Garrett AT series
Garrett Target ID Chart Comparison: AT, ACE and Other Brands
Quick answer
Garrett uses a 0 to 99 digital target ID across the AT and ACE lines, so a quarter reads in the high eighties on all of them, give or take a few points for frequency. Other brands use their own scales, and Minelab machines also report ferrous targets below zero.
A target ID number is a label a particular machine puts on a particular measurement. The ordering is universal because conductivity is physics: iron low, foil and small gold low, nickel and tabs in the middle, copper and silver high. The numbers are not universal, because each manufacturer chooses how to map that ordering onto a scale.
Within Garrett the mapping is consistent enough to be useful, which is why an ACE owner moving to an Garrett AT Pro recognises the numbers immediately. Across brands it is not, and copying a Minelab chart onto a Garrett screen is how people end up walking over good targets.
Top pick
Garrett AT Pro
The middle of the Garrett scale in practice, and the machine most published Garrett target ID charts were written against.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
On this page
How do the Garrett scales line up?
All of these machines report on a 0 to 99 digital scale. What differs is operating frequency, which shifts the low conductive end most and the high conductive end least.
A US quarter reads in the mid to high eighties on every Garrett machine using the 0 to 99 scale, while nickels climb from around 54 to 60 on an AT Pro to around 58 to 65 on the higher frequency AT Gold, and other brands use scales that do not map one to one.
| Machine | Scale | Nickel | Zinc cent | Dime | Quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett AT Pro | 0 to 99 | 54 to 60 | 70 to 78 | 80 to 88 | 85 to 90 |
| Garrett AT Max | 0 to 99 | 55 to 62 | 70 to 78 | 80 to 88 | 85 to 92 |
| Garrett AT Gold | 0 to 99 | 58 to 65 | 72 to 80 | 82 to 90 | 85 to 92 |
| Garrett ACE 300 | 0 to 99 | 50 to 58 | 68 to 76 | 78 to 86 | 82 to 90 |
| Garrett ACE 400 | 0 to 99 | 52 to 60 | 70 to 78 | 80 to 88 | 84 to 90 |
| Minelab Equinox 900 | Ferrous below zero, then 0 to 99 | Around 12 to 14 | Around 20 to 22 | Around 25 to 29 | Around 29 to 32 |
| Nokta The Legend Pro Pack | 0 to 99 with ferrous segment | Low to middle band | Middle band | Upper band | Upper band |
Garrett publishes the 0 to 99 digital target ID for the AT and ACE lines, Minelab's Equinox 900 listing cites 119 high-resolution target IDs spanning ferrous readings below zero, and Nokta cites 99 target IDs for the Legend line. The per target figures are the bands owners consistently report, not manufacturer specifications, and Nokta does not publish a per coin table, so those cells stay descriptive rather than inventing numbers.
Why do Minelab numbers look nothing like Garrett numbers?
Because Minelab compresses the non-ferrous range differently and reserves negative readings for ferrous targets. On an Equinox a US dime sits in the mid twenties, which on a Garrett would be deep iron territory. Neither scale is wrong. They are different rulers measuring the same thing, and the ordering within each is identical: nickel below zinc, zinc below dime, dime below quarter.
The practical consequence is that you cannot carry a number between machines, only a rank. If somebody tells you to dig 12 to 14 for nickels, that instruction is worthless on an Garrett AT Pro where nickels live in the fifties. Use the AT Pro chart or the AT Max chart for a Garrett, and build your own plot rather than translating somebody else's.
How much does frequency shift the Garrett numbers?
Mostly at the bottom of the scale. High conductors such as silver and copper are read well by any frequency, so a quarter lands in much the same place on an Garrett ACE 300 and an Garrett AT Gold. Low conductors are different: a higher frequency machine generates more response from small gold, foil and thin jewellery, so those targets read a few points higher and are audible a little deeper on an 18 kHz Garrett AT Gold than on a lower frequency AT machine.
That is why the AT Gold is sold for small gold and why it is noisier in a modern park full of aluminium. It is the same effect seen from two directions, and it is covered on the AT Gold target ID chart.
Does a higher resolution scale find more?
It gives you more granularity to reason with, not more depth. Minelab's listing for the Minelab Equinox 900 cites 119 high-resolution target IDs, and Nokta cites 99 for the Legend line, while Garrett splits the AT Pro's iron range into 40 discrimination levels. Finer resolution helps you notice small, consistent differences between targets, which matters when you are trying to pick a coin out of a site full of one particular kind of trash.
It does not change what the coil can hear. A target that is too deep to classify remains too deep to classify at any resolution, and the number simply wanders with more precision. Depth is a function of coil, soil and frequency, which the AT Pro depth chart sets out with the conditions attached.
What should you do when you change machines?
Re-learn the numbers deliberately rather than by accident. Take the same handful of known targets you buried for the old machine, run the new one over them at the settings you intend to hunt with, and write the new numbers down beside the old ones. An afternoon of that will save a season of dug tabs.
Then re-learn the audio, because tone carries information the number does not, particularly on Garrett machines with proportional audio. The AT Pro tone profiles page covers what those sounds are telling you, and readers assembling a first kit will find the beginner setup a faster route than buying by specification sheet.
Sources
- Garrett AT Pro, AT Max, AT Gold, ACE 300 and ACE 400 owner's manuals and listing specifications
- Minelab Equinox 900 listing specification, 119 high-resolution target IDs
- Nokta The Legend published target ID specification
Frequently asked questions
Do Garrett ACE and AT target ID numbers match?
Closely, not exactly. Both lines use a 0 to 99 digital scale with the same conductivity ordering, so an ACE owner moving to an AT machine recognises the numbers straight away. Individual readings can differ by several points because the machines run at different frequencies and have different electronics. High conductors such as dimes and quarters transfer best, small low conductive targets transfer worst.
Why does a dime read 25 on a Minelab and 84 on a Garrett?
Because the two manufacturers map the same conductivity measurement onto different scales. Minelab compresses the non-ferrous range and uses readings below zero for ferrous targets, while Garrett spreads non-ferrous targets across 0 to 99 with iron at the bottom. The ordering is identical on both, so ranks transfer between machines while absolute numbers never do.
Which Garrett machine has the most accurate target ID?
Accuracy depends more on ground, depth and ground balance than on the model. In mild soil at moderate depth all the Garrett machines using the 0 to 99 scale are repeatable enough to act on. In mineralised ground the AT Gold has the better balancing tools, which helps stability, while the newer multi-frequency machines handle difficult ground differently again. No machine is accurate at the edge of its depth range.
Can I use a target ID chart written for another detector?
Only as an ordering, never as numbers. The rank of targets from iron up to silver is the same on every machine because it is determined by conductivity. The values attached to that rank are a manufacturer choice. Take the structure of somebody else chart, then fill in the numbers your own machine produces on buried targets in your own soil.
Does more target ID resolution mean more depth?
No. Resolution describes how finely the machine divides the scale it already has, not how far the coil can hear. A higher resolution display helps you distinguish similar targets in the range where the signal is strong enough to classify, which is useful in trashy ground. Depth is governed by coil size, frequency, soil mineralisation and ground balance.
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.