Having been a metal detector hobbyist some years before the advent of discriminators, I was thrilled with their introduction in the 70’s. I thought I had arrived when I got my first discriminator, a White’s Coinmaster. I sat that detector’s discrimination as high as I could go because I was tired of digging pop tops, pull tabs, and aluminum screw caps which abounded in the school yards and beaches of central Florida. Initially,  the results were exciting! I was finding more goodies and far less junk. Unfortunately, I did not realize all that I was missing until my nickel count and gold find totals dissappeared completely. I then became a student of discrimination and still am today. I would like to share with you some of my knowledge from many years of using discrimination.

In a recent article I suggested  using the all metal mode or zero discriminaion as a means of finding more good targets and bypassing so much of the masking of targets that takes place with all conventional VLF detectors. Here you listen to all targets,  learning to discern a good or semi-good tone from all the target tones. This is a time consuming process but using a good test garden can enhance learning this skill. In many trashy environments this is the best  possible method of discrimination.

Lowering the sensitivity level on your detector is the only way that I know to increase good target finds in high trash areas as well as finding some targets that are masked by rejected targets. How much depth loss you get depends on the detector. My favorite detectors for lowering sensitivity and still getting good depth are the Fisher brand.

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Would I encourage you to do the same? A resounding yes! BUT, I have reservations in doing so. Please be careful to not put yourself and others at risk by hanging around when a dangerous storm is imminent. Abide by any directives of law enforcement officials in regards to hunting immediately after a storm has impacted an area. Safety first is paramount. Timing is critical in doing well after a storm has hit a beach. Being there immediately afterward, and before the next incoming tide, can pay big dividends. Use very little to no discrimination and dig those faint signals regardless of tone. I have pulled many small gold targets at 6-8 inches deep in my storm searches. If the storm surge removes a few feet of the beach that is good. If five or more feet of sand are removed you are blessed! Three friends and I took 2500 coins and 30 gold rings in a storm hunt on the other coast of Florida where about 8 to 10 ft of beach disappeared. We found coins dating back to the early 1900’s and one gold ring was dated 1894. The next day we could find very little as the tides returned so much of the sand. A no name storm hit Tarpon Springs in 1993 and I found an authentic shipwreck counterfiet 1793 spanish 8 Reale Coin a few days later. The reason I could find it several days later here as opposed to the other coast not producing anything the next day, is the tide force. The Atlantic tides pound the beaches and the Gulf Coast beaches have much less forceful tide surges. A coin or ring lost in the surf on the east coast will be carried out of the reach in a short period of time. Many times on the Gulf Coast I have found old wheat cents and silver coins in the surf at 8-10 inches deep when there is no storm. I hope to find some goodies with Fay but do not want it being a hurricane pounding the FL coast. Here’s to “diggin it”!  Larry

What made that time frame so productive was great research and some powerful, now deemed vintage, metal detectors. My favorite of all time is the Fisher 1260. Not far behind it is the Garrett Master Hunter 7 & 10 units and White’s 6000 Series 2 & 3.  The Compass Relic Magnum 7, the Bounty Hunter Red Barons, and Tesoro Silver Sabre were also productive units for my coin shooting. The Fisher 1280 and CZ 20 were my best water machines during that time frame and produced more than 200 gold rings in the 80’s. I continued using this same technology through most of the 90’s finding about 40,000 coins and another 200 gold rings. I would probably not have changed the technology I was so successful with,  but I developed a major neurological challenge called Hereditary Spastic Parapelegia in 1994. This is a gait disease and has caused me to change to lighter, high tech machines and to concentrate on water hunting where walking/diving are easier on me. I refuse to let this challenge take away my favorite pastime/hobby! I am just not able to hunt long periods of time with my old favorites and have sold most of them on ebay and made the shift to the newer technology. I feel that I am able to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of old vintage as well as the newer digital machines.

My first years of using TR-only detectors (Transmitter-Receiver) were marked with a great deal of success because I hunted in some areas with high-iron trash accumulations. These detectors were very quick in response and ignored iron targets. I worked around railroad grounds that were  easier to hunt with TR detectors than any other type. I still use a high frequency TR when I go back to those areas.  In the later seventies the VLF/TR instruments gave the capability of going a little deeper and to ground cancel also. The vast majority of these instruments required motion for the ground cancel operation and were non-motion in the discrimate mode. Many of the machines that came after this type reqired a large learning curve to master their full capabilities. Many detector users dropped out of the hobby because it took so much time and effort to effectively operate these vintage detectors, particurlarly the upper level detectors of most major companies. This led me to recommend most newbies to the hobby to start off with quality lower-level/cost equipment in getting started. My favorite machines to recommend then were the Fisher 1210, 1212x and the Tesoro Silver Sabre. These and others had excellent depth and required very little time in getting to know or learn their operation and allow the user to quickly meet with success in finding good targets. Today, I would recommend the Fisher F2 or the Garrett 150 or 250 Aces. These take a small learning curve and are dynamite new high tech instruments that sell for $150 to $250.

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Here are the specs and features from Garrett’s web site:

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Myth #1: You should always buy the highest grade coin you can afford.

This myth has been around about as long as dirt and is very convincing. Sometimes it is actually good advice, for high grade coins usually outperform lower grades. The problem with this myth is the word always.  Th word always should only be used in terms of making sure you get your money’s worth. Values of specific coin items are not always stable. Proof 63 coins in recent years have been very stable in performance whereas Proof 67 and 68 grades have been on a roller-coaster performance in this same time period.

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In 1891, Chief Engraver Charles Barber, submitted to the Mint Director James Kimball new designs for dimes, quarters and half dollars. As the designer, these coins minted from 1892 thru 1916 bear his name.

Barber dimes are, for the most part, is a completeable set of coins with no significant date or mintmark rarities, except for the legendary 1894 S. The average collector will collect coins graded good to fine. Coins in higher  grades do command higher prices as most of these common date coins were not saved in large numbers at mintage.  This series has become a favorite of many collectors recently despite its lack of artistic beauty. I personally have dug up more than half of the coins in this collection and bartered and traded for many that I need only a few tougher dates to complete this set. The 1914 coin to be given away in August is a nice specimen. Please leave a comment on any of the 68 posts on this blog to qualify for this drawing.

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Myth #1: Never clean a coin!

Cleaning of coins is never encouraged unless you know what you are dealing with. True collector (specimen) coins should not be cleaned. There are several classes of coins that proper cleaning techniques will enhance and generally improve their markability. Ancients are not graded by the same standards as our coins today and dug coins will generally profit from proper cleaning. Many dug coins of modern time can stand some cleaning. I toss thousands of coins into my coin tumbler each year. Most are coins that are pretty rough looking and just to put them into circulation or to use them in trade, cleaning is a necessity. I also clean 90% of my nickel finds as dug five cent pieces are almost always darkened and will be enhanced by proper cleaning techniques. I have never or will ever clean fine and better copper, nickel, silver, or gold coins. Cleaning a rare or valuable collector coin could cost you thousands of dollars in resale potential.

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I learned about this law some years ago from a minister preaching a message on seed-time and harvest. That message got my attention in a big way. I knew his life and the illustrations of the Law of Likeness that he gave were impressive. He was a younger man who had very little going for him financially and someone blessed him with $100.00 to buy a new suit. He felt God spoke to him to give that money to help another minister buy a suit. In sowing a seed into that man’s ministry he was blessed and over the next 18 years he never had to buy a suit as he was blessed by people buying him new suits. A total of 90 suits in 18 years is astonishing and a great example of the Law of Likeness. 

 The Law of Likeness is very clear. I took a course in Rhetoric and guess what? The Law of Likeness was one of the underlying principles for Rhetoric. Later, I took a college class in Physical Science and a key premise in the mind of the professor was, the Law of Likeness permeates every area of the universe. You might ask how does this relate to metal detecting to build coin collections?

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1. 4 Diamond 14K Star of Linde Sapphire Ring - Found summer of 1973  at Tarpon Beach using a White’s Amphibian (diver’s model). First water ring find - one inch deep.

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