When 2003 came to an end I looked back at all the finds of that year and was very satisfied. This was my first full year with my White's XLT. I purchased my first metal detector in late Fall of 2002 after my wife urged me to get out from behind my computer and get some sun. After reading the manual a few times I got out and gave it a try. I live in So. CA so I can hunt mostly year round. Southern California's modern history only goes back about 120 years so I knew the real old coins and relics were out of reach. Also, most everything old has been torn down or paved over. So, I concentrated on clad and jewelry at parks, schools and beaches. My first silver coin was a 1913 Barber dime in very poor shape. But, at least it was old and silver.

With such a large population, schools and parks are everywhere. I borrowed my wife's heavy map book of Los Angeles and Orange Counties and got busy. I tried to get out at least once or twice a week, on weekends only, and it paid off well, for a newbe. I still have a hard time believing what people will lose.

Around the beginning of summer I felt pretty confident with my machine and decided to fiddle with the adjustments on the standard COIN/JEWELRY program. That is when I discovered TONE ID and VCO. I don't know why more fuss isn't made about them. With TONE ID on, every coin denomination has a different tone. I am sure some engineer at White's has a sense of humor, because the larger the piece of silver the higher and sweeter is the tone's pitch, but when you pass your coil over foil junk you get the "raspberry." I also found out that VCO really helps with pinpointing. Just pull back on the trigger and lock onto your target. Move the coil in an X pattern and when the pitch is at it's highest you are centered on your target. Then just check your depth on the screen and dig. I can now decide to dig, or not to dig, faster. That gives me more actual hunting time and that gives me more finds. (My Bullseye probe is another story, I never leave home without it. My battery died once and I just went home. No use hunting if I have to spend five minutes in each hole looking for camaflouged coins.)

Here is my count for my first full year with an XLT.

My clad coin count 3099 coins:

6 - dollar coins
3 - halves
356 - quarters
606 - dimes
186 - nickels
1942 - pennies
10 pieces of gold jewelry
26 of silver jewelry
dozens of junk jewelry, some of which is pretty nice.

Thank You,
Dan