Excalibur finds yet again

[Sa_bogan]

Went out for a few hours down the beach. Found 19 coins, old lead soldier, what could be a sterling tea spoon and a 9k gold band. Out of the coins 8 silvers, 1 large sent and the rest moderns. The ring weighs 2.9g an when I found it I thought it was a junker. All up good day out, I took a photo of te hallmarks on the spoon but I think it will need a clean to see it better.

Cleaned up nicely

 

[Paulmarr]

Never ceases to amaze me what you are finding in the water - more gold!

 

[Nugget]

Can't complain about that mate, well done.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Cheers guys. I was going to ask you if there is a change of having a beach combing sub forum. The coin shooting thread would be for parks/land. Just as a thought

 

[Heatho]

Nice haul mate, that Excalibur is really working well for you. Are you getting into the water or just doing along the edge of the water? I'm looking for a 3rd detector and the Excalibur is on my maybe list. Need something in between the Aldi and the 5000.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Cheers mate, I mix it up a bit and work in both. If your looking for a good beach detector I can't recommend it highly enough. The only thing I can say is that you will end up buying some after market gear for it as the detector isn't really balanced an gets very heavy without a hip mount or chest mount. You will also need a good sand scoop as well as the Shovel I got from bunnings is too hard to operate with one arm. I'll be looking at either making or buying a straight shaft as the stock shaft isn't any good

 

[Goldpick]

So do you rate the Excalibur over the Sovereign in performance, or is it just simpler to use (besides the added advantage of beinv waterproof)? I gather you are still down at Victor judging by the pre-decs.

 

[Sa_bogan]

I think being 100% water proof gives it the edge. Changed place today found some more silver pre dec, 7 in total being a florin, 2 shillings, 2 sixpence and 2 three pence . no gold this time but still a good out come

Also got my macro lens for the iPhone yesterday which is awesome to see the dates and hallmarks etc

 

[Shane]

Do you reckon the excel would be better than a 3030?

 

[dave14110]

Sorry question asked not directed at me but my opinion is, Different machine & different purpose in my opinion.
Whilst i have now have the CTX 3030 I would not constantly submerge it water. I also own a whites surf pro for water. It is pulse induction & works great in salt water. I went the white's surf pro over excalibar. It is cheaper to buy brand new & in my opinion better than excalibar.

 

[Sa_bogan]

To answer your question Shane I am working towards having both the 3030 and keeping the Excalibur. It's a tone machine which doesn't require you to look at a screen but listen to the tone to ID the target. It's a great machine and a lot of American pro treasure hunters still using them today.

Dave I was also looking at the surf PI put as we know the tones are pretty much the same no matter the target including iron. So if your beach is trashy then you don't want to waste your time on the crap targets and get the most out of your session. The upside to the PI is the depth of curse, but the Excalibur still goes fairly deep as it is. Also I picked mine up second hand which ended up being cheaper than the surf PI even tho its the model down from the latest excalibur, it still works the same.

If you want the all rounder than I would say go the 3030 as its better than the Excalibur on land with the Screen and ability to tell you depth, multi target ID and all the other bells that come with it.

 

[Goldpick]

At least the Infinium give high and low tones on certain targets, plus reverse discrimination, but I still tend to dig most targets just in case, hence the amount of junk I dig. I think I would like the Excalibur, I'm more of a tones person vs using screens.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Well I'll keep an eye out for you if I come across another one, certainly finds the good stuff!

 

[dave14110]

yeah I can understand what you say about tones, but you can discriminate with the surf PI by adjusting the pulse delay & as you said it's PI so better depth. When I looked into a true waterproof machine before ctx, I read multiple bad reports about leaking switches on excal and I knew 3 people with surf pi that all said it was great. I also read many reports on both & wanted a new machine (so I knew what I was getting) so these were my reasons. I have no regrets.
My opinion is the CTX 3030 whilst been an excellent machine that's why I brought one. But it is supposed to be waterproof I have heard many reports of it leaking also & would not intentionally make it swim under water.
It seems minelab still rely on O ring to make machines waterproof. The whites surf has fixed headphone & fixed coil so no connections to fail. but would agree this can be pain at times. Another benefit of whites surf pi is IF the main seal does leak on whites I have heard of people wash it out with fresh water then drying as best as possible, then leaving to sit open for some time to completely dry. The surf pi machines have still worked after cleaning & drying.
Every machine has a use & every person that metal detectorist has an opinion.

 

[dave14110]

Oh and great finds regardless of machine used.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Went out today with paulmarr for a good session and thought we would mix it up and he was the digger (work horse ) Ended up with a good haul but once again the gold has hidden itself well. 14 silvers, another lead soldier, silver broach, 3 large penny's and 2 half penny's and a few 5c and 1c coins. The broach appears to be yet another English silver as it has similar stamps as my spoon. All I can say is that the Excalibur must have a silver coin magnet on the end as I'm surprised how many we are finding in each session.

And I agree to a certain extent dave but as you said, its our own opinions and one should make there own choice as they will have to use the detector

 

[Sa_bogan]

Paulmarr can upload some of the coins in a close up view as I have them cleaning as we speak

 

[dave14110]

well done again sa bogan

 

[Paulmarr]

Says Poland ....

Not that anyone is counting but that is 30 silver coins over Fri/Sat/Sun plus the spoon and ring - god I love Victor Harbor!

 

[Paulmarr]

A quick google search tells me I read the sterling hallmarks as Birmingham, 1911. Theodore Fahrner is the maker of the brooch - at least it's sterling silver! You must be getting quite a scrap silver pile by now. Pretty sure bogan has more than paid for his detector with the finds he has unearthed over the past 4 or so weeks - and are we having fun? YOU BET!