How did you get started metal detecting?

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

When I was an infant my Mother
dropped me on my head.

 

[dahut]

I owe it all to my ex-wife. She brought home a Mercury dime from bowling one night. I had never seen one and began to collect them, getting to be fast friends with the local coin dealer.

Then one day, I spotted a guy doing the vacant lot next to my church. He had a Big Bud Pro - I distinctly recall that. I talked to him and he told me who used to live there and why it was a good idea to hunt that spot. I watched him for awhile and was amazed by the neat things he was finding in the dirt.

So, I got a few W&ET mags at the store on his recommendation. I settled on a Tesoro Silver Sabre II as my initial detector and sent my money to Chuck Clevenger. I found a Merc my first time out with it. The rest as they say, is history.

I've been through many detectors and have 5 now, 3 of them Tesoros - I wisely divorced the wife later on. But, I have her to thank (man, I hate saying that!)

 

[midnightcaller]

I got started back in 1994 I bought a fisher C-Z6 that led me to a few clubs in the area then I bought a whites now I own a mine lab still have the whites, and soon Iwell have a water detector iam going to find my million dollar gold coin someday...

 

[Tom_in_CA]

In about 1975 or '76, a Jr. High chum got me into it. I was about 13 yrs. old, and would accompany him with his Compass 77b to the local elementary schools. I remember that a typical couple-of-hour hunt might net a few wheaties, a buffalo, and if it was a really good day, a merc or two. I was hooked! Turns out his older brother had a used Whites 66TR for sale, so I bought it for $100.

A 66 TR is a circa late '60s late '60s. So in 1975 or 76, it was still a fairly recent machine. However, those were the years that TR discriminators were just coming out. So pity the poor guys that still had all-metal TRs We found our foil and tab ratio going through the roof, as the guys with discriminators were silver-mining the schools :P So I broke down and got a Garrett Groundhog (VLF/TR) in my high school years (late '70s). But AGAIN technology had some bad news for me, since those were the years that motion machines were coming out. We laughed when we saw guys swinging their coils like golf clubs, but stopped laughing when we saw what they were finding, and the depth they were getting. So I broke down in 1982 and got myself a motion machine: a Garrett ADS II. During the later '80s, I switched to Whites (Eagle, Spectrum, XLT, etc...), as they were getting better depth than their Garrett counterparts of those years.

Now am fully converted to Minelab, after seeing a user effortlessly point out an 8 or 9" deep turf silver signal, that I had to admit I could barely have heard.

Even though things were basically virgin back in the early years, I actually find more coins, and older coins now, since we're wiser on where to search, get deeper, understand beach storms, old-town demo's, etc.... Back then we didn't have much junk tolerance. If a site gave up some old junk and henry shells, for example, we'd leave for "greener grounds". Nowadays though, we gladly wade through old age-indicators & don't mind as much as 100 to 1 ratio. When you're finding the right stuff (pistol balls, green copper, toe-taps, harmonica reeds, buttons, etc...) it tells you a seated could be next

 

[boojagirl]

I have always been very interested in the history of old places, I love shows like "if these walls could talk" so when I moved to the house I am in and found out that it was old I had to get a detector so I could look around. I have already looked around my place but I might look around again, I find a lot of nails and junk and get frustrated and quit to look around somewhere else.

 

[MEinWV]

Bitten in 1967, on a military base in western Turkey. I eyeballed a Byzantine coin that depicts Jesus on one side and some emperor on the other. I also dug up a crusaders grave at the base playground ( first crusades around AD 1096 camped at the site of the base, which sits on the site of the ancient city of Civetot ). A battle between crusaders and the turks ensude, and many of those first crusaders were wiped out. I guess the grave I uncovered was possibly the result of that battle. The front of the stone coffin was marble, with a large crusaders cross carved into it. The Air Police made me bury it. I found out later that Turkish archies came in and dug the area up, mapped and measured, then buried it all back up again. That all happened at the age of 10.

I got my first detector (Heathkit) in '74. I got my first "good" machine (Whites 2D) in '76.
100,000+ coins , 80 gold rings, and 3 decades later, I only have 3 machines now, a CZ5, a 1280X, and a '60s era Whites beachcomber with a red coil made of plywood. I owned 7 units at one time, including 2 that I won at competition hunts in Massachussets(Had a lot of fun back then).

 

[geckokid]

I borrowed a White's Coinmaster series 2 from a friend.
when to the beach and found my first man's gold ring with a tiger Eye gem stone, sold it and now waiting for my Garret Ace 250 To arrive tomorrow, hopefully.

 

[Seajay]

I was hooked in the Summer of '74. A friend of mine in La Junta, CO had a cheap ($20.00) detector and we used it under the swingset at a local elementary school. First signal we dug was a nickel. That event, along with reading Lost Treasure and True Treasure mags when they cost only $ 0.79 or so an issue, really fueled the fire for th'ing.

 

[LadyDigger]

I have always had an interest in metal detecting....don't know if my interest was sparked by seeing others doing it on the beach, or what....could come from my love of genealogy and the history of people, theirs lives, etc.

Can't really say for sure what sparked it....then I met my ol' man....he too, has always had to urge to metal detect. We just never got around to buying one.

Then one Christmas, my oldest boy, wanted one for Christmas. It was a cheap kids one advertised at some toy store.

Hubby gets on the computer and searches the net...found Kellycodetectors dot com and said he found a Garret Ace 150 that would be perfect for our son. It was only about 150 bucks...so we said, why not...well...son got it for Christmas, we tried it a few times in the front yard, but then it just sat in the corner of the room till April. We were watching something on tv, or it could have been the magazine hubby was reading (Lost Treasures, I believe). I took the detector out in the front yard and started...was so excited in finding a few pennies, and even some Rosie Dimes!!!

Well, we did a vacation bit at the beach for a week and took the detector...didn't find a lot of stuff...this was still in April (2006).

Then my birthday and Mother's Day was coming up (only 2 weeks apart) and hubby bought me a Minelab Exp II....as a combo (well, I liked it better than the bread maker he got me for Christmas one year, when I asked for a new scanner...bread makers do not scan very well!!!)

I tried it a few times, first ... I don't like the sounds it makes...second ... hubby tried to adjust it for my height (I'm a tall 4'11") and then took it on the beach....it's way to heavy for me...so I gave it back to hubby and said he could get me the Garret Ace 150...but he got me the 250 instead. Now, we have to get the Garret Ace 150 for my youngest boy. He likes to do it...but he prefers really to dig up my signals (esp on the beach).

Now I search my local papers, and other stuff to find neat spots to dig....

So, we have always had the desire to metal detect, but just never followed through on our desire...so I guess we owe it all to our oldest son...for wanting one for Christmas...now we don't go anywhere without our detectors!!!!!!!!

The boys really don't care too much for detecting, however, they love collecting rocks and I hope while we are at the Crator of Diamonds, they collect them all! I told them just today, to SAVE EVERY ROCK THEY FIND!!! (that's a new one for me..as I am always throwing their rocks away...shhh!!!) I dont' think I will be doing that again...without carefully inspecting each one carefully!!!

Happy Hunting all,
Annmarie
PS: Sure wish I had a metal detector while I was stationed in Italy...have you ever seen a beach in Naples or Sorento or Gaeta? MY GOSH, I believe the entire population of Italians are at the beach at one time!!! And the jewelry...dang, I missed a great opportunity! Oh well, no sense crying over spilt milk!!