What Inspired you to start Detecting?

[bigfootokie]

I was about 10 years old (around 1965), we were having our regular Saturday afternoon baseball game with about 8 kids at the old ball field behind the school after the morning cartoons and chores were done, when this Old Man in his 40's or 50'S walks behind the backstop swinging this weird contraption that was making noises that we had only heard while watching Sci-Fi movies on TV. Of course, we were all curious as to what he was doing since the A-Bombs were being tested out in Nevada and we had been told a few times that Radioactive Fallout was drifting over us and to stay inside. Many of those days the sky would be brown instead of blue. Thought maybe he was with the government or something.


We gathered around and quizzed him about what he was doing. When he said his machine could find coins we lost, we were skeptical, especially since the only money we ever had was from picking up pop bottles on the side of the road and trading them in at the grocery store for a penny or two which we immediately spent on a Pop, gum, or candy bar. Within a few minutes, we were amazed to see that he actually could find Pennies, Nickels, Dimes, and Quarters.


I never forgot that day and about three years later, my Mom took me to OKC where my Dad was working at a furniture store on SW 29th St. We were going to have lunch with him but had a little time to spare so Mom took me to a nearby Rock Shop that was huge. Tons of rocks plus I noticed they had a few of those strange coin finding machines on the wall behind the counter so I showed Mom and she said "that's nice, but they are too expensive". A few months later on my birthday, my folks gave me a detector they bought at that Rock Shop.


It was a "Treasure Ray" brand and cost about $40. I was thrilled and proceeded to start digging up every signal I got...finding mostly nails, foil, and steel crown caps. This machine would penetrate the ground about two inches on a coin sized target and there was no such thing as discrimination back then. One solid variable pitch tone with higher pitch for the more shallow and larger targets plus it was All Metal All The Time.


Wish I still had that machine though. It was what got me hooked for life.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Cry Of The Eagle: History And Legends Of The Cherokee Indians And Their Buried Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[CoilyGirl]

I love threads like these! I've always been one to look for stuff,whether it was on the beach to find an interesting shell or while swimming in a lake and looking for interesting geodes and rocks.What got me started into metal detecting was my husband.He started researching his family history and he found out he had a relative that carried the flag in the Battle of Murfreesboro,Tn. which led to his interest in The Civil War.When our sons were little he would go out metal detecting here and there and sometimes we would go as a family.Now that he is retired we are starting to go fairly often and I bought a detector a few months ago of my own.

 

[SusanMN]

I started in the late 70's, but soon gave it up because I was too self conscious and didn't like people staring. I got back into the hobby in 2007, after I lost most of my good jewelry and rings to a burglar. I decided I'd get a detector and just go find some replacements.

 

[Rookster]

I started about 4 years when a good friend introduced me to the sport one day at his work place. We hunt together but we found out the I am more into it now than he. My question is, how many more people are detecting out there and not on these forums? I'll bet it would surprise us all. Anyway this is my favorite thing to do by far.

 

[ModernMiner]

I attempted panning for gold first in some streams in the NC Mountains about 12 years ago. After a few years of doing that and only finding a few flakes (one flake was me ) I decided to try metal detecting. Once I started I was hooked, and never looked back. I LOVE IT!!!
-MM-

 

[want2skydive]

Honestly? The movie Fool's gold lead me to the internet and found this site. Recently after years of hangingout I got a ATpro. Lol Now to figure out how to use it.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

big-foot-okie, thanx for the nostalgic look back. Great to read about those who started or saw the hobby in the 1960s. Because it wasn't wide-spread at the time, and as you say, even the best machines could scarcely go 2 or 3" on coin-sized items. There were even some parts of some states, where schools and parks remained virgin till the early 1970s. So to hear from those who started in the '60s, is a great look back at the genesis . The detectors that existed earlier 1950s and before, typically were only for larger items. So to hear about someone hunting individual coins in the 1950s, is almost unheard of. Even single loop detectors of the 1950s were often only good for large targets. So the concept of hunting turf or sand for individual coins and rings, was still an oddity and mostly unheard of, in vast areas, till the 1960s.

For me: I'd gone out with a Jr. high school friend of mine, who had a Compass 77b or 94b, in about 1975. We'd go to the local elementary school yard. And I distinctly remember that in 4 -ish hours, we dig about 25 or 30 coins. Of those, perhaps 3 or 4 would be wheaties, and maybe a buffalo might turn up. And on good days, we'd get a merc or silver washington. I was utterly hooked, and had to have one for myself

So while still in Jr. High, about 1975, I bought a used Whites 66TR. Like my friend's Compass, it was an all metal TR machine. Depth on a coin-sized target: About 4". In the next year or so, I went to schools and a variety of front yards of old homes, and ammassed about 1000 coins. Nothing particularly old, and I don't recall ever getting a gold ring (despite having no discriminator, and all conductors sounded the same). During this time, this friend and I had heard of discriminators But had heard that they were to be avoided, d/t a) "you might miss a ring", and b) "you'll loose depth". But needless to say, in a short time, by the later 1970s, you were a dinosaur if you didn't have a discriminator , haha

The friend of mine's older brother (who was nearly 15 yrs. older than him), had actually started in the early 1960s in our town. And to anyone's knowledge, was the first one to ever swing one here. He had ordered it through a mail order advertisement he'd seen in the back of one of those "True West" type desert lore magazines. Sent away for a catalog, and was soon the owner of a Big Whites BFO. That was about 1964 or '65, so silver was still in circulation.

 

[worldtalker]

My Father-in-law in 1973,man did we rake in the Silver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still at it today,raking in the Silver,not like back then though.

Doug(MM)
did a bit of Dredging in the Baker River,Plymouth NH back then
got some nice Nuggets too!


God Bless


Chris

 

[KP63]

In the early 70s a group of guys in my town where into metal detecting and could be seen out every weekend. The allure of free money was too much and soon had a treasure hawk detecter. Found almost enough to pay for the batteries but the other things cap gun, old keys, brass pad lock from the RxR was enough to keep me hooked. Life got in the way and I didn't detect for about 30 yrs. But have gotten back into it this year and can't get enough.

 

[luvsdux]

Bottle hunting got me started. I bought a Compadre to help me find rusted cans etc. in dumps where I figured I'd also find older bottles. After a bit I began to get more interested in the treasure hunting/detecting than just old bottles and have been into it ever since.
luvsdux

 

[Billium]

I have/had been curious, for years, what people had lost and curious about what might be hidden in the ground of "old" sites. After the economy tanked this last time I suddenly had a lot of time on my hands and no money. I found my self pursuing my interest on the web and sites like this. Then a friend of mine at work told me he was into it and a few months later I had my detector and well....the rest is history. It consumes my thoughts and time, in a good way, and man I have SO much fun. I sure wish I had not wasted so much time chasing the all mighty dollar and had spent that time chasing "lost treasure" in the ground. Much more satisfying....
HH

 

[G.I.B.]

I needed an excuse to walk around the beach and enjoy all the pretty scenery without being carted off to jail. Now, with dark glasses, a ball cap and headphones (off or on, doesn't really matter) I can spend hours and hours walking around the beach looking at all the cute girls and everyone simply ignores me.

I'm just that crazy old harmless creepy dude...

 

[CincinnatiKid]

When I was in my late 20s, a girlfriend and I camped at a beach area on weekends. We would arrive at beach long before the lifeguard's and fellow patrons, to obtain prime locality on the beach. One summer we continually saw a man w detector. He had a small net bag attached to his belt, usually half full of "trinkets" as he called them. On closer inspection a few times, and him actually showing us once, he had gold! Not often he said, but gold. At that time in my life, gold = cash. I've had "the fever" ever since. Albeit, these days, I find the history of a recent find more rewarding that its value.
Thanks for your thread. Peace

 

[l2hunt]

i think seeing my brother finding cool treasures over the years

 

[barrywk]

I cant remember for sure,but ive always liked this kinda thing.Loved finding nice rocks etc...But do remember early eighties I bought a bounty hunter(it was blue..maybe the rustler...still have but cant remember where I put it...lol).Anyway bought the bounty hunter an I lived in charlotte nc old gold mining area.I located an abandoned gold mine in a little town next to charlotte.Found lots of relics there,broken drill bits,pick heads,pick head wedges etc.But the best thing I found was a complete Brass Steam whistle with patent dates on it from the late 1800s.Most of my detecting was there with plans of finding where more of the many old gold mines were,but life got busy working,raising kids and a friend broke the coil on my detector,i kinda a drifted away from it. Now the kids r grown an a couple years started buying detectors,found a friend with same interest and I have gotten back into it.We also gonna get back to gold panning again.We r in an excellent area for it.

 

[worldtalker]

I cant remember for sure,but ive always liked this kinda thing.Loved finding nice rocks etc...But do remember early eighties I bought a bounty hunter(it was blue..maybe the rustler...still have but cant remember where I put it...lol).Anyway bought the bounty hunter an I lived in charlotte nc old gold mining area.I located an abandoned gold mine in a little town next to charlotte.Found lots of relics there,broken drill bits,pick heads,pick head wedges etc.But the best thing I found was a complete Brass Steam whistle with patent dates on it from the late 1800s.Most of my detecting was there with plans of finding where more of the many old gold mines were,but life got busy working,raising kids and a friend broke the coil on my detector,i kinda a drifted away from it. Now the kids r grown an a couple years started buying detectors,found a friend with same interest and I have gotten back into it.We also gonna get back to gold panning again.We r in an excellent area for it.

You make sure you post what you find dude!

 

[Lab Rat Pappy]

I got started, sort of, in the early 70's. We used to go to the Delaware beaches and surf fish. If the action was slow the kids would get bored, so we would then let them dig in the sand. One day they found a few coins and they really were excited about finding buried treasure. So for my sons birthday, we bought a Whites Coinmaster TR. Then when we would go fishing and they got bored, we would throw 10 pennies out and break out the detector. They would stay busy for hours. One day they found 25 pennies, 5 quarters, 2 nickels, a dime and a wristwatch. I was hooked. Steve

 

[worldtalker]

I got started, sort of, in the early 70's. We used to go to the Delaware beaches and surf fish. If the action was slow the kids would get bored, so we would then let them dig in the sand. One day they found a few coins and they really were excited about finding buried treasure. So for my sons birthday, we bought a Whites Coinmaster TR. Then when we would go fishing and they got bored, we would throw 10 pennies out and break out the detector. They would stay busy for hours. One day they found 25 pennies, 5 quarters, 2 nickels, a dime and a wristwatch. I was hooked. Steve

So what are you saying,

you ain't been right since?

Don't be bashful,it happens

to the best of us!

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I have always had an interest ever since I was a kid, I went to one of the last one room school houses left in California and I lived close to it so on the weekends I would play on the school grounds and that school was a magnet for M.D.er's so I followed them just like the kids do when I am out detecting.I remember helping one guy out and I told him where the actual site of the original school house was as it had burned down in a fire. When he and his wife started finding things they were like 2 kids in a candy store and that hooked me. Never had a chance to own a machine until my wife bought me a cheap one then I almost quit because it drove me nuts. Told her I was getting a better machine (O.K I begged and whined until she gave in.)Been having a blast ever since.

 

[bigfootokie]

Great bunch of replies folks! This is really interesting for me and I'm enjoying your stories a lot!