Draw Your Own Conclusions

"The supreme misfortune is when theory outstrips performance." - Leonardo da Vinci

For every coinshooting rule, there's an equal and opposite rule that often works just as well. This principle is mine, not Isaac Newton's. My point is that your successes will increase if you don't take things for granted. Instead, find out for yourself what really works for you. The entire history of scientific discovery is based on this approach.

That doesn't mean that the rules are untrue (although some are). It also doesn't mean that they won't work for many THers (although you may find out that you have no success with some), or that the people who tell you these things don't know what they're talking about. (I've, however, seen advice that couldn't possibly have ever been verified in actual use by the "authority" who was imparting this knowledge. It was probably repeated uncritically from some printed source or from wishful thinking.) All in all, it's best to find out from personal experience which practices do you the most good.

What follows is a list of some bits of conventional THing wisdom I've investigated, together with my results and conclusions. If nothing else, the topics may suggest a few areas worth looking into that you hadn't considered. Again, I caution you, don't accept my findings as new rules either; discover for yourself what's successful.

Deep is Old
Although I've found some older coins buried 8-12 inches below the surface, and certainly wouldn't ignore signals from that depth, most of my really-old finds (i.e., over 200-years-old) were less than 6-inches deep. Many were only a couple of inches down. The nature of the soil, the traffic over the centuries, the use of the soil, and the weather all play a part. Although I always check deep signals, I don't get excited in advance, and am therefore not disappointed when they turn out to be from modern coins.

Wet Ground Gives Better Results
I haven't found this to be true. I know people who swear by that approach, and, theoretically, moisture reduces the attenuation of radio waves. But I don't believe that such reduction is enough to matter over the few inches in a coinshooter's matrix. I've certainly found good coins in wet ground, but have found even deeper ones in the same ground when bone dry. Try it for yourself.

Where There's Wheat, There's Silver
This guideline generally works. And it's logical also. The mint stopped producing wheat-back cents after 1958; silver coins were minted through 1964. So, chances are, that any area that contains a number of wheat-cents also contains some silver, which I've found is typically the case. The ratio of wheat to silver, however, varies greatly, averaging out to about 7 wheat to 1 silver. Sometimes I find no silver; other times I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of Mercurys and Roosevelts that do turn up.

Overlap Scans By More Than 50 Percent
This rule probably works well if you care to do so. I've used it successfully to lock back on to lost signals. In terms of intensity, the signal pattern transmitted by your detector is effectively cone shaped, so that you cover an area almost as wide as your search coil near the ground surface. But, for practical purposes, the signal several inches down covers an area only about as wide as a dime. To maximize deep coverage, your scans must be close together. Unfortunately, I view the hobby of metal detecting as something that should bring me pleasure, and find this method tedious and boring. By all means use it if you enjoy the approach. You'll probably be a lot more successful in your searches than I am.

Set The Threshold Tone To Barely Discernible
Some people say that a detector must supply a threshold tone, so that you can hear subtle changes indicative of deeply buried objects. It may be true if your hearing is exceptionally good. I'm an old man and it doesn't work for me. I own both a silent-search detector and a detector that produces an adjustable threshold tone. Each works remarkably well, and I can't rate one as superior to the other.

Old Churches and Schools Are Good Sites For Finding Antique Coins
I've had mixed results with old churches, but some paid off well. It's advisable to check how many times (if any) the grounds have been resurfaced, and whether the site has ever been combed by coinshooters in the past. With luck, you can find some nice things. Century old schools, however, haven't produced much. I imagine that's because the children had no need to bring money to class in the years prior to World War I. There were no school cafeterias, no banking programs, and no requirements for items normally sold through the teacher (e.g., special newspapers, individualized tutoring aids, classic comics, scientific gadgets, holiday decorations and candy).

In the cities, some of the streetwise kids may have tossed pennies behind the school during recess, but I haven't found these old timer schools generally prolific. Middle aged schools, on the other hand, often produce wheat cents and Mercury dimes. I've even found Barber dimes in one or two of them. But please investigate these places yourself. My experiences may be unusual.

Keep The Search Coil Level
This precaution usually makes a big difference. There are times, however, when tilting the coil discloses a coin that's buried at an odd angle, by developing a more intense signal than would be produced via a level coil. But, a level coil coupled with a slow scan rate is fundamental in tracking coins successfully. The advice is sound. Nevertheless, like any other rule, it can be broken if the situation calls for a different approach. It's a good example of why it is necessary to find out for yourself.

Always Start Out With Fresh Or Fully-Charged Batteries
Not a bad idea, but don't become a fanatic. Many machines provide an indication of battery charge status. You won't lose coins if the charge isn't right up to the top, as long as it's adequate to operate the machine properly. Experiment with batteries that have been in use awhile. See if you really can tell any difference in target signal levels using the older ones compared with those produced using a fresh set.

Go Where The Coins Are
Solid advice, although these locations are not always obvious. No matter how skilled you are or how good your detector is, you won't find many coins if they're not there. Often, I've retrieved old and interesting coins in unexpected places. That's a large part of the fun in metal detecting. But I've rarely been disappointed in sites that I've located through original research. It's a satisfying feeling to discover a forgotten park mentioned in some crumbling book, and find that the Barbers and Indian-heads are still there (or, I should say, were still there when I arrived).

Set Discrimination As Low As Possible
Good advice if you don't mind digging. But the purpose of discrimination is to prevent unnecessary work. A better way of stating this rule is to set discrimination for what you're hunting - lower for gold, higher for silver coins. If you're out to find Barber quarters and Walking Liberty halves, setting the discrimination low will wear you out and not increase the number of such finds.

Discrimination resolution is also determined by the detector that you happen to be using. If your machine allows you to select narrow notches (e.g., Garrett GTA machines), you're probably better off using that method rather than eliminating most of the discrimination. But, use your own judgment. I'd hate to think that I talked you out of finding a handful of gold rings.

Whatever you do in the field is tempered by your individual strengths and weaknesses, and by those of the machine you use. The combination of you as a unique individual and your detector as a unique machine determines your effectiveness as a treasure-hunting unit. You owe it to yourself to find out what brings you to top efficiency. Only you can do it.

Mark Twain, who seems to have had something clever to say about almost everything, once made this appropriate observation, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education. Most adults eventually realize that a teacher serves largely as an intellectual policeman who keeps them from straying, but that the learning that stays with them comes from their own efforts." Determine for yourself if I'm right. Reality is the ultimate test of any rule.