Question abut this hobby.

[Dark Alchemist]

When I was a young'un I used my BH BFO styled MD to find stuff no more than an inch in the ground. No ground balance or anything so I used it to find nails and screws I would drop by accident when doing projects. Well, there is a question I always had and really would like to know more now than ever before and that is what do you do with all of the jewelry and coins you find? Most are in a horrible state that I see on YT so what do you do with them? Is there any way to make some gas money or the ability to earn enough from this hobby to buy a better MD in a year or two of hunting?

 

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[Sandman]

This is a hobby and not a job. We do this for entertainment and don't think we need to make a profit per time spent. We'd really be in the hole then counting our time, $$$ for equipment. It is because we find money that many of us think profit comes into play. If you go out in your spare time and do some research you can earn enough money for gas or batteries. On finding jewelry is where the bigger money comes it and that is why many hunt the beaches and water where fingers are slippery and rings come off. But water detectors cost lots more, but you find more gold. However if you figure out time spent for gold received your still in the hole.

I started way back when and quickly moved into the water as a diver and wader of the shorelines of the east coast living out of a van eating beans out of a can. My detectors have paid for themselves many times over, but if I was figuring it all up I would have made more money working out of a fast food stand.

Now what to do with all that loot! Clad coins can be saved up and dumped in Coin Star machines or rolled and taken to the bank for green backs. Silver can be hoarded till you have enough to send to ARA or Midwest Refineries. Never to a pawn shop or cash for gold place. Gold rings can be sold as is to anyone that wants to buy them and they make nice gifts for relatives. One guy I know showed me his gold ring collection and he had them in 5 gal buckets. 10 Kt. in one, 14 Kt in another and so on. I ask why didn't he sell them and he said, "Then they would be gone." He enjoyed the hunt, not the selling.

 

[vpnavy]

Great question Dark Alchemist. In my case - I do it just for fun. If I was doing it for profit - I would be applying for welfare right now!

 

[Dark Alchemist]

My question is not about doing it solely for profit since that is a job not a hobby but if all you do is collect more junk to stash away then I find something intrinsically wrong with that. The hobby portion, for me at least, is the finding but the realist in me knows that if you can't make any money off of the stuff you find then it is really just junk and trash (Lord knows we don't need more trash and junk in our homes and better to leave it so the earth can reclaim it.).

So, if you want a hobby that has no ability to make any form of cash then better to go take up bike riding or something else for this, to me at least, is not a hobby of just wasting your time but for the potential of finding something really cool that can earn you profit.

Now, if I wanted to solely go after profit alone I would be out there in the silver and gold areas hunting with a gold bug or something similar.

 

[TerryC]

If you want to make money, find a diusenberg and restore it. If just for hobby, find a diusenberg and drive it. You CAN have BOTH. TTC

 

[JUNKER]

It's mainly because you like to do it. You never know what your going to find. It's kind of like fishing you really don't know what your ,going to catch sometimes a keeper sometimes junk It's for the fun of it mainly.

 

[Dark Alchemist]

Well, you think your way and I will think mine and part on peaceful terms because there is profit in this if you are diligent and lucky. Besides profit is making back what you spent on the machine while doing it in your leisure time.

 

[Digger2]

I hunt because I enjoy it. It is relaxing, and a little mental and physical workout at the same time.
Finds, to me, are just a way of keeping score.
I have sold a lot of my finds' in the pass, and I have come to regret doing so.
I am keeping my finds now in separate containers and use them for show.

I sorted out the 'state' quarters that I have found since 2013. My 8 year old Granddaughter, got interested in looking at them, and has been coming over to watch how I clean them. Last night she informed me that she is coming hunting with me this coming Monday.

There is no way I'm going to sell this stuff.

Roy
edit typo

 

[Sandman]

How much is your time worth Dark Alchemist? There is no profit when you consider the time spent. Sometimes you don't make enough to pay for batteries. Sure I paid off all my detectors but not finding clad coins. Water hunting is where the gold is at. One gold wedding band could sell for around $120 for 14 kt. at 95% of spot. You could sell it for more to a person. This is providing you lived at the beach and didn't drive a car.

 

[Joe hunter]

I hunt because I enjoy it. It is relaxing, and a little mental and physical workout at the same time.
Finds, to me, are just a way of keeping score.
I have sold a lot of my finds' in the pass, and I have come to regret doing so.
I am keeping my finds now in separate containers and use them for show.

I sorted out the 'state' quarters that I have found since 2103. My 8 year old Granddaughter, got interested in looking at them, and has been coming over to watch how I clean them. Last night she informed me that she is coming hunting with me this coming Monday.

There is no way I'm going to sell this stuff.

Roy

2103 digger are you from the future?

 

[Dark Alchemist]

How much is your time worth Dark Alchemist? There is no profit when you consider the time spent. Sometimes you don't make enough to pay for batteries. Sure I paid off all my detectors but not finding clad coins. Water hunting is where the gold is at. One gold wedding band could sell for around $120 for 14 kt. at 95% of spot. You could sell it for more to a person. This is providing you lived at the beach and didn't drive a car.

I will be living within a 5 to 10 min drive from the beach. I never knew a wedding band (my wife's and mine were 18ct) could go for that much that is weathered.

I always love it when people ask what your time is worth as I have always answered them as 0 because if you love what you are doing it is silly to put a value on your time. That is akin to a person who constantly looks at their watch or the clock which means you aren't enjoying it and if you aren't enjoying it then why is it your hobby?

 

[Terry Soloman]

I started metal detecting back in the 1970s to make money, not to have fun. My Dad and his friends were part-time gold prospectors and were making a few thousand dollars every season – and that excited me. Over the years I have spent thousands of dollars on metal detectors, camping and prospecting gear, horses and tack, gasoline and vehicles, and paid for it all with gold I found.

Since the mid 1990s, all the big “easy” gold has pretty much been found and cleaned up, and paying for your investment got a lot harder to do as more and more folks got into the act with better and better machines. When I started metal detecting we had machines like the Garrett Master Hunter, Bounty Hunter TR500, C & G (Crum & Gifford) Wildcat, and the Fisher 552. There were only a handful of “electronic prospectors” out there. Needless to say, we have come a long way baby!

These days you can still pay for your machine and gasoline, but it requires a lot more time in the library and on the headphones. Today it is not so much about the machine – or even the experience of the operator as it is about location. With thousands of metal detecting hobbyists in every state hitting the same parks, sports fields and beaches, there is a whole lot less to find. To be successful now, you MUST hunt a “virgin” spot or area.

My first year hunting beaches (2010) here on the East Coast, I got hooked because it was so easy. I found a few thousand dollars (melt value) in gold jewelry, but after adding up gasoline, tolls, parking, equipment costs - and the hundreds of hours on the headphones, I ended up with a “profit” of about $1,100.00. Obviously not the results I had hoped for.

If you want to profit from metal detecting these days, start a dealership or associated business. I began a business teaching folks how to prospect for gold in 2007. That enabled me to continue to buy my equipment and explore new areas without losing money. Here on the East Coast, I still find lots of old silver coins and gold jewelry, enough to pay for my machines and gasoline, but not enough to pay my property taxes each year – much less make a profit. Heck, even Chicago Ron and Gary Drayton have “day jobs.” Good Luck!

 

[Warmouth]

I found a men's gold band the first time I went MDing, sold it for enough to pay for my Tesoro Vaquero I found it with. I could not believe it, my heart was pounding and my hands shook as I gazed upon my find. Needless to say I was hooked, I now have 4 machines and all have been paid for with finds.
I love this hobby, you never know what your going to get, if you don't have this sort of mind set and your just out to make a dollar you will be miserable, it's actually pretty hard work.

 

[Muddyhandz]

Best way to describe this hobby is feast or famine.
Some days you make 10 cents an hour, sometimes $10 an hour, and occasionally $100 an hour.
Ask any professional beach hunter if they find gold EVERY single time they go out. I'd be shocked if they said yes.
Most people associate profit with time and overhead.
If time, gas, equipment, and batteries are not a factor that determines profit for you then I guess you don't need any advice.
Buy a detector, sand scoop, batteries and get out there!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[thrillathahunt]

My question is not about doing it solely for profit since that is a job not a hobby but if all you do is collect more junk to stash away then I find something intrinsically wrong with that. The hobby portion, for me at least, is the finding but the realist in me knows that if you can't make any money off of the stuff you find then it is really just junk and trash (Lord knows we don't need more trash and junk in our homes and better to leave it so the earth can reclaim it.).

So, if you want a hobby that has no ability to make any form of cash then better to go take up bike riding or something else for this, to me at least, is not a hobby of just wasting your time but for the potential of finding something really cool that can earn you profit.

Now, if I wanted to solely go after profit alone I would be out there in the silver and gold areas hunting with a gold bug or something similar.

I don't want to sound cynical (maybe I am) but your statement "better to leave it so the earth can reclaim it" sounds like something an archaeologist would say to a metal detectorist.

 

[Frankn]

I think Sandman & terry presented good slants on detecting, Now here's my slant. I started off in the 70's with a Whites Goldmaster S63TR that I picked up used from a local dealer. It started off as a fantasy of being able to pull coins from the ground and I found plenty looking thru old parks. Then it happened, I was looking over an old abandon estate and found a $5 gold coin. My whole outlook on detecting suddenly changed. I later found the beach and the first diamond ring changed my outlook more. Then came the Rolex watch, That did it. I started to get really serious about research work which was much harder in the early days of TREASURE HUNTING! Yes I had evolved. I now enjoyed the research as much as the boots on ground work. I now had a Surfmaster PI, XLT, and I recently acquired an oldey but goody Hays 2 Box detector. Let me put it this way, I am now going out to cover all that time that Sandman was talking about. The equippment has already been covered while I was piddeling around. Well, that's my slant. Frank...

 

[RGINN]

When I bought this DFX it wasn't a 'business transaction'. I never expected it to pay for itself. Back in Oklahoma, I had moved more towards using a detector as a research tool, as I got more interested in locating historical sites lost to history. I have a lot of training from the largest retailer on the planet in marketing, merchandising, and making money hand over fist, which I don't use, but I suppose if I did want to make a profit from this 'hobby' I would write books about treasure hunting, create and market items pertaining to treasure hunting, or maybe have a TV show where I regularly make fantastic finds every week. I could sell spots on the show to sponsors, and market my personal line of treasure related products. I would probably need a signature expression. Maybe 'Bang-a-Gong!' Or 'Another pull tab baby!' might be better.

 

[Tnmountains]

My question is not about doing it solely for profit since that is a job not a hobby but if all you do is collect more junk to stash away then I find something intrinsically wrong with that. The hobby portion, for me at least, is the finding but the realist in me knows that if you can't make any money off of the stuff you find then it is really just junk and trash (Lord knows we don't need more trash and junk in our homes and better to leave it so the earth can reclaim it.).

So, if you want a hobby that has no ability to make any form of cash then better to go take up bike riding or something else for this, to me at least, is not a hobby of just wasting your time but for the potential of finding something really cool that can earn you profit.

Now, if I wanted to solely go after profit alone I would be out there in the silver and gold areas hunting with a gold bug or something similar.

Well if you think that all the stuff is junk and trash maybe this is not the hobby for you? I enjoy the history of the finds and the research. The value is in my satisfaction of researching then locating the site. Maybe you should try coin roll hunting or beach hunting ? That way when you find a recent gold item or silver you can sell it quick? There is nothing wrong with that. I have sold all the gold I ever dug.

 

[Ninjafossils]

The joy in metal detecting is all about the hunt. When you find an object, perhaps worth nothing, maybe worth a fortune, you shouldn't be fixated on monetary value. Just think. When u find a wheat penny from the 20s, think that you may be the first person to hold this in several decades. Sure monetary value is great, but I personally find the joy in contemplating the history more than anything.

 

[Keppy]

My question is not about doing it solely for profit since that is a job not a hobby but if all you do is collect more junk to stash away then I find something intrinsically wrong with that. The hobby portion, for me at least, is the finding but the realist in me knows that if you can't make any money off of the stuff you find then it is really just junk and trash (Lord knows we don't need more trash and junk in our homes and better to leave it so the earth can reclaim it.).

So, if you want a hobby that has no ability to make any form of cash then better to go take up bike riding or something else for this, to me at least, is not a hobby of just wasting your time but for the potential of finding something really cool that can earn you profit.

Now, if I wanted to solely go after profit alone I would be out there in the silver and gold areas hunting with a gold bug or something similar.

..Most now a days just do it as a hobby... In hopes of finding a gold ring or silver coin ... and some for they just like to detect.......... Your right we don't need more trash or junk in our homes........ My self i use all my clad .... sell all my silver & gold .......... And take my scrap to the scrap yard and sell it............ So i don't have any junk or trash around...... And i am not a collector of any thing... to me that is just clutter also ...... And i do not make a living doing this thing called detecting....... You never know you could go out in the morning and find a gold ring ...... Or you could go out in the morning and spend 4 hours detecting and go home with items that just go in to your trash can...........