What to do with your finds

[Homer55]

I was wandering after watching a bunch of videos on Youtube, what do you do with a lot of finds? I am sure a lot of old timers have collected tons of stuff. You dont keep it all do you? I'm talking all the stuff like sun glasses,old bullets, phones, ipods, cameras, lead , buckles,buttons, knives, spoons ,forks,etc. Obviously the money can be spent on equipment , and the old coins can be sold on the market. What about car keys,stainless steel stuff,like flatware?

 

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[pepperj]

Amass, hoard it all, it's mine all mine....

 

[Truth]

I’ll ust look at it until my elbows hit the pine box

 

[GB1]

since i do all my hunting on my own property i keep what i want and what don't want i set next to a tree an pawpaw gets it

 

[Vldetecting]

I keep almost everything I find. I throw all the trash in a big bucket and the I sort the metals so I can sell it to scrap dealers. When you would find relics like buckles, older bullets, knives e.t.c you should probably have them in a display case (if they are good finds) if they're not really good finds you should trash them or sell them. I have all my better finds in a drawer organized.

 

[marjam]

I only keep coins and jewelry. I should keep the other metals for scrap, but I typically throw it away. I have thrown alot of money away doing that but that is what I currently do.

If i find relics I keep them as well, I just don't relic hunt that often. My primary thing is coin shooting.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I tend to give away a lot of what I find. In the last few years, I've given some of my 1/2, 1 & 2 Spanish silver Reals away to people that really like the coins. Giving away my found jewelry at nursing homes this year was fun for the recipients. To be honest, I have way to much treasure stuff...it's everywhere! The past few years I have began to place things in cases; coins, relics, buckles...etc. Now for room to display my collection.

 

[CASPER-2]

you just described most of the stuff in my detecting man cave - best stuff is in displays up stairs (and some in museum)
but I have containers full of sunglasses, phones, toy cars, flatware, junk earrings, keys, tokens, etc in my cellar man cave - save it all except actual trash
I have scrap metal bins for copper, brass and lead

 

[CASPER-2]

HERE IS AN OLDER PIC of one of my tubs with "match box" cars - containers is about 2ft by 1 1/2ft bout a foot deep and is now over flowing
have a larger one with sunglasses that is also over flowing and large one with junk earrings over flowing have smaller ones with religious medals, and tokens,
a mid size container with keys - will take a pic of my "man cave" and show when I get the chance - thing is some of the sunglasses are beat but many have value and some have lot of value - my gal has plucked a few $200-$300 pairs from my haul and I have a few pairs of expensive ray bans that I wear from the bin.
there are guys that will buy those matchbox toys - when I was younger I put out a shoe box full at a yard sale of ones I had found and guys were buying them
guy were also buying fishing lures and sinkers I found that I put ot in a box too. Ive sold keys to key collectors and old buttons to button collectors - old woman ran a button museum and bought a bunch of colonial flat buttons off me when I was a kid - for us - we can finds 100s of what we call common
flat buttons from the 1700s - 1800s - but try and find them with out a detector - they are scarce - she paid me like $3 a piece back in the early 80s - I think she gave me like $60 bucks - I hold on to most of my stuff now - only thing ive sold over the last 20 yrs is gold & silver jewelry - I have most everything else
I wish I had everything from when I was a kid - I let go some pretty awesome stuff - much that is worth a lot more now a days, but I had to pay for
my first cars which I bought with finds money and gas and insurance etc. back then. Be sure what you got before you sell - MAKE SURE - that it is trash before
you trash it and try to make sure if its good how good - when I was young I got ripped off a lot and sold stuff for a few bucks that turned out to be worth $500

 

[CASPER-2]

BITS AND PIECES - if you hit older spots - especially colonials ones like farm fields - many historical societies' and museums
are more than happy to take the broken bits of shoe buckles and buttons and clay pipe stems and other bits of colonial stuff from you
along with any musket balls and other relics you find no value in - if you donate - they may give you ideas or get you permissions to
other spots - which in it self could be valuable

 

[chub]

Step 1 . Hold onto everything and proudly gloat over all your hard work at locating all the 'treasure'

Step 2 . realise nobody is interested

Step 3 . Throw 99% of it away

Step 4 Go detecting

Chub

 

[marjam]

Step 1 . Hold onto everything and proudly gloat over all your hard work at locating all the 'treasure'

Step 2 . realise nobody is interested

Step 3 . Throw 99% of it away

Step 4 Go detecting

Chub

Lol, good one. I hang onto the coins I find and convert clad to silver, keep the silver coins, and any relics i find interesting. Like you, i throw everything else away. I would like to know what kind of cash someone has gotten out of the aluminum they save in a year and other scrap. I have never did it but i am thinking about taking 5 gallon buckets with me from now on.

 

[against the wind]

Welcome to the forum from Port Allegheny, Pennsylvania.

 

[RW]

Tumble the clad, keep the silver, sell the gold, save the lead and trash most everything else. I do have a "treasure chest" filled with semi-valuable finds... tokens, buttons, junk rings, silver coins, costume jewelry, etc... but don't keep most keys, hotwheels, headstamps any longer unless rare or unique.

 

[collector01]

I tend to give away a lot of what I find. In the last few years, I've given some of my 1/2, 1 & 2 Spanish silver Reals away to people that really like the coins. Giving away my found jewelry at nursing homes this year was fun for the recipients. To be honest, I have way to much treasure stuff...it's everywhere! The past few years I have began to place things in cases; coins, relics, buckles...etc. Now for room to display my collection.

send it this way i have room lol

 

[collector01]

everything good goes into display cases in my museum room. everything else goes in trash,