Myers Depot Metal Detectors

future trends and diminishing returns of detecting

Wmass guy said:
That’s a fine pub and I sometimes enjoy one or two at the Northampton brewery also. So do you ever detect up this way? :roll: Maybe you’re the sharpshooter that beats me to all the quarters here abouts :cool3:
Click to expand...
I've only been to the Northampton Brewery one time and the Tunnel bar a couple of times. Fitzwilly's is usually our choice when we're out that way. In Vermont we like Madison Brewing Co. and here in Conn. we like Willibrew which is a neat pub that's located in what used to be the town's old post office. In Fitzwilly's the brew of choice is Steel Rail Ale...…
I'm in in my 37th year of detecting and have at one time or another detected most every town in Conn. and Mass. but I don't detect up there as much as I used to. I've also detected in Vermont and New Hampshire. So....if there's a "sharpshooter" beating you to the quarters I'm sorry to say it isn't me. Last time I was anywhere in the vicinity was last fall and we hunted in Greenfield and Sunderland and unfortunately we didn't get too much of anything...…….of course we stopped off at Fitzwilly's on the way home.:chef2::beers:
 
jmaryt said:
you echo my sentiments exactly!..i feel the same way,BUT it took years for me to accept this situation.i was always in 'anticipation" mode, and quite frankly, still am but to a "much" lesser degree.after 35 years' expect to find "clad" and not a whole hell of a lot else. i have "adjusted" my thinking over time, and now just enjoy getting out, and finding' the clad, and maybe a wheat ,or two.at 69,feel happy just to be able to "get out" and spend some quality time afield!

(h.h.!)
j.t.
Click to expand...

BINGO !.....I still have expectations but they're a lot less than they were 30 years ago !
 
diggin4clad said:
.... keep in mind that MANY of those lost coins have been buried under asphalt, cement, housing, businesses, etc. .....
Click to expand...

Good reminder. This is exactly why old-town urban demolition hunting is another "final frontier". Follow the bull-dozers, so-to-speak. Old town sidewalk tearouts, building demolitions (assuming it wasn't a high-rise with basements and such). Park scrapes when they get ready to install artificial turf or tennis courts, etc....
 
diggin4clad said:
I've only been to the Northampton Brewery one time and the Tunnel bar a couple of times. Fitzwilly's is usually our choice when we're out that way. In Vermont we like Madison Brewing Co. and here in Conn. we like Willibrew which is a neat pub that's located in what used to be the town's old post office. In Fitzwilly's the brew of choice is Steel Rail Ale...…
I'm in in my 37th year of detecting and have at one time or another detected most every town in Conn. and Mass. but I don't detect up there as much as I used to. I've also detected in Vermont and New Hampshire. So....if there's a "sharpshooter" beating you to the quarters I'm sorry to say it isn't me. Last time I was anywhere in the vicinity was last fall and we hunted in Greenfield and Sunderland and unfortunately we didn't get too much of anything...…….of course we stopped off at Fitzwilly's on the way home.:chef2::beers:
Click to expand...
Steel rail is a great choice, another Berkshire favorite of mine is River Guide but it’s seasonal and maybe even discontinued now :no: Well that sharpshooter must have been to Sunderland too! :lol: Hope he didn’t clean out all the arrowheads in my favorite field.
 
FreeBirdTim said:
There's still a ton of stuff in the ground and there will be for another 100 years. It's not an endless supply, but we've just scratched the surface.

I'm a numbers guy, so here's a few numbers for you to consider. I live in Rhode Island, which had a population of 69,000 people in 1800. If every one of them lost 5 coins in the 1700's, that would mean there were 345,000 pre-1800 coins in the ground when the hobby started 50 years ago. Do you really think that many have been found? No way! Probably only 20%, which means there's still 276,000 pre-1800 coins to be found!

Now let's say those 69,000 people lost a couple of shoe buckles and half a dozen buttons during the 1700's. That means there were at least 138,000 shoe buckles and 414,000 buttons lost! Using the same 20% found, that leaves around 110,400 shoe buckles and 331,200 buttons left to find! Obviously, I'm just guessing on the numbers, but you get the point. Don't worry about running out of stuff! Not gonna happen in our lifetimes! Lol!
Click to expand...


I love this post.
 
hope springs eternal! "always" "something" left behind! it's NOT !!!!!!!!!
it's true, and every blind squirrel finds a nut, sooner,or later!
positive attitude counts for much! i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
In 1976 I saved and bought a Whites Coinmaster II that came with the new discrimination circuitry. I was 14. Lot of money back then, but I was working construction when all the other kids were off for the summer.

That machine contained 2 seperate battery packs, for a total of 12 AA’s if I recall correctly. It seemed a nightmare to setup properly and I carried the paper instructions inside the machine.

I never found squat! I was hitting yards and ballfields and such, but turns out the rig was too much for this kid (machine really couldn’t get any depth either). In the mean time, I never once saw another detectorist. Shortly after that I got into roll hunting and dump digging to get my fix.
 
Thirty-two years later I saw an ad on TV selling metal detectors. Went out and spent a grand on a machine with all the bells and whistles...hit a bunch of spots and found a couple silvers but something told me this brand wasn’t going to cut it, especially after being left in the dust on a few group hunts.

A year later I changed brands and the difference was eye opening! That year I dug close to 80 or more silvers and dozens of oldies, hitting the same ‘ol spots. Several hundred silvers and six years pass and now I can say these spots are barren of any goodies, proven by friends and myself using quality rigs.
 
1976 was an awesome year all the way around! Probably my Favorite year in my whole entire Lifetime to date! I was not into detecting at the time though, I wish I was! But I was making big stinky money working as a dishwasher, mowing yards, shoveling snow, shingling houses, trapping muskrats and snapping turtles and whatnot, plus, I had my first experience with 'Summer Love' that year!...with an actual human person other than myself I'm saying...and yes, it was with a girl..we held hands...we actually held hands!...
 
Mud-puppy said:
1976 ..... I had my first experience with 'Summer Love' that year!...with an actual human person other than myself I'm saying...and yes, it was with a girl..we held hands...we actually held hands!...
Click to expand...


Puppy-mud, where were your priorities ? Sheesk. What's more important ? Holding hands with Girls ? Or metal detecting ? Sssheeesk, no wonder your collection doesn't have more gold coins by now :D
 
Mud-puppy said:
1976 was an awesome year all the way around! Probably my Favorite year in my whole entire Lifetime to date! I was not into detecting at the time though, I wish I was! But I was making big stinky money working as a dishwasher, mowing yards, shoveling snow, shingling houses, trapping muskrats and snapping turtles and whatnot, plus, I had my first experience with 'Summer Love' that year!...with an actual human person other than myself I'm saying...and yes, it was with a girl..we held hands...we actually held hands!...
Click to expand...

mud! ya ''always" fall in love with yourself first! "big stinky money!" love that!

i'm just sayin'
(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Puppy-mud, where were your priorities ? Sheesk. What's more important ? Holding hands with Girls ? Or metal detecting ? Sssheeesk, no wonder your collection doesn't have more gold coins by now :D
Click to expand...

no! but he's got some large cents!..ehe! heh! he!
hey tom! move out of cali yet?..hear the fed's callin' in the "!!!! wagons"
the "great unwashed" are movin' in your direction!....i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
i told ya what to do! ain't no shortage! get yaself here and find out!

i'm just sayin'
(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
Wmass guy said:
:cool3: another old timer that sees the hobby like me. Hey it was a great week, I got out 3 times, a total of 7 hours just over $5 clad AND I scored one wheat cent that digging for clad missed on his way to Northampton!:laughing:
Click to expand...

seems like only yesterday, we was diggin' silver 6 times a day.the anticipation factor is still strong with me.i concentrate now on 'curb strips" they have been over looked and sometimes ya "get lucky!" i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
jmaryt said:
seems like only yesterday, we was diggin' silver 6 times a day.the anticipation factor is still strong with me.i concentrate now on 'curb strips" they have been over looked and sometimes ya "get lucky!" i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
Click to expand...

Ya unfortunately most of the curbs in my town have been reworked already , and 25-30 years ago there were 2 old gents that detected the work sites of the sidewalk tear outs. Smart fellas I guess.
 
if ya move around a little! think you will find some! good thing is they are everywhere, and you can find your share! people can't be everywhere!..i usually do streets with older homes and old trees makes a difference...i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Hey there maxx-katt, as someone who's been into this since the 1970s (started as a teenager in Jr. High), I can comment a bit on this :laughing:

There were definitely a few forward thinking hunters who cashed-in on virgin sites. That can regale you with stories of silver in the parks, blah blah.

But you'd be surprised how many persons (myself included) who weren't that forward thinking. We were content to just ply the school yards and junky parks, looking for merc's and roosies and wheaties. It never occurred to me, back then , to do exotic things like stage stops, beach erosion, old-town urban demolition , etc.....

Not that I didn't occasionally try. But when a few "pesky bullet shells" surfaced, I grew bored, and left for "greener grounds" back at the elementary schools that "didn't have as much junk". Looking back, I realize now, that the bullet shells were rimfire henries, that should have given me wood. Doh! And decades later, I would return to the exact same sites and find reales and seateds. Doh !

Just didn't understand the relic mindset. And I have seen the same attitude , with 1960s and '70s hunters that I've talked to. They were content to do sand volleyball courts, etc.... It never occurred to them to do ghost towns, forts, etc.... (too much "junk").

Bear in mind that discriminators didn't come out till the mid 1970s . And weren't in popular use till the later 1970s (slow to catch on in the pre-internet era). Thus foil, lead, tabs, etc... were a big problem. And bear in mind that the machines back then didn't go too deep either.

Yes I'm sure there were people who were forward thinking, and understood "good junk", etc....

I can recall that I never even found a seated coin till the early 1990s, despite having already detected for 10 or 15 yrs. by then.

So as virgin as things were in those days, there was a lot of un-exploited ground. And even today, it amazes me what sites (when I travel) that have not been exploited.

But a sad truth to the 1970s and '80s, is that .... yes .... the easy silver in the parks is gone. I pity the persons who go now, and try to get silver out of some of the parks that used to be our stomping grounds . I would not touch those parks with a 10-foot pole now.
Click to expand...
,

A great topic and dead on response Tom. As long as people chase coins and jewelry? Personally I'm good!! one persons "treasure" can very well be another persons "junk" and theres a lot of "junk" left out there for us "junkmeisters":D AKA "Relics"
 
Last edited:
maxxkatt said:
What will be left is beach hunting for jewelry drops that are replenished every season.

So what is left for hobbyists in the next 10 years? What will they be consigned to looking for? Tot lots, volley ball courts and beaches?

Are the detector manufacturers contributing to the demise of their industry with all of these new detecting advances in their detectors? Maybe, but competition forces such innovations.
Click to expand...

I hunt parks and schools exclusively. With the exception of the rare event when i come across a silver coin (which I often think is just accidental drops of recent stuff), I find PLENTY to keep me busy.

Folks often rave about finding silver... But frankly, the value of silver is far exceeded by the value of gold. I've cleared $1000 in gold this year already (as in melted at the refinery), in addition to the $300 or so in change, and several dozen silver items.

To make $1000 in silver coins, I'd have to find 300+ GW quarters. Not that I don't think silver coins are cool, but frankly, the value in finding that old silver, is when you run across OLD silver (like barbers or 1800's that carry a premium). The odd coin that is worth a mint is also nice. But the same can be said for the odd gold ring that I can sell for a couple grand, too.

And this year, I've hunted about 1/4 what I usually do. Turns out fresh drops stay fresh, even if I'm not out every week. :)

There's plenty for MDers to do. And I only hunt land. Wish I could get to a beach more often. Sand is just more "fun." Love scooping stuff!

Skippy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Valley Hunter
the Legend software ... ?
Replies
0
Views
1
Valley Hunter
Valley Hunter
CountyWorker
Industry Forum
Replies
2
Views
15
CountyWorker
CountyWorker
Rudy
Magnet Fishing Yields New Evidence
Replies
6
Views
206
mudwhale
mudwhale
maxxkatt
Fun comparison of our members with the members of the Danbury Metal Detecting Club
Replies
5
Views
158
CountyWorker
CountyWorker
GTimberMT
Short story about pull tabs! You never know!!
Replies
0
Views
138
GTimberMT
GTimberMT
Back
Top Bottom