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I got a raise!

mlitty

Forum Supporter
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
646
Location
Scotland County, North Carolin, USA
I hit a newer local tot-lot today. It was all woods until about ten years ago when they built the play ground. They put down weed barrier first so it catches all of the coins and keeps them from sinking too far in the wood chips.

I've been averaging about $0.05/hour. I think this last search may have upped my average a little. It's definitely the most profitable search yet. Still, at this rate, it'll take me many years to save up enough to buy that next detector.

2829523108_1d560e9189.jpg


During the search, a city worker asked with sincere interest, "You find a lot with that thing?" I had to stifle a laugh. I knew he was interested in the coins I was turning up. I told him that I average about $0.05 an hour, which is true.

It's a fun hobby, but not in any way profitable. I was an hour late for work to find $3.30 in change. As far as profit goes, it was a losing day. But I had a great time pulling coins out of the ground, so it's an over-all gain.

55 Pennies
6 Nickels
12 Dimes
5 Quarters
3 Buttons
2 Chuck-E-Cheese Tokens

$3.30 Total for two hours of searching. My best pay day so far. Still only averaging just over $0.05 an hour. How many $0.01 hours do you think I've had?
 
Just think, if you had been out fishing, hunting or playing golf, you wouldn't have come home with ANY additional money.:D You done good!!
 
Try hitting the grass at grade schools. Once you find one that no one has hunted in a while, you should be able to average $2 or $3 an hour.
 
The earth is my piggy bank.

Just think, if you had been out fishing, hunting or playing golf, you wouldn't have come home with ANY additional money.:D You done good!!

That's what I tell folks, mostly family, when they laugh at the few cents I bring home after hours of hunting. I just ask, how much did you make golfing this weekend? Silence . . . Oh, that's right, you pay $50 (or more) to walk the greens at a pace set by the guys pushing behind.

I'll take walking at my own pace and digging pennies. There's something deeply satisfying about leaving a place cleaner than I found it and walking away with money that would have gone unused if not for a small time investment. I'm injecting the economy with dirt money. :lol:
 
Myself and two other guys go tuna fishing out of Oregan Inlet in the Outer Banks of North Carolina every year. Average cost per/person (including air fare) is around $2500, and I don't even eat tuna!!!!

I used to hunt ruffed grouse in southeastern Ohio. Had a "school trained" Brittany bird dog and everything else...yadda, yadda, yadda. I figure a grouse breast weighs about 9 oz. At that rate, grouse cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $500/lb. lol

I went to Scotland to play golf last year...cost approx $4000 for 8 days. The bag of clubs costs at least $2000. God only knows how much I've paid in green fees in my life and golf balls are now about $2 each.

The way I figure it, Metal Detecting is the least expensive endevour I've ever undertaken. So much so that I think I just talked myself into buying ANOTHER DETECTOR!!!! LOL
 
I need to take up golfing for a year, then quit golfing and explain to my wife how much I'll be saving when I buy that new detector!

My plan-"B" was to buy $300 in quarters from the bank, scatter them around the back yard, and "find" them with my detector so I can buy the new one.
 
Hey - how many hobbies do you bring home more money than you left with :) Great haul, Steve in so az
 
Metal Detecting has saved me tons of money by keeping me cheaply occupied in my free time!.
 
When all is said and done, MD'ing helps the environment, provides excersise, provides entertainment and excitement, provides income, frequently helps others (found items) and also stimulates thought and learning. Sounds like a great hobby to me.... :D RickO
 
When all is said and done, MD'ing helps the environment, provides excersise, provides entertainment and excitement, provides income, frequently helps others (found items) and also stimulates thought and learning. Sounds like a great hobby to me.... :D RickO

Well said Rick!! Very well said! :yes:
 
Another day, another dollar

I went back to the same lot today and covered som more ground. It's one of those lots with a lot of wood equipment, including decking pathways. On a whim, I started scanning under the decking. As you'd expect, a bit of treasure had fallen through. I found a few quarters, a car wash token, and a dime under a 3'x3' deck area.

Here's a pick of today's finds.
2832275648_39c7071be3.jpg


One hour of hunting. In total,
27 pennies
4 nickels
5 dimes
3 quarters
1 car wash token
1 button
1 anchor charm

Now, where's that $300 gold ring hiding? Under some foil no doubt.
 
I went back to the same lot today and covered som more ground. It's one of those lots with a lot of wood equipment, including decking pathways. On a whim, I started scanning under the decking. As you'd expect, a bit of treasure had fallen through. I found a few quarters, a car wash token, and a dime under a 3'x3' deck area.

Here's a pick of today's finds.
2832275648_39c7071be3.jpg


One hour of hunting. In total,
27 pennies
4 nickels
5 dimes
3 quarters
1 car wash token
1 button
1 anchor charm

Now, where's that $300 gold ring hiding? Under some foil no doubt.

Now THAT is a raise!! $1.72 an hour. Pretty soon you can retire and detect full time.:lol:
 
Woodchip bank's gone dry.

I've covered most of the wood chips now, here's another hour of coins, three buttons, the drawer pull my daughter wanted me to include, a guitar charm, and my first silver, a heart charm.

The charm has 925 stamped in it next to a few letters that look like a DL in an oval. Could be a PL, does that mean silver plated or is the circle DL a jewelry maker? Would they bother to stamp something silver plated or does the stamp indicate solid silver?

And now the pic.

2835077658_95d0040ef0.jpg


Now I'll have to hit the more trashy pick nick areas. Woo-hoo.
 
Nice work on the silver charm! The "DL" is almost certainly a maker's mark. Silver rings and charms are among my favorite things to find. Seems like you must have a pretty good handle on the Tracker. Try finding a local grade school that's been around for a few decades and give the grass a try. If you can find one no one has hit recently you'll be golden!
 
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