Attention ! any/all metal detectorists who were hunting circa 1965-1975 !...

[Argentium]

I think it will be fascinating to hear about your experiences hitting your town parks , school yards , fairgrounds , etc.
back during that earliest period when silver was everywhere , perhaps to get a sense too of how long that "golden age"
lasted before it was pretty much over . Also how many people were out there with detectors in that early dawn of this
hobby/addiction. This could be a very interesting thread !

 

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[el padron]

I think it will be fascinating to hear about your experiences hitting your town parks , school yards , fairgrounds , etc.
back during that earliest period when silver was everywhere , perhaps to get a sense too of how long that "golden age"
lasted before it was pretty much over . Also how many people were out there with detectors in that early dawn of this
hobby/addiction. This could be a very interesting thread !

Your question doesn't apply directly to me, but I do recall kids bringing spanish cobs that their "dad" found into junior high school and high school when I was a kid on the treasure coast of Florida.
It really wasn't that big a deal and I remember being told that the best of them was worth about five dollars.

 

[Argentium]

Thank you for that - it is interesting to get a perspective on those days gone by , and the "perceived values" compared to now .

 

[worldtalker]

I started in 74 with a beast.My Father-in-law and I cleaned up so many virgin sites...fair grounds,boy scout camps,ball fields,couldn't swing your coil without hitting Silver....man those were the days!! When the Hunt Brothers tried to corner the Silver market we made $$$$$$$$$. I'd rather have all our Silver back now.

GOD Bless

Chris

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I started in about '75 or '76-ish . But our area had had hobbyists already for a number of years . So the obvious. spots already had pressure by the time I got into it, in my area .

But there was a real silver boom /rush. fro'78 to '82-ish, if you ask me. Because of the advent of motion disc .

I knew some guys who got into it in the early '60s here in my city . But even though things were virgin , and silver was still circulating , yet the machines were cumbersome , didn't go deep , etc. So I don't think these guys were getting more than .... say ... 5 or 10 silver from the school yards, in a day back then. It was slow going (no way to pass foil , etc...). So an entire tally might only be 30 coins or whatever .

I'm sure there's stories of more precocious and better skilled hunters , who did 30+ silver . Like if they were the first in front of concession stands , etc....

 

[Argentium]

Thanks for your input Tom - I think a lot of the interest in detectors may have spiked when the Hunt brothers cornered enough of the
silver market to cause the spot price to jump all the way up to $60.00 an ounce -or close to that -( this was 1980 I think).

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

...and hear I am happy if I find 1 silver per hunt..lol

I couldnt even imagine how nice it would have been back in the day

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I got into the hobby late - after the Hunt brothers, 1981.

But, I will say that on November 16, 1961 I was 12, and walking alone on the edge of the playground at the Brosville school on Rt. 58 just West of Danville, Virginia, kicking at the dirt clods. I kicked up at 1756 Spanish Real. It was my stepfather's birthday, so I gave it to him.

I was born to metal detect

 

[bofusmosby]

I started detecting back in 1970, and going to the parks and playgrounds were definately silver hunts. I would find more silver than clad. Of course back then it was no big deal. The silver could still be found in circulation from time to time. In 1970, most parks and playgounds wre virgin sites. Even if someone had beat you to it, there was still a lot of silver in the ground. I was finding a lot of Mercury and silver Roosevelt dimes, also quite a few of the Standing Liberty Quarters, with the dates worn off most of them. Tons of wheat pennies. Back then, there wasn't the amount of trash in the ground as there is now. Hunting some of the old military fort sites from the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) was a dream come true. Coins were being found that hadn't been seen in circulation in a 150+ years, and many of them were in mint condition. Most of the soldiers were paid straight from the mint, and they came out of the ground looking like they had just been minted. Down here in Florida, the sugar sand was usually very easy on the coins and artifacts.

Oh, those were the days!!!

 

[BosnMate]

First experience was in the 50's with a friend who bought a WWII surplus mine detector, and we relic hunted with little success on items under beer can size. I was detecting in 1965 or so, don't remember the exact year, but I was using a White's BFO unit. It had a huge, heavy 9 volt battery, and I never found a damn thing smaller than a spoon. My experience with that machine makes me wonder why I kept metal detecting. Actually, I did give up for awhile, and got rid of that machine, then a few years later I rented a detector from a White's dealer to see if I liked it. It was a TR machine with no discrimination. Worked great, I loved it and was hooked. Finally purchased a Whites 6000 DI Pro, and I loved that one. I'd probably still be using it if it had a cuff, but in my old age it got to much for me, so I purchased a much lighter MXT with a cuff, and I love that machine now also. In the early days I mostly hunted artifacts, and did pretty well if I do say so, but I never turned down coins if one got in my way. Even though I discriminate, I can't stand it, and pretty much dig everything, unless the area is loaded with trash, then sometimes I'll use the read out, but that isn't often. One time I hunted a park where the kids had a plastic Easter Egg hunt with candy and money in the eggs, and I quit digging zinc pennies, they were everywhere.

 

[Argentium]

Thanks guys ! This thread is starting to light up with your experiences ! 1970 was a long time ago already , I can (and do ) dream of
having started detecting in that era.

 

[James/Texas]

I started detecting back in 1971 with a Whites Coinmaster IV. On internet and not many others in the hobby. Yes, I found my share of silver but silver could still be found in pocket change but was getting scarce. I unloaded some silver back when silver was high because of the Hunt Bros. Wish I still had it!

 

[lastleg]

I turned in over $600 at around $25oz. Everybody in Dallas was selling their hoards.

 

[bigscoop]

I remember going into northern Michigan and targeting all of the old campgrounds, primarily those sites that backed up to the water where swimming took place a lot, also the older beaches. Man, that was fantastic pickings for about 5 years....never saw another hunter and certainly not in the water. Now, well, they're everywhere.

 

[Argentium]

"Fantastic pickings for about five years -never saw another hunter " Now that is my dream scenario . I guess once in a while a site
comes around (permission ,or stumbled onto) that is completely untouched by detectors -

 

[bakergeol]

I started in the early 60's in the Midwest. Metal detecting was already a popular hobby in the south(civil war)and in the west with it's old western history.
Nobody knew what you were doing and I never met any other detectorist for a very long time. Those old BFOs of course had no discrimination but one could tell larger rusted iron. We did not have the pull tab problem as today and the major annoyance was small pieces of tin foil. Everything was untouched and of course silver was everywhere(still in usage). I probably found more silver halves my first day detecting a virgin park then most people today will find in their lifetimes.
The best place for sheer number of coins I saw was a site at the county fairgrounds. I noticed that they had placed the penny arcade in the same spot year after year. Here you would plunk in your dimes to shoot rifles at ducks and bad guys. The place was basically multiple coin carpets and was detected for months. You could not dig a hole without multiple coins. Most of the coins were silver dimes. Usually before you left you had to walk the area again to pick up the coins which were flipped out but not seen. I found two crushed rolls of silver dimes at the concessioners area which by the dates were dropped in the sawdust quite a few years apart. Most valuable single find there was an old gold pocket watch.

I honestly thought by the end of the 70's this hobby would disappear. After all who would be thrilled by finding only a couple of dimes after an afternoon hunt.LOL

George

 

[bigscoop]

"Fantastic pickings for about five years -never saw another hunter " Now that is my dream scenario . I guess once in a while a site
comes around (permission ,or stumbled onto) that is completely untouched by detectors -

In my experience, the real metal detecting boom started in the late 80's & early 90's. Like everything else the internet overexposed the hobby and suddenly it wasn't just a quiet little hobby anymore. Even in the early 90's virgin beaches could still be found, the type of place where you could scoop up a dozen coins off the bottom with just one attempt, a pouch holding "several" pieces of gold and silver jewelry in a day, etc. Today you can go to these same beaches, some of them even rather remote, and not find a single coin even though the beach is still used heavily in the summer.

This is where, I believe anyway, that saltwater beaches have the edge over freshwater beaches simply due to the fact that the sand gets stripped from time to time to allow access to those deeper layers where many items have remained out of reach. Research is the big key to consistent success now and even that task is becoming much easier to perform due to the internet, so good places are even harder to find then before. The internet has had a dramatic effect on everything.

 

[Argentium]

Wow ! These are exactly the testimonials I figured would be out there - this is exciting to hear about - It's cool to get a glimpse
into this time capsule !!! Thanks Y'all (keep em coming !)

 

[johnnycat]

I started in late 1970. These above posts on guys talking about silver everywhere...IT WAS TRUE!!! In the small town in the High Sierras of CA. where I was raised I never saw another single person detecting. At that time there was an old train depot just outside of town that I used to detect. I remember I asked the only resident in the depot area if it was alright if I could detect there. His first response was, "huh"? I had to show him was I wanted to do. My goodness, it was just unreal! The oldest coin I found was an 1864 half dollar, I still have it. But, everywhere I went there were coins. The county fairgrounds, another mother lode. Quite honestly at times it was somewhat boring, (what the H**L was I thinking). Thinking back now, my mind slowly wanders to an almost surreal time of detecting. Sadly, never again.

 

[locater]

I started in the late 60's, going with my father. I was in the 10 to 12 yr old range. He was a coin collector and used it to find collectable coins, with pretty good success. Way more silver in those days! I remember keeping the found coins with no special collector value in mayo jars. A good portion of my first new bicycle was paid for with those coins. There was less junk in the parks in those days, but the machines were primitive, by todays standards. Still dug a lot of trash, just not as deep! Great memories! My only regret, is not sticking with it back then, the teen years took over.
I got back into it about 5-6 yrs ago. BIG DIFFERENCE NOW!! Much better equipment, MANY more people detecting, really have to work hard for quality finds. STILL ENJOYABLE!