Small talk

Less really is more when it comes to beach treasure hunting, from using less metal detector discrimination and sensitivity to using average size search coils and covering small areas. I have always gone out of my way to detect and recover small size pieces of metal no matter where I search using my metal detector. Some of the most highly desirable pieces of jewelry you can find at the beach are small bands with prongs holding diamonds or other precious gemstones. Diamond engagement bands are often all diamond and very little platinum or gold band, they are all about the diamonds. 

You are in effect searching for a small platinum or gold band which can easily be missed for a wide variety of reasons, including iron or target masking. This 3 carat diamond Bobby Dazzler was recovered "parachuted" meaning the diamond was on top with the band on edge. Sweep speed, search coil control and a lack of discrimination meant this top pocket find came home with me. I remember digging half a dozen pennies in the same area before pulling the diamond ring out of the sand, no doubt the pennies masked the presence of the Bobby Dazzler. If I had relied on FE & CO numbers and based my digging decisions on numbers like so many newbies do, I could have easily decided the area was full of pennies and walked past the diamond ring.  Average to small size search coils help to cut down on iron and non ferrous objects potentially masking a valuable object. Target separation is the ability to separate and locate what you are searching for, something not possible using large sized search coils that increase the chances of you reading multiple targets under the search coil.

If you struggle to find small gold it probably has more to do with your sweep speed, search coil size or discrimination setting than anything else but there is only one way to find out and that is by testing sample targets in the areas you search. Take a small gold band, ear ring, thin chain or bracelet to the beach and see what you have to do to detect them, but make sure you place each jewelry item in plastic baggies because you will struggle to detect each piece at first. Experiment with your discrimination setting, sweep speed and metal detector sensitivity, try different size search coils if you have them. You will be surprised at just what it takes to detect small gold on a regular basis and more importantly what the signal responses are from small gold. I have no doubt you will look at things very differently after testing small gold samples at the beach. For more tips on finding what you are searching for check out my beach treasure hunting related guides at www.garydrayton.com