Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Strange Cluster. Aruba 5 Cents. Mexico 1 Peso, U. S. Quarter. |
The other day I talked about selecting a strategy for a particular hunt. In order to select an effective strategy, you have to have knowledge of the site. You also need to know what your detectors do well and what they don't do well.
The other day when I was checking out a hunted out area I did find this strange cluster of coins. They were the only coins found in the hunted out area.
The were closely clustered together, and on my PI detector gave a huge signal. It was a confusing signal though. It didn't sound like anything I recognized. I scooped the area and found all three coins. Each and everyone gave a good strong signal on the PI detector.
There is nothing strange about the quarter, of course. But the other two coins are sort of unusual.
The 2005 Mexican peso is bimetallic. The center is aluminum-bronze and the ring is stainless steel. On the Garrett Ace 250, it usually is identified as a quarter, but not totally consistently. It occasionally shows as iron.
Now the little 5 cent Aruba coin is small. It weighs only two grams, is 16 mm in diameter and 1.7 mm thick. It is made of nickel bonded steel.
The PI detector gave a gives a good loud signal on that little coin. The Ace does not give a signal to that coin in any mode other than the All-Metals mode. As you probably know I have a preference for working in an all-metals mode anyhow. The Ace gives a good strong signal on it only in All-Metals mode.
I can see how a detectorist could miss this cluster. The Aruba coin would definitely not give a good ID, and would not give any signal at all in many cases. I'm sure you wouldn't hear it with an Excalibur, for example. The peso could mix things up too, however if you are using a PI detector or All-Metals mode, you are not going to miss targets like that.
Even with a PI detector I could tell it was something other than the usual. It confused me at first. I've learned to identify a variety of trash targets using a PI. Fish hooks for example, give a signal something like a elongated object such as a nail when you do a criss-cross scan, but it is a little quirky in a way that I can't easily explain.
I've explained how to identify elongated objects like nails by scanning repeatedly first in one direction and then again at a 90 degree angle.
The point is, know your detector and how it responds to a wide variety of targets. Try to guess what the target is from the signal before you dig it even if you don't have target ID. That will help you learn how your detector responds to various types of targets.
Remember, there are a lot good targets that will not be correctly Identified by a target ID detector. How will a Rolex watch be identified by your detector? Not knowing could be an expensive mistake, especially if you don't dig unknown targets. Cobs won't be identified correctly either.
As an example, if you use a simple ID detector such as the Ace 250, working in the Coin mode you will not get a signal from a Rolex Yacht-Master watch.
You know that quiet you like so much when you use discrimination - that was your Rolex watch. Just kidding - sorta.
By the way, the Rolex that I tested was found on the Treasure Coast using an Excalibur in pinpoint mode.
Using the Ace, you will get an inconsistent ID on the Rolex Yacht-Master if you are working in the Jewelry or All-Metals mode. There is that "All-Metals" word I preach so much. In those two modes the ID jumps around depending upon what part of the watch your coil is over. Mostly you will get a reading going between 1 cent and 5 cent, which is also where bronze and gold, and also pull-tab, is marked on the ID readout display.
You might remember that a few months ago I did a poll to determine the primary motive for most detectorists. One person added something I didn't have in the poll by sending me an email. He said that what keeps him going is the possibility of that one big unexpected find that might occur at any time. I'm sure that motivates a lot of us, never knowing what big find might pop up unexpectedly. You have a lot better chance of finding that one big find if you know your detector very well and aren't passing over everything that isn't easily identified.
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Here is a good video of the surf and beach from a couple of days ago.
On the Treasure Coast today we'll have West winds today, a good smooth surf and some nice big spring tides.
Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
