GLASSHOPPER1955
Elite Member
The same sentiment is held by us bottle diggers.
future trends and diminishing returns of detecting
- Thread starter maxxkatt
- Start date
The same sentiment is held by us bottle diggers.
relichead
Banned
I hate youtube for this very reason..every where i go in last 5 yrs..holes everywhere...until then here were none..my guess is it the newbs who go out 5 times total and not fill one hole..and put he machine innthe garage tilmthey give it away when the bats leak in 5 yrs
skipjack
Forum Supporter
Didn't I read somewhere that the number of lost coins exceeds the number of coins currently in circulation? If that's only a half-truth its enormous. Add to that the jewelry, relics and precious metals to be found.
I doubt the manufacturers of metal detectors will ever be victims of their own success.
I doubt the manufacturers of metal detectors will ever be victims of their own success.
REAL_RAT_FINK
Forum Supporter
Diminishing returns? What about cultural changes? Before the 90's titanium rings, SS, and Tungsten weren't really a thing. Now look around and see how many people wear a cheap tungsten, SS, or Titanium. They are everywhere, and dont get me wrong, they are actually pretty cool rings they just arent worth $5. My last 4 rings I found last week? Titanium and Tungsten.
AquaHunter
Forum Supporter
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2019
- Messages
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I'm new to detecting and all 3 of the rings I have found so far are plated or cheap metal.
With the price of gold around $1500 an ounce, the replenishment of gold rings in the ground will likely suffer.
I think if you go into metal detecting today you have to like spending time outdoors. If you're only after the money I think it is a disappointment (especially in the areas where I have searched).
demyansk1942
Elite Member
Very good posts. I wonder what the percentage is about the first detector purchase and years continuing in the hobby. I have been doing this for ten years, 4-5 detectors, slowed down somewhat but still go out and like finding things. I also find money while riding my bike. I just feel a lot of people went out and bought a detector, got frustrated and quit.
davedude
Senior Member
I agree, good posts in this thread. I'm a new detectorist, started in January this year at age 61. Despite living only one mile from the Garrett factory in Garland, TX I am optimistic about detecting to say the least. Wish I could get out there and hunt all the time but with work, home improvement projects and other things I'm hunting once a week, crack of dawn Saturday morning.
I know this area has been pounded hard by a couple hundred super pro detectorists before me but I am confident I'll find places that remain undetected or stuff they missed in detected areas. It is still amazing to me that I can go literally anywhere in this urban area and pull coins from the soil. My usual 3 or 4 hour hunts turn up a couple bucks in clad and some maybe some bling but I have been enjoying it immensely.
I been working on my mid-tones and making improvements. Still no gold this year and I can count the silver items on one hand but am finding more and more bling jewelry which is a good sign, I'm getting better, look out long time pro's, it's just a matter of time now.
I know this area has been pounded hard by a couple hundred super pro detectorists before me but I am confident I'll find places that remain undetected or stuff they missed in detected areas. It is still amazing to me that I can go literally anywhere in this urban area and pull coins from the soil. My usual 3 or 4 hour hunts turn up a couple bucks in clad and some maybe some bling but I have been enjoying it immensely.
I been working on my mid-tones and making improvements. Still no gold this year and I can count the silver items on one hand but am finding more and more bling jewelry which is a good sign, I'm getting better, look out long time pro's, it's just a matter of time now.
maxxkatt
Forum Supporter
Now I found where I saw that picture of what you described.
http://www.metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=256459
FoilMeOnce
Junior Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2019
- Messages
- 40
Diminishing returns? If we could just get 20% of people on this forum to quit with this post there might be enough left for us for the next 8 years lol. Honestly, I get your point all of the easy pickings that you know of have been picked... that you know of. But let's be serious there's stuff everywhere. Didn't someone just post about an old rusty beat up lighter being the most valuable thing he's found this year? I started just under 2 months ago and have found a gold ring with diamonds. The real truth is most millennials are super lazy, really they're smart lazy (I'm 35 btw) they know that the are more profitable or fun ways to spend their time. You could set them in a park with guaranteed gold and they'd quit after the second penny. I started doing this to have something to do with my nephews who could care less about it, but it got me hooked. I hate sitting at the beach with nothing to do, but ill detect at the beach 4 hours a day 3-4 days a week knowing I'm only going to bring home a buck fifty in clad. Fighting the waves and the tide is a challenge and one hell of a workout. Im down 25 lbs and have bulked my arms way more than I could have expected from my basic routine at the gym. It's fun and I love the hunt. I haven't even hit the grass yet but I know when I do there will be something there. Diminishing returns?
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
demyansk1942
Elite Member
Good post Once
amc rulz
Forum Supporter
I was a detectorist in the ‘70’s, I didn’t find squat. Didn’t know what I was doing.
Last edited:
now that you do, you still ain't findin' squat! ehe! he! he!
surprise! every place is 'cooked!' you can always hunt your "back yard!"
or your neighbors, or you can make an ass of yourself, and aggravate people
by askin' to hunt their property!..just kidding, of course!..or am i?..i'm just sayin'
(h.h.!)
j.t.
surprise! every place is 'cooked!' you can always hunt your "back yard!"
or your neighbors, or you can make an ass of yourself, and aggravate people
by askin' to hunt their property!..just kidding, of course!..or am i?..i'm just sayin'
(h.h.!)
j.t.
randy
Forum Supporter
FWIW, when I started getting serious in detecting (2010), I would find a silver coin about one every half hour or so. Now that rate, for me, is about one every 2 hours. My detector is the same, and my skill has improved, so it is diminishing, at least here in Chester County.
It seems obvious, at least to me, that that rate will continue to get worse, to the point were it is no longer fun for me, since I do this for one thing, and one thing only, and that is to find silver coins. When that will occur, I don't know. One per 2 hours is still fun for me.
They do regenerate (due to roots, ice, animals pushing previously missed coins into different positions, etc.), but the amount of coins opened up because of this is pretty low, IMHO (I do plan to go over my 50 to 100+ silver sites from 2011/2012 this year or next to try to figure this out, tho).
The best bet, it seems, is to wait for previously undetectable sites to come online, but even this is dicey. We had a private golf course around here that dates back to the thirties that the school district was taking via eminent domain, and I waited patiently for the litigation to end and the transfer to take (and besides, people were still playing golf on it), and when it finally became public property and I got on it, it turns out it was pretty picked over, so clearly it was being detected at night as private property, as it is unlikely permission would have been granted, and it was undetectable in the day, so you never know.
I'm not convinced the new machines can out silver an E-Trac in the hands of a skilled operator, but we'll see. The combination of FBS, auto ground balance, tone id, and target sizing is a killer combination; if the new machines have this stuff (I'm sure they have a faster processor, which of course is a positive), then maybe. I can't wait to play with one in one of my "hunted out" sites.
Speaking of "hunted out", I think people give up on those sites too quickly. There are parks around here that everyone says are "hunted out", and I go in and find 17, 20+ silvers in some of them. I'll take 'em. I do better there than permission sites, cuz at the end of the day, the parks had many more people. But yes, these places will get hunted out.
The one question is mineralization. The E-Trac does not do particularity well in heavy ground. I don't suspect any VLF machine does, but maybe the new ones do. I hear stories about it; are these new machines magic, or are they fanboy fish stories? Can't wait to try one on some of my bad dirt around here. There is a possibility for opening up some terrain.
The answer may be a completely different technology, such as ultra sound. You'll be able to read the date before you dig
Don't know if such technology will ever be viable in consumer machines, but it is possible.
Oh well, some random, incoherent rambling, but I think the OP is basically right. Just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. Does make me want to get off my duff and compare, side by side, the E-Trac and one of the newer machines sooner rather than later.
It seems obvious, at least to me, that that rate will continue to get worse, to the point were it is no longer fun for me, since I do this for one thing, and one thing only, and that is to find silver coins. When that will occur, I don't know. One per 2 hours is still fun for me.
They do regenerate (due to roots, ice, animals pushing previously missed coins into different positions, etc.), but the amount of coins opened up because of this is pretty low, IMHO (I do plan to go over my 50 to 100+ silver sites from 2011/2012 this year or next to try to figure this out, tho).
The best bet, it seems, is to wait for previously undetectable sites to come online, but even this is dicey. We had a private golf course around here that dates back to the thirties that the school district was taking via eminent domain, and I waited patiently for the litigation to end and the transfer to take (and besides, people were still playing golf on it), and when it finally became public property and I got on it, it turns out it was pretty picked over, so clearly it was being detected at night as private property, as it is unlikely permission would have been granted, and it was undetectable in the day, so you never know.
I'm not convinced the new machines can out silver an E-Trac in the hands of a skilled operator, but we'll see. The combination of FBS, auto ground balance, tone id, and target sizing is a killer combination; if the new machines have this stuff (I'm sure they have a faster processor, which of course is a positive), then maybe. I can't wait to play with one in one of my "hunted out" sites.
Speaking of "hunted out", I think people give up on those sites too quickly. There are parks around here that everyone says are "hunted out", and I go in and find 17, 20+ silvers in some of them. I'll take 'em. I do better there than permission sites, cuz at the end of the day, the parks had many more people. But yes, these places will get hunted out.
The one question is mineralization. The E-Trac does not do particularity well in heavy ground. I don't suspect any VLF machine does, but maybe the new ones do. I hear stories about it; are these new machines magic, or are they fanboy fish stories? Can't wait to try one on some of my bad dirt around here. There is a possibility for opening up some terrain.
The answer may be a completely different technology, such as ultra sound. You'll be able to read the date before you dig
Don't know if such technology will ever be viable in consumer machines, but it is possible.Oh well, some random, incoherent rambling, but I think the OP is basically right. Just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. Does make me want to get off my duff and compare, side by side, the E-Trac and one of the newer machines sooner rather than later.
Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,728
Loved your edited addition. I completely concur
It's not that there wasn't ample virgin spots and good machines at the time. It's just that the average md'r, at that time, was content to ply the sandboxes, school yards, etc...... And had utterly no knowledge of better machines/tech coming out, etc......As virgin at things were in those days, I find more old coins now, than back then. In those days, merc's excited the heck out of me. But now, .... If it's not seated or reales, I'm bored. Doh !
When I look back on the types of places I could have gone to (with mom & dad's borrowed station wagon), I kick myself for not understanding what was going on. Doh ~ !
FWIW, when I started getting serious in detecting (2010), I would find a silver coin about one every half hour or so. Now that rate, for me, is about one every 2 hours. My detector is the same, and my skill has improved, so it is diminishing, at least here in Chester County.
It seems obvious, at least to me, that that rate will continue to get worse, to the point were it is no longer fun for me, since I do this for one thing, and one thing only, and that is to find silver coins. When that will occur, I don't know. One per 2 hours is still fun for me.
They do regenerate (due to roots, ice, animals pushing previously missed coins into different positions, etc.), but the amount of coins opened up because of this is pretty low, IMHO (I do plan to go over my 50 to 100+ silver sites from 2011/2012 this year or next to try to figure this out, tho).
The best bet, it seems, is to wait for previously undetectable sites to come online, but even this is dicey. We had a private golf course around here that dates back to the thirties that the school district was taking via eminent domain, and I waited patiently for the litigation to end and the transfer to take (and besides, people were still playing golf on it), and when it finally became public property and I got on it, it turns out it was pretty picked over, so clearly it was being detected at night as private property, as it is unlikely permission would have been granted, and it was undetectable in the day, so you never know.
I'm not convinced the new machines can out silver an E-Trac in the hands of a skilled operator, but we'll see. The combination of FBS, auto ground balance, tone id, and target sizing is a killer combination; if the new machines have this stuff (I'm sure they have a faster processor, which of course is a positive), then maybe. I can't wait to play with one in one of my "hunted out" sites.
Speaking of "hunted out", I think people give up on those sites too quickly. There are parks around here that everyone says are "hunted out", and I go in and find 17, 20+ silvers in some of them. I'll take 'em. I do better there than permission sites, cuz at the end of the day, the parks had many more people. But yes, these places will get hunted out.
The one question is mineralization. The E-Trac does not do particularity well in heavy ground. I don't suspect any VLF machine does, but maybe the new ones do. I hear stories about it; are these new machines magic, or are they fanboy fish stories? Can't wait to try one on some of my bad dirt around here. There is a possibility for opening up some terrain.
The answer may be a completely different technology, such as ultra sound. You'll be able to read the date before you dig
Oh well, some random, incoherent rambling, but I think the OP is basically right. Just hope it doesn't happen in my lifetime. Does make me want to get off my duff and compare, side by side, the E-Trac and one of the newer machines sooner rather than later.
do it sooner rather than later, because later may be too late! i'm just sayin'
(h.h!)
j.t.
Loved your edited addition. I completely concur
As virgin at things were in those days, I find more old coins now, than back then. In those days, merc's excited the heck out of me. But now, .... If it's not seated or reales, I'm bored. Doh !
When I look back on the types of places I could have gone to (with mom & dad's borrowed station wagon), I kick myself for not understanding what was going on. Doh ~ !
tom! you didn't know what was going on?..c'mon! the whole world was wide open-and you didn't know this, because you was just hunting certain spots? are we supposed to believe this? you were NOT aware of emerging technology?.
again!..this sounds like so much non sense! why would you say something as obtuse as this, and expect 'experienced hunters" to swallow this horse sh*t?..
difficult to believe you actually subscribe to this !!!! you are extolling! bored if ya don't score seated?,or reales?..ehe! hehe he! c'mon tom give us a break! (lol!)
(h.h.!)
j.t.
Rudy
Admin
To give Tom a little respite and in keeping with the thread's subject, I wanted to share this story.
This past July, I spent two weeks visiting a couple of Scandinavian countries, it was great to escape the oppressive heat we were having here in SoCal, but I digress. What I wanted to say was that ATM cards are so ubiquitous there that this was my first time ever, going to a foreign country, without taking some native currency with me. Without paying with currency and getting back change, there is nothing to drop from my pockets.
If the future is indeed "plastic", the long term future for coin shooters is indeed bleak. Enjoy it now and tell your grand kids stories of how it used to be.
This past July, I spent two weeks visiting a couple of Scandinavian countries, it was great to escape the oppressive heat we were having here in SoCal, but I digress. What I wanted to say was that ATM cards are so ubiquitous there that this was my first time ever, going to a foreign country, without taking some native currency with me. Without paying with currency and getting back change, there is nothing to drop from my pockets.
If the future is indeed "plastic", the long term future for coin shooters is indeed bleak. Enjoy it now and tell your grand kids stories of how it used to be.
Mud-puppy
Forum Supporter
No matter what is said about this 'diminishing returns' topic. This Sport, unlike any other, WILL change your Life to the positive...The barrier of entry is small...A person develops the ability to 'see' thing differently, a person is outside interacting with topography and people...You get out, and you Will find something!
Unlike so many other Sports, Theres no licenses or limits or seasons or greens fees or boat ramp passes! Just GO!
Everybody swinging a coil has a chance!....Might be the Hand of God nugget, might be the Staffordshire Hoard, might be $10 clad...Might be a wad of bills...might be a knife or a lighter ...Might be a Brasher or a CS Plate or a Hornets Nest button or a Meteorite...Might be a full can of beer or your Soul Mate...We witness this all the time on the forum.....
Metal Detecting holds many wonderful multifaceted benefits...A guy cant find nothing sitting around in the house...light a candle or curse the darkness...
Yeah, returns are diminishing, both in Old silvers and even modern day clad...I got myself @ $5 cladncans, a folding knife, and a cool 'Bar Stool' tee shirt this morning...I'm happy with that..I saw the Sun come up once more...
For us, the Mel Fisher mantra applies..."Todays the Day!"
Unlike so many other Sports, Theres no licenses or limits or seasons or greens fees or boat ramp passes! Just GO!
Everybody swinging a coil has a chance!....Might be the Hand of God nugget, might be the Staffordshire Hoard, might be $10 clad...Might be a wad of bills...might be a knife or a lighter ...Might be a Brasher or a CS Plate or a Hornets Nest button or a Meteorite...Might be a full can of beer or your Soul Mate...We witness this all the time on the forum.....
Metal Detecting holds many wonderful multifaceted benefits...A guy cant find nothing sitting around in the house...light a candle or curse the darkness...
Yeah, returns are diminishing, both in Old silvers and even modern day clad...I got myself @ $5 cladncans, a folding knife, and a cool 'Bar Stool' tee shirt this morning...I'm happy with that..I saw the Sun come up once more...
For us, the Mel Fisher mantra applies..."Todays the Day!"
Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,728
enjoyed your post jmaryt
I remember when I got into this, as a 14-ish yr. old in about 1975 or '76-ish, that the machine my Jr. high school chum was an all-metal TR: The 77b. Non-discriminating. When I rushed out to buy my own machine, had found a used 66TR. Which is also a non-discriminating all-metal TR.
The school chum and I were hearing rumors of "discriminators" that could pass foil and tabs. But we bristled at the thought of getting them, "d/t you might miss rings".
Needless to say, when we saw guys with the early TR discriminators kicking our b*tt, we reluctantly went out and got ours. Doh ! (The Groundhog was my first, in about 1978-ish).
But even in '78 to '80-ish, we started to see guys swinging their detectors like golf clubs. Those were the early motion discriminators: 6000D, 6db, and Red Baron SPD. We laughed at their unconventional style, seeing how foolish they looked. But within a year, seeing their tallies, we quietly went out and bought our own motion discriminators.
And so on and so forth, through all the detector innovations of those years. Each time I was a year or two or three years "late". Because unlike today, where the internet makes all the new mousetraps "instant news", back then, there was no such thing. Just occasionally bumping into someone out in the field. Or whatever the dealer in your town was aware of. Or the silly advertisements in treasure mag's, etc.....
And as for hunt locations, I was strictly about school turf and yards @ homes. Didn't know anything about old town demolition, beach erosion, etc.... And if I ever *did* try something like a stage stop, I would grow bored with the 3rd or 4th junk item, knowing that I could effortlessly go to the local school yards and immediately get coins. Doh ! I never understood the aspect of "good junk".
I did bump into some guys in about 1980 -ish, who had reales, seateds, etc..... I looked with envy, and simply couldn't believe it was even possible. But .... just never "graduated up" to that caliber.
It wasn't till the early 1990s, that I bought up a hot-off-the-press history book, and found a virgin stage stop in our part of the state. After that 1880 S $20 gold and a few seateds, I was hooked. I could now spend all day digging pesky rimfires, harmonica reeds, toe-taps, etc...., and began to recognize that if I was going to angle for seateds and such, that this was the "good junk".
LovestheShiny!
Forum Supporter
I metal detected for a couple of years back in the early 1980's. Used a White's Coinmaster 6000D Series 2. Found a ton of silver coins, and still have them all. Didn't really know what I was doing other than checking parks and old ballfields. I did not even consider curb strips or asking permission in private yards or private property. I did not research stage stops, old rodeo grounds, old racetrack sites and the like. There were plenty of goodies on regular public property.
Fast forward to the spring of 2017. I wanted to get back into metal detecting after a 35 year break. Saw the Hoover Boys videos, liked their AT Pro machines, so I bought one. Went to a nearby schoolyard in the town of Corvallis, Montana, to try and learn about my new machine. I thought everything might have been hunted out as 35 years had passed since I last detected. This school hunt was a test to see if anything was left, and if there was ANY HOPE of finding old stuff.
I did find lots of newer coins, but what clinched it for me was a 1912 Barber Dime on about my 3rd hunt with the AT Pro. I knew then that there was still good stuff in the ground, and I had hope. I soon came to find out that all the parks, fairgrounds, and schools around here were pretty barren of old coins, so I tried curb strips and private yards. Mostly untouched and lots of great finds were and are being made.
I guess my point is that there are still tons of goodies in the ground in this nation of America and around the world. Tons of untouched spots to detect. Yes, we do live in a finite world and at some point every curb strip and yard may well have been detected, but I think that is hundreds of years away. Heck, the big city north of me, Missoula, has 80 pages of maps, with dozens if not hundreds of homes with yards on each page, all old enough to produce silver. That is just one city in this ENORMOUS country and world. I have confidence each time I head out to detect that I will find OLD coins. Mostly I do, sometimes not so well!
All the finds and stories that show up on this Friendly Forum further indicate that a good detector in fairly skillful hands, at the right location, does give a person a good chance of bringing home some great finds.
Fast forward to the spring of 2017. I wanted to get back into metal detecting after a 35 year break. Saw the Hoover Boys videos, liked their AT Pro machines, so I bought one. Went to a nearby schoolyard in the town of Corvallis, Montana, to try and learn about my new machine. I thought everything might have been hunted out as 35 years had passed since I last detected. This school hunt was a test to see if anything was left, and if there was ANY HOPE of finding old stuff.
I did find lots of newer coins, but what clinched it for me was a 1912 Barber Dime on about my 3rd hunt with the AT Pro. I knew then that there was still good stuff in the ground, and I had hope. I soon came to find out that all the parks, fairgrounds, and schools around here were pretty barren of old coins, so I tried curb strips and private yards. Mostly untouched and lots of great finds were and are being made.
I guess my point is that there are still tons of goodies in the ground in this nation of America and around the world. Tons of untouched spots to detect. Yes, we do live in a finite world and at some point every curb strip and yard may well have been detected, but I think that is hundreds of years away. Heck, the big city north of me, Missoula, has 80 pages of maps, with dozens if not hundreds of homes with yards on each page, all old enough to produce silver. That is just one city in this ENORMOUS country and world. I have confidence each time I head out to detect that I will find OLD coins. Mostly I do, sometimes not so well!
All the finds and stories that show up on this Friendly Forum further indicate that a good detector in fairly skillful hands, at the right location, does give a person a good chance of bringing home some great finds.
