Paper money
Most of you have heard this one. I bought a locator rod the mfr said would detect paper money. The sample chamber was small and he said to put in a 100 dollar bill but it was hard to roll it up that small and it was easier to just tear the bill in half. I was explaining this to a skeptic friend and he replied, "So now I suppose it finds fifty dollar bills."
Some people use a frequency generator for paper money or gemstones. I heard about one guy claimed he could tell if the bill was laying face up or not. One might assume the target's density is the most important factor in detection, so that paper money would be much more difficult to detect than gold. Surface area seems to play a much larger role than density (like in electrostatics). The shape of the target has an effect, too. I don't know too much here, but a parabolic shape like a gemstone is easier to detect than a coin lying flat on the ground. Instructions say to place a target coin so it is on edge facing you.
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