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Kickindirt
I definitely would not let this test keep ya from running a reactivity of 2.5 or 3 at anytime. I very seldom run 2 unless I'm looking for deep targets in an old park.

No, that test doesn't keep me from running at 2.5 or 3 Reactivity. It's a combination of the Frequency used, the ground mineral challenges and Ground Balance setting, and both some in-the-field encounters I've tested as well as several other Test Scenarios I use.

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Kickindirt
I bet if you buried the stack of silver perfectly in a stack 3-4 inches deep almost all machines would hit them. It's a fun test and all and definitely makes a guy think.

I have buried this stack of coins, and I have also used other bunches of silver coins tightly grouped in different containers to do some testing. Keep in mind, this is just a "short stack" compared with some caches or 'stashes' I've encountered.

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Kickindirt
How often do you suppose you will ever swing over the top of a perfectly stacked stack of silver coins on the field?

They don't have to be 'perfectly stacked.' This demonstration is simply to show what can be a difficult-to-find target based on the detector or settings. Or from the other angle, learn how some settings or particular detectors might not be designed or capable of making some challenging finds.

There have been 'caches' of larger amounts of coins or accumulated metal objects, and if the targets are higher-conductive metal and if the mass is good-sized and making very solid contact, some detectors might not respond favorably to it. I have only been involved in four contract searches for a 'cache' where the hidden money was in a known container and one of those was completely silver coins.

But the other chance for an encounter isn't the major 'cache' which is kind of like a hoard, but the secreted 'stashes' we are more likely to chance upon. Loose coins stacked behind a wall or in some position out-of-sight. A handful or more of silver halves and dollars knotted up in a sock or flour sack. Money of ample value, such as halves and dollars, that were secreted in and around old homesteads or in barns or outbuildings, etc., back in the era where there were no local banks, or on to and after the Depression Era when people didn't trust banks.

One example that was close to home was my grandmother who used to keep silver halves in a shoe box (Nana was short with small feet and so was the box she used) that she would hide around the house. Upstairs or downstairs, and changed around periodically so no one was supposed to know where it was. She also kept a container of Silver Dollars stashed, and had sewed $20 bills in the hem of the drapery in large living room and dining room windows.

I stumbled on the silver halves in '67 when I lived with them and went to college. A few times I'd come across a place were money was, or had been. I was sometimes amazed who my little grandma could maneuver into some of the spots she found to hide stuff. And that was in my home town in Utah and long after the Depression Era. She just liked to have available money on-hand in case of an emergency, and she wasn't alone. I've been involved in searches for hidden 'stashes' and caches of coins, and currency, ever since the latter '60s and especially during the '70s and into the mid-'80s. It was not always inside the house.

Just as long as I know what my detector and coil and settings choices can and can't do for me, I'm fine.

Monte

"Your EYES ... the only 100% accurate form of Discrimination!"
Stinkwater Wells Trading Post
Metal Detector Evaluations and Product Reviews monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Detector Outfit: A selection of my favorite makes and models, with the best coils mounted, for the tasks I'll take on.Pinpointers: Pulse-Dive & ProPointer AT .. Headphones: 'Hornet' & 'Wasp' .. MS-3 Z-Lynk .. ML-80 .. N/M Green edition*** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***