The tedium of the learning curve

I have been slowly working the tedious greenhorn learning curve of metal detecting. I settled on an AT Pro and have commenced to learning it . . . It has been like wrestling a wild water hose with every signal and noise . . . 91 then 27 then 77 then 32, all mixed in with various iron groans and promising chirps. After two hours of work I detected all junk except for a 1996 D clad penny and a 1983 rabies vaccination tag. I finally managed to get it under control where I could manage to discriminate my targets, which resulted in the rabies tag and penny. I am detecting in my neighborhood, an old dying town founded in 1870's. My problem is figuring out from the old photos where the boardwalks would have been. Basically, I have way too many targets so I have been trying to learn to screen the junk. That said, all I am finding is junk like beer cans, pepper spray cans, big nails and washers, a condenser from an old motor, etc. . . . I hope I am am a quick learn so I can finally graduate to at least a nickel. So far with the AT Pro I have found an old toy jeep, two pennies, and a rabies tag. The rest has been piles of junk.