Treasure hunting
Anyone metal detect or coin roll hunt? Or magnet fish?
I do both, ive coin roll hunted for a year, and I just started metal detecting a month ago
I'm in canada, which has pros and cons for metal detecting, a con would be all our modern coins are made of plated steel, so they both sound bad when you swing over them, and the rot beyond use in not that long time
A pro though is we have 1 and 2 dollar coins, in the states you might go a year before swinging over a Sacajawea dollar, but in canada you might find multiple loonies on the first time out
In a bit over a month, of metal detecting I found 2 sterling rings, a silver dime(it was a fresh drop not ancient) and a sterling earring, the earring was gold plated, I was hoping I found gold till I saw the 925 and makers mark, looked on the makers website and it was all gold plated sterling
Coin roll hunting I recently hit the jackpot of the year most definitly, four whole rolls of silver dimes, thats $380 and only cost me $20 to aquire
Nope. But I've always wanted to. And I absolutely love watching metal detectorists, magnet fishers, bottle dump hunters, prospectors, etc. on YouTube! Shout out to my favorites: Aquachigger, nuggetnoggin, Dani Dip, and DeepDiggerDan (no longer active but has a new travel channel, TravelTrollsTV).
p.s. please label this comment offtopic so it doesn't detract from the actual Detectorists' discussions.
I like 'paystreak super freak' and 'treasure outdoors' on YouTube for metal detecting
I like 'cad roll hunter' and 'north central coins' and 'southern canadian coins, for coin roll hunting
Sweet. More channels for me to subscribe to. Thanks! :)
p.s. Since you're also a fellow Canuck, you might also enjoy Explore! Underground. He's not really a detectorist, more of a cave/mine explorer, but he's from northern Ontario, and did a few videos a few years ago with Aquachigger, exploring an old silver & cobalt mine, and just generally puttering around near the appropriately named Cobalt, Ontario. Videos:
Digging And Collecting Bottles From An Old Mining Dump
Massive Cobalt Crucible Dump Dig
Exploring Incredible Abandoned Underground Silver Mine: Part One
Exploring Incredible Abandoned Underground Silver Mine: Part Two
Heavy Warning For Explorers: Ty's True Scary Story
Super MEGA Raw Silver Prospecting Metal Detecting Adventure!
And meMiner is another Ontarian who has collaborated with Aquachigger, and does a mix of stuff, but mostly prospecting using his metal detector.
Is it safe for me to assume, based on this verbiage, that you have seen the detectorists?
Yep. It was a little too depressing for me. :( I may go back and try to watch it again though, since I have heard nothing but good things about it.
Depressing! I find it quietly uplifting, like a warm hug. Very surprised to hear that’s what you took away from it — maybe a better discussion to have in ~tv
IIRC, I only watched the first few episodes. So maybe I didn't give it enough time? I probably should give it more of a fair shake than I did.
Oh definitely give it another chance. If it seems depressing at times I assure you it does not stay that way. It is a quiet show but not a sad one. And if you stick through at least till the end of the second season I think it is so well worth it. It’s one of my favorite TV shows of all time.
Alright, you've twisted my rubber arm. I will re-add it to my watchlist and make sure to give it another proper chance. :)
By happenstance, I saw this recently. And was thinking, "A hobby that gets me to the beach and out of my chair? Why yes, this is relevant to my interests..."
And then I scratched my head, and thought about the work commitments, the garden, gym membership, family time, the assortment of detritus from previous but currently fallow hobbies, the need to interact with other humans occasionally... And said, "Nah."
To be fair, we're on a hectare or so of what's turned out to be 1870's era timber processing land. Random gardening tasks turn up all kinds of interesting buried treasure without need for specialist equipment.
FWIW you can get a very good metal detector for less than $300. I gave my wife a Nokta Makro Simplex+, which from my research is one of the best beginner-friendly models without sacrificing capability.
We're just getting started, and we've mostly just found some small coins and bottle caps. But beachcombing with it on a nice winter day is fun.
Does Geocaching count? I did some when I was a kid, then fell off when the fad passed. I've been looking to get active and out of the house a little more though, and I work on a decently sized campus.
Sure geocaching counts, I forgot about it is all
How much is the cost of entry to a hobby like this? I was always curious about metal detecting but never really looked too much into it. Also, are you allowed to do it anywhere public? I live near a pretty large city park with trails and little creaks and what not and would love to try it there.
Depends where you live, gotta look Into local laws, where I am beaches and parks are fine, so I'm mostly there, playgrounds are a hot spot atparks with kids running around and parents running around to catch kids
Cost of entry is expensive, you need like 4 things
I paid like $350 (canadian) for my simplex, but machines go up all the way to 2k for a deus 2
you need a pinpointer, which is like a little hand held metal detector for finding the object in the hole, $100-$200
you need a digging tool, I have a hand digger, you can cheap out on this and get a $30 amazon one, just dont be prying on rocks with it, I totally bent mine prying on rocks, or you can get a shovel, the best brand is predator, and thier best model is the Phoenix, it will dig perfect plugs, no one will even know you dug there, just google predator Phoenix shovel and it should be the first link or so
you need a finds bag, this could just be like a phanny pack, or you can get a metal detecting specific bag, I have the grey ghost ultimate catch all pouch, it cost me $100(cad)
My partner has a metal detector. So far it seems to be a frustrating but interesting hobby. We live in Europe and it’s a bit difficult to go metal detecting legally, especially in particularly interesting areas. But he did find half a cannon ball once and that was very exciting for both of us and it motivates him to keep going, even though most of the time he finds a lot of nails and nothing else.
I used to do Coin Roll Hunting often but found the hit rate was very low and the back pain from being hunched over all time was high, so not worth it in my opinion. Still really fun when you find the occasional Merc dime or 1968 half though.
I used to do treasure hunting in that I would go visit swap meets and thrift stores to find treasures. At one point it was a great resource. There was a period of a few years where it was great to find video games - consoles especially - right before they hit that "it's not old, it's retro" point. I actually have a few Neo Geo home games complete in box because of that - even though I don't own the system itself.
Unfortunately, most resellers have realized that there are collectors willing to pay more for them if they sell them outside of their local area, and as a result most of the good stuff gets put on online auctions. Combine that with the advent of a new generation of TV shows about thrift flipping and Macklemore's Thrift Shop, and you get largely deserted discount secondhand markets.