Pirate detecting, for a living and other questions from a noob

[The Raven]

So, in doing this reading for the past couple weeks I have learned a couple things.

1. Ask permission
2. If your doing it to make a living, tell no one.

So how does that work? If you get permission someone would know you were there?

Also, if you have a site thats a couple miles to hike in, and you don't know it's worth hunting throughly until you've scouted it, when do you get permission....in Maine there is a landowner liability law that basically grants public permission to be on any land unless posted every 150' this includes traditional wildlife hunting/fishing. I know the general consensus is permission every time. I'm very curious about this sensitive subject; PM if you don't want to publicly answer I won't out anybody doing pirate detecting

 

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[aquanut]

Ask permission of the land owners. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut!

 

[SirJoey]

Making a LIVING at it?!! Is ANYBODY that good at this?

Enquiring minds wanna know...










The Lord Is My Shepherd!

 

[Old Town]

You need not tell the land owner you just found a pile of gold. Asking permission on private property is always nice but there it ends in the nice department.

OT

 

[BuckleBoy]

All of it is an ethical issue. From getting permission to how honest you are with an owner about what you've found. The only person that can answer that question for you--is you. Just be on the right side of the law, please.

Oh, and there is not a snowball's chance in hell that you'll "make a living" out of detecting.

 

[Old Dog]

All of it is an ethical issue. From getting permission to how honest you are with an owner about what you've found. The only person that can answer that question for you--is you. Just be on the right side of the law, please.

Oh, and there is not a snowball's chance in hell that you'll "make a living" out of detecting.

Well said Will,
There are some who claim to do it, and a whole bunch who have tried.
Until you ARE that good, don't give up the day job ... (or the dream)

 

[birdman]

Most people that are into this hobby don't like to sell their finds. Some do but usually that is too buy a new detector or another toy. The number of people who have made enough to live on ...I would say that's the ones that get lucky and find a treasure ship and that usually takes years of searching ,investors ect. A few clam to have found huge amounts of buried treasure and if that is true ,good on em . That is what we all hope and it is very rare here in the states especially.

 

[Old Dog]

Most people that are into this hobby don't like to sell their finds. Some do but usually that is too buy a new detector or another toy. The number of people who have made enough to live on ...I would say that's the ones that get lucky and find a treasure ship and that usually takes years of searching ,investors ect. A few clam to have found huge amounts of buried treasure and if that is true ,good on em . That is what we all hope and it is very rare here in the states especially.

It's rare Period.
The ones who do it professionally are usually so tied up in court it is years before they see any income from anything.
That is if they speak of it at least. Professional treasure hunters, (the finders) don't advertise finds, not even small ones.

 

[The Raven]

-I think making a living out of it comes down to what you need. If you need 2500mo no way, but $500mo is doable. You find 4-5 gold rings and you have that. I've recently sold my house, and that was the last debt I had. My wife and I are saving up for a year and then want to travel, either by sail or jeep. So could actually make enough to at least buy food.

-I think what I'm getting out of this is play nice and ethical in public, but follow common sense. Don't go into a site, dig it all up, leave holes and trash and give the hobby a bad name. If you must detect w/o permission, leave the place better, no holes less trash than when you arrived. Also it's better to get permission than not, but if your not sure about an area, scout it first to make sure it's worth the research/bother to get permission, then if it is jump the hoops.

 

[Frankn]

The permission is an iffy issue. If you can find the owner ,ask. If the listed owner can't be found, just hunt. I work gold claims that I have permission to work thru my club GPAA, but most are out west. I hunt a lot of old private yards with permission and agreement on a 50/50 split. I am a man of my word and always split honestly. The last yard I hunted produced a gold and ruby ring and the property owner got their share. the best part is no one wants the rusty chunks of iron so they are all mine."see my avatar".
PS- My dad once told me "Your reputation precedes you"

​

 

[SirJoey]

I hunt a lot of old private yards with permission and agreement on a 50/50 split.

Do U generally VOLUNTEER the 50/50 split up front, or do U save that as a last
resort offer in order to get permission when they don't otherwise want to give it?

I definitely think the 50/50 split is FAIR, but I'm just trying to figure out the best approach here.








The Lord Is My Shepherd!

 

[Old Town]

I hunt the yards of a lot of the older homes down here in Key West. We have lots of 150-year-old homes with tiny yards. My only discussion with the home owner involves how I'm going to treat his lawn and garden areas. Maybe give a demonstration. I also bring with me some older silver coins and Indian nickels to show what I'm after. No need to raise the owner's expectations with stories of caches and lost pirate treasure that might be in his yard.

I've never had a person show any real interest in what I found. All are surprised when I show them the IH pennies and Mercury dimes I find. This generally amuses them but none seem to care about possible value. Worrying about finding something of very great value is mostly a forum topic for fun. I don't worry about it one bit because it's so rare.

Plus, being a true pirate, I'd never tell a soul if I uncovered a bag of gold bars anyway. Not the owner and not this forum. You can tell others you would do the right thing (whatever that is) but I don't believe you.

OT

 

[Sandman]

Oh, and there is not a snowball's chance in hell that you'll "make a living" out of detecting.

Many years ago when I first started there were targets everywhere and I could pick the coins up all the time. Silver and gold rings where everywhere it seemed. After about a week of this "getting rich," I realized the batteries were costing me my finds plus more coins from my own pocket. I have made some great finds where I would be ahead for a few months and then go back to barely able to find enough to buy batteries, plus my food, gas, and beer. It is then that I stopped keeping totals and just starting having fun and haven't looked back.

As far as what you find is between you the land owner and if you want to go blabbing, expect to lose it all.

 

[SirJoey]

If I didn't have an agreement with the landowner, I'd prolly just keep whatever I find to myself, unless the owner is someone I know personally. If I DID have an agreement however, I'd definitely honor it, regardless of the value of the find. I'd put myself in the landowner's shoes, & imagine how I'd like to be treated in that situation, but that's just me.

To ME, nothing in this short life is worth lying and/or cheating someone over. It's only STUFF after all, & that's not what matters in this life. We're only here for a short time, & we're certainly not gonna take any of it with us!
I'm not knocking anybody else's ethics, standards, or methods, I'm just saying how I personally handle issues like this.
After all, under the mask, I'm not REALLY Darth Vader, ya' know...





The Lord Is My Shepherd!

 

[Old Town]

You do not owe the landowner a heads up after you've just uncovered the golden treasure. He never knew it was there in the first place. You earlier ask for his permission to hunt with the implied realization you'd be keeping stuff you found. This is why you show them old coins. Chances are these are all you'll find in the first place. Now the owner has little more interest and you go on your way. You find the golden hoard he (owner) never knew existed.

Why on earth would you now involve the owner? No good can come of this for anyone. Take the gold and thank the owner. Maybe offer to maw his lawn. Do something nice if you feel some kind of moral obligation, but don't bring up the gold as he never knew it was there in the first place and has already given you tacit or real and solid permission to take items before you started.

This seems so simple to me. Why do we muck up the water for no reason?

OT

 

[SirJoey]

Yeah, it's pretty simple to me too!












The Lord Is My Shepherd!

 

[White Feather]

If I can't Take it with me, I ain't Goin'.