Official guide · Finding Needle in the Stack
What is a haystack worth? The loot odds
Each new stack hides about 650 valuables among the hay. They are not all equal: most are junk worth a few dollars, and a handful are worth a great deal. Knowing the odds tells you where to dig and what is worth stopping for.
What to expect in one stack
The table shows the chance of each item, how many of that item you can expect in a typical stack of 650, and roughly how much of the total money they make up.
| Item | Sells for | Chance | Expected per stack | Share of the money |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rusty Nail | $1 | about 20% | about 133 | about 1% |
| Bottle Cap | $3 | about 29% | about 186 | about 4% |
| Old Coin | $8 | about 25% | about 160 | about 9% |
| Silver Spoon | $15 | about 9% | about 60 | about 6% |
| Brass Key | $22 | about 9% | about 60 | about 9% |
| Pocket Watch | $80 | about 4% | about 27 | about 14% |
| Silver Ring | $160 | about 3% | about 17 | about 18% |
| Gold Ring | $420 | about 1% | about 7 | about 19% |
| Diamond | $1,500 | about 0.3% | about 2 | about 20% |
These are averages. A real stack can have a few more or fewer of each item.
What the numbers tell you
- The average valuable is worth about $23, and a whole stack holds roughly $14,700.
- Almost three quarters of the items are nails, caps and coins. They are about 74% of what you find but only about 13% of the money.
- Rings and diamonds are only about 4% of the items and they carry about 57% of the value. A single diamond is worth as much as 1,500 nails.
What this means for your digging
Early on, any find helps, so dig and grab everything. Later, once your backpack is full of nails and caps, it pays to use the detector and choose where you dig, because a trip with a gold ring in it is worth far more than a trip full of bottle caps.
Diamonds are the one exception to the detector. They are not made of metal, so the detector cannot hear them. You find them by sight, by luck, or because an Auto-Sifter digs one out. Read How the metal detector works to see what it can and cannot find.
And the needle?
The needle is not part of that 650 and it is not for sale. There is exactly one in every stack, buried deep in the solid hay. Finding it ends the stack and starts a new one with all your upgrades kept.
Ready to dig?
Free in your browser on PC and mobile. Your progress saves as you play.
Play Finding Needle in the Stack