• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Coin probing method

Metal detecto

Elite Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2021
Messages
1,014
Location
California
Okay, Ive seen screw dirver mnethods, probing metods, all that stuff, but IU don't know how you do it. Most of the time the target is less then 5'' deep, so I can use my carrot, but how do I do the probing method? :?: Don't want to hack up the park, school property with holes that could be very small. How do you guys do it?
 
I've been putting my digger in at an angle, prying the dirt apart a bit, and seeing if I can find it with a pinpointer in there. I'd say to use a large heavy plastic spoon or the like so I can use it with my pinpointer, but that won't work in the heavy gumbo we have here.
 
I use a phillips screwdriver. I locate the target with the detector or pinpointer then simply push the driver into the spot and feel for the target. Once I find it I move the tip to the edge and just pry it up out of the ground. It normally doesn't make more than a small hole and usually without harming the grass. Just pushing the driver in makes nothing that can be seen. If you don't feel the target, just move on.

Cliff
 
I use a phillips screwdriver. I locate the target with the detector or pinpointer then simply push the driver into the spot and feel for the target. Once I find it I move the tip to the edge and just pry it up out of the ground. It normally doesn't make more than a small hole and usually without harming the grass. Just pushing the driver in makes nothing that can be seen. If you don't feel the target, just move on.

Cliff

I like it! I've been using a "probe" made from a piece of car aerial inserted vertically to locate the coin, and then a flathead screwdriver at an angle to pop, but I'm gonna give your method a shot. One less tool to carry with your method!
 
I like it! I've been using a "probe" made from a piece of car aerial inserted vertically to locate the coin, and then a flathead screwdriver at an angle to pop, but I'm gonna give your method a shot. One less tool to carry with your method!
Harbor Freight has a good selection of long screwdrivers at a cheap price.

Cliff
 
I like to use a coin probe when I am clad hunting in and around sports fields. Most of the targets are shallow enough to locate with my carrot. I stick the probe straight into the ground until I feel the coin and then I simply pop it out. It’s fast and easy. Leaves no trace. I’ve found that most of the clad there is just below the sod.

I use a brass coin pick I got on eBay.
 
You couldn't pay me to use a screw driver for target recovery. I use this: https://www.amazon.com/Wilcox-All-Pro-50S-Stainless/dp/B009G6ML60

Use it in the same way as mentioned above except you don't have to probe first. You can recover your target faster and won't make any more of a mess than you would with a screwdriver plus you can use it to dig a deeper target as well.
To each his own I guess. I have a trowel too but the screwdriver makes a much smaller hole and I don't have to damage the grass at all.

Cliff
 
Screwdriver is a tried and true method. I have been doing it for over 30 years. I recommend grinding the tip so that it is rounded a bit and will not scratch your target.

Gordy
 
Screwdriver is a tried and true method. I have been doing it for over 30 years. I recommend grinding the tip so that it is rounded a bit and will not scratch your target.



Gordy
That's why I use a phillips. They are usually rounded to start with. After a little use they are nice and smooth.

Cliff
 
To each his own I guess. I have a trowel too but the screwdriver makes a much smaller hole and I don't have to damage the grass at all.

Cliff

Yes Ciff, I'm offering another option that imo is much better. This "trowel" is narrower than two fingers. I've seen many times an experienced detector who made more damage to the grass with a screwdriver than I do with this. And as said I can dig a target faster and more than 3" deep.
 
Last edited:
Probe video & digging a "slit"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzEZNWMXKDE

The first half of this youtube video shows how this man uses a probe and a screwdriver to neatly retrieve coins.

I especially like the second half of the video where he demonstrates a method to dig a slit and retrieve coins. The slit he makes seems much less invasive that the standard plug and doesn't require the same exacting degree of locating the coin as the probe method does.
 
Okay, Ive seen screw dirver mnethods, probing metods, all that stuff, but IU don't know how you do it. Most of the time the target is less then 5'' deep, so I can use my carrot, but how do I do the probing method? :?: Don't want to hack up the park, school property with holes that could be very small. How do you guys do it?

I'll still use my digger. Very many of my silver rings sounded just like coins and were 5 inches or less. I'm not scratching a nice engagement ring with a sharp probe or a screwdriver used to pry my target outta the hard clay soil.

That's just me.
 
If i can locate the coin with my probe i cut a slit in the sod. Gently pry the coin out of the dirt. I carry a gasket scraper that i cut down to user to pop the coin. Then close the slit and you can not tell i ever removed anything.
 
Back
Top Bottom