What was the find that got you hooked?

washingtonian

Gold Member
Sep 26, 2005
6,507
12,899
Puget Sound
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Hey all,

Just curious to hear from everyone what find(s) got you hooked on detecting? I figured it’d be a fun way to relive those early days of “wow, I can’t believe I found a mercury dime” or whatever it was for you.

My brother and I got a bounty hunter in 2005 to clean up money from a coin hunt for kids at a beach where my grandparents live. When we were dividing our $40 spoil I gave him a crusty looking penny.

He took a close look (thank God) and said, “hey, does this penny look funny to you?” On closer inspection it was a 1904 Indian Head Penny. We had no clue! We also found a 1920 buffalo nickel in that same place.

Those were the first finds that hooked us.

ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1551656059.222903.jpg

-W
 

GB1

Gold Member
Jul 12, 2017
7,428
21,863
East TX
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1
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Teknectics eurotek pro
bounty hunter time ranger
bounty hunter quick draw 2
used a teroso compadre.
Primary Interest:
Other
the find that got me hooked.Was a 69 cal. round ball
 

Whyme

Silver Member
Aug 22, 2007
3,731
5,451
Western New York
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CTX-3030, Equinox 800
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All Treasure Hunting
I think it was a memorial penny! :tongue3: I just thought it was so cool that a machine could find things in the ground. Every beep was a mystery until you dug it up, I think that's what hooked me.
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,425
Massachusetts
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1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
My first old silver coin and gold ring! :occasion14:
 

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washingtonian

washingtonian

Gold Member
Sep 26, 2005
6,507
12,899
Puget Sound
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Whites DFX
I think it was a memorial penny! :tongue3: I just thought it was so cool that a machine could find things in the ground. Every beep was a mystery until you dug it up, I think that's what hooked me.

That's why I'm still hooked! It's like gambling. You never know what you're going to get until you roll the dice.
 

Loco-Digger

Gold Member
Jun 16, 2014
11,827
17,744
Northern O-H-I-O
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1
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F75 LTD, 1280X Aquanaut, & a Patriot (back-up/loaner)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was hooked before I even swung a detector, I just needed the knowledge i mined here on Tnet to make me more proficient. I stumbled upon a couple clad infested areas which assisted in hooking me also. That 1st season I was very obsessed with detecting and dug over $500 in clad. If I wasn't sleeping, eating, or working, I was detecting...

Five years into it and now it is more of an enjoyable hobby more so than the obsession it was. I no longer go out in zero degree weather to chisel clad from gravel parking lots. I am content to travel for a detecting vacation once or twice a year and hunt mostly on the weekends when the ground is not frozen here in Ohio.
 

Loco-Digger

Gold Member
Jun 16, 2014
11,827
17,744
Northern O-H-I-O
🥇 Banner finds
1
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F75 LTD, 1280X Aquanaut, & a Patriot (back-up/loaner)
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
That's why I'm still hooked! It's like gambling. You never know what you're going to get until you roll the dice.

Free lottery, will the next plug be "THE PLUG" that holds a keeper or other sweet treasure???
 

oldkoot

Hero Member
Jan 18, 2017
952
1,379
in the Tucson AZ area now
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Garrett Axiom
Garrett GM 24K
Deep Tech Vista X
Golden mask Pro 4 WD
Golden Mask 7
Nokta/Macro Simplex Plus
Nokta Legend
Xterra 705
Garrett ATP
x2 quest X Pointer Max - my favorite
Fisher F Pulse
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
I like Loco Digger knew that metal detecting was one hobby I would take to and not quit anytime soon before I had even purchase a detector but the first good find I made,in my mind was a 1941 mercury dime find I made after I purchased the machine that was 3 days after purchasing the detector I purchased and I was really hooked then but five months after that first good find I found what most including myself would say is a once in a lifetime find with the same detector that find was not found in a yard but under the house I owned at the time in Ohio it was in a pretty large crawl space under that house, I found a cache that had been buried by owners long gone.
 

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CoinFetcher

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Apr 29, 2012
2,496
3,301
Left coast
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Love to treasure hunt
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All Treasure Hunting
Pretty sure it was seeing the fines that you guys are making they got me hooked. Because it took me a long time to find my first keeper!
 

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washingtonian

washingtonian

Gold Member
Sep 26, 2005
6,507
12,899
Puget Sound
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Whites DFX
I like Loco Digger knew that metal detecting was one hobby I would take to and not quit anytime soon before I had even purchase a detector but the first good find I made,in my mind was a 1941 mercury dime find I made after I purchased the machine that was 3 days after purchasing the detector I purchased and I was really hooked then but five months after that first good find I found what most including myself would say is a once in a lifetime find with the same detector that find was not found in a yard but under the house I owned at the time in Ohio it was in a pretty large crawl space under that house, I found a cache that had been buried by owners long gone.

Wow! What kind of cache? Depression era silver? Too cool!
 

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washingtonian

washingtonian

Gold Member
Sep 26, 2005
6,507
12,899
Puget Sound
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Whites DFX
Pretty sure it was seeing the fines that you guys are making they got me hooked. Because it took me a long time to find my first keeper!

Boy how times have changed, you find notable coins on the regular now. Funny how experience and an eye/feel for sites can help your odds.
 

Trezurehunter

Gold Member
Mar 22, 2003
17,885
21,474
Illinois / Oklahoma
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8
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Minelab Equinox 800 - Fisher CZ 5
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All Treasure Hunting
Merc dime in a churchyard. That was 30 years ago, and I still enjoy pulling those winged liberty coins out of the ground !
 

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creskol

Gold Member
Jan 14, 2007
13,623
22,670
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The find that got me hooked was the love of my life, Karen, who was killed by a drunk driver on this very day 49 years ago. She was the best hunting partner I have ever had, and not a day goes by that she doesn't cross my mind at least once. I have never gotten over her departure from this earth. We built our first detector in an electronics class we were taking.
 

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washingtonian

washingtonian

Gold Member
Sep 26, 2005
6,507
12,899
Puget Sound
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800, Whites DFX
The find that got me hooked was the love of my life, Karen, who was killed by a drunk driver on this very day 49 years ago. She was the best hunting partner I have ever had, and not a day goes by that she doesn't cross my mind at least once. I have never gotten over her departure from this earth. We built our first detector in an electronics class we were taking.

Damn creskol, that is heartbreaking. I’m sorry for your loss!
 

Ammoman

Bronze Member
Oct 12, 2015
2,211
5,348
NC
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1
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XP Deus, Nokta Impact, Tesoro Compadre..
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was hooked before i even got my first metal detector. At the age of 13, scratching around old WW2 Fox holes on Guam was hard on the hands. A detector "even if it was a Radio crap" was the most logical next step. My first real detector came to me when i got back to the States. By that time, i had been reading Treasure magazines for a couple years. It was a toss up between the Bounty hunter Red Baron and the Garrett Deepseeker ADS. I went with the Deepseeker.
 

DeepseekerADS

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Mar 3, 2013
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SW, VA - Bull Mountain
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CTX, Excal II, EQ800, Fisher 1260X, Tesoro Royal Sabre, Tejon, Garrett ADSIII, Carrot, Stealth 920iX, Keene A52
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Other
By that time, i had been reading Treasure magazines for a couple years. It was a toss up between the Bounty hunter Red Baron and the Garrett Deepseeker ADS. I went with the Deepseeker.

Cool story, and similar to mine. Seeing treasure magazines on the stand in a convenience store, I bought several different issues. I was so mesmerized, I ordered the Garrett Deepseeker ADS III from Kellyco in 1983. (Thus my username).

Took it out a couple times to a local ball field - found a few coins, but not many to remember. Then another day out, as I was setting the machine up for a hunt, an old dude came up to me and said "Boy you'll never find anything here, this place has been searched a thousand times". Thanks for the encouragement! He walked away, I started sweeping and only went 10' more or less and got a signal. That signal was a gold ring, and I was hooked!
 

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