These 300 and 400 year old Spanish shipwreck emeralds, blood red garnets and pieces of amethyst were recovered this year on beaches I was metal detecting at and as they are non metallic they have no target ID numbers.
That is exactly the point of todays blog, stop obsessing over target IDs on your favorite Minelab metal detectors because the numbers mean nothing if you are searching for old coins and artifacts.
One of my pet peeves is answering questions connected to target ID numbers on the Minelab Equinox and CTX 3030, especially from beach hunters searching areas with a little history like the Treasure Coast of Florida with its three and four hundred year old Spanish shipwreck beaches.
I still hunt by ear and dig almost all metal targets when searching beaches for Spanish treasure, I know my metal detectors are quite capable of identifying small iron targets and fish hooks so I take care of the rest of the digging decisions.
If you waste time farting around looking at target ID numbers on your metal detector screen and sweep until you enhance the numbers accuracy you are wasting valuable search time.
You also do not see finds like the gems in the photo washed up begging to be picked up, not when you are fixated on potential ferrous and conductive property guestimates on your metal detector screen.
The more you rely on your ears for target identification and have your eyes trained on the sand, the more you will find when searching for old coins and artifacts at the beach.
Site reading skills are very important to a beach hunter, they are wasted by beach hunters obsessed with checking and double or even triple checking target ID numbers.
Two of the biggest and most common mistakes a beach hunter can make is searching in a full all metal search mode and fully trusting in target ID numbers.
If you follow anyone telling you that you have to dig it all you are not going to find what you are really searching for in your allotted search time, because you wasted time digging easily identifiable junk targets like small iron nails or fish hooks.
On the flip side if you dig enough commonly found coins on beaches using your Equinox or CTX 3030 and you are now an "Expert" because you know your target ID numbers you better have good hearing.
I can tell the difference by ear between a penny and a half ounce 10K gold class ring, a modern dime and a 300 year old Spanish silver treasure coin, an aluminum pull tab and a gold wedding band.
Heres the kicker, the target ID numbers on your Equinox or CTX 3030 screen are exactly the same between each two examples mentioned, rely on those target ID numbers and you may leave the good stuff behind.
You will also miss valuable items because didn't pay enough attention to the search site and surroundings, especially the sand you are walking over.
Your treasure hunting number is always up when you rely on metal detecting by numbers.
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