The XP Deus II for U.S. Coin Shooting? You Bet!

Certain detectors are well known for their coin shooting abilities. Detectors like the Minelab CTX 3030 or Etrac, for example, make excellent coin shooters due to their unique 2D FE-CO discrimination, very accurate target ID and the unmistakable tones on deep silver coins. When I think of good coin shooting machines, the XP brand normally wouldn’t even come to mind. I used the original Deus for years, and while it’s an excellent relic hunting detector, to me, it struggles when hunting in locations with modern trash. The XP Deus II however, is a whole different animal.

I received my Deus II in February 2022. After using it for just a couple of weeks, I could see that XP had made some big improvements. However, it wasn’t until a few weeks later that I realized just how good this detector really is. Take a look at these finds:

Yeah, I know. It’s just a couple of wheats, a nickel, a key, and some reeds. It’s not so much what I found, but where I found it and how I found it.

These items were found in my own back yard. The house was built in 1880, has thick orange clay and is absolutely LOADED with iron. It’s one of the worst places I’ve ever detected. You can literally dig a random plug anywhere in the yard and find between 10 to 15 nails along with other bits of iron in the hole. I’m not exaggerating. it’s that bad.

Anyway, the yard is small. Roughly 25 ft X 60 ft.  I’ve lived there since 2009 and have detected the area countless times with every machine I’ve owned. I’ve covered it multiple times from every angle. Even though there’s still tons of ferrous targets and a lot of junk non-ferrous signals that read in the foil/can slaw range, there were no signals left in the coin range, or so I thought.

I grabbed my Deus 2 and tried using the Fast program with pitch tones. I love how pitch makes nonferrous jump out at you when hunting in thick iron, but it can be overwhelming when there’s modern trash mixed in. As I expected, it was very noisy. So many hits on every swing that it was almost impossible to pick out any signals in the range I wanted to dig. I didn’t find anything worth mentioning, so I sat down to take a break. As I was sitting there, I wondered what would happen if I set up a coin shooting program based off of Fast, using pitch tones. I switched the remote back on and made some adjustments. By default, it has discrimination set at 6.8. I bumped it up to 7 then created two notches. One from 7 to 58, then another from 65 to 80. This gets rid of everything but a nickel slot and targets that read from the Indian Head Penny range on up. I also raised bottle cap rejection up to 4.

After my break, I continued hunting for another hour using my new pitch coin shooting program. I found all the targets you see in the picture, and every single one of them hit in the coin range with a repeating signal. All in my own yard which I’ve been hunting relentlessly since 2009 with nearly every top detector on the market including the Minelab Equinox 800, CTX 3030 and the original XP Deus. Pretty impressive! Of course, it's impossible to know whether one coin hunting metal detector is hitting targets that others have missed unless you compare them head-to-head on the same target, on the same day. Still, this was looking very promising.

I wanted to confirm that the Deus 2 with these settings was working as well as I thought. So, I loaded up my gear and headed out to an old park that has been pounded for years. To my surprise, I started finding some silver coins in places that I thought were hunted out! 

I made a few more tweaks and created what I call my Silver Slayer program. In a nutshell, it’s based off of Fast with pitch tones in square, discrimination bumped to 7, notch 1 from 7-59, notch 2 from 65-87, reactivity lowered to 1.5, bottle cap rejection at 5, silencer at 2 and the maximum sensitivity that the site allows.

This program does exactly what the name implies. At the time this article was written, I’ve been using the Deus 2 for approximately 6 months. I’ve only hunted public properties, several of which have already been detected multiple times by myself and others. No private permissions whatsoever. My silver count is currently at 71! I also have a few hundred wheats and a huge pile of clad. To say that I’m impressed with the Deus 2’s coin shooting abilities would be an understatement.

So, what features make the XP Deus II such a great coin shooter? Here’s my take:

• Very descriptive audio. Without even looking at the screen, you can instantly tell approximately how deep your target is, as well as its size and shape. Round targets have a very distinct sound, so it’s easy to tell when you have your coil over a coin vs a misshapen piece of trash. Using pitch audio which works like VCO, it’s very easy to tell whether your target is deep or shallow. Deeper targets give a “zip-zip” type sound as the coil passes over them. Shallow targets have a snappier sound. 
• Much improved Target ID. The ID on the original Deus was all over the place. It up-averaged lots of targets which made hunting in modern trash a real challenge. The Deus 2 doesn’t up-average nearly as much, and the ID is a lot more stable.
• Excellent discrimination and notch capabilities. You can easily set up precise notches to accept your desired target ranges and still have full control of iron volume and the amount of ferrous targets you want to eliminate. 
• Impressive depth. In my test garden, the Deus 2 with a 9” coil easily hits targets that were right on the edge of detection with my Equinox 800 and 11” coil. Even using programs with higher weighted frequencies, I’ve dug coins as deep as 11” which is really good in my soil.

 Speaking of depth, let’s look at a few ways to maximize it:

 Getting more depth from your XP Deus II

1) For best depth results, match the program frequency set to the type of targets you're hunting. For example, if you're looking for deep high conductors, the Deep HC program will work well. Imagine that!

2) Set your sensitivity as high as the site allows. Run it up until your detector becomes unstable, then back it down a notch or two until it calms down. On a lot of sites, I'm able to run it wide open with no problems.

3) Next, lower your reactivity to match the target density of the site you're hunting. Adjust your sweep speed to match. The lower you're able to run the reactivity, the more depth you'll get. If I'm hunting cleaner ground, I'll often run my reactivity at 0.5. Even at the lower recovery speeds, the D2 is still plenty fast in most cases.

4) Less filters = more depth. Although I find that most filters affect separation more so than depth. Still, less = more.

5) All tone profiles are not created equal. Some tone settings make deeper targets stand out more than others. For example, to my ears Pitch tones make deep targets jump out at me. You may like another tone profile better. Experiment and find out which one works best for you.

Keep in mind: On some locations that are saturated with iron and highly mineralized, you simply won't be able to get a lot of depth. On those locations you'll want to concentrate on unmasking.

Getting to the point that you understand why you're making adjustments is key.

The XP Deus 2 is extremely versatile. It’s also a beach metal detector which can be used for diving, relics and even as a gold prospecting detector. It covers a lot of bases, but does it have what it takes to join the ranks of the all-time best coin shooting metal detectors? In my opinion, yes it does.

Where can I buy a Deus II?

Consider utilizing our Webstore Modern Metal Detectors (The very website your on now!) if you're wanting to buy one of these metal detectors or even a search coil, pin-pointer, or other items. We’ve had many great reviews from both, and you can read these reviews on the product pages.

For our best deal, or to enquire about any potential sales, please consider messaging us on live chat, by phone at 800-871-0285 or at support@modernmetaldetectors.com and we’ll be happy to assist you.

Written by Dewayne Parrish (Rattlehead) 

Visit Rattleheads website below to check out his custom made range of metal detecting accessories and apparel.

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