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Thread: Indian Head Pennies

  1. #1
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    Indian Head Pennies

    I have heard alot about how some, can tell the difference between regular pennies, and Indian Heads. Could someone comment on this subject. I have not found one yet . But have dug scads of deap Wheaties, and regular pennies. Seems like I would hit one here or there. Whats the deal on these signals?
    2012 count: 99 silvers, 3 V Nickels, 4 War Nickles, 2 Gold Rings, 17 Silver Rings, 6 Buffallo Nickels,2 silver braclets, silver cross: 2013 1 Silver, 2 Silver rings, 1 Sterling Neckless with heart charm

  2. #2

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    I hunt with a Minelab Explorer SE. On my machine zinc pennies, copper pennies (wheat to 1982) and Indian Heads all ID and sound different.

    Indian Heads come in lower than the copper ones do. If you have a coin shop in your area... swing in and buy a common date Indian Head and run it under your coil.

    Good luck.

  3. #3
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    hey Starman2 , Lincoln memorials will come in around +77 to 79 on the dfx , zincolns will be a bit lower as are wheaties +69 to 72 and indians will be around +58 to 63 . of course depth and mineralization can skew these some . if your digging those screw cap signals and your in an area where the coinage is that old you should find a few.

    Dan
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

    XP Deus II , DFX ,TDI sl -

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  4. #4

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    i may be wrong but i think ih are made with a different metal mix others could tell you more but ih do come in at a different number on the vdi scale dennis

  5. #5
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    thumbsup01, Thanks Dell. And all you guys for your help. It helps alot when someone has the same detector. Cause right now. I'm kind of learning by the numbers. I guess I am kind of guilty of not digging all the screwcap signals. And at the same time. I don't really think the ground i'm hunting, is giving up that old of coinage. My oldest Wheatie so far is a 1919. I just started this hobby/obsession lol. At the end of the season last year. So I have alot to learn. I think the hardest part is trying to find old ground in my area to hunt. I need to learn how to do some proper researching. But I will start digging the those particular signals you mentioned. I've kind of been stuck on finding silver. So I've been ignoring alot of other signals.
    2012 count: 99 silvers, 3 V Nickels, 4 War Nickles, 2 Gold Rings, 17 Silver Rings, 6 Buffallo Nickels,2 silver braclets, silver cross: 2013 1 Silver, 2 Silver rings, 1 Sterling Neckless with heart charm

  6. #6

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    on my vx3 ihp read about the same as zinc pennys sometimes even lower in the mid 50s vdi but are usually much deeper than zinc i think in the coin book it said they are bronze but i could be wrong

  7. #7
    Global Moderator CyberSage's Avatar
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    On the MXT, DFX, V3/V3i, E-Trac Indians sound, and present themselves as a Zinc Penny. The dead give away for me is when the depth reading indicates the coin to be at 5 to 8 inches. Deeper Indians, in all but the lowest mineralized strength soils, will elevate in response enough that you should be digging them irregardless. This happens more on the Whites detectors. I have dug deeper Indians (9 to 10 inches) and had them give VDI response in the 90's! The E-Trac is fairly accurate on ID at depth. This makes it a killer on Indians. On the V3/V3i/Vx3 the pinpoint will show the 7.5kHz frequency as dominant, followed closely by the 2.5kHz frequency. Plain and simple... you are going to be digging a lot of Zinc Pennies to get the shallower Indians. Put yourself in an area that has potential for coins of this date. Make sure and pay close attention to those Zinc hits in areas that have produced Barbers, V-Nickles, and early Wheat dates,or earlier date coins. Good luck, and please share your first Indian with us here on American Detectorist!

    Keep Swing'in
    Jack
    "Knowledge counts but common sense matters." ~ LouAnne Johnson

    Minelab E-Trac - Whites Vision/V3 - JeTco GTX Huntmaster - Whites Bullseye TRX - Garrett Pro-Pointer

  8. #8
    Elite Member milco's Avatar
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    Can't comment on the hi end machines, but even on my Coinmaster the IH's definitely come in lower than wheats. Copper pennies seem to ring in good, wheats are a little bouncy below that and IH are even a little more lower and bouncy than those on my machine, good luck finding a bunch of them!
    Minelab Equinox 600 & Whites Coinmaster, Garrett Propointer, Lesche Digger
    Oldest silver: 1853 Half-dime & 1876S Seated Quarter / Oldest coin: 1849 US Large Cent / 1854 Upper Canada One Penny Bank Token

  9. #9
    Senior Member buck57's Avatar
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    Man, that's some good to know info. Them Indian Heads have been on my must find list foir some time, and using my Garrett AT Pro, I tend to ignor lower signals ) 55 and Below) I must have been missing them things >:{ Thanks again for the good info
    Just one more Beep!

  10. #10

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    im not sure if the vdi scale on an at pro is the same as whites it seems like when i tested one on coins it read different vdis then the whites for the same coins but i could be wrong

  11. #11
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    Quote Originally Posted by michmark link=topic=8727.msg120429#msg120429 date=1345199404
    im not sure if the vdi scale on an at pro is the same as whites it seems like when i tested one on coins it read different vdis then the whites for the same coins but i could be wrong
    hey Mark i'm sure they do read different as all machines are a bit different in their id'ing capabilities . but just as a general to go by Indians will read into the screw cap area of most machines , and thats usually a very busy sounding area for parks with a lot of trash.
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

    XP Deus II , DFX ,TDI sl -

    Click here to view my finds album


  12. #12
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    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    If it repeats dig it, vdi varies to much to be exact. today i dug a 1802 large cent that was in the dime range. Anything that repeats should be dug.
    Whites Spectrum DFX, Fisher F75

    2012 Totals :
    Silver-6(oldest 1737 1 reale)
    Coppers-18(oldest 1724 KGI)
    IH's-7
    Flying Eagle- 1
    V-nickels-2
    2012 Tick count-143

  13. #13

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    Quote Originally Posted by Merc link=topic=8727.msg121256#msg121256 date=1345778153
    If it repeats dig it, vdi varies to much to be exact. today i dug a 1802 large cent that was in the dime range. Anything that repeats should be dug.
    Yep....you know, us folk that hunt out in the woods expect everything over iron to be dug. We dig lots of shot gun shells and sometimes learn the ideosyncracies of sites, but overall, I (don't know if I can say we) dig all repeatables ...now one way repeatables are a different story. If they repeat in the 90s ...then repeat as iron when you turn 90 degrees, don't dig...always iron.....but one day it will be a silver half co-located with iron lol....and sometimes iron is desireable. Well....it goes on and on....my T2 gives hints in 1+ and 2+ tones that I've learned from digging 100s of pieces of garbage. But...if you hunt older parks that have been used right along into modern times my post is useless...just throw it in with the rest lol
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

  14. #14

    Re: Indian Head Pennies

    All the IH's I have dug sound and read between screw cap and zinc penny. It is skewed a little closer to the zincolns for my machine and it is usually a little jumpy between the screw cap and zincoln readings.

    AND then you have the fatty IH's that sound much diffrrent and more like pull tab/ring because of the 12% nickle in them
    Visit my metal detecting you tube channel to watch some of my digs.
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