I am very aware that most of the XP Deus users chose the machine mostly for locating ancient coins and artefacts, but I will say it once more: The Deus is a VERY versatile machine, capable of working particular sites for specific targets, if you understand its way of functioning.
As many have said several times before, they chose the Deus because it’s incredibly light, fast and easy to use; yes, easy to use, despite all the voices stating that it is hard to understand, why would it be when the factory programs are all installed and you are ready to go straight out of the box, all you need to do is learn it’s ways.
Let’s say that the Deus could be compared to a lifetime companion: If you take time and understand the ”right rhythm” you will work in harmony, in turn you will be rewarded.
How I use the Deus
I use the Deus mainly for searching areas that contain militaria, all the time I am looking for interesting pieces of iron that can be reconditioned or donated to our local museum, so the Deus has to deal with highly iron infested sectors, while looking for a specific type of iron. This method of searching amongst iron to find iron can be a very difficult task.
Some places I visit are full of all kinds of modern scrap, both ferrous and non-ferrous metal, in this case I set my Deus to zero discrimination, in order to interpret the signals, then choose the spot where to dig while having a good idea of what areas to avoid. That’s the procedure we follow if we want to find a bayonet, for example. I guess you could say it is picking the modern iron from the old iron.
My latest session
During my last session, I kept the Deus set on reactivity 3, mostly because I needed a fast recovery between targets, also keeping in mind that most Militaria targets are considerably big, so you won’t need maximum depth. When I hear a mixed iron signal showing about 23/27, I know that something good could be ”behind” it. Working at 0 discrimination, makes the interpretation of such targets easier, which otherwise could have been rejected if using a higher discrimination.
I’ve managed to recover a WW1 Steyr bayonet, a rare model issued by the Romanian Army and for use with the Henry Martini rifle. There was a high faint signal coming from the brass head, almost covered by the iron feedback coming from the rest of the bayonet. The piece was in a nearly vertical position, at around 20cm deep; if the brass head would have been positioned horizontally, very probably the signal would have been much better, but the Deus managed to pick it out anyway.
Attached are some pictures of the reconditioned bayonet, together with her sister, recovered during a previous session!
Thanks XP for your continued support
Michele and all the RMA team.
XP Deus tip – Audio response Searching deep pasture
Imagine you are searching un disturbed land, you are convinced the older targets have sunk deeper into the ground compared to modern targets, using a low audio response can help you “Cherry Pick” the deeper targets by the softer audio sounds, allowing you the option to perhaps ignore the louder shallow/modern targets.
XP want to hear from you.
Be a member of the XP world wide team – If you have a story with good quality pictures or a nice XP find please send it in we would like to hear from you.
Please send your correspondence to: gary@xpmetaldetectors.com
My XP Deus never fails to amaze me, it just loves finding ancient silver coins, here is my story.
I began detecting in 1979, when you still needed a licence from the post office, and found quite a few pre decimal coins, but stopped after a couple of years due to other commitments.
In 2014 I bought a second-hand detector and started again, and soon had the bug, as my interest progressed I decided to get a decent top of the range metal detector. I bought the XP Deus, full set-up with 11” coil, and from that day I have never looked back.
I love using this machine, its wireless and so light that I can use it all day long. From day one I found it a very simple metal detector to use and was everything I was looking for in terms of technology.
I started with Deus Fast, and soon moved on to the Hot program, I found a new confidence when using full tones, I was so in tune with the response and the way it performed, it suited my hearing and style of detecting.
I also bought a 9” coil and the XP wired back phones so I have a full backup machine.
Very early on I quickly discovered that the Deus loves silver, and began to find numerous hammered, milled, and a few Roman and Celtic silvers. I soon had my first Saxon penny with the Hot program, a lovely condition Cnut short cross.
Two months later in January 2016, again with Hot, while on a dig with Mid-Week Searchers, I dug up a unique Saxon penny of Ludica (825-27).
I knew it was a Saxon penny straight away, as the three lines of writing on the reverse were very clear, I got excited and ran over to show my detecting buddy Neil. I left the dirt on the coin, so could not see the obverse until I got home. After washing it in distilled water I could read +LUDICA REX MER on the obverse with a lovely portrait, and see +LVN/DONIA/CIVIT on the reverse. I had never heard of Ludica, so I Googled him and realised that I’d found a rare coin. A little research later it dawned on me that I had a unique coin, as there were no Ludica coins listed with this portrait, and none with the London reverse.
I sent a picture to the Fitzwilliam Museum who told me it was a very important discovery – a coin of a new mint (London) for Ludica. The reverse is very similar to that of a unique London coin of Ecgberht as king of Mercia (829-30), and the obverse is similar to the East Anglian coinage of Ludica, but with a different (London) style. This fills a major gap in our knowledge of the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon coinage. The coin was recorded in the Early Medieval Corpus (EMC 2016:0014). After recording I put it up for auction with DNW, but was advised to withdraw it so that the experts could see it first. I made an appointment and took it to the Fitzwilliam where its was checked over and weighed. It will have to go back to be auctioned soon, as I have a 50/50 agreement with the landowner .
I have now upgraded to version 4 software, and mostly use the default Hot program, I like the new features and now the Silver signals are even clearer.
I had a shock the other day whilst using Hot again on another Mid-Week Searchers dig where the BBC were present. I dug up a Saxon style silver cross in lovely condition – I couldn’t believe it! I showed it to several people, and they told me that it was the real deal. Just then the BBC reporter covering the dig asked me for an interview about it, which I did quite excitedly. Shortly afterwards, it became apparent that it was a modern copy, so that was a bit of a let down, especially as a genuine bronze Saxon brooch came up nearby. It was exciting for a while, and I still sent some pictures to the local FLO, just in case.
Here are some of the Silver coins I have found using my XP Deus.
Andy Hall, East Sussex.
XP Deus tip : The Deus has been designed as a true audio machine, hearing a target tone correctly is an important part and can go a long way to your success. Make sure you have a good program that suits your hearing and if needed adjust the tonal range to a frequency level you are comfortable with.
A simple 2 tone program may be a better choice if you have difficulty interpreting a multi-tonal range.
Tones can be adjusted via the expert menu on your Deus controller.
XP want to hear from you.
Be a member of the XP world wide team – If you have a story with good quality pictures or a nice XP find please send it in we would like to hear from you.
Please send your correspondence to: gary@xpmetaldetectors.com
An afternoon metal detecting with the XP Deus HF coil.
Having used the XP Deus high frequency coil for some time now, it has quickly become my coil of choice for hunting ancient sites, the 54Khz has really opened my mind and proved without a doubt there is no such thing as a worked-out site.
As most of my sites are now under crop I wanted to try this coil on some pasture and concentrate on the low to mid frequencies, 14 – 28Khz, sometimes deep pasture can require a different set up and approach compared to cultivated land.
Personally I like searching pasture because it gives me a chance to see how deep a machine can detect on undisturbed soil.
Which leads me straight into my short article.
How deep is the XP – 9″ High Frequency coil?
This was a perfect time to carry out a little experiment with my HF, I have some permission on some pasture which has not seen a plough for many years, it has always been shy at producing targets but looks ideal for detecting. I wanted to use some standard factory settings for my deep target test.
The DEEP program #6
I chose program 6 (deep) as I was confident this powerful program would suit the pasture field in question as it has minimal iron infestation and hopefully the DEEP program would help locate some deep targets.
Not knowing how the high frequency coil would perform, I took notes on all my targets prior to digging while changing the frequencies from 14 to 28 to see if there would be any noticeable advantages.
I was quite shocked to discover the higher frequency, 28Khz produced a cleaner audio sound than the lower frequency 14Khz on many targets I detected on the day. Perhaps this was a reflection of my ground conditions.
While using the deep program, the occasional deep horse shoe fooled me, giving a fairly good audio sound, this was to be expected as DEEP is a very powerful “RAW” program. To conquer this, I switched to program 9 (hot) and re checked the target. Every time the audio reported Iron, I have to say Iron cannot hide when using program 9 HOT, the full tone audio gives the operator so much valuable information. I found the white 9″ HF coil operated a lot smoother than my 11 inch black coil in this situation, even with the sensitivity turned up to 94 the HF coil was very settled, I can only describe it as “confidence inspiring”.
During the afternoon my targets varied in size, I dug a lot of lead and blank Georgian coins which had been eaten away from cow pee over the years but it was good sport and a good test for the HF coil.
My best find of the day was a Charles 1st silver six pence dating 1639-40 which I recovered at just over six inches deep, also a small copper alloy bell at 10 inches. This is the first hammered coin I have ever found on this field so it has uplifted my confidence for future visits.
Overall I felt the HF coil performed very well using the DEEP setting on my pasture site, and I truly believe even at 28Khz was easily on par with my 11 inch standard coil.
XP technology is moving fast and in the right direction, I can’t wait to try the new elliptical coil on some really difficult sites….Watch this space !
This XP Deus 9″ round coil article was kindly submitted
By Gary Smith
XP Deus TIP :
Ground balance – Lowering the ground balance beyond a recommended level may appear to give you more depth but may make operation unstable, this is a mistake many new XP Deus users make.
Lower settings can make the coil over sensitive and give false signals on certain ceramics, contact with the ground such as rocks or tree roots, hot rocks, holes, disturbed soil, even your hand. Do not adjust the ground balance to the displayed ground reading unless you are confident an adjustment is required.
XP recommends that you stick with 88 – 90 to ensure a smooth operation on a wide range of search scenario’s.
“Only lower the ground balance if you are confident with its operation”
The first XP Deus Skill School training day was a great success, everyone had a good time and took some interesting Deus information home with them.
Shortly after the event I was contacted by one of our top XP dealers, Peter Turrell from Leisure Promotions, he said he was so impressed with the seminar he wanted to ask if it was possible to arrange a Skill School for his customers.
Pete already had a venue in mind so a plan was put into action, with a limit of 50 people.
We started the day with Tea’s and Coffee and the event got underway, the venue was perfect, almost like a cathedral with everything you could ask for including a massive screen and projector.
The audience participation was good and lots of questions were asked. The seminar consisted of various topics, 10 videos and a Q&A after each section. This was also a good opportunity to see the new XP products and find out more about their applications in the field.
The seminar ended at 1.30 and we all went into the restaurant for a freshly prepared meal and dessert.
Once everyone had finished eating they collected their machines and headed into the nearby field for part 2….some hands on 1 to 1 training. I find this a good time to talk with people as sometimes they do not want to ask questions in front of a crowd.
Within what appeared to be minutes Karl appeared with a fantastic Roman duck brooch, still displaying its colourful enamel, then a Silver Roman coin, then another and so on. It was hard to keep up with the finds, however the sweltering heat was proving too much for some people.
The venue organisers dropped over 2 boxes cold of bottled drinks for us all which saved the day, recovering targets was not the easiest task in the stony dry soil, but those who persevered were well rewarded.
It was a great event I would like to thanks to those who attended and special thanks to Leisure Promotions for organising the XP skill school day.
Welcome to the July newsletter from XP metal Detectors.
This newsletter is very much based around the new products from XP, especially the new high frequency search coils, feedback has been so good we are delighted to share it with you.
The new XP Deus High Frequency Elliptical coil is now on sale, as predicted this is not just a Gold nugget hunting coil, it is proving to work very well on contaminated ancient sites.
It has been described as a “Technical coil for Technical sites” and has the ability to run at 80Khz.
High frequency coils offer many advantages and takes the Deus to a new level, allowing you to find small targets very close to Iron, demonstrated in the video below.
The latest XP skill school video
Simple tests showing the advantages of a high frequency search coil. https://youtu.be/VYy2LLL89PY
Updating your Deus….TIP !
Please note when updating your Deus headphones you will see the words “UP” on the screen, do not unplug or switch off until the words “UP” have gone. Step by step Deus update procedure
The new version 4.1 will be available soon and can be uploaded directly from the XP web site : Deus software updates
Brief news from around the world.
If you would like to feature in the next XP newsletter please send in your story.
Bulgaria
It was a great day 250-300 people attended this one day event, spirits were high and the temperature was even higher at 40 c
The XP prize winners were very happy and went home with big smiles on their faces.
Everyone is looking forward to the next BGNMHA meeting.
Pictures sent in by Mdetectors Bulgaria
Denmark
Denmark detectorists hit the headlines again with a fantastic find by Lars, he found some massive 2500 year old ancient ankle rings, but rather than dig them out he called the archaeologists to professionally excavate them in order to gather the maximum information.
The article “Seek but do not destroy” can be read on the XP blog page
Martin is having great success with his MI-6 pin pointer, searching for lost Gold rings in the sea.
Hi all at XP
I am writing about the MI-6 and to say what an awesome product it is.
So far I have used it to recover over 24 rings.
Not only is it perfect to use together with the Deus, but it is perfect as stand alone tool, it is the best pin-pointer i ever had.
Even diving in water up to 4 meters it rocks.
Regards Martin
Sweden
The XP Deus is a fantastic tool for archaeological excavations.
Sensitive, fast, and very good at picking up small fragment. Also the ergonomics of the Deus allows me to search all day without any pain.
The Deus is a brilliant detector that just gets better.
Michael Lander
USA
Ed Huffman’s 2-hour hunt where NO Coins were supposed to be found!
The Perfect Combination
XP Deus Metal Detector users in the US are loving the new features of version 4.0! The new “HOT” program has really been a success, when used in previously detected areas. The combination of the negative discrimination giving you that extra edge to unmask targets even more than version 3.2 and the XY screen tremendously cutting down on digging those unwanted trash targets has absolutely been excellent. Now, set the reactivity to 2.5 which is really a sweet spot for superior separation and the extra depth outside of those trashy iron infested areas has really produced some great finds!
Ed Huffman (Captain of The XP Deus Team USA) noted that while testing a slightly modified version of the new “HOT” program. Ed purposely wanted to test this combination in a small 25 yards x 25 yards lot that was extremely infested with iron and modern trash. Ed Huffman said, “I really looked forward to testing the new version 4.0 along with the 9” HF coil in this specific lot because I have personally detected this lot with numerous high-end metal detectors throughout the years and not to mention numerous other local Detectorists have too until the site just stopped producing coins! Within 2 hours of detecting this lot with the XP Deus version 4.0 and 9” HF coil I had already found a handful of coins ranging from silver to modern clad. I was truly AMAZED at the amount of coins that these other high-end metal detectors missed because of the masking!” Ed also noted that Heath Jones (Co-Captain of The XP Deus Team USA) had very similar results with the combination of the new version 4.0 and 9” HF Coil along with numerous other Treasure Mountain Metal Detectors customers
The new 9” inch HF Coil has been an absolute dream for picking out coins from of those trashy areas.
XP Americas
If you hunt in the US check out the XP Americas website, it is packed with great stories, video’s and users feedback. XP Americas web site.
UK
Great XP feedback from the UK, we are receiving lots of reports including these Gold coins.
Mark found this fantastic Edward III half noble 1361 – 1369 London mint.
Another Gold Hammered found by Malcolm Andrews
Gary Cooke
Gary Cooke is loving the HF elliptical coil, here are his thoughts so far.
I have been out for the first time today testing the new HF Elliptical Coil on a field that we have detected for nearly 20 years, it has produced hammered and Roman coins but recently produced very little in the way of targets. The field is highly contaminated with Iron showing signs of early habitation.
I was using 74khz with a discrimination of -6.5 on the Ultimate program.
The coil was excellent at winking out finds between the iron and it brought the field back to life. I managed to winkle out a few Roman Coins and a bag full of non ferrous items from one small area of the field that we believed to be now Barron of finds.
I am very much looking forward to further testing this coil and writing a comprehensive review.
Great work XP !
Gary Cooke.
Adam and Lisa
Adam and Lisa have been testing the round HF coil, here are their thoughts so far
Lisa and I have been out with the XP Deus 9” HF coil for the last couple of months and it is proving to be a very useful tool on the types of ancient habitation sites that we love to search. For the majority of our searching we use 13”x11” coils, which give great depth and the maximum ground coverage when hunting for new hotspots. The sites of ancient buildings or settlements can be very mineralised and strewn with iron and in these situations the large footprint of the 13” coil actually becomes a disadvantage. Whilst the standard 9” coils do perform well in such conditions.
The new HF coils are taking things to a new level, what else is this machine capable of
Jerry Morris found an early Baltimore Penny in the west country, there is a strong possibility it was lost by an early American tobacco trader.
Believed to be only the 9th coin of this type, it makes a very interesting story.
Lisa and I have been out with the XP Deus 9” HF coil for the last couple of months and it is proving to be a very useful tool on the types of ancient habitation sites that we love to search. For the majority of our searching we use 13”x11” coils, which give great depth and the maximum ground coverage when hunting for new hotspots. The sites of ancient buildings or settlements can be very mineralised and strewn with iron and in these situations the large footprint of the 13” coil actually becomes a disadvantage. Whilst the standard 9” coils do perform well in such conditions.
The new HF coils are taking things to a new level, what else is this machine capable of .
Instant results
We have been testing the white coil side by side against the standard 9” on a variety of sites that contain settlements of the Celtic, Roman and Medieval periods. Gary’s videos show how well the new coil performs in test scenarios, but how would it perform in the field? The first challenge was a large Roman site that has one really nasty patch. In two hours, the white coil rooted out 20 small Roman bronze coins versus 12 for the standard coil and it also recovered the best find of the day, a silver Denarius of Maximinus. Obviously, tests like this are never 100% scientific as luck can play a big part, but it gave us confidence in the HF coil and earned it’s place in our detecting armoury . Over the next few outings the trend continued and, no matter which one of us used it, the HF coil continued to outperform the standard 9”.
New idea’s
I was so impressed with this coil that it got me thinking about other places where I could take it. A large medieval field sprang to mind. Although the field itself isn’t highly mineralised, there is an area next to the farm buildings that is particularly bad, partly due to decades of bonfires. We had searched the patch briefly in the past, finding nothing but modern rubbish, but I had noticed some medieval pottery in there. With the rest of the field virtually searched out for the season, I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to really put the HF coil through its paces. The first surprise was airgun pellets – lots of them! I’ve dug plenty in the past with the standard coils but never in such quantity, or at such depths.
The HF coil really amplifies the responses from tiny targets making them clearly stand out amongst the ground noise and ferrous targets. Although it is only a small area it took me around three hours to cover it properly, digging well over a hundred non-ferrous targets. Amongst these were a couple of small Anglo-Saxon artefacts, a bent hammered penny and, a total surprise, a Celtic silver unit.
One thing I am very happy about is the depth of the HF coil. I expected the high frequencies to excel on tiny targets in bad ground but I was expecting to be finding only shallow targets. This certainly isn’t the case. One target that sticks in my mind was a very loud, but deep-sounding, target that gave a VDI in the high 80’s. I was expecting it to be aluminium drinks can but was shocked to dig down 10” and find a medieval mirror case. I was totally convinced that from this depth it was going to be a much larger target. I was also surprised by a small Venetian silver coin that stuck to the bottom of a clod of earth I removed from 7” down. The signal had been so loud and clear from this 15mm/0.45g coin that I actually reburied it to check I hadn’t made a mistake. I hadn’t.
This coil is proving so good at finding coins in the sub 0.5g range but also larger coins that are lying on edge, bent, cracked or just previously masked by mineralisation or their proximity to ferrous objects.
Conclusion
Testing is over. We now fight over which one of gets to use the HF coil or the standard, as we know who the winner will be. It’s very stable at low GB settings which makes it easy to cover these difficult sites efficiently. We’ve recovered dozens of small silver with it already and we can’t wait for our other sites to become available after the harvest… we’ve got big plans for this coil.
My favourite settings with the new coil is a variation of my HF program. Disc 5.3, 2 tone, 200/702, sens 80’s or low 90’s, 30 or 54khz, reactivity 2.5 or 3, silencer – 1, audio 5, iron vol 3. GB where we search is typically 72-82.
My first Deus V4 Gold Nugget found in Australia using the HF coil.
The big question
One question that I get asked a lot here in Australia is “How does the XP Deus metal detector handle the mineralised soil of the Australian Goldfields?”. I knew from previous experience that V3.2 did OK in Milder type soils but struggled a bit when the conditions got a bit “HOT”.
So when the HF coil was released I made the 5000KM Round trip down to Victoria from Central Queensland to put the new coil to the test in some of Australia’s oldest Gold country.
My background is a coin and relic hunter and that is where I cut my teeth in the detecting scene. Finding coins and relics made sense to me, I knew where to look, what to look for and how to find ground that gave me the best chance of making decent finds.
Finding Gold nuggets is a completely different ball game. Gold likes to hide in certain areas, and just because you are in the “Golden Triangle” it doesn’t mean that nuggets are laying around everywhere for you to pick up. In Fact it is quite the opposite, you really have to work for them, no matter what machine you are using.
Out with the HF coil
The White HF coils balanced fast, handled the hot soil pretty well and was great at ferrous NON-ferrous discrimination and ID. Gold nuggets don’t have a set tone or ID number so you basically dig everything that is not iron in the hope that one of those targets will be what your looking for.
After 5 days of tramping around in the Bush being attacked by March flies I had about 120 targets to my name. Not one of them was a Gold nugget. Bullets, Bits of tin, shredded cans, buttons, coins and even a brass lipstick holder was in the bag but NO Nuggets.
Call for help
So I rang a mate of mine that I had met on a previous trip and in desperation asked him to point me in the right direction. He agreed and I made my way to Ballarat with renewed confidence.
We had limited time as Oz had a few appointments so we stayed pretty close to the town itself. I have to admit when we pulled up at the spot he had chosen I had my doubts. But the amount of old diggings suggested that something interesting had bee found here in the past.
Oz stayed nearer to the car and I walked down into the workings, both of us running the high frequency coils. He had the round 9 Inch and I had a prototype elliptical coil.
It was only about 30 mins in and I had just dug a modern coin when I heard OZ yell out. I thought he had taken a fall as he only has one leg, so I raced back in the direction of the shouting.
There was OZ and through his massive beard I could clearly see he was in anything but pain. A Huge grin could be seen as he pointed to the ground and said “Told you I’d find a bit for you”.
There it was laying in a small washout right alongside of the track a little gold nugget. I went NUTS! No I mean Nuts! It was the first gold Nugget to be found in Australia using the HF coil. I know this to be fact because at the time the ONLY 2 HF coils that where actually even in Australia where hanging off mine and Oz’s Deus machines.
We gathered up the dusty looking little nugget and headed back to the car, disgustingly Oz placed it in his mouth to “clean” it and handed it to me for the scales. 0.24 grams of Aussie gold Nugget.
Now it’s not the biggest bit of gold in the world, but lately in Victoria and many of the Gold fields in Australia it has been SMALL gold that is being found in some quantity at times. The larger shallow nuggets have largely been mined out and its these little tiny left over pieces that the modern detectorist is now cleaning up with the help of good equipment.
The XP Deus HF coil running Version 4 Firmware surprised a few people while I was in Victoria and although I was unable to locate a nugget by myself I was amazed at the shear number of targets I was digging and the way it was dealing with the “HOT” ground.
I look forward to this years second trip to the area in October and I am so confident of the XP Deus and the HF coil in Gold country that I have sponsored a major gold prospecting event in the area, The Laanecoorie Gold bash.
So Now when people ask me the question about XP Deus on the Australian Goldfields I now confidently say YES the XP Deus can find GOLD in The Australian Goldfields, you just need to be able to put your coil over it and that is the hard part.
The XP Deus Elliptical high frequency search coil early thoughts.
Having being completely overwhelmed with the capabilities of the 9” round High Frequency coil it was hard to image just what advantages and even higher frequency Elliptical coil could offer.
When testing the DPR 600 made by XP on some highly magnetic soil overseas, the advantages of using 80Khz very quickly became clear, especially when testing on small Gold Nuggets.
I must point out that my Gold prospecting experience is very limited, however the practical side of metal detecting still remain the same, no matter what you hunt for.
Searching highly mineralised or “difficult” soil has always been a challenge to the detector and indeed the detectorist, somehow one needs to separate the desired target from the ground signal. This is particularly difficult when prospecting as the ground signal is almost as strong as some desired targets… Small Gold.
And this is where a higher frequency coil will be an advantage, converting small low conductive targets that are easily consumed by the ground signal, back into the audio “non rejected” range.
Q : If the Elliptical coil is designed for hunting out small Gold, why has it got other frequencies such as 14 and 28Khz?
A : The key word is small Gold, sure 80Khz will be perfect for small Gold, however if you are searching for bigger Gold you may require a lower frequency for optimum performance.
So XP have pretty much covered the whole range of prospecting with frequency choices.
Based on those thoughts, it helps if you have a desired target size in mind before you start your hunt, but some people may want to hunt small area’s several times with different frequencies just for peace of mind.
Q: OK, XP have put a High Frequency coil on to the Deus, other manufacturers have done this, so what has changed.
A : This was not simply a case of putting a High Frequency coil onto the machine and it’s job done. There have been changes under the bonnet to make sure the coils work in harmony with the Deus, this is why Deus HF coils are very special and unbelievably stable to work with.
While I am on the point of software, it is worth mentioning that to use an HF coil with your Deus you will need to download version 4x software, don’t worry the original Black coils are fully compatible with v4x.
Q : That’s prospecting, what is your experience with the new HF Elliptical coil in the UK, searching ancient sites for example.
A : I can best describe this coil as “Specialised” it is not for everyday inland searching, however based on my experiences so far, I can honestly say if you get it on the right site – The Elliptical coil operating at 80Khz is pure genius.
When I say right site I mean perhaps a Roman site covered in Iron with small non-ferrous targets nestling in between.
It is really “snappy” and deals with these conditions unbelievably well, it is a real confidence booster, you start to feel the targets simply have nowhere to hide.
I searched underneath power lines with no problems as you will see in the video below.
Q : So will you be using this coil all the time now ?
A : No not at all, sadly am not lucky to search sites of ancient habitation all the time, in fact in my area these, what I call “technical sites” are far and few between, so you really need to have fantastic land to warrant using this type of coil all the time…. If you have I would love an invite to search.
The Elliptical coil feels very much lighter than the 9″ round HF coil….could the XP Deus be any lighter ?
It has the newly designed battery in the lower stem, which is a fantastic idea, I did notice as I was detecting you must be more aware of your search technique. It is very easy to have the nose of the coil pointing up or down without even being aware of it.
I am a practical guy and work on conversion rates, rather than how many nice finds a coil makes, if it can convert more non-ferrous targets into my finds pouch then I am confident I have made the right choice. It’s the numbers game I guess, nice finds are never solely down to a machine or coil, there is much more to take into consideration such a LUCK and the site you are searching.
Every piece of foil could have been a piece of Gold an Ancient coin or artefact…You just never know until you dig it !
Summary
The Elliptical HF coil is designed to be a part of the Deus armoury and not necessarily a replacement for any other coil in the Deus range, The HF 9″ round coil is certainly more of an all rounder for most of my current permissions.
For some crazy reason, no mater what coil or detector it is, the depth question will always be asked, so here are my thoughts.
Due to its size and shape the HF Elliptical may sacrifice some depth on certain targets, however the size, frequency and shape will offer many advantages, especially when you are looking for precise target separation and more control over specific sites.
So, to sum it up I would describe the HF Elliptical coil as a technical coil for a technical site.
As you will see by the video below – It really is a killer on the loose !
Categories: XP Deus Blog Comments Off on One of the rarest US coins found in the UK
Jerry Morris or JBM as he is also known has been a very respected name on the UK detecting circuit for many years, and indeed a dear friend of the XP team.
Jerry is approaching his 83rd birthday and still manages to get out with his Deus 3 times a week which should be an inspiration to us all. Rumour has it that there were so many candles on his birthday cake last year a risk assessment had to be put in place and a fire warden on standby.
I could write a whole book on Jerry, he is such an interesting guy and very wise to the workings of the world, his work for charities and generosity is something he rarely discusses in public and I know he will hate me for even mentioning this.
The discovery
Last year Jerry had a bit of luck, it is one of those times when it was simply meant to be as the circumstances were so bazaar you could not make it up.
After a rainy day detecting he was cleaning the mud off his coil, like we all do by sweeping it over a clean patch of grass when he got a signal that just could not be left in the ground.
Exhausted after his days detecting he decided to get his spade and investigate.
What he unearthed with his XP Deus metal detector was an extremely rare American copper coin, but he didn’t realise this at the time, he originally thought it was a copper token or something along those lines. He told me at the time it looked like another candidate for the scrap box, but on closer inspection this coin looked different.
Jerry’s coin a Maryland penny 1658 / 59
Research is king
When he got to his computer he posted some pictures on the web and a knowledgeable chap contacted him saying “Do you know what you have found “
It was a Maryland Penny – At that point in time Jerry had no idea how events were to unfold.
Being a copper coin it had suffered from some corrosion which is understandable after being in the ground for hundreds of years, but the features slowly emerged as he gently cleaned it.
The obverse side had a head facing to the left and the reverse showed a Coronet with 2 staffs and pennants. The obverse legend CAECILIVS. DNS. TERRAE: MARINE:&C the reverse side reading DENARIVM:TERRAE:MARIAE this was so unusual.
Jerry decided to start researching this coin and indeed the history of the location it was discovered.
The Maryland Penny is extremely rare (only 9 others are known) and is referred to as the Lord Baltimore Maryland Denarius copper penny 1658/59.
A better example
The Maryland Penny a brief history
Lord Baltimore’s coinage was minted when the Maryland colony had a severe shortage of money, which was urgently needed when trading their tobacco.
The coin started its life after being struck at the London Tower Mint for Lord Baltimore at the end of Oliver Cromwell’s time as Lord Protector.
The mint also produced prototype shillings, Sixpences, Groats and threepence coins plus a few of the pattern copper pennies.
Now here is the interesting part.
Lord Baltimore’s effort were short-lived and unsuccessful. His right to mint coins was called into question in England and the Dies were instructed to be destroyed, this is why production never got underway and only a handful of examples exist today. Tobacco was the exchange medium and continued to dominate throughout the colonial period.
The Matthew
How did the coin get from America to Bristol
Tobacco and other products were shipped from America to the UK, Bristol was the port but the river Avon leading to the port proved difficult to negotiate sometimes the ships were towed to the docks by large rowing boats other times the large ships were often tied up and unloaded at Crockerne Pill. This is where John Cabot and the famous Ship Matthew docked prior to her voyage of discovery.
The research all fits together as the port is also only 1 mile from where Jerry located this coin.
So, at the time the coin was lost, it had travelled from the mint in England, over to America and then back to England.
Jerry will take the story from here
My plan of action was to go to the top and make contact with Spink in London. After talking to them on the land line they seemed very keen to see the coin, even offering to come to my home to collect it.
One day in January my detecting friends Steve Hutching and Gary Blackwell from XP met up at Spink in London with the small coin safely tucked away in my pocket.
SPINKS representatives were there to meet at the agreed time and we all sat down at a beautiful boardroom table to introduce ourselves and talk about the events leading up to the day.
We showed them the all-important Baltimore penny that had brought us together and I watched their faces with some delight.
SPINK had of course already done their homework and there was little that I could add other than how it had come out of hiding using my XP Deus after 300 plus years.
The senior company representative looked in my direction and said Mr Morris do you realise what you have found, yes, I replied.
With a smile on his face he said I don’t think that you do.
I was asked what I would like to do with the coin and my reply was that I was coming up to 83 years of age and it should be sold to a collector.
The next question to me was has it been recorded, as this was necessary for them to obtain a required export licence for it to leave the UK to go to their SPINK auction in New York where they assured me the coin would steal the show and cause a lot of interest. They also suggested that an insurance value of £50,000 should be put on the coin.
Jerry outside the Spink offices in London photograph by Gary Blackwell
Knowing how busy the PAS are and bearing in mind that SPINK have more contacts than myself I asked them to take of the task for me. I wanted Gary and Steve along with me for advice and general support.
In fact, they agreed to do everything that was required including obtaining the export licence which needed approval by the Arts Council.
They explained about the “slabbing” process and assured us there would be no problem as they could clearly see the coin was genuine.
Slabbing is a term used in the USA to confirm if an item is authentic.
3 months later this tiny coin was on its way back to America where it was last seen all those centuries ago.
This would be its 3rd crossing of the Atlantic the first 2 trips by olden day sailing ships and this time by a 21st century aircraft.
Now the adventure takes a nose dive and some strange events start to happen.
Silence is Golden
After several weeks of waiting, apart from a few personal e-mails and the occasional phone call we are all waiting to hear from the American slabbers.
It seems strange to all concerned that the USA experts have yet to authenticate this coin as genuine, it is almost unbelievable that this coin was located in England by a British detectorist.
I did some investigating via the internet and also found that my coin was not featured in the SPINK June catalogue.
It appears that for some unknown reason the American experts are very slow in responding to SPINK with regards to this being a genuine coin or not
The British Museum have declared it as one of National Importance, I am truly baffled by the lack of correspondence.
The only other identical coin like it to be found by a metal detectorist was in America and is to be featured in a book, the publishers are keen to have my coin associated with the American example.
All I can say is watch this space, as my story unfolds I will Keep XP updated so they can share the latest information with you.
Will this fantastic coin be crossing the Atlantic for a fourth time ?
Jerry Morris the finder of the rare Maryland penny
Categories: XP Deus Blog Comments Off on XP Deus High Frequency coil some simple tests
High frequency coils what advantages do they have to offer.
This is a question asked many times, and the answers are not always conclusive or relevant to your search requirements.
For many years I have been testing machines, however not being an engineer or fully understand the intricate workings of a metal detector, I have to rely on simple more practical tests in order to find a convincing baseline to work from.
XP Deus my test targets
I refer to the term baseline as a starting point which is a basic understanding of what the chosen metal detector “May” be capable of in the field.
Over the top ….Perhaps, but those who know me will tell you I am a detector geek and like to pick the bones from the bones.
Air tests are rarely conclusive, although they can be a great confidence builder – Confidence plays a big part in our daily lives and indeed offers an advantage while out detecting.
Sometimes we sell or trade a perfectly good metal detector just because we no longer have confidence in it, yet in many cases end up buying the same model again 6 months later.
The tests shown in my video are what I have been using for many years and so far have served me well, the tests show what differences to expect when using 14Khz compared to 54Khz operating frequencies, the samples used are what I would class as “difficult targets” because I know from experience represent coins or artefact that are hard to locate in certain soils.
The test is not to convince you to use a higher frequency, or to rush out and buy an XP Deus with the full range of search coils, it simply shows the advantages 54Khz has to offer over 14Khz.
And likewise I am sure there are tests showing the 14Khz as the better frequency, this is why the – “What frequency shall I use” – question can not really be answered as it all depends on your soil and in many cases your desired targets.
Just one Ferrous – non Ferrous test
I have used some everyday targets in the video so you guys at home can replicate the tests if you wish. Being very diplomatic here but please don’t be disappointed if your machine fails these tests, to date there is no concrete evidence to suggest your finds rate will be less in the field.
Some may ask why did I not compare the Black Deus 18Khz coil with the White Deus coil on 54Khz – It is far quicker to simply change frequencies on the controller than to keep swapping coils, this is why I chose to use 14Khz and 54Khz because the White coil uses both choices.
I hope you enjoy the video and it gives you a new line of thought.
