Diversity.

[hoser]

I was thinking about our hobby and all the folks here on the forum. And we are quite a diverse group for the most part in my mind. At one point in time we all started out exactly the same. Something we saw, read, or heard sparked the desire for finding treasure. That sense of adventure was almost overwhelming. We just HAD to go out and find our fortune, or so we thought. We all bought a metal detector and started our quest. The interesting part is how at some point in time we fanned out into different types of treasure hunting. Hunting on land for coins and jewelry, hunting for gold in the surf and on a salty beach, looking for relics of the past, prospecting for the lost vein of gold. I know it has everything to do with location too. Here we are land and water, west is prospecting, beach and surf hunting, plus land. Eastern states have the relics and oldest coinage I would guess. You get the point. I personally have done it all at some point and I have resigned myself to 90% land 10% water hunting. I was just curious what was the trigger for all of us. Mine was when a guy found a gold coin water detecting in Cuba. From that day forward I was doomed. What were your triggers.

 

[sube]

I think it is in all of are genes Hunter gather that is exactly what we do .
As to how I started was watching a guy across the street from my house at the park swinging a 63tr whites we would throw penny's down the way he was heading the few we had and were amazed that he would find them. I had to sell a lot of papers on my paper route to get my first BFO detector . sube

 

[TheFrood]

I hate to say it but... some random YouTube videos got me back into it. I went years without touching a detector and TBH had almost forgotten that I owned one. Since then I've upgraded and my detector and am having so much fun that I can't remember why I ever stopped hunting.

 

[diggin4clad]

I have been a coin collector since 1957 so I've pretty much had an interest in old coins since then. Years later, in the late 70's, I saw an ad for White's metal detectors in a coin magazine and thought that finding them in the ground would be neat. I bought my first detector in 1983.

 

[markinmichigan]

Just what I needed, great topic Bill! I started metal detecting when I lost something I needed to find, darn Keys! And then I had a few hours one day and saw a field. And found money and jewelry. This is kind of fun and it reminded me of growing up and watching my grandfather, who was a rock hound. He'd dig agates, turquoise, Petosky stones. He would pick rocks out of the ground and make jewelry. And my Father was a young teller at the bank and collected coins. He has a hell of a collection.

Then I went down the rabbit hole and thought "I wonder if my metal detector thinks about me too?" I love this hobby.

Mark in Michigan

 

[MasonDixonMding]

I was given a very cheap detector. I tried it in my driveway but that was it. A couple of years later a friend new I had a detector and ask if I could bring it over to his home. He was shooting a gun near his house and lost live bullets in the grass. He was afraid to mow the grass because it was so close to the house. I went over and found the ammo. When I come home I thought I’ll see what’s in my yard. I found a clad dime and a couple of pennies. That’s all it took. I was hooked!

 

[bmattioli]

I'm a born collector and on New Years Eve 2008 I decided to buy the Garrett Ace 250 and found this Forum and
site.. It's been a fun ride..

 

[Cherry Picker]

My trigger was seeing an old BFO detector at a garage sale and buying it out of curiosity. It led me to buy my first Lost Treasure magazine and then the MAG sparked my want to buy a better detector. It was all about striking it rich at first until I started finding things that got me wondering how and why it was there.

 

[bottlecap4u]

Always had the history bug, paid my college tuition with a scholarship it did, avid reader, researcher of all things historical. Never, could pursue it in my younger years, no free time and any I did have it was baseball, softball, fishing/hunting. Recently retired, started seeing youtube videos, BAM! (like those old Batman clips), it hit me, I was all in! Got me a nox and been in it ever since. Love it!

 

[hoser]

Thanks all. Like I said I tried it all including panning for gold in South Dakota. Dang! That's a lot of work. I like to beach hunt, but we don't have the beaches up here like there is on the ocean. I guess colder water and fewer people. Now my favorite type of detecting is land hunting and mostly around older homes and forested areas. I promised myself this year I'll try water hunting again.

 

[Coin-Saver]

In 2006 I had kidney surgery. I had always been interested and thought it would be a great way to recover from 26 staples in my side. I found this site I believe it was a few months after it started. I hunted regularly for about 6 years then it slowed. Life and a divorce got in the way. Then came the rebuilding process and a new detector. I couldn't remember how to get in here under the old name so I had to create a new one.

 

[Bucktrout]

Started for me as somthing to do with my 3 kids when they were much younger- everybody could tag along and find our “treasures.” 15 years later I am the only one who is still hunting for treasure- but we made alot of great memories together as a family. Thats the greatest treasure so far!

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

I have been a coin collector since 1957 so I've pretty much had an interest in old coins since then. Years later, in the late 70's, I saw an ad for White's metal detectors in a coin magazine and thought that finding them in the ground would be neat. I bought my first detector in 1983.

Like diggin4clad, I started collecting coins in the 1950s, dug in dumps in the 60s and bought my first White's in early 1970a, after selling a $20.00 gold coin for $50.00. Stopped in 1976 - 1995, when a buddy and I bought Echo IIs for about $500 for land digging. Started beach detecting mid 2000s and never looked back. Venues can't be better. Healthy sport with rewards, can't say that about many other sports. When you walk miles and dig a ton of sand or more, constantly swinging a 3-6lb detector and always on alert...No doubt, the BEST hobby there is! And the Wife loves the rewards...gold? No. Getting me out-of-the-house. Her real reward!

 

[too_pointer]

Thanks all. Like I said I tried it all including panning for gold in South Dakota. Dang! That's a lot of work. I like to beach hunt, but we don't have the beaches up here like there is on the ocean. I guess colder water and fewer people. Now my favorite type of detecting is land hunting and mostly around older homes and forested areas. I promised myself this year I'll try water hunting again.

Where in S. Dakota were you ? I spent most of my Air Force in Rapid City S.D. Lot of old bottles and Dinosaur bones

 

[hoser]

Where in S. Dakota were you ? I spent most of my Air Force in Rapid City S.D

went through Rapid City, but stayed in the Deadwood Spearfish area. Camped up in the Black Hills.

 

[Reelfoot Relics]

My Father metal detected in the late 70's. I got to tag along and even got to swing his spare machine some. He moved on to other pastimes namely crappie fishing. I didn't start until two years ago so it was quite a gap. He mostly hunted old schools and ball fields and found lots of silver. I mostly hunt old home sites in farm fields. My hunting is relic based and a few coins to boot. I have two brothers are also in the hobby. Great discussion.

 

[atomicbrh]

My mother and I were at playground when I was a little kid and I saw a guy with a huge box like detector probably a Whites digging up coins under a monkey bar type of equipment. I distinctly remember he was wearing headphones. Flash to about thirty years later. I needed a hobby to replace a very expensive racing addiction and bought a Radio shack detector. Used that a few years but it was not very good and I gave up. Jumped in and out of other hobbies for awhile but that guy I saw as a kid kept gnawing at me. Had a box of Christmas present gift cards saved up. Bought some modern detectors for my wife and me as her retirement gift. The quality of these modern detectors and how well they work really got us hooked. The great things about the detecting hobby are no entry fees, no scheduled participation times where we have to be at a precise place at a precise time, no coaches, no event directors, no huge consumables expenses, no trailer towing, no loud noises, no large crowds, no complex rulebook and very little government regulation if you avoid the regulated areas.

 

[KOB]

I would have to credit my grandmother. We all lived near Mission San Juan Capistrano , home of the Swallows. About 4 years old she would take me out to the surrounding hills looking for rocks , arrowheads and artifacts. 8 years old I bought my 1st detector. Used it sparingly the next 10. The next 40+ years I have hunted whenever possible. Growing up on a beach , that's what I do for treasure hunting. But my grandmother is the 1 that peaked my curiosity to always be glancing at the ground. She has since passed and the last time I was with her some 30 years ago we were sitting in the dirt at the Crater of Diamonds. Memories....

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Bought my Ace 250 in 2013 to locate old bottle dumps that were not visible on the surface. Great way to find virgin bottle dumps! Eventually started metal detecting local baseball fields digging for clad and silver rings. Found a weird looking buckle at one of them and did some research on it. Turned out to be a complete 1700's shoe buckle! That got me hooked on finding colonial coins and relics, which has been my main interest ever since.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I have been a coin collector since 1957 so I've pretty much had an interest in old coins since then.

I never collected coins as a kid. Collected stamps for a few years and then moved on to collecting baseball cards for most of my life. Thanks to this hobby, I've gone from knowing absolutely nothing about U.S. coins to being able to ID almost any coin I dig up now.