Big Boys Hobbies

What Do You Tell Them When.....

Martin_V3i

Martin_V3i

Elite Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
5,138
Location
North DFW, TX
....strangers ask you, "What's the best thing you ever found?"

I usually get caught off guard and fumble with an answer pertaining to a 24k gold ring worth around a $1100 melt(gold was $1800 an oz then), but that wasn't my most exciting finds to me, being it was found when helping someone locate the 17 gr gold nugget ring. Finding it made someones day big time, crying real tears and all.

Anyway I got to wondering if y'all maybe just don't say a lot and kept it all on the down low, or do you have you stories you share with strangers. Most times they come and go quickly, so the question asked was most likely just casual chatter.
 
......in the past I mentioned to people the silver Mercs I found, but now you got me thinking about a different answer like : "The best thing I've ever found is the fresh air and exercise and fun of wondering what I might find next" :lol:
 
I suppose I am a natural born braggart by nature. I like to tell a story about a particular find or two, not duck them all.
 
Martin_V3i said:
....strangers ask you, "What's the best thing you ever found?"

I usually get caught off guard and fumble with an answer pertaining to a 24k gold ring worth around a $1100 melt(gold was $1800 an oz then), but that wasn't my most exciting finds to me, being it was found when helping someone locate the 17 gr gold nugget ring. Finding it made someones day big time, crying real tears and all.
Click to expand...

Same with me when last weekend I found a lady’s 14k gold wedding band she lost 11 years ago. She thought she would never see it again and her reaction to it when I showed it to her was priceless.
 
If I’m in the mood, I tell them about a great find I made years ago. I tell them how much fun it was looking up it’s history. How it tied together with local history. I tell them how my wife enjoys seeing me enjoy myself. But no matter how many times I’ve done this, I have yet to find a new hunting partner.
Someday……..maybe
 
For me, the answer I give depends on what I think their interest level really is. If I had to throw a number at it, I’d say that probably 90% or so of the folks who ask are just making idle chatter, just like the vast majority of the “Find anything good yet?” folks. I’m generally pretty friendly, but my time, especially this year, is usually pretty short, so I prefer not to get bogged down with small talk with every passersby. So I keep things pretty drab and vanilla at first.

If they ask “Finding anything good?”, no matter how well or poorly the hunt is going, I respond something to the effect of “nothing spectacular, yet”. That usually satisfies the small talk makers, and I get to continue the hunt essentially uninterrupted. If they show more interest and ask some less generic follow up questions, I’m happy to engage further and maybe even show a couple good items I’ve actually found that hunt.

If they ask some version of “What’s the best/most interesting/coolest thing you’ve ever found?”, I still keep it general at first, saying something along the line of “that’s a really hard question to answer - it kind of depends on what you think is cool or interesting. I enjoy finding old coins, but I’m really in it for the random historic items”. If they’ve listened to me this long and actually press for more and/or show a genuine interest, I’ve got one or two awesome local history items that I’ve found over the years that rarely fail to impress folks with the “cool history” aspect of the hobby, and I’ll tell them about those.

Anyway, it’s usually pretty easy to tell the idle chatter folks from the ones who are genuinely interested or curious, and I’ll always spend time on the latter folks. It can be a great opportunity to showcase the hobby, and it certainly can (and has) led to new permissions!
 
When I am in a park, I usually lift one side of my headphones and say "Excuse me?" then after they ask the same question, I say " mostly garbage, but once in a while I find and old coin or two. Nothing that is going to to get me to retirement anytime soon. But I keep hoping.....". Then I put my headphones back on and resume my sweeps or recovery or whatever I was doing.

Maybe I am a jerk but ,but without being rude, that's usually enough to get people to move along. My detecting time is precious and don't want to share it.

I will engage people if I am detecting an old private yard or a curbstrip in an old neighborhood. I steer the conversation to the history of the area and I try to determine if the person asking lives close by, and then try to wrangle another permission.
 
My responses are a lot like Tango and Trashdigger, very low key. As others have said, most are just making small talk as they pass by, so I tell them, "just a pocket full of change" or something like that. For the few who are much more interested, usually old farts (I know them when I see them, because I am one) who come up close and really want to have a conversation, I go into more detail to find out just how much they know about detecting. For the most part though, I cherish my time out there so keep it short and simple so as to get back to the detecting.
 
I tell em about the Lindbergh comemerative token I found the same week that Elon Musk sent his raodster into space. Then I compare the world excitement then to the hoo-hum of today’s reaction. What gets you excited?
 
When I’m asked about finds I am usually pretty honest depending on the situation. “Mostly trash and some spare change.” When they ask about the most valuable/best thing I’ve found, I usually tell them about the early 1800s British Navy button that I found on a NJ beach. Most people just say that it is neat but they don’t ask much after that. If I start talking about rings, people start asking too many questions.


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