Fisher F22
Fisher F22 Target ID Chart: What Each 0 to 99 Number Means
Quick answer
The Fisher F22 reads targets on a 0 to 99 two-digit scale backed by four audio tones. Iron normally sits below about 20, foil and small gold around 20 to 35, nickels near 30 to 40, pull tabs 40 to 55, and copper, clad and silver coins from roughly 60 to 95. Soil, depth and corrosion move every one of those figures.
Fisher publishes a 0 to 99 numeric Target-ID and a four-tone Audio-ID system for the Fisher F22, so unlike an analog machine it gives you a number to argue with. The number is the useful part and also the part people misread. It is a conductivity ordering, not a label that says "dime".
This page gives the ranges owners consistently report on the F22, states plainly what shifts them, and then tells you the only method that produces numbers you can actually trust: burying known targets in your own dirt and writing down what your own machine says.
Top pick
Fisher F22
Fisher publishes a 0 to 99 numeric Target-ID and a four-tone Audio-ID system on the F22, which is the reason a chart like this is readable at all on a machine at this price.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
On this page
What does the number on the F22 screen actually mean?
The target ID is the machine's estimate of a target's electrical conductivity, expressed on a 0 to 99 scale. That is the whole definition. Low numbers mean poor conductors and ferrous material, high numbers mean good conductors like copper and silver.
The ordering is physics and it does not change: iron at the bottom, foil and small gold low, nickel and pull tabs through the middle, zinc and clad above that, copper and silver at the top, with a large silver coin reading near the ceiling of the scale. What changes, constantly, is exactly where on that ordering your particular target lands. A crusted iron bolt can ring up in the coin range, and a deep dime can fall thirty points. Those are not faults in the F22. They are what conductivity measurement does in dirt.
The Fisher F22 also sorts targets into on-screen categories and gives each band its own tone, so the number and the sound carry the same information twice. Experienced users end up listening more than reading.
What ID does each common target read on an F22?
Treat the column below as a starting band, not a lookup table. Every figure is a range because a single number would be a lie.
On a Fisher F22, iron generally falls below 20, nickels sit near 30 to 40, and US silver coins read from roughly 78 to 95, with wide overlap in the 40 to 60 pull tab zone.
| Target | Typical F22 ID | Tone band | What gets confused with it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small nails and iron scrap | 1 to 15 | Low | Nothing. Dig only if you want the practice |
| Large or corroded iron | 1 to 20, can spike high | Low, often broken | Wrapped iron can mimic a quarter from one angle |
| Bottle cap, steel | 20 to 60, unstable | Jumps | Reads like a coin until you swing it from a second angle |
| Aluminium foil, small | 18 to 30 | Low to mid | Small gold jewellery sits in the same band |
| Small gold ring or earring | 20 to 40 | Low to mid | Foil and the tab band. There is no gold number |
| US nickel | 28 to 40 | Mid | Small gold, and the lighter pull tabs |
| Pull tab, older style | 38 to 52 | Mid | Mid-size gold rings, which is why tabs get dug |
| Screw cap, aluminium | 50 to 65 | Mid to high | Zinc cents and thinner clad |
| Zinc cent | 56 to 68 | High | Screw caps and worn clad |
| Copper cent | 66 to 78 | High | Clad dimes on a good day |
| Clad dime | 68 to 80 | High | Copper cents and thin silver |
| Silver dime | 76 to 86 | High | Clad quarters when deep |
| Clad or silver quarter | 80 to 90 | High | Half dollars, and large flat iron |
| Half dollar or silver dollar | 88 to 95 plus | High | Very large non-ferrous scrap |
Bands reflect what F22 owners consistently report on the 0 to 99 scale Fisher publishes for this machine. They are not a specification and Fisher does not publish per-coin ID values. Your soil will move them.
Why does the same coin read differently on two swings?
Six things move the number, and on any given site at least three of them are moving at once.
Depth is the big one. As a target sinks past the range where your coil gets a strong return, the ID falls and becomes unstable. A dime that reads 74 at two inches may read 62 and jitter at eight. Soil chemistry and mineralisation shift the whole scale, usually downward, and wet salt sand shifts it hard. Moisture alone will change a site's readings between a dry week and a wet one on the same patch of grass.
Target orientation matters more than most people expect: a coin lying flat reads close to its band, the same coin standing on edge reads low and quiet. Corrosion changes the target itself, which is why a heavily patinated copper cent can read below a clean one. And firmware and settings change the machine: sensitivity, discrimination and notch all alter what the F22 will report or suppress before you ever see a number.
None of that makes the ID useless. It makes a single number useless. A range plus a tone plus a second sweep from ninety degrees is a genuinely good decision tool, and that is how to use it. If you want to know where your own ground starts degrading the ID, the expected detection depth calculator will give you a realistic depth band for your coil and soil.
How do the F22 categories and tones line up with the numbers?
The F22 gives you three signals for one target: a number, an on-screen category and a tone. They agree most of the time. The times they disagree are the interesting ones.
The F22 pairs its 0 to 99 numbers with a four-tone Audio-ID system, so a target that reads high but tones low is almost always iron, and worth a second sweep rather than a dig.
| ID band | What the tone usually does | How to treat it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 20 | Low, flat, often broken | Iron. Leave it unless you are relic hunting |
| 20 to 40 | Low to mid, can be sweet and short | The gold and foil band. Dig it on a jewellery site, skip it in a park full of foil |
| 40 to 60 | Mid, repeatable | Tabs, caps and mid-size rings. The most expensive band to ignore and the most tedious to dig |
| 60 to 80 | High and clean | Cents, clad and thin silver. Dig |
| 80 to 99 | High, loud, wide | Quarters, halves and larger. Dig, but check the signal width. Very wide means large scrap |
| Number high, tone low | The two disagree | Wrapped or flat iron. Sweep from ninety degrees and it usually collapses |
Fisher publishes the four-tone Audio-ID system and the 0 to 99 Target-ID for the F22 in its own product documentation. The behavioural notes are the consensus of owner reports, not a Fisher specification.
What should you actually dig on an F22?
On a park, dig everything from about 55 upward and stop apologising for it. That band is where clad, copper and silver live, and the F22's four tones make it easy to work fast. On an old house site or a field, widen it: relics do not respect the coin bands, and a lot of good brass and lead reads in the 30s and 40s.
On a beach or anywhere jewellery is the target, you have to accept the tab band. Gold has no number of its own. A small gold ring sits in the same 20 to 40 window as foil, and a heavier one sits with the pull tabs, so the only way to find gold is to dig trash and get quick at it. That is the trade, and anyone selling you a gold-only setting is selling you nothing.
Getting the machine set up for the ground in front of you matters more than the chart does, and the F22 settings by site type page covers sensitivity, discrimination and notch for parks, fields, beaches and trashy ground. If you are weighing the F22 against the other machines in its price class, the budget detector target ID comparison puts the published scales side by side. Owners stepping up within the same brand can compare against the F44 chart. Everything else in this section is indexed on the reference hub, and a sensible first kit is listed under beginner setups.
Sources
- Fisher F22 owner’s manual, target ID and audio ID sections
- Fisher Research Labs published F22 product specification
- Fisher F22 manufacturer listing bullets, 0 to 99 Target-ID and 4-Tone Audio-ID
Frequently asked questions
Does the Fisher F22 use a 0 to 99 target ID scale?
Yes. Fisher publishes a 0 to 99 numeric Target-ID for the F22, paired with a four-tone Audio-ID system. That is a manufacturer figure rather than an estimate. What Fisher does not publish is a per-target lookup table, because there is not one to publish: the number a given coin produces depends on its depth, its orientation, the soil it is sitting in and how corroded it is.
What number does gold read on a Fisher F22?
There is no gold number. Gold is a poor conductor, so small gold reads low, roughly in the same 20 to 40 band as aluminium foil, and heavier gold rings climb into the 40 to 55 pull tab band. That overlap is not a flaw in the F22 and no detector at any price removes it. If you want gold jewellery you dig foil and tabs, which is why beach hunters get fast at recovery.
Why does a bottle cap read like a coin on the F22?
A steel bottle cap is flat, round and roughly coin sized, so from one angle it presents to the coil much like a coin does. The usual tell is instability: cap IDs jump around between sweeps, while a real coin repeats. Sweep the target from ninety degrees to the first pass. A cap normally falls apart or drops into the iron band, and a coin holds its number.
Should I run discrimination on the F22 or dig everything?
Notch out iron if the site is full of nails and you are chasing coins, because the time saved is real. Beyond that, discrimination costs you finds. Every band you reject also rejects the good target sitting next to a nail, and gold sits in the same range as the trash most people block first. A better habit is to run wide, listen to the tones, and use your ears to filter rather than the menu.
How deep will the F22 still give a usable ID number?
Fisher states the F22 finds targets on the surface and buried up to nine inches deep, and the ID degrades well before that limit. On a coin-sized target in average soil, expect the number to stay reasonably honest to roughly five or six inches and to sag and jitter beyond it. Mineralised ground shortens that further. Bury a marked coin at several depths in your own soil and you will know your own answer.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published specifications, manuals and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Target ID numbers, depth figures and settings vary with soil chemistry, moisture, target size, depth, orientation and firmware version, so treat every figure here as a starting point and verify it against your own machine's manual and your own ground. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.