How long did it take a must read.

ppratt

ppratt

Sr. Member
Jun 19, 2003
352
83
South western PA
Detector(s) used
Spectrum XLT
I would like to hear some stories about how long it took to you find something you wanted too. (besides the gold coin).

I took me 5 years or more to find a standing quarter. When I did it was a 1926. For some reason it just wasn't ment to be. I think it was the last type for me. I found bust, seated you name it, it came first even the gold coin a 1882 five dollar came first.
 

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1st silver: 4 days :)
1st gold: 11 days :o
1st platinum: 5 years 8)
1st working watch: 1 year :)
1st Rolex: 4 years :lol:
1st diamond (ring): 2 years :shock:
1st ruby (ring): 1 year :o
1st sapphire (ring): 3 years :D
1st emerald: not yet :?
1st gold coin: not yet :(
1st Indian Head penny, V nickel, Buffalo nickel, Barber quarter, Standing Liberty quarter, silver half (any), .900 silver dollar (any): not yet :roll:
1st Mercury dime: 4 years :o
 

Hello, I found my 1st piece o' silver my 1st time out, 1950 half. The question really should'nt be how long it took to find something we've wanted, but rather how we had the patience to stay in MD'ing when (I)-(WE) Could'nt find a clad penny if it jumped up and hit us in the head. I've too many items to mention, however I really cannot give you a timeline on when they were found..I just like to have fun and find cool stuff w/o all the technical data. So to me it kinda does'nt matter how long it took us to find something we've wanted. If we have'nt found it yet, I guess that is what keeps our detectors swing'in. Happy Hunt'in
 

Yep... what I've found represents some great souvenirs from some long hours of hunting... I'm always amazed to see these great metal detecting ads with piles of coins, gold and silver jewelry, ancient artifacts, etc... to see it all like that you tend to forget that a pile like that is often built up one piece at a time, often with fruitless hunts in the mix. Its one thing to say I have a Rolex found after 4 years of hunting; its another to say that 4 years was spent hunting 8-15 hours per week! That's something close to 2500 hours! If the watch is worth $2500, that works out to $1 per hour-- pretty poor pay, really, especially after you factor in the batteries, gas, drive time, parking, etc. not to mention the original cost of the detector.

The time spent looking for something has to have its own reward: time to reflect on the beauty of the natural world and all the events that lead up to someone designing and producing something that is sold to someone else (under specific circumstances) that later gets lost (under still more circumstances) for some unknown period of time before circumstances are right for yet another person to find it. But of course, if I never found anything, I wouldn't be out hunting!
 

i've found everything from ihc's to silver halves but no silver dollar,plenty of rings silver and gold. mark
 

I just don't think I am looking in the right places. All I have found is a pull tab, and I had to really dig to get that... just wanted to find something!
 

Someone told me they dropped a nice 1/2 carat diamond solitaire in a 14k cathedral setting on a particular beach. The dimensions of the beach are something close to 1000 yards x 250 yards of exposed sand (not underwater). If a detector coil is 12", and you cover 6' in one sweep from side to side in one second, and barely overlap your sweeps, and cover the whole beach without taking any breaks, it would take 4 days, 8 hours, 10 minutes to cover the whole area. Add to that the time it takes to dig every target, and it is obviously a difficult challenge to find a specific item. Meanwhile, kids are building sand castles and burying their friends, the tides are rising and falling, joggers and volleyball players are stirring up the sand, and that ring is sinking deeper... deeper... deeper...
 

First Silver Dollar.....20 years
First Flying Eagle Cent.....20 years
First Half Dime.....20 years
First Bust Dime.....20 years
Minelab Explorer XS.....Priceless
 

off the subject but found a 2 pound?australian coin one day with a freind under a bridge looking for fire wood for the night party to come stopped at the top of a hill looked around looked down right between my big toes!on some concreate!(was a pretty urban area)like new almost like some kind of sign from some were! DEKALB33, any one else wth any thing simaliar to tell?
 

I worked my hind end off for 6 months, digging thousands of coins before I found my first silver. By that time I had only found 15 wheat cents and was beginning to think all these posts of great finds were hogwash. Luckily that first silver was a 1905 Barber dime. It was enough to re-ignite my passion.

Little did I know that the first 6 months was just a burn in time for my hobby. The whole time that I was digging clad and junk, I was fine tuning my skills. The following month, I found over 15 silver coins, as well as many firsts. (Walking Liberty, Franklin, Silver Washington, Rosie, Merc, and Buffalo)

I'm still waiting for many firsts, but I'm in no rush. I know in time I'll get that Standing Liberty, or better yet....the Seated....or the Double Eagle. (I can dream)
 

First relics = Same day i recieved my detector.

First clad = The next day.

First Jewelry = Couple days after clad

First Silver Coin = one month after recieving detector.
 

No silver coins yet except war nickels. Found some nice early 1900 relics. Have been detecting seriously since the spring of 2004. The silver coins hopefully will start showing up once the weather breaks. Happy Hunting to all!! Have a merry christmas and happy hunting year!!!
 

ppratt -- good question. certainly large variability out there, no real trends.

silver Washington -- first day
wheat -- first day
roosevelt dime -- one month
merc dime -- one month
standing lib -- one month
barber dime -- 3 months
barber quarter -- 1 year
Walker Half -- 2 years
indian head penny -- 3 months
Buffalo Head penny -- 3 months
V Nickel -- 3 months
large cent -- 5 years
3 cent -- 5 years
1/2 reale - 5 years
 

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