What got you interested/ started in metal detecting?
- Thread starter Walrus350
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jerrycoastalnc
Full Member
In 1974, I was 27 years old and helping coach a little league ball team. One of the kids on the team, his dad would MD while we practiced. Later we would gather around and he would show his finds. I bought a White Coinmaster 4 and started, now 44 years later still at it. HH Jerry
Walrus350
Elite Member
Great story!
Cladjukie55
Junior Member
Minelab XS 2 Pro on a Anderson shaft 2 coils 10" and 8"
Minelab Go Find 60 (Use when backpacking into deep woods)
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ROBOTCOP13
Elite Member
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Retirement, needed a couple of hobbies.
georgeinsc
Elite Member
In the late 40's and early 50's my brother and I would crawl under the front porch of our approximately 70 year home and sift thru the dirt finding the occasional Indian head penny.
In the 60's I did some coin collecting. But lost interest about 1965 and then sold all my silver when the Hunt Brothers tried to corner the silver market.
I would see Whites commercials on television and was very interested but had no one to talk to about metal detectors so I did not act on the interest.
I find that metal detecting is very similar to Hunting and Fishing. One never knows what the next encounter might bring.
About six years ago my brother in law stopped by on his way from Ohio to his home in Florida and he brought his detectors with him.
We spent a little time with those detectors and I was hooked.
On his advice I purchased a Sovereign GT and all the needed tools and started detecting. Of course Minelab decided to quit making the machine six months later.
Since I am about 30 miles from three beaches I wanted a waterproof machine and bought the Excalibur II and have spent a lot of time playing at the beach both in and out of the water
I don't care what I am digging as long as it has some value. From clad to diamonds I am happy to dig it all. But I hate can slaw and pull tabs.
In the 60's I did some coin collecting. But lost interest about 1965 and then sold all my silver when the Hunt Brothers tried to corner the silver market.
I would see Whites commercials on television and was very interested but had no one to talk to about metal detectors so I did not act on the interest.
I find that metal detecting is very similar to Hunting and Fishing. One never knows what the next encounter might bring.
About six years ago my brother in law stopped by on his way from Ohio to his home in Florida and he brought his detectors with him.
We spent a little time with those detectors and I was hooked.
On his advice I purchased a Sovereign GT and all the needed tools and started detecting. Of course Minelab decided to quit making the machine six months later.
Since I am about 30 miles from three beaches I wanted a waterproof machine and bought the Excalibur II and have spent a lot of time playing at the beach both in and out of the water
I don't care what I am digging as long as it has some value. From clad to diamonds I am happy to dig it all. But I hate can slaw and pull tabs.
diggin4clad
Elite Member
I remember the ads for sea monkeys in comic books but I never had them. I also remember the ads for the "Charles Atlas Course" and the "Cloverine Brand Salve"....if you sold a ton of it you could get some prize.
I build old trucks. One day i lost a part in the grass. Went in and researched building my own detector. Then found out the one i was serching only detected an inch deep
. Was going to get a pinpointer but wound up buying a detector. Now its hard to make time to finish a truck i am building since detecting gets in the way
. Was going to get a pinpointer but wound up buying a detector. Now its hard to make time to finish a truck i am building since detecting gets in the wayAttachments
dsorgnzd
Junior Member
Back in the late 1970s I met a guy through my job, who had a Fisher detector and was an avid relic hunter. So I bought a Compass RM7A. We hunted around the Norfolk/Portsmouth/Chesapeake area in Virginia, and also Virginia Beach.
My brother-in-law got started when he asked me to show him how my detector worked. We went to his mother's house (built in the 1930s I think), and the first target I hit was a silver quarter. I told him it wasn't really that easy, but he was hooked!
My brother-in-law got started when he asked me to show him how my detector worked. We went to his mother's house (built in the 1930s I think), and the first target I hit was a silver quarter. I told him it wasn't really that easy, but he was hooked!
dirtydog
Forum Supporter
I was born and raised in the Mountain of TN. I'd never seen a detector until my Dad purchased one when I was about 10. I was interested from the beginning. I moved to FL at the age of 62 and noticed they were everywhere. I had to have one. Now it is about the only hobby I care about. I have never seen a detector from where I used to live. only the one Dad owned. So thanks to Dad I was hooked.
Walrus350
Elite Member
I know 1. Whats the other?
Walrus350
Elite Member
Do you know how dad got hooked?
shughey00
Junior Member
In 1975 my Grandmother bought a Bounty Hunter...it was blue...and it was soooooo cool. I loved it so much she gave it to me. I used it for a couple years in High School but detecting was not the cool thing to do plus I got sick of digging pulltabs. But...it planted the seed. I actually built a radio shack detector from a kit...was cool but not very good.
Then I joined the Air Force in 1981 and was stationed in England. One of my Msgt's had a Whites Blue Di series. He would come in and show me some of the coins he would find in the fields around the base. That fertilized the seed.
When I left England I was stationed here in NH and as soon as I got out and had the money I bought my first Real detector. It was a Tesoro original Eldorado..the year they first came out. That was the beginning of a firm addiction. Wish though that the finds were as prolific now as they were in the mid 80's.....:-(
Then I joined the Air Force in 1981 and was stationed in England. One of my Msgt's had a Whites Blue Di series. He would come in and show me some of the coins he would find in the fields around the base. That fertilized the seed.
When I left England I was stationed here in NH and as soon as I got out and had the money I bought my first Real detector. It was a Tesoro original Eldorado..the year they first came out. That was the beginning of a firm addiction. Wish though that the finds were as prolific now as they were in the mid 80's.....:-(
My Dad started metal detecting before I was born. He was a die hard White's guy through and through.
He would hunt just about every day for his lunch break and we would often head out with a picnic lunch on the weekends to regional parks. He would hunt while my Mom and I played Frisbee or on the playground.
As with all the old timers that learned to detect before discrimination, he was an unbelievable audio hunter. He was truly amazing at sifting through trash and finding the old deepies. He had no interest in clad whatsoever. The old coins were what got him going.
My favorite story that he would tell was about a time that he was at a local old park that has been hammered over the years. Today it is one of those places that you can swing for 2 hours with nothing to show for it, but you still go because there is always a chance of finding something really old. As he was hunting, some blowhard stops him and starts talking trash that he had been following my Dad for an hour and digging tons of coins (shallow clad) that my Dad walked right over (implying that he sucked at detecting). My Dad calmly puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a handful of silver and assorted oldies and says, "Maybe I'm not looking for pennies" He said that dude turned six shades of red and sulked off
He got out of the hobby for about 15 years during the majority of my school age years. When I was in college he decided to get back into it and purchased a brand new White's XLT. I was always curious about why he loved the hobby, so we hooked up a headphone splitter and he taught me how to detect on the maiden voyage of his new XLT. I was hooked and I promptly bought an ancient Coinmaster 6000D and over the years sold/traded my way up to the top machines.
Over the next few years sharing the hobby with him (before he got sick), we had so much fun and they are my greatest memories of him.
He would hunt just about every day for his lunch break and we would often head out with a picnic lunch on the weekends to regional parks. He would hunt while my Mom and I played Frisbee or on the playground.
As with all the old timers that learned to detect before discrimination, he was an unbelievable audio hunter. He was truly amazing at sifting through trash and finding the old deepies. He had no interest in clad whatsoever. The old coins were what got him going.
My favorite story that he would tell was about a time that he was at a local old park that has been hammered over the years. Today it is one of those places that you can swing for 2 hours with nothing to show for it, but you still go because there is always a chance of finding something really old. As he was hunting, some blowhard stops him and starts talking trash that he had been following my Dad for an hour and digging tons of coins (shallow clad) that my Dad walked right over (implying that he sucked at detecting). My Dad calmly puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a handful of silver and assorted oldies and says, "Maybe I'm not looking for pennies" He said that dude turned six shades of red and sulked off
He got out of the hobby for about 15 years during the majority of my school age years. When I was in college he decided to get back into it and purchased a brand new White's XLT. I was always curious about why he loved the hobby, so we hooked up a headphone splitter and he taught me how to detect on the maiden voyage of his new XLT. I was hooked and I promptly bought an ancient Coinmaster 6000D and over the years sold/traded my way up to the top machines.
Over the next few years sharing the hobby with him (before he got sick), we had so much fun and they are my greatest memories of him.
Logo1924
Full Member
I started watching cave and mine exploration videos on YouTube, which somehow led to me getting recommended videos of metal detecting.
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Princess
Elite Member
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2017
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- 2,775
My brother (Torpedo) has owned a metal detector for several years. I enjoyed tagging along when he used it, but was never more than passingly interested.
Then, one day in the autumn of 2016, he and Wolf-Dog (also my brother) showed me some YouTube videos they'd come across, by NuggetNoggin. At first, I saw them only as amusing, for I could not understand what was quite so exciting about finding a button or a marble in the dirt.
However, the more we watched, the more intrigued we became; and before long, we could not wait until the ground thawed so that we could try out our new hobby. By continuing to watch NuggetNoggin through the winter, I learned much of what I would need to know even before I started detecting, including the fact that not every "beep" meant treasure.
My two brothers and I detect as a team and have a lot of fun. One of my favorite finds and "claim to fame" is a small ring that I uncovered at a tot lot last summer.
Then, one day in the autumn of 2016, he and Wolf-Dog (also my brother) showed me some YouTube videos they'd come across, by NuggetNoggin. At first, I saw them only as amusing, for I could not understand what was quite so exciting about finding a button or a marble in the dirt.
However, the more we watched, the more intrigued we became; and before long, we could not wait until the ground thawed so that we could try out our new hobby. By continuing to watch NuggetNoggin through the winter, I learned much of what I would need to know even before I started detecting, including the fact that not every "beep" meant treasure.My two brothers and I detect as a team and have a lot of fun. One of my favorite finds and "claim to fame" is a small ring that I uncovered at a tot lot last summer.
pescadore
Elite Member
remmy
Forum Supporter
In April of 2015 I walked out into my back yard to find a man standing there. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was surveying the adjoining property (very large). We got to talking and he turned out to be a very nice guy. He told me that many times property lines are marked by a metal spike in the center of the road and that he uses a metal detector to find them. When he told me this I remembered my father had a detector, a very old Radio Shack detector. I borrowed it to check for the spikes in the road, never found any evidence of spikes but I did clean my yard of very shallow clad. I was having fun doing this so in June of 2015 I bought my Ace 250, found my first silver (barber quarter) a month later. From that beginning I just kept detecting, got the AT Pro in Sept. 2016 and then the Deus a year later.
If not for that conversation with that surveyor it is likely I would have never started.
If not for that conversation with that surveyor it is likely I would have never started.
bubbaron
Forum Supporter
My start was most likely hunting Indian points and artifacts with my father as a young boy. I always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. I only took up MDing last year and love it. Hopefully, my hips will hold up to the digging for a while longer.
dirtydog
Forum Supporter
He saw one in a magazine. I don't remember the name of the detector. But Dad soon lost interest, so My brother and I inherited it. And at the age if 10 finding anything was a thrill.
