What is your average trash to non-trash digs ratio for your average dirt hunt ?

[GKL]

What is your average trash to non-trash digs ratio for your average dirt hunt ?

NOTE: basically I consider non-trash finds things like coins, jewelry, relics, even things like Tootsie cars things that you would normally keep, but not stuff like trashy metal pieces that some might collect to later sell at a scrap metal site.

This is not any big deal, I was just wondering if most detectorists have about the same average trash/non-trash ratio overall.

I realize there are many variables that can be different for each detectorist, and each individual hunt can vary. Some of which include if the hunting area is a trashy park or if it is a low trash permission. Also if the hunt is your first hunt in that area, or if you are going back over the same area for the 3rd or 4th time. Also the length of the hunt could be a factor.

NOTE: I am focused on DIRT hunting only as I would think the trash/non-trash ratio for beach hunting has to take into account different factors than dirt hunting.

When I get home from a hunt I take one photo that includes ALL my finds for that hunt, both trash and non-trash, that way I have a record of my trash/non-trash ratio for each hunt. Then I can throw away the trash items not worth saving.

I was just checking my "all finds" photos from my August hunts, (didn't realize I did that many hunts in August - 12 so far)

Here is a list showing each hunt with the first number being the number of digs that hunt that resulted in a trash find, and the second number is the number of digs that hunt that resulted in a non-trash find. (while I think a couple hunts were shorter, my hunts usually average about 2 1/2 hours each)

August 28th 20/2
August 27th 17/8
August 22nd 15/6
August 20th 8/1
August 17th 9/1
August 16th 10/4

Motel permission hunts (earlier in August):

Motel hunt #6 6/0
Motel hunt #5 4/3
Motel hunt #4 15/5
Motel hunt #3 9/9
Motel hunt #2 5/2
Motel hunt #1 3/6

So for August so far my trash finds for each hunt has outnumbered my non-trash finds by a good bit with a few exceptions, and I actually had one hunt where my non-trash finds were double the number of trash finds !

So far for the month of August my trash finds are about 121 and my non-trash finds about 47, that means that for the month of August every find I dug had close to a 39% chance of being a non-trash find ! Considering the very trashy areas I was detecting I am fairly pleased with that !

Some of you more experienced detectorists might easily have well over a 50% chance of non-trash finds, especially with some non-trashy permissions !

Anyhow, like I said, this is not any big deal, I just thought it'd be interesting to see how it averaged out over time.

 

[aeds151]

Before or after the last Equinox Update?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GKL]

Before or after the last Equinox Update?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both if it made that much of a difference in reducing trash finds and increasing non-trash finds !

(I've not tried the latest update as of yet)

 

[jmaclen]

The amount of trash is dependent on what I'm hunting. If I am concentrating on gold jewelry using the Equinox, I will be digging every target that sounds good from every direction between +7 and +22. There is lots of trash in that range and I usually bring plenty home with me. Most of the time my gold jewelry to aluminum trash ration is between 50 and 100 to 1. But that 1. can be worth at minimum right now even for a 1 gram 10k ring with no stone, around $25 melt value. A recent 18K ring I found weighed 10 grams and right now is worth $450 melt value plus it had 5 nice diamonds.

If I am just US coin hunting and will dig any target at or above 24 along with nickels notched in, I won't dig too much trash at all unless I forget to accept a little of the iron range in my discrimination pattern so I don't have to constantly hit the horseshoe button. I will often come home with 5 or 6 pull tabs and 50 or so coins.

If I am just hunting with nothing particular in mind and a normal default pattern anything can happen trash to good target ratio wise.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I mainly hunt in the woods, so I dig a ton of 1930's era shotgun shells. That skews my ratio quite a bit. I also dig a lot of iron signals, hoping for a gun, ax head or horseshoe. That adds to my trash pile as well. So I would say my ratio is around 20 trash finds to 1 good find in a typical hunt. Patience is definitely a virtue when you're looking for colonial era coins and relics!

 

[GKL]

The amount of trash is dependent on what I'm hunting. If I am concentrating on gold jewelry using the Equinox, I will be digging every target that sounds good from every direction between +7 and +22. There is lots of trash in that range and I usually bring plenty home with me. Most of the time my gold jewelry to aluminum trash ration is between 50 and 100 to 1. But that 1. can be worth at minimum right now even for a 1 gram 10k ring with no stone, around $25 melt value. A recent 18K ring I found weighed 10 grams and right now is worth $450 melt value plus it had 5 nice diamonds.

If I am just US coin hunting and will dig any target at or above 24 along with nickels notched in, I won't dig too much trash at all unless I forget to accept a little of the iron range in my discrimination pattern so I don't have to constantly hit the horseshoe button. I will often come home with 5 or 6 pull tabs and 50 or so coins.

If I am just hunting with nothing particular in mind and a normal default pattern anything can happen trash to good target ratio wise.

Very well put and interesting points to consider !

I've been trying to keep my trash to a minimum when coin hunting, but even digging some of those higher numbers has resulted in trash

I understand getting some pull-tabs when expecting nickels, but even numbers I thought should be dimes or quarters have been trash a little more frequently than I expected

......and those times I dug metal screw caps hoping for silver I guess over time I'll be able to fine-tune my ability, it's all part of the learning process but I still have fun regardless

I agree with you that the melt value of gold is worth digging a lot of trash to find gold.

I have not focused much on gold yet but was planning on trying searching for gold some of my hunts.

I was looking at some gold hunting videos of people using a Nox 800 and from the videos got the impression of using the "Gold 1" mode and looking for low numbers around 1 and 2 but maybe I need to research it more.

Right now my wife accepts me having metal detecting as a fun hobby I enjoy but has no real interest in it herself, but if I could start occasionally finding a gold ring with a high melt value then metal detecting might get her attention too

 

[GKL]

I mainly hunt in the woods, so I dig a ton of 1930's era shotgun shells. That skews my ratio quite a bit. I also dig a lot of iron signals, hoping for a gun, ax head or horseshoe. That adds to my trash pile as well. So I would say my ratio is around 20 trash finds to 1 good find in a typical hunt. Patience is definitely a virtue when you're looking for colonial era coins and relics!

Wow, your adding some good variables I didn't consider when first posting this thread. A high trash to good finds ratio is not too bad when the good finds are really good !

 

[jmaclen]

GKL wrote: I was looking at some gold hunting videos of people using a Nox 800 and from the videos got the impression of using the "Gold 1" mode and looking for low numbers around 1 and 2 but maybe I need to research it more.


There is absolutely no reason to use Gold 1 or Gold 2 for hunting gold jewelry unless you might use it for micro jewelry. Just because they are called gold modes means nothing. In thick aluminum trash they are a 1 tone nightmare. The Gold modes are exceptional for gold nugget prospecting where I am digging absolutely everything in a gridded area. They sound the same on gold nuggets, lead and brass along with any modern aluminum that might be in a prospecting area. It is possible to break up the iron and tin targets in the area with a little iron discrimination and rejecting -9 and -8 usually takes care of hot rocks in really mineralized/volcanic areas where gold nuggets often end up. The Gold modes really are just 1 tone.

When I am hunting for gold jewelry I use the Park and Field modes even at freshwater beaches and lakes. At a salt water beach I use the Beach modes.

 

[GKL]

GKL wrote: I was looking at some gold hunting videos of people using a Nox 800 and from the videos got the impression of using the "Gold 1" mode and looking for low numbers around 1 and 2 but maybe I need to research it more.


There is absolutely no reason to use Gold 1 or Gold 2 for hunting gold jewelry unless you might use it for micro jewelry. Just because they are called gold modes means nothing. In thick aluminum trash they are a 1 tone nightmare. The Gold modes are exceptional for gold nugget prospecting where I am digging absolutely everything in a gridded area. They sound the same on gold nuggets, lead and brass along with any modern aluminum that might be in a prospecting area. It is possible to break up the iron and tin targets in the area with a little iron discrimination and rejecting -9 and -8 usually takes care of hot rocks in really mineralized/volcanic areas where gold nuggets often end up. The Gold modes really are just 1 tone.

When I am hunting for gold jewelry I use the Park and Field modes even at freshwater beaches and lakes. At a salt water beach I use the Beach modes.

Okay, thanks for that info, so when searching for gold jewelry I can use Park mode and dig signals between +7 and +22.

Now I'm not sure of my chances of finding gold nuggets here in South Carolina, but I thought of trying that also. There used to be a gold mine in another part of the county we live in so I thought there just might be gold nuggets around in some places, hey, I can hope

 

[diggin4clad]

Right now my good finds are running better then 90% to trash items. The majority of the trash that I usually find are of course pulltabs and can slaw. This year for the first time, instead of throwing the pulltabs in the garbage after a hunt I've saved them to compare the total to the nickels I'm digging. So far the nickels outnumber the tabs by about 5-6 to 1 and that's OK by me.

 

[Diabolik]

Using the Simplex with the smaller coil, my ratio of good finds to trash has gone up significantly. I find it easier to narrow targets down and I am getting better at identifying trash. Nickels are still rough. On every clad hunt I’m only finding a couple of nickels and digging several pull tabs. I don’t think that will ever change. Occasionally I will dig a random cap or piece of coin sized metal that tricks me, but I’ve done really good at avoiding cans. Learning to lift the coil from the folks here has been a game changer.

 

[dirt dick]

HMM
Not really sure, trash to coin ratio, trash to good target ratio ?
I have a ratio I like to look at as, I keep track in my detecting log book.

Sort of like a batting avg. of keeper coins?
I look at keeper coins as wheat pennies ,Indians, buffalos, V nickels,
silver coins, you know ........
verses clad coins....
so after a hunt I'll log how many coins total I found that day,
add that to the total I found the day before...
as of Friday as was at 1205 coins dug for the season,
Saturday I found 16 more, for 1221 coins
of that, 175 have been keeper coins = 14.3 %
silver coins would be 16.5% of that 175 or .02 % of 1221

It's been rough & tough season.
Moon light graham in the field of dreams what was his batting avg

 

[GKL]

Right now my good finds are running better then 90% to trash items. The majority of the trash that I usually find are of course pulltabs and can slaw. This year for the first time, instead of throwing the pulltabs in the garbage after a hunt I've saved them to compare the total to the nickels I'm digging. So far the nickels outnumber the tabs by about 5-6 to 1 and that's OK by me.

That is really super, glad to hear it !!!! (gives me hope of doing better ) Seems like you are either hunting some very low trash areas or have a super keen ear for picking out trash signals to avoid

Using the Simplex with the smaller coil, my ratio of good finds to trash has gone up significantly. I find it easier to narrow targets down and I am getting better at identifying trash. Nickels are still rough. On every clad hunt I’m only finding a couple of nickels and digging several pull tabs. I don’t think that will ever change. Occasionally I will dig a random cap or piece of coin sized metal that tricks me, but I’ve done really good at avoiding cans. Learning to lift the coil from the folks here has been a game changer.

That sounds great, I heard a smaller coil can help in some ways, I just use the stock coil that came with my Nox 800 but trying to get better at knowing what signals to avoid.

I'm glad I have been remembering to use the "raised coil" trick to avoid digging cans, I am amazed at how often I get a signal with a raised coil in the area I've been hunting most recently, must be a lot of cans in the dirt there

I usually like trying to dig the nickel signals, but I now try to determine if an area might more likely have many pull-tabs (like around a bleacher at a ball field) and avoid digging nickel signals there realizing they might most likely be pull-tabs.

HMM
Not really sure, trash to coin ratio, trash to good target ratio ?
I have a ratio I like to look at as, I keep track in my detecting log book.

Sort of like a batting avg. of keeper coins?
I look at keeper coins as wheat pennies ,Indians, buffalos, V nickels,
silver coins, you know ........
verses clad coins....
so after a hunt I'll log how many coins total I found that day,
add that to the total I found the day before...
as of Friday as was at 1205 coins dug for the season,
Saturday I found 16 more, for 1221 coins
of that, 175 have been keeper coins = 14.3 %
silver coins would be 16.5% of that 175 or .02 % of 1221

It's been rough & tough season.
Moon light graham in the field of dreams what was his batting avg

Wow, you really have it down to a science with even tracking keeper coins vs clad coins !

Thanks for sharing such precise details, I feel like I am doing well just to keep track of trash vs non-trash finds in general

 

[graybeard]

Using the Equinox 800 looking for nickels my ratio has been as bad as 20 trash to 1 nickel. In one park with over 300 nickles found, that means lots of trash was removed to find them. I dig the ID #12 for nickles and dig lots of beaver tail pulltabs, can slaw and brass from pistol and shotgun shells. If I dig #11 most of the time that is the small piece on the top of the can that the pulltab shoves down. The #13 is usually a modern day pulltab.

With other detectors my ratio of good targets to trash is anyway 25 good to 1 trash.

 

[GKL]

Using the Equinox 800 looking for nickels my ratio has been as bad as 20 trash to 1 nickel. In one park with over 300 nickles found, that means lots of trash was removed to find them. I dig the ID #12 for nickles and dig lots of beaver tail pulltabs, can slaw and brass from pistol and shotgun shells. If I dig #11 most of the time that is the small piece on the top of the can that the pulltab shoves down. The #13 is usually a modern day pulltab.

With other detectors my ratio of good targets to trash is anyway 25 good to 1 trash.

Wow, 20 to 1 trash to nickels has got to be tough !

Over 300 nickels is fantastic ! but you obviously paid your dues in digging trash to get them

Maybe it's not 100% accurate, but I think I had read some say anywhere from #10 to #13 MIGHT be a nickel, with the lower numbers having a chance of being an older nickel. (Sometimes the TID might keep jumping back and forth between #12 and #13 on some of my targets)

I'll have to focus more on the #12 when I want to dig nickels.

 

[graybeard]

Wow, 20 to 1 trash to nickels has got to be tough !

Over 300 nickels is fantastic ! but you obviously paid your dues in digging trash to get them

Maybe it's not 100% accurate, but I think I had read some say anywhere from #10 to #13 MIGHT be a nickel, with the lower numbers having a chance of being an older nickel. (Sometimes the TID might keep jumping back and forth between #12 and #13 on some of my targets)

I'll have to focus more on the #12 when I want to dig nickels.

The numbers 10 to 13 the key word is might be a nickel, but the odds are it is trash.

 

[waltr]

I mainly hunt in the woods, so I dig a ton of 1930's era shotgun shells. That skews my ratio quite a bit. I also dig a lot of iron signals, hoping for a gun, ax head or horseshoe. That adds to my trash pile as well. So I would say my ratio is around 20 trash finds to 1 good find in a typical hunt. Patience is definitely a virtue when you're looking for colonial era coins and relics!

This is my experience what hunting woods and farm fields.

Since 'good finds' can be brass (buttons) and even iron I do dig much, much more trash items than good finds. Farm fields can even have lots of can slaw, pull rings and bottle caps. These are the areas where people hung out and lost items. Have found coins from colonial era through the modern clad. My buddy and I even found gold rings, his was a man's 14K and I found a women's 14K with 4 diamonds in a corn field (just before planting).

Parks are different with mainly pull tabs, can slaw and drink foil. I dig these since jewelry can be in those ranges and have dig a few gold or silver items. Plus the parks had been farms dating back into the 1700's older coins and relics do turn up. Found an 1850 Bank of Upper Canada half penny on a soccer field and an 1816 LC, IHCs, & V nickle at a park (none in the tot lot Tom).

Wish my ratio was 20:1. Mine is more like 100:1.
Example is we've been hit a wooded area the last few weeks due to heat and dry ground (no digging in parks with those conditions). Our finds were an IHC, King G II half penny, 1841 LC, 3 Wheat Cents and then about 400 shotgun heads plus bullets and odd trash.

 

[GKL]

The numbers 10 to 13 the key word is might be a nickel, but the odds are it is trash.

Yep, that's why I qualified my statement with "might"

Part of the decision whether to dig many (if any) of the 10, 11, and 13 TIDs is the location, if it is a trashy park, then maybe not so much, if it is a private yard permission for a house that is fairly old, then maybe there is a greater chance of some older nickels - maybe !

This is my experience what hunting woods and farm fields.

Since 'good finds' can be brass (buttons) and even iron I do dig much, much more trash items than good finds. Farm fields can even have lots of can slaw, pull rings and bottle caps. These are the areas where people hung out and lost items. Have found coins from colonial era through the modern clad. My buddy and I even found gold rings, his was a man's 14K and I found a women's 14K with 4 diamonds in a corn field (just before planting).

Parks are different with mainly pull tabs, can slaw and drink foil. I dig these since jewelry can be in those ranges and have dig a few gold or silver items. Plus the parks had been farms dating back into the 1700's older coins and relics do turn up. Found an 1850 Bank of Upper Canada half penny on a soccer field and an 1816 LC, IHCs, & V nickle at a park (none in the tot lot Tom).

Wish my ratio was 20:1. Mine is more like 100:1.
Example is we've been hit a wooded area the last few weeks due to heat and dry ground (no digging in parks with those conditions). Our finds were an IHC, King G II half penny, 1841 LC, 3 Wheat Cents and then about 400 shotgun heads plus bullets and odd trash.

I can understand even more after reading your post how both location and history of the area can affect your trash to non-trash ratio.

I appreciate the insight into the wooded hunts, I have woods right next to my property, but would have to determine if there might have been any activity there back in the 1800's or earlier as our particular home and land was developed and built only about 20 or so years ago. I haven't yet found any old maps that show any 1800's activity in our immediate area, though the town itself dates way back, but we live on the edge of town in a semi-rural area that might have remained unused way back then.

Hey, the 100 to 1 is not as bad as it sounds when some of the good finds you do dig are really good finds !

 

[waltr]

I would say that Winnsboro, South Carolina did have activity all the back to 1800 and probably earlier. So possible the woods near your house has something lost.

With woods and farm fields one really never knows what might be there until it is detected. I the woods my buddy and I have been detecting the good finds have been in a relativity small area, 100x200 ft where nothing good found in the other 20 acres.

Agree, 100:1 for really good finds. We have gotten some great ones that Tom of Ca would be sick about.

 

[GKL]

I would say that Winnsboro, South Carolina did have activity all the back to 1800 and probably earlier. So possible the woods near your house has something lost.

With woods and farm fields one really never knows what might be there until it is detected. I the woods my buddy and I have been detecting the good finds have been in a relativity small area, 100x200 ft where nothing good found in the other 20 acres.

Agree, 100:1 for really good finds. We have gotten some great ones that Tom of Ca would be sick about.

The town itself started about 1785, but whether the woods next to my property has any relics or old coins I'll just have to start checking a few more areas, I had checked just into the edge of the woods back when I first started detecting and didn't find anything, but that was before I had my Nox 800.

Wow, only a 100x200 ft area out of 20 acres has good finds, sure hope you found that area before having to search the whole 20 acres first !

Hey, just post pics for Tom in CA to see