Lead

Lead is a really good sign when you are beach or shallow water hunting in an area known for older coins and jewelry. 

Some of my best beach and shallow water metal detecting finds have come from hunts were I recovered multiple lead targets first. 

I recovered a handful of early 1800s lead musket balls before finding my 1836 gold half eagle coin.

It would have been easy for me to walk away thinking the musket balls or old military uniform buttons were the best targets, but I knew there had to be some old coins in the area after finding the lead.

I knew from past experiences searching for Spanish treasure on the beaches of the Treasure Coast of Florida that lead targets are a sign of good things to come. 

A Spanish 1715 fleet silver half reale was recovered along with the lead finds in this photo. 

Last October when I found 50 pieces of gold jewelry,  I pulled an incredible amount of fishing sinkers from the two main areas I found the majority of my gold jewelry. 

A third of a 5 gallon bucket to precise, as long as the fishing sinkers were coming up I knew I still had a great chance of finding gold. 
I am well known for favoring the use of a discrimination mode when beach and shallow water hunting, but when lead starts to show I become all metal Gary.
Never walk away from an area producing a lot of lead targets, not only is lead a good gold sign it is also a sign that you are searching an area that has not been hunted recently. 
When I found several large gold class rings a few weeks ago, it was in an area popular with tourists and the large amount of easily detectable lead sinkers let me know I had run across a potential gold patch in the water.  
If you find multiple lead targets, gold is often hiding in the same area.