What were you doing in 1986?

[Helix]

I want to hear old recounts of metal detecting virgin parks back when detectors first went mainstream... Some of us find virgin spots but I am talking about you guys pulling hand fulls of silver just on your 20 min lunch break in 1978 at a local park. Question- is this true?

 

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[Showtime2385]

In 1986 i was drinking a bottle lol

 

[TheRingFinder]

Just got out of the Army in Germany and headed back to the States, instead of sweeping exercises for landmines; I could actually hunt for relics and coins!!

 

[Helix]

Have some Imagination boy.

 

[Fletch88]

That was the year I turned 16 so metal detecting was the last thing I had on the brain! I think back to all the places on land and freshwater that I wish I had been in the hobby back then and detected. I guess I thought it was a pretty nerdy hobby back then, for old dudes wearing socks with flip-
flops on the beach! I see 18-20 year olds on the beach, and wonder if they think the same thing about me now! (Without the flip flops of course)

 

[Helix]

 

[Seabees]

Back then every thing was a lot cheaper and the dallor went a lot further. I've herd of people actually making a living off of md'ing. If I only new back then what I know now.

 

[UnderMiner]

Back in the late 1940's - 1960's you could have walked into a library and looked up the locations of wrecked Spanish treasure galleons. Since most of the wreck sites were well documented and salvaged back in the 1700's by the Spanish government their whereabouts were well known to anyone interested in diving them. All you had to do to find treasure was get a war surplus mine detector, water-proof it and dive down 10-20 feet down to the wreck sites. All the treasure that the Spanish missed in their salvage attempts could be found scattered all over the sea floor with those early metal detectors. Those early guys were pulling up handfuls of silver coins and doubloons, silver bars, gold bars, gold chains - some 12 feet long, and even artifacts like the ship's compass, cannons, bells, and navigational equipment. This was a time I term the "golden age of underwater metal detecting".

 

[Fletch88]

[ QUOTE=UnderMiner;4353210]Back in the late 1940's - 1960's you could have walked into a library and looked up the locations of wrecked Spanish treasure galleons. Since most of the wreck sites were well documented and salvaged back in the 1700's by the Spanish government their whereabouts were well known to anyone interested in diving them. All you had to do to find treasure was get a war surplus mine detector, water-proof it and dive down 10-20 feet down to the wreck sites. All the treasure that the Spanish missed in their salvage attempts could be found scattered all over the sea floor with those early metal detectors. Those early guys were pulling up handfuls of silver coins and doubloons, silver bars, gold bars, gold chains - some 12 feet long, and even artifacts like the ship's compass, cannons, bells, and navigational equipment. This was a time I term the "golden age of underwater metal detecting".[/QUOTE]


We can only dream about it! My adrenaline starts flowing just thinking about such an adventure!

 

[lockster99]

I was MD'in with my Dad and his Whites blue box.

 

[Helix]

Yes Yellow Beard was a good movie..... This was new in 86.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Sorry - I'd been married six years, was working two jobs and did not own a metal detector at that time.

 

[Actionman]

I was borrowing my dads Compass detector. Just around home though, at least we lived in the country.

 

[civil_war22]

Depending on what month in 86 I was staying warm next to my twin in my moms belly

 

[AU_Solitude]

Yeah I was born in 1986.

 

[Helix]

In 1986 for Christmas my older brother got a RedBB gun and me and my dad got a Whites 3900/d.

 

[BosnMate]

In January of '86 I was working in a mill, running 70 mother cows on my own place, shoeing a few horses and doing custom hay for extra money, which all ended with a divorce before '86 was done. My X got the property, I got the cows and machinery, plus most of the bills -- cows and machinery got sold to pay bills, but I still had the mill job and everything worked out, except the metal detecting, which took a back seat until I got re-settled, then I bought myself a divorce present, a White's 6000 DI Pro, and never looked back. In those days parks weren't the top of my bucket list, I was really into relics, wanting to find a cache or just good stuff. I never did find buckets of silver coins or lots of jewelry, I have hunted local parks, but haven't had a lot of opportunity to beach hunt, however the little beach hunting I've done of that has been really enjoyable, and if I lived closer to the ocean, I think I'd do beach hunting a lot. Relic hunting I've found stuff that isn't worth $, and isn't even interesting to some people, but means the world to me, because I know the history that's behind the find, in fact I have a couple of things I've found that aren't worth a nickle, but you couldn't buy them, they aren't for sale for any price. My health has kind of put a stop to relic hunting, and parks are more important than ever now. That's my story and I'm sticing to it.

 

[Dave Rishar]

I was 10 years old. My grandpa in another state was actually metal detecting and coming up with all sorts of cool stuff, but I simply wasn't interested. I was a kid.

Here's a treasure story though, kind of: back in my childhood, I'd spend the summer with my grandparents on both sides, kind of switching back and forth. My grandparents on my father's side (not the detector grandpa, he was on my mother's side) had all of their relatives in another state though, so we'd go there sometimes. Regardless of where we were, the folks on my dad's side loved to play blackjack, and we were taught how to play at an early age so that there were more people at the table. Looking back, I realize now that these games were played more for bragging rights than money, but gambling requires money and since we were kids, we were provided with a bit tin of change to use. These were penny hands, after all...I mean, kids were playing.

When I think back to that tin though, I remember what was in it. My grandmother and her sisters couldn't adequately explain to me why the mercuries, Walkers, and indian pennies looked different, but they were there. (That pot of blackjack change had probably been in the family for a century, if not more.) And I know what you're thinking now: where did it go? The answer is that I don't know. I was still in the service when my grandparents passed. It's no longer in the immediate family, I can tell you that.

That's the kind of crap that the old-timers take for granted, that the folks from my generation cherish, and that the kids coming up now will never know. As much as I hate the term, it is what it is. Right? I'd kill to know what came out of some of the areas around here during that period of time, if only to know what was dropped there back in the day.

 

[bakergeol]

I want to hear old recounts of metal detecting virgin parks back when detectors first went mainstream... Some of us find virgin spots but I am talking about you guys pulling hand fulls of silver just on your 20 min lunch break in 1978 at a local park. Question- is this true?

Well detecting virgin parks in 1978 means that you were detecting off of the beaten path. Metal detecting was popular long before 1978. I started detecting in the early 60's and all of the parks in that time interval I detected were virgin. I wouldn't have stopped to detect a park if I knew someone else had detected there before me. Why? Have you ever detected a location which was virgin or untouched? Good finds were all over the place. It made for a day to remember. That's what you were seeking. Silver- well in time when I started finding those black clad dimes- these I showed my friends not the silver which was common.

Silver halves were found in abundance in virgin parks and school yards or in other high traffic areas. The best virgin school yards I detected were in Nevada simply because of the San Francisco mintage(silver dollar finds also).

Basically we did not know how good we had it. LOL

George

 

[BigWaveDave]

I was in 10th grade, and Rachael Perry taught me the meaning of life.