I wish I had better news for you about the Outer Banks. I was down in Oct. and hunted for 25-30 hours and found $3.60 in change along with no bling. They say that the beach erodes from Oct. to March and then re-builds during the summer months---well I figured that was the reason for few finds. I went back for a solid week of metal detecting in January and the first day I found a small 10k wedding band with 6 diamond chips---great start--but after that it was very bleak. Hopefully a good storm will hit before you get there. I spoke to a well known local metal detectorist--Ray Midgett--when I was there and he also said that this year was not too productive. From my research and hunting this is what know. The places I hunted from South Nags Head up to mile post 1 were all basically the same (as far as production goes). I hunted in front of Condos, at public beach access points, at hotels, and even in front of million dollar beach houses--and found a dime here and a penny there. Word has it that your best chance of finding old shipwreck coins is to hunt 2 miles north or south of the Corolla Lighthouse. You can drive on to the beach (4wd) without a permit up there. I really believe the ticket is a good nor'easter to move some sand off the beach and also being in the right spot at the right time!! By the way I use a Minelab Excal II and an etrac and most of my targets were in the 8-14 inch range. Due to there not being much trash on these beaches I would strongly recommend using very little discrimination. About the only nuisance target down there is dune fence wire and a few nails. Please let us know how you do---best of luck!!
