You’d think finding money in the ground would be easy, right? Wrong. You finally got your hands on a Minelab Equinox 800 , fired it up, and went hunting, expecting to come home with pockets full of loonies and toonies. Instead, you’ve got a collection of bottle caps, pull-tabs, and what may or may not be an ancient piece of tinfoil . Welcome to the wonderful world of metal detecting in Canada, where our coins are made of nickel-plated trickery , and your detector spends most of its time having a mental breakdown trying to tell the difference between cash and trash. Why Canadian Coins Are Basically Metal Detecting Trolls First of all, nickel is the worst . Unlike copper or silver, it’s terrible at conducting electricity, which means your detector struggles to get a clean, solid reading. Instead, the numbers on your Equinox 800’s screen bounce around like a squirrel on an energy drink , making it nearly impossible to tell if you’ve found a toonie or just a rusty bottle cap from ...

So, you just picked up a Garrett Vortex , and you’re ready to hit the ground running—literally. You’re pumped, visions of lost treasures (or at least a handful of loonies and toonies) dancing in your head. But after an hour? Nothing but bottle caps, old nails, and a weird piece of metal that might be from an alien spacecraft… or just a rusty bolt. Canadian coins are weird . If you’ve ever tried detecting them, you already know they’re basically the ninjas of the metal detecting world —sneaky, hard to find, and way too good at hiding in plain sight. That’s because, unlike American coins that behave nicely for metal detectors, post-2000 Canadian coins are mostly nickel-plated steel , which makes them way harder to pick up. Why is the Vortex VX9 Struggling to Find Your Loonies? Blame the nickel. Nickel is terrible. It has low conductivity, which means your detector has to work extra hard just to notice it. Add in the steel core that a lot of Canadian coins have, and suddenly, your Vo...

Alright, picture this: you’ve got your Garrett AT Pro , your headphones are on, and you’re feeling like a modern-day treasure hunter. Today is the day. You’re gonna walk away with a pocket full of Canadian coins—maybe even a whole roll of toonies if the universe is feeling generous. Except… after an hour, all you’ve got is bottle caps, an old nail, and what might be a cursed chunk of metal from a long-forgotten farm tool. Sound familiar? Yeah, Canadian coins are annoyingly tricky to detect. Unlike American coins, which are mostly made of copper and practically throw themselves at your detector, Canadian coins are full of nickel and steel. That means your AT Pro sometimes mistakes them for junk. But don’t worry—if you know how to actually use your machine right , you’ll start pulling up loonies and toonies instead of frustration. Stop Ignoring the Good Stuff So here’s the deal: if you’ve got your iron discrimination cranked up , you’re making a huge mistake. The Garrett AT Pro ...