John-Edmonton
Elite Member
Canadian coins are a real challenge to detect. 
The coinage is made by a variety of metals, and that is also dependent on their mintage year. We have coins made of silver, tombac, nickel, copper, zinc, nickel, steel and nickel plated steel. The duration of the coinage outside, both in and above the ground, can rust away some of the nickel coating and expose steel rust, or other oxides on the outside of the coinage. The tones on the AT Series help to identify the more rusted objects compared to good and partially rusted coinage. Using a concentric coil also helps to identify rusted bottle caps from coins. DD coils tent to read rusted bottle caps as good targets in the coin range.
US coins are a breeze!
When that coil goes over a US dime or quarter, it bangs real hard and gives a proper ID. You guys are so lucky 
to have your coinage tweaked with most brands of metal detectors.
Anyhow, we have another storm warning
out for later today, so I got up early and hit a few spots. Below are my finds from this week. Today was my second hunt. Once you learn the tones and where our coinage reads, getting them is really quite easy.
Over the last 25 years or so, I have been averaging about $500.00 in clad eachyear.
Below is a description of how Garrett AT Series read Canadian Coins:
PENNIES
Older pennies, up to the middle 1990's will read in the penny icon, or with a VDI in the 80's. Now the newer strikes, can be made of metal or zinc plated with copper. These are harder to ID as pennies, especially when the copper coating begins to wear off. But, expect them to read as a steaduy VDI reading of 74 +/- about 2%. Others will read in the high 70's and lower 80's. The key is where the VDI numbers read MOST of the time. If you decider to NOT dig pennies for whatever reason, expect to miss some silver rings and 10K gold rings.
NICKLES
They usually give a softer sound with a VDI reading at 51 and remain there. Square pull tabs give a harsher sound and often times remain at 53. Gold is common in this area +/- 10% with a consistent softer tone.
DIMES
Older silver dimes, (pre 1968 ) or older will read as silver and read in the lower to mid 80's. However, if they are beyond about 6 inches in depth, they may start to read as junk. Use your common sense rule that if it is deep, it is probably old. Now freshly dropped dimes will read loud and allow the VDI numbers to bounce around the 60's to the 90's. With the IRON AUDIO turned on, they will grunt (low iron) and give a nice loud sound in the 80's -90's. Dig them, as they might also be a quarter. Older dimes tend to fluctuate in the 40's to 70's with the odd spike to the 80's.
Quarters
Pre 1968 quarters were silver and will read in the 80's consistantly. New fresh dropped quarters give a loud signal, with a VDI bouncing back and forth between 30's - 70's. You will eventually learn their distinctive audio. Older (not silver) quarters tend to bounce back and forth around the 70's to 80's. They also give off a loud signal.
Loonies
Give off a very loud audio bouncing back and forth 70's to the 80's.
Toonies
Give off a loud signal in the 70's and can sometimes give off a spike to the 90's.
And....below my finds for this week!
The coinage is made by a variety of metals, and that is also dependent on their mintage year. We have coins made of silver, tombac, nickel, copper, zinc, nickel, steel and nickel plated steel. The duration of the coinage outside, both in and above the ground, can rust away some of the nickel coating and expose steel rust, or other oxides on the outside of the coinage. The tones on the AT Series help to identify the more rusted objects compared to good and partially rusted coinage. Using a concentric coil also helps to identify rusted bottle caps from coins. DD coils tent to read rusted bottle caps as good targets in the coin range.US coins are a breeze!
When that coil goes over a US dime or quarter, it bangs real hard and gives a proper ID. You guys are so lucky to have your coinage tweaked with most brands of metal detectors. Anyhow, we have another storm warning
out for later today, so I got up early and hit a few spots. Below are my finds from this week. Today was my second hunt. Once you learn the tones and where our coinage reads, getting them is really quite easy. Over the last 25 years or so, I have been averaging about $500.00 in clad eachyear.
Below is a description of how Garrett AT Series read Canadian Coins:
PENNIES
Older pennies, up to the middle 1990's will read in the penny icon, or with a VDI in the 80's. Now the newer strikes, can be made of metal or zinc plated with copper. These are harder to ID as pennies, especially when the copper coating begins to wear off. But, expect them to read as a steaduy VDI reading of 74 +/- about 2%. Others will read in the high 70's and lower 80's. The key is where the VDI numbers read MOST of the time. If you decider to NOT dig pennies for whatever reason, expect to miss some silver rings and 10K gold rings.
NICKLES
They usually give a softer sound with a VDI reading at 51 and remain there. Square pull tabs give a harsher sound and often times remain at 53. Gold is common in this area +/- 10% with a consistent softer tone.
DIMES
Older silver dimes, (pre 1968 ) or older will read as silver and read in the lower to mid 80's. However, if they are beyond about 6 inches in depth, they may start to read as junk. Use your common sense rule that if it is deep, it is probably old. Now freshly dropped dimes will read loud and allow the VDI numbers to bounce around the 60's to the 90's. With the IRON AUDIO turned on, they will grunt (low iron) and give a nice loud sound in the 80's -90's. Dig them, as they might also be a quarter. Older dimes tend to fluctuate in the 40's to 70's with the odd spike to the 80's.
Quarters
Pre 1968 quarters were silver and will read in the 80's consistantly. New fresh dropped quarters give a loud signal, with a VDI bouncing back and forth between 30's - 70's. You will eventually learn their distinctive audio. Older (not silver) quarters tend to bounce back and forth around the 70's to 80's. They also give off a loud signal.
Loonies
Give off a very loud audio bouncing back and forth 70's to the 80's.
Toonies
Give off a loud signal in the 70's and can sometimes give off a spike to the 90's.
And....below my finds for this week!
