My machine can find a dime at 14 inches, can yours?

MrMikeJackie

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Nov 3, 2013
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I chuckle every time I hear or see a depth dispute between users touting their machine as the "deeeeeepest" machine out there. They can "hear" a "whisper" at 14" and that they pull coins all the time at 12 inches no problem.
Really? First off, I didn't realize you could even get a "whisper" sound on newer digital machines, secondly I don't believe 95% of users even know what to look for when seeking deep coins. I believe most go right over them, their machine makes some weird sounds (mostly iron tones), they stop for a second, the display shows a bunch of nonsense on the screen because at that depth no machine out there can give a positive id, so they keep going.
Every now and then a guy will get lucky, the smart hunters will dig only because of repeatability, or because the depth is maxed out on the display. Then others just have a very bad sense of depth, an 8" deep coin turns into a 12" deep coin, or they dig a huge plug and coin happens to fall to the bottom. My 3 deepest coins where dug only because they repeated, one way, barely.
But to say my machine can find a dime at 12" inches no problem is unrealistic under normal hunting parameters. Am I wrong?
 

great point Miss. but seriously me can get 14" on a nickel...lol jk! theres so many factors that determine depth its not worth typing
 

Must be a good machine!

From my notes I see that one of the deepest dimes I ever found was at 9". That's by measurement.

The amazing thing is it was a 1996 Roosevelt - the area was besude a river that gets a lot of ice & silt. Very disappointing!

I have hit 1" objects at 14" or slightly deeper (a 1" by 5-16" aluminum wire piece my detector was very excited about. ANd I have hit sheet aluminum at two feet.

But it depends on conditions, soil, local trash, etc., etc.

Air tests and $1.50 will get you a cup of coffee. Interesting, but not much else.

"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is." -- Yogi Berra (who patted me on top of the head when I was a kid and he was a catcher).
 

I believe most newer detectors can find these deeper coins. I believe most just don't know it when their machine tells them it's there. Most guys think a 4" inch coin will I.D. the same at 10+ inches. That's just not going to happen.
 

My deepest coin was a large silver that was 10 inches down, I was running boost process after an all night rain. I went detecting and the rain started again using the stock 11" DD coil early one Sunday morning. I have pulled many wheats and a few IHPs from 8.5" to 9" down, using both the 11" DD and the 15" x 12". My deepest find was a hunk of steel from a corn field, it was 14" deep in wet (not muddy) soil. I dig all signals when I hunt a field that used to have a homestead on it back in the 1800s. The soil around my area is rather mild and GB's in the low to mid 60's on the F75LTDSE.
 

You are correct MrMike - I see people often times calling a 4" deep hole 8 inches. The bigger the object, the deeper our machines will detect.
A dime at 14 inches - Nope!!!
 

All depends on how large a target is. I swing a minelab and hardly ever get a signal over a foot. Bounty Hunter claims their detectors will find a small target at four feet deep. Don't know...
 

I have read where people use AT pros where they dig silver 10 to 12 inches all the time,and if the AT pro was that good they would be a $1000 instead of $ 600,and they try to convince people that they are better than the MInelabs are.I havent dug any real deep silver with my machines.i have about sold my machine two or three times to buy me one of those turbo ATpros LOL!!! all metal detectors will find things but some are just are deeper than other ones,some will also separate targets better also,but i would really love to have one of those turbo AT pros tho.I do believe that alot of these deep silver finds are over estimated,so i hope that i havent stuck my foot in my mouth by writing this post.
 

Kyskinner, my minelab will find targets deeper than 12 inches I meant most targets are much shallower than that in the hard clay soil of N.C.
 

Kyskinner, my minelab will find targets deeper than 12 inches I meant most targets are much shallower than that in the hard clay soil of N.C.

Yes minelabs are deep seekers,i believe that my t2 can stay up with the best but in different ways. i had a minelab se pro for three years sold it and got the t2,in depth i cant tell much difference,
 

This is a great post... I have been digging since the late 70's and most all penny size coins are 7" or less in Oregon soil... A large coin maybe 10" max... the 15" coins stories are so funny to me... ")
 

Kyskinner, my minelab will find targets deeper than 12 inches I meant most targets are much shallower than that in the hard clay soil of N.C.
This my point exactly:BangHead:
 

Any detector will find a beer can at 14". A coin however, one must know what to look for. A coin at 12" is NOT going to sound or look like a coin. You will be digging for something, but you will have no idea what it is.
 

This my point exactly:BangHead:

I believe Todd is referring to "Large" targets being that deep - No way they are finding small coins at that depth. My Excal can hit big targets underwater AT 12" Or So.....but coins are approx. 8 inches.
 

My deepest coin was a Morgan dollar aprox 14" down with a barber dime along side it. If you asked me before I dug it what it was, I would have said it was a zinc penny, no a nickel, no wait maybe just iron, hold on now it says quarter, pull tab yes pull tab, oh heck I don't know but whatever it is it's coming out. My DFX found me two coins, a fat Indian and a 2 cent piece both aprox 10". There was no rhyme or reason for digging those coins other than repeatability one way, barely. Forget about the screen, useless at that depth. There are sooooooo many more coins at that depth than we know of.
 

I'm seriously considering trying something diff. I will go to my favorite colonial spot that I've "pounded" over the years. I will bring 4 orange cones, some flags, my CTX, and a whites dual field pi. I will set up a grid 20x20 and mark all sounds with the pi. I will then check them all with my CTX and see what happens. Those that my CTX can't see or has a hard time with, will come out.
 

Ace 350 likes to think an aluminum can @ 14 is a quarter @ 6-8........after you've dug a few you learn that after 6, if the pin pointer isnt starting to get a sniff , it's prob a deeper can. A little more practice and you and you feel out the size of target. Deepest quarter was around 8 in freshwater wet sand . No I don't carry a tape, nor would I bother to use it, but complete length of Wally World garden trowel and handle before I pulled the coin. Most places I shoot coins I don't dig anyway. If I can't pull it with probe, I am not risking cutting a plug in a public park. You see vids of guys pulling massive plugs in public parks all the time. I am certain someone would raise hell if I did that in any parks or schools in my area. Deepest nickel I've hit was around 5 with probe and nailed first try. Pin point on ace is pretty good. I do pass on some interesting signals in 6" range sometimes, but just won't cut a plug in local parks. Even in tot lots, you hit the weed guard around 8-12 any way
 

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While on this subject....... What is it about non id machines that makes people think they are deeper. I get the concept that my ace either sees a target well enough to ID and sound off , or it doesn't . I guess that's where the threshold style of hunting and faint signal thing comes into play? You can ,kind of , use the faint signal thing and dig targets that only register consistently from one spot or angle with the ace. you will dig a lot of trash. but sounds like ,when reaching for Max depth , the ability to distinguish targets diminishes any way. I have been toying with the idea of stepping up my machine and trying to get a grasp on what's what.
 

There's plenty of machines that can get a "dime at 14 inches". The PROBLEM is, that their disc./TID/VDI hits a "brick wall" after 6 or 7", such that everything begins to sound the same.

Example: Just last night I was deep-turf-hunting with a guy using an ACE 350. We noticed that deeper wheaties/silver that I flagged and showed him, his 350 got with NO PROBLEM . The problem, however, was that he was unable to go replicated that success elsewhere. Because too many other things (that weren't "deep wheaties and silver) sounded just-the-same. To be fair, I too got fooled a few times by nail-falses (in my quest to grasp for whispers). But when it was all said and done, it seemed that merely being able to wave over a spot and say "I hear it", is only half the battle.
 

I can find some deep coins. Not sure about 14 inches though!:laughing7: I've never actually carried a tape measure, I have found BB's a lot deeper than I would have ever thought. I also dig everything and when board will dig the chirps or the quick tone on a one way pass. Sometimes those end up as deep coins when you start digging. Soils make a difference, if the ground is wet etc...... Ive dug out some pretty deep timber(?) spikes at times out in the middle of no where!
 

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