A nondestructive evaluation apparatus and method for qualifying cold worked fastener holes. In an illustrative embodiment, the apparatus comprises a probe and a detector that interprets probe signals. An inductive sensor coil located in the probe uses a magnetic shielding arrangement to focus sensing to a specific zone of cold worked material around a hole in a test specimen. The shielding mitigates edge effects around the hole and measurement dilution away from the hole. A reference coil, located on not cold worked material away from the hole, provides a comparative baseline measurement. Sensor coils are arranged in a novel resonant filter bridge circuit in the probe and connected to the detector. The detector evaluates impedance changes on the probe caused electrical conductivity variations in the test specimen and correlates the changes to cold work quality.