Metal Detectors?

Mark ;)

Yes, can we convince you to go? :confused:

Going to try and figure something out. My brother-in-law is getting married in June next year in upstate New York, (big wedding), which will be affecting our plans for Spring .
I'll let you know, I keep looking at the vids of Colchester that Chris has put on the site, the new land looks great.:cool:
 
Going to try and figure something out. My brother-in-law is getting married in June next year in upstate New York, (big wedding), which will be affecting our plans for Spring .
I'll let you know, I keep looking at the vids of Colchester that Chris has put on the site, the new land looks great.:cool:

So far we have a stellar group, with 2 slots open. It's the first real week in April., I think...but I think all the rooms at Chris' are spoken for :(
 
So far we have a stellar group, with 2 slots open. It's the first real week in April., I think...but I think all the rooms at Chris' are spoken for :(

Naturally the good spots get taken first. He ought to add on a few more rooms. :D Got to play by ear for now.
 
I have a cheopo ~$100 from walmart. It DID find a lost wedding band for my Mother in law, so it works. Just gets boring digging up a bunch of trash. I have found some cool stuff though.
 
Good advice about coming to England (as nothing in America is more than about 20 minutes old...:rolleyes: ):

"A gold coin lost 1,200 years ago on a river bank in Bedfordshire became the most expensive British coin when it was bought by the British Museum for £357,832 yesterday.

A little smaller than a pound coin in diameter and much thinner, the glittering mancus, the value of 30 days' wages for a skilled Anglo-Saxon worker, now ranks among the museum's most valuable artefacts.

ncoin09.jpg


Made from more than 85 per cent gold, weighing 4.33g and showing almost no sign of wear, the coin was struck in 805-810 during the reign of Coenwulf, the King of Mercia, East Anglia and Kent, the most powerful ruler in Britain at the time and a significant figure in the gradual unification of England.

The coin carries his name, title and an image of him and, on the reverse, the intriguing inscription DE VICO LVNDONIAE (From the trading place of London).

Besides being in almost perfect condition, its significance, says the museum, is that it is the earliest gold coin in the name of an English ruler intended as part of a circulating currency.

Many dozen Anglo-Saxon silver pennies have been unearthed but the Coenwulf mancus is only the eighth British gold coin - the museum now owns seven of them - cast between 670 and 1257 to be found.

The mancus was found several inches below a footpath on the bank of the Ivel near Biggleswade in 2001 by a metal detector enthusiast out walking with his dog."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/02/09/ncoin09.xml

maximus otter
 
My vote is for Garrett. I bought a midrange discriminator in the 70's sold it in the 90's and regretted it for a long time. Finally had to replace it and got another Garrett (a GTI2500). Almost bought a White's but brand loyalty brought me back. Garrett makes a couple entry level models that are in your price range. They have been around for a long time and are a leader in the market. You wouldn't go wrong. I have a friend that has a top line White's and we want to get out together to see the two units in action for a comparison. It'll be interesting! You'll have fun with whatever you get!
 
well i hope you all our proud of your selves!! because of this thread i bit the bullet and orderd a fisher "Coin strike" off ebay!! it should be here tomorrow so ill give a sit rep after i have played with it all day :)
 
Metal detecting is HARD work! Lots of fun, too, but you will earn what you find, I guarantee it.

Fisher, Tesoro, Minelab, are the best IMHO.

Garretts and Whites are good too, but tend to be overpriced. My advice is to get the most detector you can afford, or you'll surely spend more later in the upgrade process. Keep in mind that those "Identification Meters" are NOT foolproof. There's no way that meter can tell the difference between an old penny and a small chunk of copper tubing. Bottom line: if you wanna find good stuff, you really have to dig anything that sets off your detector. As an example; the detector does not know the difference between a chunk of foil and a small gold ring.
 
well my new toy arrived and i spent 2 hours with it yesterday and my back yard looks like it was attacked my ninja groundhogs :) my finds include black iron pipe, 3 peices of copper wire a stainless steal wedge of some sort and one 1950 wheat penny :) even though i didnt get a lot it was still a lot of fun you just never knew what you were gonna dig up!
 
Good for you doc. The next steps are to hunt a local beach for some lose change and jewlery, then a few local parks, where it's permitted. This should give you a feel for what sounds are good and what sounds are junk. Next get in the woods, any place where people would have congreated in the old days. Church picnic areas are a great source for old coins, defunct train stations or old boarding houses will also turn up some older coins. Once you have a trained ear your ready to hunt Civil War artifacts. Up here in the NE we don't find much in the way of CW stuff but many Rev. war artifacts do turn up. Its a great hobby and you need to be able to hear what your machine is trying to tell you, that comes with lots of experence. Good Luck.
Dave
 
yeah thats what im finding, im trying to memorize (sp) the diffrent tones i know one thing though its entirely to addictive, my wife kept taking it away from me and telling me im doing it wrong :) looks like ill have to buy her one to
 
Wait until you find your first real old coins, 1800's stuff or a gold ring, CW belt buckle. You will really be hooked. 20 years of buggin for me and I still jump up and down when I find real treasure.
Dave
 
By listening to other detectorists and getting more experience, you will learn:

(1) how to use your particular metal detector, e.g., how to interpret its sounds and meter readings, how fast/slow to move the search coil, how to adjust the settings, ...

(2) the clues about the terrain which are more likely to yield items, e.g.,

- Around the base of old trees. People sit under them for shade and money falls out of their pockets.

- Under bleachers at baseball fields, though you must sift through a lot of trash

- Along baselines in baseball diamonds

- On sloping hills where people sit at outdoor music concerts, ski slopes, etc.

- Under playground equipment

- Near refreshment stands in parks

- Where the rides (e.g., ferris wheel) were located at fairgrounds

- Sandy beaches - some were so full of coins that I found a coin at almost every swing of the detector and my body grew so tired we left the beach after filling our pockets with coins even though we knew there were so many more to find.

Have fun. Don't forget to fill in any holes you make or you won't be welcome back.


I could tell you lots of stories about skeptics. I told a friend I could could find money in his back yard and he scoffed. I got my metal detector from my truck and started swinging it in his back yard. He stopped me after I found about 10 coins in the first 15 minutes.

An executive asked if I had paid for my detector with my finds. I answered that I had found several times more than the price of my metal detector. Then, I asked him if he had made enough money playing golf to pay for his golf clubs. :) That shut him up.
 
I'm happy to see so many TH'ers here on this forum. It's a super hobby and one with many rewards, both physical and mental. I hunt with an older machine, a Teknetics Mark I Ltd and have hunted with guys that have the most up to date bells and whistle detectors going. I usually come out of the woods with the goodies, it's all in knowing your machine. Well I gotta go check out some knives, I just remembered that this is a knife forum:D I could talk metal detecting all day.
 
Locate some of the forums on the web. there are few.

The coin that I posted a pic of, I found in England last year. Turned out to be fairly rare, only 6 known and I found number six. Its a North Thames tribe Celtic gold stater from 40 b.c.

Treasure hunting is a fantastic hobby I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
Research your area and you'll find a rich history.
Add a digital camera to your gear along with all the other stuff you'll be hauling around.

Good luck and have a good time.
 
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