Why do vintage old metal detectors still sell for a lot?
I was looking through Craigslist and found ads like these of old metal detectors still selling for a lot of money. Why? I thought metal detector tech has already improved considerably over old models like these.
That guy is probably not going to get $95 for that. It's way outdated. And too new to be "collector vintage".
One possible way that something like that might sell, is someone is just looking for a quick buy, to find something they lost. A friend of mine listed a cheapie detector on CL, for almost the price-when-new. Someone called and showed up. The ONLY question they asked is: Will it find a gold ring ? Apparently the guy or his wife had lost their ring, and they wanted a detector ASAP to find it.
So as long as you don't need bells, whistles, super depth, etc.... then sure, those early to mid 1970s machines will find stuff.
I collect old sewing machines and i see this kind of stuff every day. People think they are sitting on a gold mine when in fact their item is worthless. Here is a person trying to get 100 bucks out of a machine they would have to pay me 30 bucks to take.
"why do vintage metal detectors still sell for a lot?" you ask,... THEY DON"T lol! That ad will be on there for eternity or they'll let it go for $20 or find a super sucker! I have bought bounty hunters for $10-20 just to give away to friend's kids.
Garrett AT Pro, AT Gold, ATX, MH7 (oldie!) Minelab Explorer SE Pro, EQ800
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There is no completed or sold listings on craigs that I know of, however, going to ebay and scrolling down looking over at the left and hitting "completed listings" will show you that old machines DO sell. I just looked and there were two Garrett MS7 or ADS machines with extra coils and such...one sold for $341 and the other about $240.
I'll have to disagree with you, Tom, on the depth. With my old 1984 or so Garrett and the 12" coil i pulled many a silver dime over a foot deep. I don't have any silver dimes a foot deep with my new machines. I even tried a 15" coil on the at pro and really no addl depth than stock coil.
An analog detector is usually always better. Their problem is that they are heavy and eat batteries!!! Do you know what a sine wave looks like. Well analog uses the whole wave! A digital takes a tiny snippet every once in a while along that wave they call "sampling" and pretends to rebuild it in the processor Basically a digital throws away about 99% of the original wave. That is why an LP run through a good tube Audio amp sounds so much better than an mp3!!!!! Your ear can tell the difference. Digital signals are flat and missing most of the info. Even movie studios have a hard time with HD cameras as they don't do near what 16mm film can do!!! Some of those old detectors, such as a metal box ElDorado, or a Master Hunter 7, or a 6000D will out hunt your new digital machine just about every day Them old heads with lots of "sperience" know the difference!
Last edited by Mitch Dickson; Feb 16, 2019 at 12:19 PM.
Whites 6000di pro plus
Whites id beach hunter
Got rid of the Minelab pointer,
Then got a Garrett. Much better pointer.
Minelab Xterra 705
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Metal Detecting
My nephew picks up old detectors @ garage sales for 5-25 bucks in Sacramento area all the time. Found an old Whites di pro 6000 on C.L. and called the guy. He already sold it for 250.00. BTW, my nephews wife finds wheaties & silver all the time when we go camping in the summer. She has an ear that works well with those 5 buck detectors.
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Basically a digital throws away about 99% of the original wave. That is why an LP run through a good tube Audio amp sounds so much better than an mp3!!!!! Your ear can tell the difference. Digital signals are flat and missing most of the info. Even movie studios have a hard time with HD cameras as they don't do near what 16mm film can do!!! Some of those old detectors, such as a metal box ElDorado, or a Master Hunter 7, or a 6000D will out hunt your new digital machine just about every day 
Them old heads with lots of "sperience" know the difference!
Originally Posted by against the wind
