Zen and the art of detecting for coins in trash.

[GotAU?]

I’ve had to stay around town lately and out of the desert for other reasons, so I have not been prospecting for a while which has gotten me down, but I do get a couple hours each afternoon to play around with my Nox 800 and thought I’d try looking for coins for the first time.

So I found a nice place in town with lots of shade to escape the heat where there’s easy digging to practice coin and junk shooting. There is mostly modern trash there, but it is a perfect practice area with a lot of trashy metal of all sorts interspersed with enough coins and odd things to keep me interested. I’ve been getting better at iron disc detecting there and listening for different target noises and ID numbers as a result. One thing I was amazed at is how deep I’ve been finding small non-ferrous items like aluminum pull-tabs using the 11” coil. Did this ever get me excited thinking about what my Nox could do for finding similar sized nuggets at these depths! This hole was almost 2 feet deep where I found this pull-tab, and I’ve been finding small bits of foil as deep as 1 foot there as well.

These are the finds I have acquired over the past week, and although  there’s nothing here much older than the mid 70s here, it doesn’t really matter because that wasn’t the main reason why I started coin shooting here.

I’ve thought about getting a well known PI detector for prospecting, but have not had a chance to really put the Equinox to a test out in the goldfields yet. Its time is coming soon, I hope. This is a great machine, and along with my gold monster, it will make a pretty good duo when I do get to go prospecting! But the one important thing I’m learning here is that although I was disappointed to not be able to go prospecting at first, I have been learning a lot from this trashy area, not only about using the Equinox, but learning that it doesn’t really matter where I detect to have fun.  

Edited July 19, 2021 by GotAU?

[OferAZ]

I know the feeling.  I moved from a “history rich area” to one not so rich.  After about 3 years, I reluctantly hit some local parks.  It was a learning experience, I eventually got picky, digging only quarter and dime signals, with my xterra 705.  After reaching my goal, that too went by the wayside for the last year or two.  Now in the process of relocating to an area with some History and some Gold in the area.

[BMc]

13 hours ago, GotAU? said:

I’ve had to stay around town lately and out of the desert for other reasons, so I have not been prospecting for a while which has gotten me down, but I do get a couple hours each afternoon to play around with my Nox 800 and thought I’d try looking for coins for the first time.

So I found a nice place in town with lots of shade to escape the heat where there’s easy digging to practice coin and junk shooting. There is mostly modern trash there, but it is a perfect practice area with a lot of trashy metal of all sorts interspersed with enough coins and odd things to keep me interested. I’ve been getting better at iron disc detecting there and listening for different target noises and ID numbers as a result. One thing I was amazed at is how deep I’ve been finding small non-ferrous items like aluminum pull-tabs using the 11” coil. Did this ever get me excited thinking about what my Nox could do for finding similar sized nuggets at these depths! This hole was almost 2 feet deep where I found this pull-tab, and I’ve been finding small bits of foil as deep as 1 foot there as well.

These are the finds I have acquired over the past week, and although  there’s nothing here much older than the mid 70s here, it doesn’t really matter because that wasn’t the main reason why I started coin shooting here.

I’ve thought about getting a well known PI detector for prospecting, but have not had a chance to really put the Equinox to a test out in the goldfields yet. Its time is coming soon, I hope. This is a great machine, and along with my gold monster, it will make a pretty good duo when I do get to go prospecting! But the one important thing I’m learning here is that although I was disappointed to not be able to go prospecting at first, I have been learning a lot from this trashy area, not only about using the Equinox, but learning that it doesn’t really matter where I detect to have fun.  

Well said. And to avoid the fate of Phaedrus in the novel by Robert Pirsig, you can't let the lack of quality, (trash), drive you insane. By learning patience while detecting endless amounts of trash and still having fun doing it, is in its self a quality experience.