old farts and the good old days

[mnruxpin]

Just curious when the hay day of beach hunting was, I started detecting in late 70s with my dad, but we hated the water. Started beach and diving in mid 90s. just curious if I hit the hayday? seems like I find better stuff now than i did then. Rings are bigger and badder than ever here on the prairie at least. what do yall think?

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[CSMPEREZ]

Greatest therapy there is! Ray

 

[FLauthor]

Read about the early days of Mel Fisher and Kip Wagner where the 1715 Spanish Fleet was sunk by a hurricane. Kip used to find dozens of little black irregular disks found on the tide line. They were great for skipping back into the surf Kip figured he'd probably tossed a couple of hundred of those heavy disks. Story goes that one disk appeared to have writing on it and he cleaned the oxidation off the disk and realized those disks everybody had been skipping them into the surf were in fact "Silver Pieces of Eight". In those days, you were able to fill a 5 gallon pail with those coins. Yep, you missed that window of chance.
I started hunting in 1979 and in 34 years have never found any Spanish treasure in all my visits to that area.
Best time to hit that area is in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane, LOL, and some actually do that insane practice.

 

[ron lord]

Back in the early 80's ,I could go to the beach and find 1 to 2 rings Plus $5 every Day, Now if I find 1 gold ring a week, I'm lucky and for money it take a week to find $5 in coins.

 

[aa battery]

great topic that i also share

 

[mnruxpin]

oh man, skippin the silver, crazy, had to be some gold mixed in there too. All summer here I found 3 silver dimes, 2 silver quarters and a silver half dollar. So the silver is super rare, I did really well with gold though. Mostly mens wedding rings, huge loud targets. Well I guess I didnt miss the hay day, I was way to young, gonna kick my dad in the butt for not hittin the water harder in the 80's though, our detector coil floated, we had to tie a big rock on it to get it to sink, and the electronics was in a inner tube and not even splash proof. Our home made scoops sucked and would break. So the water for us just wasnt worth it back then. We shoulda tried harder though!! Ill have to check out your books this winter. we got 5 inches of slow last night ggrrrr

Read about the early days of Mel Fisher and Kip Wagner where the 1715 Spanish Fleet was sunk by a hurricane. Kip used to find dozens of little black irregular disks found on the tide line. They were great for skipping back into the surf Kip figured he'd probably tossed a couple of hundred of those heavy disks. Story goes that one disk appeared to have writing on it and he cleaned the oxidation off the disk and realized those disks everybody had been skipping them into the surf were in fact "Silver Pieces of Eight". In those days, you were able to fill a 5 gallon pail with those coins. Yep, you missed that window of chance.
I started hunting in 1979 and in 34 years have never found any Spanish treasure in all my visits to that area.
Best time to hit that area is in the middle of a Category 3 hurricane, LOL, and some actually do that insane practice.

 

[Mackaydon]

In the mid-70s, I lived on the Venice (Calif), beach. Before dinner, I would 'limit' myself to finding $1.00 in change then go have dinner--I never missed a meal. When it was very windy, the 'pickins' were frequent. The coins would appear as toadstools while the sand eroded underneath them. Walking in the direction of the setting sun made it even easier--from the reflection seen off the coins.
On windless days,with my MD, it would take about an hour to find $1.00.
If I were there today, I'd work the beach-side area of the parking lot just south of the pier.
While our equipment in those days would be considered 'primitive' today, at least the coins were abundant and near (or on) the surface.
Good memories.....
Dno.......

 

[fongu]

I didn't start detecting until December 2007 and haven't gotten out much with my back the way it is. However, I started water detecting in November of 2012 and it's made all the difference in the world in my success. I missed an opportunity to detect when I lived in Panama City Beach in 1981 thru 1984. I used to see the old guys doing that and in my ignorant youth just thought it was something old guys did when they didn't have anything else to do. Boy, did I miss the boat...I can just see the man skipping those silver coins out to see. Now, I'm nearly 60 and I'm one of those old guys who doesn't have anything else to do. Life is a circle.

 

[gobble-gobble]

The mid to late 70s you could go out & hit 5 to 9 rings.
Metal detecting was not a big thing back then. You could walk beaches for hrs & never see another hunter. Yes, Yes the good ole days

 

[smokeythecat]

I am just an old fart.....

 

[NJcigarman]

Hey Ron you are so right. Could buy gas or even lunch there was so much clad around. The days of 2 hotdogs and a drink for 2 bucks on the boardwalk.

 

[OBN]

This will throw a few back to the days

 

[Fletch88]

Awesome video Joe! Thanks for sharing it. I haven't used a microfiche' in 22 years that was cool. Was that a Gremlin car they all piled up in? Lol. Funny how we'd have a crew cab truck or SUV nowadays for that much gear and people. I wish I could buy a half ounce of gold for $200!!! Imagine what just their gold finds are worth today. Also I love the old Miller scoops and sifter setups. Obviously I love metal detecting as a hobby, but man would it get old doing it everyday to make a living.

 

[TheSleeper]

The good old days, sighhhhh.
Yes mid to late 70's I came off the beaches (dry hunting only) sometimes with shoeboxes full, sadly it was mostly silver.
Times have changed, now many do not wear jewerly like they did back then to the beach.
Couple that with the increase in hunters and our worst enemy the beach sweepers, and sand restoration and yeah those were the good days.

 

[JustKeepDigging]

Interesting reading all of these. Me being 20, the good ol' days are now!!! Lol

 

[smokeythecat]

The hey day is tomorrow! I'm going to the beach.

 

[lookindown]

I just started water hunting three years ago so Im lucky...I don't know anything about the good ole days...its all good to me.

 

[roaddust66]

There should be a section for old farts and tales of the late nineteen hundreds. I knew c.w. relic hunters who could did a thousand bullets out of a plowed field in a day and would hunt into the wee hours after dark by the head lights of their cars !

 

[donkarlos]

We had a White's Coinmaster in the house. Didn't get used too much because it took 14 AA batteries. Thing is though, a dollar back then could buy two or three sodas.

 

[methevas2]

I can hardly pay for gas going all the way acrossed town to get the the damn beach. Lol maybe thats where I should move