Is it possible to "make a living" metal detecting?

[DigginDownUnder]

I might register as a business so I can claim my equipment, fuel and expenses back at tax time.
What a great idea

 

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[squiggy]

You have to realize a certain dollar amount of profit yearly, to register as a business. .if you can meet that requirement. THATS GREAT!

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[Boatlode]

Sure you can, its easy. All you have to do is find an extremely rare old coin, sell it at auction for several million dollars, and retire.





Otherwise, no.

 

[goldkey]

I'm a Dreamer.....I'm not the only one!
Every person that holds a detector in their hands has that dream of finding the "one".
Otherwise there wouldn't be the drive we all have, to continue on such ventures....digging pull tabs...trash...occasional gold.

 

[Limitool]

You have to realize a certain dollar amount of profit yearly, to register as a business. .if you can meet that requirement. THATS GREAT!

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Maybe in CA. but not here in TN. No state tax here and I had an LLC for 3 years going before shutting it down. And claimed it on Fed. return. Never made a dime!!!!!

I'm now working on my iron horseshoe retail business startup now..... T-net members get a discount (some of ya).

 

[Frankn]

YES, IF, you own your home outright, have your vehicles paid off, Have social security income, medicare + supplemental backup. Hay That's me! It also helps if you cache hunt and are both skillful and extremely lucky. Hay even my MH is paid off. Oh, another thing, you have to be healthy.
Frank...-

The good life

 

[huntsman53]

If I could sell every horseshoe I find for say $100.00 straight from the ground.... or after a bath in electrolysis and a little cleaning say for $200.00... and after I write up a certificate of authenticity that I knew who's horse it came off for say $300.00 then I could make a great living. You've given me one hell of an idea. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!

LMAO!!


Frank

 

[huntsman53]

I believe that it may be possible with a lot of dedication, research and hard work! However, I believe that it would have been a lot easier to make a living at metal detecting as well as digging for other treasures (i.e. rare bottles, pottery and clay jugs) back in the 1970's to mid-1980's. When I lived and worked in Florida, a friend of mine who was retired, metal detected and dug for old bottles and other items and made many rare finds. I toured his' home once and he must have had close to a million dollars worth of rare bottles, rare rum...ale and whiskey flasks and other items. He also found many Spanish 1, 2, 4 and 8 Reale coins and many valuable Gold, Diamond, Ruby and Emerald rings while I lived there. One ring he found was 18kt solid yellow Gold with three Mine-cut almost totally flawless Diamonds. The center stone in the ring alone was appraised at $65,000 at the time. So, yes, I believe that it is possible!


Frank

 

[DDancer]

Diggn Down under and Tom_Ca have good points

It is my personal experience that making a living just detecting, while possible, really does kill the fun of it. Its not something that I tried here in the US~ to impractical for many reasons. I tried to do it in Australia in 2006 and 2010 when gold prices made it remotely feasible to do so on a shoe string budget, a loan and a good credit card. It was a gamble that paid off with good friends and good memories but not much in the bank. *in fact I'm still paying for the last trip.... lousy economy*

Down in Oz one can prospect fairly easily and I was successful in 2006 to keep fuel, food and beer in the ute as well as pay for a new transmission. On the backside of the trip I waited in Perth and made ends meet hitting the parks for coin 20 to 80 dollars a day. *As Diggn said those lost Abo's and Kangaroo's add up quick* But it was stressful because you have to make wages. There were weeks where I was depressed from worry due to dry spells and if it were not for my mates I'd have probably tossed in the towel more than once. 2010 was much the same way. I still intend to go back and do it again. Just the next time(s) will be for pleasure. If profit comes great but I don't care for the stress of living hand to mouth~

Now I'm talking about another country that in my opinion is a detector paradise~ aside from the fact it is paradise to me Here in the US its just impractical and Tom's bit on another's experience hits home with me. Frank makes a good point to however people in a position in life where all the bases are taken care of are not really making a living off detecting but are having an adventure while detecting in my opinion.

 

[FloridaDigger]

What separates successful people from unsuccessful, in every discipline, is BELIEF and PERSISTENCE. Those that tell others they can't make a living treasure hunting are projecting their personal doubts and limitations. People have different levels of ambition and motivation. When people feed their doubts, they go about producing the "evidence" to support those doubts.

It takes the right circumstances to treasure hunt full time but every change in occupation requires planning and sacrifice to some degree. If you're working a full time job to support a family, you might be relegated to weekend hunting until your circumstances change. I know someone who started treasure hunting full time when his business closed due to the economy. A few years ago I read about a college graduate, while looking for work, started metal detecting. After some great finds and no luck finding work eventually became a full time treasure hunter. If anyone wants to go full time - go for it. Ignore the Nay-Sayers and failures and learn from those who are successful.

 

[DDancer]

What separates successful people from unsuccessful, in every discipline, is BELIEF and PERSISTENCE. Those that tell others they can't make a living treasure hunting are projecting their personal doubts and limitations. People have different levels of ambition and motivation. When people feed their doubts, they go about producing the "evidence" to support those doubts.

It takes the right circumstances to treasure hunt full time but every change in occupation requires planning and sacrifice to some degree. If you're working a full time job to support a family, you might be relegated to weekend hunting until your circumstances change. I know someone who started treasure hunting full time when his business closed due to the economy. A few years ago I read about a college graduate, while looking for work, started metal detecting. After some great finds and no luck finding work eventually became a full time treasure hunter. If anyone wants to go full time - go for it. Ignore the Nay-Sayers and failures and learn from those who are successful.

True enough to an extent. Only you might want to re-think the idea that people producing evidence to support their doubts. I've lived it so I know what it produces
Its not true to say ignore the nay sayer and failures~ its truer to say take a nay sayers and failures advice under consideration and make the call for yourself. My thoughts.

 

[Argentium]

I think it would be possible to make a living , if you weren't saddled with a high rent or mortgage payment or car payment . With low
overhead , and recurrent bills, I do think it would be possible for a single person to make a modest living with full time metal detecting .
This would of course be less about hunting wheaties and silver dimes , and much more about being quite focused on recovering
higher cash value targets such as gold rings . In certain areas of the world gold nuggets might also be a realistic target . I would
think that success would depend upon being able to access areas that the majority of detectorists have not had access to .This
would include snorkeling at very least and full on dive gear at most -with the added expenses and certification that would be required.
A thread like this obviously invites all kinds of speculation and opinions - I'm guessing that if there are some people who are really
making a steady go it financially , they likely aren't talking too much about it . I'd be interested to see the results of somebody
trying this for one month - just to see if based on a month of finds they would achieve a "modest " living .

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

If your wife doesn't made living in a cardboard box and eating fast food 7 days a week you can....

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

Yes, you can make a living being a metal detectorist.

(assuming you live in a tent, have no dependents, are receiving SSI, Medicare and something of a retirement account from some place up north and you enjoy being seen in a broken down '67 Buick with different color doors and no hood.)

There is an alternative however.

When it's discovered that pull tab's are a premium rocket fuel source for alien space ships- I'm gunna be rich!

(it's called a hobby for a reason)

You forgot living in a van down by the river on a steady diet of gubbamint cheese

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

anything is Possible.

Those guys in England that dug up multi-million dollar Caches in farmers fields,
have already made a Living & the rest is just icing.

I'm sure there are also a Few beach hunters in Hawaii etc., that IF they cached in could consider their
take, a good retirement fund.

as I said, anything is possible.

I'm sure there is also a few detectorists who bought $3,000.00 detectors & haven't found a Zinc penny yet

You say that like it is a bad thing. I bet folks would pay extra to not get hits on zincers

 

[ConceptualizedNetherlandr]

You have to realize a certain dollar amount of profit yearly, to register as a business. .if you can meet that requirement. THATS GREAT!

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Tax code is complicated, but in almost any situation you get 3 failed years at least. In other situations you have businesses just to get the loss.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Tax code is complicated, but in almost any situation you get 3 failed years at least. In other situations you have businesses just to get the loss.

4 if you file a 1 year extension then IRS claims it is a hobby. ..

 

[JunkShopFiddler]

I'm 60 or so and unemployed for last 18 months. My house and cars are paid off, no personal loans, no outstanding debts of any kind. I am not trying to make a living with the metal detector, but it does help pay the light bill, and keeps me from raiding my retirement account early. The problem is when I think of it that way it's no longer fun. You start thinking of how many gallons of gas it took to get your location and so forth...you decide to go when it hasn't rained for weeks and diggin' in concrete dirt and 90-plus temps starts to kill a person my age...So I just end up saying, "screw it" and go back to having fun, and if you make some profit it's a happy accident...Can you make a living diggin ?

Clint Eastwood in Outlaw Josey Wales..."Dying ain't much of a living' boy"

 

[jeff of pa]

You say that like it is a bad thing. I bet folks would pay extra to not get hits on zincers

But honestly, I'd be worried what else I'm missing, If I tuned out Zinks

 

[goldkey]

Well.........It's like Rosanna Danna used to always say.."It's always something".
I agree with Argentium......If you saddle yourself to a high mortgage payment, and on top of that a car note....lots of insurance, everywhere you turn you are chained to those things.
I spent my first 30 years in life thinking I had to have all that stuff. At that early age it occurred to me that the loss of freedom from having it was more than I wanted. I wasn't doing what I wanted to do.
So I changed and started going the other way. Do those things in life you have a heart to do.....cause life is short and then it's on to something else.
I think about and have done things that most people wouldn't do....like....I take my detector and go off into the wilderness alone. I grew up on a farm and when I was 10 years old...I was doing the same thing.....spending time in the woods alone. So...that's natural for me to do it. Most people wouldn't let a 10 year old go into the woods with a 22 rifle and be gone all day. Times were different then.
Fear seems to be the biggest motivator of a lot of people.....to not do something. I said I was a dreamer earlier, and I know that I do think a lot about going places and exploring. To me that's what MD'ing is about.....the exploration.