Bought a $20 pinpointer at a flea market in Ohio, learned why the good ones cost real money

Sean Hart · 2026-10-12T10:05:05.396788+00:00

Picked up a cheap pinpointer at a flea market outside Dayton back in March because my old Garrett finally quit after 6 seasons of digging. First hole I tried it in, it went off on a bottle cap 4 inches away and I spent 10 minutes chasing a signal that turned out to be my own shovel blade. Dug 3 more holes that day and it false signaled on wet clay, iron junk, and at one point nothing at all. My buddy Rick was standing there watching me cuss and said "just buy the real one, man." Ended up finding a 1901 Indian head penny with my backup rig that afternoon, so the day was not a total loss. Lesson is that a pinpointer is one tool where the $100 version actually earns its keep when you are on your knees in the dirt. Any of you running a cheap one that actually works, or is that just wishful thinking?

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Bought a $20 pinpointer at a flea market in Ohio, learned why the good ones cost real money | Ancient Coin Finds - Topic Shares