try running in 15KHZ as it is more sensitive to gold. It also provides a greater seperation in low range VDI's if VDI Normalization is turned off. Chains will fall in the -5 to +10 range, small rings and earings in the +8 to +32 range, mediums will be +18 to +48 range and large mens gold rings can ring as high as 68... I attached a VDI chart a friend of mine made and provided to aid anyone interested...

Also most gold items will remain relatively stable in their VDI hardly waivering from their number (I.E. Solid 14 13 15 but not farther away then that)... Just dig dig dig...
 

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Newer coins do seem to take a beating at the beach, particularly the zinc pennies. I have yet to find any old coins although I am pretty new to the game.
 
No, I used minimum discrimination. I was hunting in All Metal, and checking for null in Disc when I got a hit at about 1-2 level in Disc. Being new with the Excal, I'd dig now and then with rejected targets that nulled in Disc, and they were always rusty iron metal.
 
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