Newbie with Gold detector question

clonewarsjedi

clonewarsjedi

Greenie
Nov 9, 2013
10
6
Abingdon Virginia
Detector(s) used
Fisher F2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Good afternoon,

I am in Abingdon Virginia and wanted to expand my detection outings to include gold. I have done a lot of research, but have come to a stumbling block.

I guess my overall goal is to be able to detect gold coins, jewelry, and nuggets with a detector no more than $1k. I have come down to the Garret AT Gold, Fisher Gold Bug Pro, and Fisher Gold Bug 2, but am not so familiar to understand the frequency aspect. The Gold Bug 2 has very high frequency. Will this prevent it from finding rings/coins and only find gold nuggets?

Also looking at getting a Garrett Pro pinpointer. The one I got with my Fisher F2 is ok, but I saw a few videos and the Garrett looks way better. Any thoughts? I found a 1778 silver coin with the /F2 so I am happy with it as far as silver coin detecting goes.

Thanks.
 

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clonewarsjedi said:
Good afternoon,

I am in Abingdon Virginia and wanted to expand my detection outings to include gold. I have done a lot of research, but have come to a stumbling block.

I guess my overall goal is to be able to detect gold coins, jewelry, and nuggets with a detector no more than $1k. I have come down to the Garret AT Gold, Fisher Gold Bug Pro, and Fisher Gold Bug 2, but am not so familiar to understand the frequency aspect. The Gold Bug 2 has very high frequency. Will this prevent it from finding rings/coins and only find gold nuggets?

Also looking at getting a Garrett Pro pinpointer. The one I got with my Fisher F2 is ok, but I saw a few videos and the Garrett looks way better. Any thoughts? I found a 1778 silver coin with the /F2 so I am happy with it as far as silver coin detecting goes.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

If I understand your intended purpose correctly, a Gold Detector is not what you want. Gold detectors usually run at high frequencies and are intended mostly, for nugget hunting. For gold coins and jewelry, such as rings and bracelets, a quality general purpose detector is best. They also excel at clad coins, silver coins, silver jewelry, keys, tokens and on and on!

Personally, I suggest a machine like a Tesoro Outlaw, which is available with a 3 size coil package, or a Garrett AT Pro (Standard, not Gold), just to name a couple.
 

You're F2 will work fine on everything you're looking to detect except tiny gold nuggets. To find gold you gotta dig pulltabs. One day after digging several 100 or 1000 you'll be surprised when the yellow color pops up!
 

Whites MXT, has a relic, coin and propecting package. JMHO
 

Get the at pro does all that you want and it water proof so if you drop it fine that and you don't have to ground blace in las you want to
 

Those who do the best are those that always hunt in all metal and dig everything. After about 10,000 pull tabs you get the feeling that you should use discrimination. The moment you do, you start loosing good targets. The old analog machines were a little better than modern digitals, but way heavier and battery hogs. Still, a 1260X has found more good targets than just about anything else made. White's 6000D is hard to beat and so was the Garrett Master Hunter 7. I find very little difference in the new machines. One is about as good as the next. I have a new Ace 250 and a F5 and just sold a minelab. All 3 were used for 3 or 4 days and then consigned to the closet. The old 1260X will still out hunt them and it is 40 years old plus! Is it any wonder the old Silver Sabre (not the new version) is now bringing more than it sold new for! You just turn it on and go to digging :)
 

clonewarsjedi said:
Good afternoon,

I am in Abingdon Virginia and wanted to expand my detection outings to include gold. I have done a lot of research, but have come to a stumbling block.

I guess my overall goal is to be able to detect gold coins, jewelry, and nuggets with a detector no more than $1k. I have come down to the Garret AT Gold, Fisher Gold Bug Pro, and Fisher Gold Bug 2, but am not so familiar to understand the frequency aspect. The Gold Bug 2 has very high frequency. Will this prevent it from finding rings/coins and only find gold nuggets?

Also looking at getting a Garrett Pro pinpointer. The one I got with my Fisher F2 is ok, but I saw a few videos and the Garrett looks way better. Any thoughts? I found a 1778 silver coin with the /F2 so I am happy with it as far as silver coin detecting goes.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You do NOT want the Goldbug II (71.1kHz). You want either the Goldbug Pro (19kHz) which also offers discrimination, or the Tesoro Lobo Super Traq (17.8kHz) which offers a discrimination mode. The Garrett AT Gold operates at 18kHz, and would also be a good choice with its discrimination capabilities. All of these machines are PRIMARILY gold nugget hunters which makes them LOVE deep iron targets even when discriminating, and you will need to learn their language.

I used my Tesoro Lobo Super Traq for quite a while as a coinshooter - check it out:
 

Last edited:
I'd go to the Arizona gold forums and read what Ray has to say about the Goldbug Pro. He swears by it, and it's a dual purpose machine to boot. It will come in under your 1K budget, it's light, and it works great for him. (In an earlier post, Terry has also mentioned it.)

It's not a top of the line coin machine, but it does have the circuitry for coin shooting and for nugget hunting.

It may be just what you're looking for.

I had a Stinger once, but there are so many better gold machines out there now that I wouldn't go for it, even though it is a dual purpose machine.

All the best,

Lanny
 

FWIW, my White's MXT (not the new MXT Pro) can pretty much find anything. I have been able to find some pretty small gold pieces in the prospecting mode.
 

Well Clone wars, you are on the right track. Either the Gold Bug Pro, the Garrett AT Gold are great choices, the Gold Bug 2 is not as it doesn't have
a discrimination circuit and it is primarily for tiny gold nuggets close to the surface. As far as the AT Pro, don't get it, the AT Gold is better for nuggets,
goes deeper in all metal and is also waterproof. Too many people praise the AT Pro and overlook the AT Gold.
Yes, I think you will be happier with the GArrett Pro pinpointer.
Rich
 

Oakview is spot on the whites MXT short learning curve and will find small gold sure you can find one on e-bay used just my HO
 

Hi guys I have a similar problem. I am fortunate to live in an old gold mining town, which still has plenty gold in the area. It is quite old, founded in 1884, but prospected long before that. I am a newbie to the whole metal detecting thing, but have a major interest in relics from days gone by. An added bonus obviously is gold nuggets which are still found in the rivers and streams in the area. Hence my dilemma, what metal detector to buy. As a beginner with a limited budget, I have no desire to spend thousands of dollars although I might end up doing it, once the bug has bitten.:-) That being said, as the ground mineral content is quite high, I would assume "noise" will be a big problem. So what do I buy? I have been looking at the Fisher F2, Bounty Hunter 505, and quite a few others, but I am not sure they are the right choice for a beginner with these difficult circumstances. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards from a Golden South Africa.
 

When detecting in a foreign country you are ALWAYS better served by utilizing local knowledge to find the correct unit to purchase. Your mineralogy is horrendously hot to deal with and what works here ,or even OZ,might just drive ya bonkers in South Africa. Export/import fees are massive in many countries. Look local is your best bet for comprehensive information as to what works on the dark continent. Hopefully you can find a mentor to partner up with for both knowledge and safety sake out in the bush-John
 

Thank you John for your reply. Unfortunately our metal detector users are quite limited and the prices are terrible even second hand. Buying a new machine overseas with import duties are still cheaper. I hear what you saying about local knowledge, but most of the guys I have seen using it are using it on beaches looking for jewelry and coins, which is totally different to my application. The worst is we actually have the oldest gold in the world according to scientists, in actual fact there is proof that a lot of the gold used in King Solomon's temple actually comes from this area. The town is located basically in a crater formed by a meteorite millions of years ago, hence the town being surrounded by mountains. Hence gold mining here is quite different to the normal deep level mining done in the rest of our country. It is a well-known fact that quite recently one of the farmer was cleaning a river running through his farm and found a lot of gold nuggets while clearing some undergrowth. It is this relative mineral rich soil that is my concern. But thank you anyway, appreciate the advise.
 

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