Lets See Some of your Antique Metal Detectors...! Check out the two I Have!

Cool Hand Fluke · Jul 24, 2011

Let's See Some of your Antique Metal Detectors...! Check out the two I Have!

The first one is a Goldak Model 820 "Commander Jr." from around 1963. I think you might get 2 inches max depth! Don't get the coil wet, it will short out! Your poor wrist would be killing you after swinging this thing for several hours! No discrimination, prepare to dig everything!

The blue machine is a Relco Pacesetter from around 1977. What a piece of junk. I actually used this machine while stationed in Germany back in 1975 through 1978. Never found anything with it other than some chunks of iron. This machine made me disillusioned with the hobby until I took it up again in 1985 when I rented a Whites Coinmaster.

NOLA_Ken · Nov 5, 2016

Tom_in_CA said:
Nola ken, loved your pix ! I would love to find out more about that (age, etc...), and see a complete unit . Thanx for posting !

Thanks! I would too, but so far no luck.... I'm guessing it probably dates to the 30's but that's just a hunch.... When I get home I'll open them up and see if I can find any patent numbers I may have missed, maybe that will be the key....

gunsil · Nov 5, 2016

Here's my first detector, a circa 1970 Garrett BFO Master Hunter pictured here with the 8" coil with a 3" coil built into it. I also have the original 12" coil with a 5" coil built into it. I found tons of good stuff with this baby, all sites were virgin, and it could hit a quarter at 8" in damp soil. I found out early on that most coins aren't very deep if the soil hadn't been messed with (landscaping, etc) and found a bunch of colonial coins at less than 6". The best thing was nobody knew what we were up to and nobody really cared and permissions seemed easier to get. No discrimination, but you could learn the sound to a certain extent and get a pretty good idea of what you were about to dig. Of course we dug ALL signals then so we missed nothing. Of course I was also young then and could hunt for many hours without tiring.

Pathfinder100 · Nov 12, 2016

I have a whites coinmaster 5000 D and I even have the owners manual. I know it's not that old but it's my oldest one. Haven't played around with it much since I got my treasure master back in august.

Tom_in_CA · Nov 13, 2016

Pathfinder100 said:
I have a whites coinmaster 5000 D and I even have the owners manual. I know it's not that old but it's my oldest one. Haven't played around with it much since I got my treasure master back in august.

Circa 1977-ish. Unless it's a 5000 series II, then it's perhaps 1980-82-ish. The series 1 is a dated dinosaur. The series II was actually good for its era, and a great beach machine. But still dated compared to today's beach machines.

NOLA_Ken · Nov 13, 2016

I took a few better pics.... The only real markings inside are on a plate on an electric motor, the motor has a square block attached that closes a set of contacts, which I guess sends an electric pulse to the connectors.... The boxes measure 3 1/2" by 5 1/2" and 6" tall