Potential Coin Hot Spot Help?

[SonofaBEEP]

Hello fellow hunters,

I realize I have less than ten posts on here, but I've been a member since 2009 and love this website.
Here is my dilemma:

There is a property I would like to detect that is owned by an acquaintance. I know a gentleman who lives with his mother in NJ on a farmland property with a couple of old barns. It is possible that these barns date back to pre-Revolutionary War. There are graves near the property from the early 1800's and they even have one document from the late 1700's referencing their property. He and his mother sell antiques out of these barns occasionally and that's how I met them. We became friendly after a few visits and purchases.

How do I go about asking if it's alright for me to search their (large) property? What is considered proper in the MD'ing world? They've probably been asked before and I'd like to represent the hobby in a positive way.

Thanks for your time,
SonofaBEEP

[Marchas45]

If it was me and you've had dealings with them, I would just go back and let it slip out that your hobby is metal detecting and you have been doing it for a while. People get interested and are curious of your finds and such. I tell them I get mostly junk but the coins I do find I put in my collection as I'm a coin collector also. That usually opens the door about asking to detect thier property and usually they will bring it up. Good Luck.

[Woodland Detectors]

I admire your ethical approach and thinking. You have already done the biggest part of the permission process by gaining their friendship. I would go back and just ask. Reassure them that you wont make a mess, and you will show them what you find.
Good luck!

[ivan salis]

start of by talking about "history" and how you love it , and how cool it must be to live at a spot that has such great "history" behind it -- then ask if they have ever metal detected it (what the reaction carefully -- if they say --no they haven't and do not seem to recoil in horror at the ideal or say something negative about detecting or cut you off with a "no" -- right away --simply ask them -- would you let me metal detect your land to see what kind of cool relics might be there. -- now the only issue that miight come up is ownership of finds * since they sell antiques for money at times --they might not be too keen on you "finding" and taking items off their land for "free" -- you might be able to detect but have to let them "cherry pick" your finds -- but thats between them and you. --lol

[SonofaBEEP]

Awesome advice guys, I really appreciate it. The "cherry-picking" is what concerns me the most because they're no dummies haha, but if I get to keep a few neat coins or relics then I should be thanking them anyway.

[TerryC]

Simply ask. If you have more than one detector, invite him along. Invite him along anyway. Let him use yours. Remember... ethics first. When I found my Honorable Mention ring, I invited someone along to help. He commented.... We don't have to tell him we found it. Needless to say, he DID NOT go with me when I did find it. Good luck! TTC