Treasure Classifieds Forum

Ok I'm swinging a minelab safari ive got about 50 hours of hunt time under my belt but still pulling up allot of pennies so I did some air tests and is it just me but do pennies make the same tone as dimes and quarters? Cause I'm not hearing diffrence and I've herd people say silver is unmistakable but when I air test my clad quarter and my silver quarter they sound the same. Is it me or what

(12-04-2015 01:05 AM)Indiana Duck Wrote: [ -> ]Ok I'm swinging a minelab safari ive got about 50 hours of hunt time under my belt but still pulling up allot of pennies so I did some air tests and is it just me but do pennies make the same tone as dimes and quarters? Cause I'm not hearing diffrence and I've herd people say silver is unmistakable but when I air test my clad quarter and my silver quarter they sound the same. Is it me or what

I have used the Explorer not the Safari

Copper Pennies and Clad dimes will sound pretty similar. Silver dimes will have a slightly higher tone but it takes hundreds of hours before you can call it. Hard to explain but after a while you will know that it just sounds silver!

All qtrs will sound pretty much the same.

If you are digging wheats an cooper pennies you will definitely dig silvers.

What Ron says....
People can claim anything.
Next time someone says they can pick out the silver coin tell them to pick it out of about 5 quarters and then hide the silver one as you do the air test. They will still claim one of the quarters are silver.

Silver does have a particular High pitch to it on my SE Pro. But that varies with how deep the coin is, it's overall spatial position in the soil and soil conditions and mineralization. Pennies and clad dimes drive me completely nuts! Even with the accuracy of the VID, I end up digging them because you just don't know whether they are or they aren't! Quarters, on the other hand, are quarters. They tone pretty high regardless. So if you are digging dimes and pennies like mad, what you're actually doing is cleaning up the area for the real silver signal. It's happened to me a great deal. Sometimes I think that tone deaf thing myself but in the end prove myself wrong. As Ron says, it takes hundreds of hours of use to get the feeling for it.

And Joe has a Safari and he kills it on the silver!!

Ed/ODF

(12-04-2015 01:05 AM)Indiana Duck Wrote: [ -> ]Ok I'm swinging a minelab safari ive got about 50 hours of hunt time under my belt but still pulling up allot of pennies so I did some air tests and is it just me but do pennies make the same tone as dimes and quarters? Cause I'm not hearing diffrence and I've herd people say silver is unmistakable but when I air test my clad quarter and my silver quarter they sound the same. Is it me or what

Pennies are pretty easy to differentiate from dimes & quarters, but, as others have said, it takes a lot of time for your ear to hear it. I probably have over 1,000 hours on my Safari, and I shit you not, I still learn something new from it, almost every time I go out. Of course, as with most things in life, there are exceptions...

Deep wheats for example, can sound almost exactly like a silver dime/quarter. And don't take my word for it, watch anyone hunting with any Minelab on Youtube, and if they haven't edited it out, you will notice how often they are fooled thinking they have a deep silver/dime/quarter, when in actuality, it turned out to be a wheatie. Further, not only do deep wheats sound like dimes/quarters, but because they are deeper, the VDI numbers will tend to be off, so, whatever a dime/quarter normally reads quickly goes out the window.

On shallow penny signals, yes, almost anyone that has at least a couple hundred hours on a Minelab can accurately call them ahead of time, as they have a tell-tale sound, and, because they're shallow, the VDI numbers are practically spot on. Remember though...

There are many other variables to consider; angle of the coin in the soil, condition of coin (corroded, cut in half, etc.), and so forth, which all have a bearing on how the target sounds.

How long have you hunted with a Minelab would be my question? If you're fairly new to them, you're not going to be able to pick up the nuances of the sounds for quite a while. The first time I ever used one, I felt like I was trapped inside of a pinball machine. I didn't understand all of the different tones, and make no mistake, the beauty, the elegance, of the Minelab's are the tones. But it takes time to learn.

Short answer - Yes, one can tell the difference between a penny versus dime/quarter if the target is shallow. If the target is deeper, 5 or 6" plus, it becomes more difficult. It can be done, but not as accurately, and not as often. You are going to get fooled.

Joe

The big tonal distinction with Minelab units comes at the zinc vs copper penny range.
Silver coins are very rare here as 75% of the population has appeared since 65 so it just never was in existence , so going for coins is a losing proposition and jewelry becomes the target of the day. Ignore those zinc numbers at your own risk.
We often joke that a particularly good sounding pulltab or wad of foil is our next gold ring---alot of that mentality applies to the next silver coin.

(12-04-2015 11:44 AM)Dusty Wrote: [ -> ]The big tonal distinction with Minelab units comes at the zinc vs copper penny range.

Agree 1,000%, IF a target is shallow. The deeper a memorial/wheatie is, the harder it becomes to differentiate. Not saying it can't be done, but it becomes much harder to do accurately/consistently the deeper an item is. Again, there are exceptions, though...

I've dug many deep, silver quarters. And if they're laying flat in the hole, and pinpoint with a softer signal, it is almost impossible to not predict it's a quarter. Of course, this is much harder to do on pennies & dimes, as they're roughly the same size, and the lack of mass provides less preview information to go on.

Up to about 4 or 5", I can call an indian head versus a memorial versus a wheatie correct most of the time. After that depth range, it becomes more tricky.

Joe

I just wanted to say thanks to all of you was starting to doubt my choice of the safari I've seen you vids Joe know your stuff I just get discouraged when my bud has a ace 250 and kills me Almost every time wile I go bat shit crazydigging pennies Thanks brothers keep up the digging

(12-04-2015 09:22 PM)Indiana Duck Wrote: [ -> ]I just wanted to say thanks to all of you was starting to doubt my choice of the safari I've seen you vids Joe know your stuff I just get discouraged when my bud has a ace 250 and kills me Almost every time wile I go bat shit crazydigging pennies Thanks brothers keep up the digging

While the Ace 250 isn't a bad machine, it's really apples and oranges compared to any Minelab. You're talking an entry level detector, versus top of the line unit's. But, if your buddy knows his 250, and you're still in the learning phases with the Minelab, it's understandable he would find more than you. However...

Once you have the hang of your Safari, believe me, you will also be finding a ton of good stuff.

Joe

Don't forget to bench test. Take some time and listen to the coins. It sounds like a grammer school lesson but it is worth it. Pick up a copy of the Andy Sabich book on Explorers and read it a few times and bench test, coins, junk and jewerly.
I idid that one winter when detecting was non existent until spring....it helped me big time.
Also remember - any change in settings or options on an Explorer will change the sounds. Once you set yours and like what you have keep a written copy and store it at home and in your detector bag you take to the field. If and when your machine reboots and all is lost - no worries - you have a copy.