Weird nickel signal tonight...

Once in awhile I will get one of these weird digs, like tonight. I only had a little bit of time to detect so I went to the park and was hunting in a area with ALOT of iron with the 3D. I got a deep nickel signal at 7", dug the plug and when I put the pro pointer in the hole, nothing. I checked the little dirt pile at the top, nothing. All around the plug nothing. Then I run the coil over the hole and the plug NOTHING. Now Im starting to wonder if I was just hearing things, and I know I heard and saw the vdi and it was on nickel. I tried probing the hole once more and still could not get any kind of signal. Not being one to give up easily I then dug deeper and off to the side a little a couple inches down and out poped a 46' nickel. I could not find any other kind of metal in the hole. Not that it has anything to do with it but I think the nickel was on edge. Seems like I read of something like this before in one of Toms articles.

This happens to me quite frequently. Find a 'positive' target before digging. Then...........it's completely gone. Only to find it slid into the hole deeper...and on edge. No detection. . . . . yet, I'm absolutely positive that I heard a target before digging. It is rare (now)......but there are still times that I completely lose a target.....and can never find it.

Did you check you digger? Cant tell you, especially with the damp soil, how many times a coin ended up on my digger or dropping off from it arms length away. With the in line probe that has pin point i dont loose many targets either.

Dew

Jefferson nickles especially if deep give some odd circumstances and indeed perhaps was tilted causing the problem..Several times over the years have had deep Jefferson nickles(not war nickles) ID as a high coin and when they were brought to the surface came in as a nickle which really confused me but as Tom relates to sometimes a coin falls from the side of the whole causing it to fall deep which can relate to many strange instances. Weidest one I heard of gold ring stuck to end of digger which really confused the detectorists and imagine many strange circumstances can occur next to junk eaten by farm fertilyzer, worn coin and the list goes on...

Hi,, This happens to me on a regular basis....I am currently working an area that has been named or titled by many as a totally worked out area....It is as far as Clad,Wheat Pennies,Mercury & Roosevelt Dimes etc. are concerned....All I pull is the deeper Barber & Seated Dimes,Quarters plus Injun's,Shield & V Nickels....Very rarely do I pull a Wheat Penny etc.....When this happens to me I never give up on a positive coin signal (from the start).. Check your removed dirt a lot of times it will be alive (detector will make noise) with some of the halo from the coin or object that's still in the ground....I usually always find that the coin lays a little deeper or off to the side a little....I believe what happens is you have broken the main halo of the coin (no sound) and was actually detecting the halo the coin made and not the actual coin itself in the first place...JJ

Good point relative halo's especially with copper coins...would bet a large cent leaching into the ground after a 100 years plus may be several times its size..If I dig deep and suddenly lose the signal...dig another inch or two and another in the pouch...Although silver coins are not subject to a great degree imagine the composition of a nickle will cause a detectable halo...Who said this was an easy hobby???

I know talk about "halos" is somewhat controversial, but I do experience this type of thing also, and it sure does seem like when you get close to your coin and disturb the dirt, your detector will sometimes lose the signal. Like Dan-Pa says, though, if you just keep on digging, within a couple of inches the coin usually can be found. Sometimes, the coin has been turned on edge by the digging, but other times, that is NOT the case. The only "reason" I've been able to come up with for this quirky "phenomenon," is the "halo was disturbed" idea. Not a completely satisfying answer (as I have doubts about the "truth" of that answer) -- but it's the best I can come up with. Definitely strange. Why can you bury a coin at 6", and immediately detect it, but on the other hand you can at times hit a 6" coin signal, dig down 4", and then lose the coin. Obviously, that newly-buried 6" coin, that you easily can hit, did not have a "halo," so why would "disturbing a halo" of a long-buried coin matter?! Bizarre.

Steve



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2011 06:35PM by steveg.

Its actually a common occurence but most detectorists don't take the time to analyze the whys & wherefores. They just shrug and cover the 'empty' hole. Been getting the 'empty hole/coin several inches off center' for 30 yrs. Don't sweat it.....nothing wrong with you or the machine.

Don't believe in halos ever see the green patina of an indian head penny...Heck once found a 2 cent piece that was actually bubbling so the ground and mineralization always adds to the question..What I worry about is what I can see or hear and silent EMI comes to mind..Never can overanalyze this hobby and its many situations and just love to read these interesting observations from fellow detectorists..as always a learning aspect possible and we can never learn enough..Over the last 20 years always wonder about that good coin or piece of jewelry I missed somewhere along the way by perhaps not overlapping or heck just and old horseshoe that cost me a key coin by masking it...

I've been making it a practice to dig all my over loads.
Really interesting the things I end up finding. Earlier this week I found a 12" x 1/2" hex bolt 4" down, sticking straight down.
I felt like Sir Gallahad pulling that sucker out!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/25/2011 09:58PM by Aaron.

That is one humongous bolt..........next time I get a can....I won't silently curse......too much

Hi, I got out this evening for about an hour and hit this worked out park again....I pulled a Seated Dime & 3 Injun's....All 3 Injun's went silent after I removed about a 5" deep plug....It's common practice now for me just to remove about 5" more of the soil after removing the plug.....And usually the coin will be in the dirt that I removed....If you add minerals or iron into the equation then my halo philosophy could be a reality....I'm a firm believer in this philosophy because this happens to me all the time at this spot.... Everyone else can believe in whatever makes you happy and confident in your decision.. I'm not trying to change your thoughts on this topic I'm just voicing my opinion....Now this don't happen to me at every spot I detect, just the spots that are high in minerals or iron (nails etc.).....HH....JJ

Lately it seems..with all my machines Im getting the same thing your talking about (I hunt around iron alot). Also, I think Dan had said it. It seems like when I get a deeper target, (and this almost always happens with iron), dig the plug, and its gone. I think the halo has been broken, and usually you'll find the iron near by.

Aaron..........certain shaped iron objects cause signal deflection thus a offsetting of where coil indicates centering pinpoint is. Nails are well known for doing this.

Usually I realize this if I havent already or have suspicions of a nail when Ive dug the plug and now the target is in the side of the hole..yep its a nail!

I read somewhere dont recall where..... but once the dirt is removed and an air gap is created the detector can read the hole and minerals around it ignoring the coin. As far as Halo.... anyone thats pulled a plug with a penny and seen all that green discoloration that goes out sometimes an inch from the coin knows its being read.... just like iron rust. Ive had deep rusted bottle caps pop up like Buffs on the ML... and once the dirt was removed and with disc it disappeared... until i used the probe and heard the null or pinpointed it.

Dew

Hi. I would like to also add some more to what I have already commented on...I'm not trying to discount or disregard what Tom has already said about coins getting knocked on edge or getting put down in deeper by the digger (you)..This is also another thing to be on the lookout for and is definitely another reality....Also two other observations I have made is....junk targets especially nails will rarely pinpoint correctly and coins are usually recovered very quickly (within seconds) when I have to dig & dig and ream the hole repeatedly it's usually not a coin....The latter usually happens when I'm in my dig anything that could be something mode....JJ

Very true, JJ. I have found, especially with my Explorer, that if you pinpoint a target, and start digging, and then your probe/pinpointer shows the target NOT in the hole, but a couple of inches to the side, in the "wall" of the hole, that's usually a nail...

Steve

I have dug many deep coins that were outside a 6" pinpoint area with the E-Trac and they were all on edge or tilted nearly on edge.....

Coins that are 'tilted' ... or ... on-edge............will not pinpoint in the correct location.....and will be found in the side of the hole (or excavated plug).

Yeah, a good study would be lay a coin flat, then tilt it at 30 and 45 degrees and watch how it pinpoints.

That dang junk stuff, like the big piece, odd shaped alum or other non-ferrous junk...seems to be always at an angle......
I think it is like that give me a good workout.