My dad has been into metal detecting since before I was born. I have gone with him many times, but not in a long time. He could tell you guys some amazing stories. He has a nice machine that can differentiate between types of metals, determine depth, size, etc. But he can tell by the pitch of the sound, what kind of metal it is, without looking at the display.

Public property is pretty much fair game, unless you have some local ordinances against it. In fact, even cemetaries are fair game so long as they are closed (no longer burying people; at least in Michigan).
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I have a nice White's I bought 7-8 years ago. I used to get out a lot.
The only time I ever hit a cache was a small ditch in a yard that was loaded with mercury dimes.
I was in heaven, pulling as many dimes as I could, sometimes ten in a hole. I had a big pocketful and had to get out of there because there was somewhere I had to be. I figured "no biggie, I'll come back tomorrow".
Well, I came back the next day and the owner's son shooed me off the property. His mom was the owner and had given me permission, but the son was worried that the appearance of a knucklehead with a metal detector on the lawn may raise an eyebrow, as their house was for sale.
I never did get back there after the house sold, and now it's a hospital parking lot. :-)

I still may have a bowl of good stuff somewhere. If I ever find it, I'll take a pic. That could be years from now when I get unpacked from moving.
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Subscribed.

Show us your gold prospecting finds too. The family and I are getting into it and are pumped up. We are going to spend a week in the Motherload Country (Columbia, CA) this summer, Sluicin' and pannin'. We would like to pick up a metal detector also.
Cool Thread!
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I am pretty jealous when it comes to doing anything where there is gold in the rocks. I am a purveyor of the picked-over.
Here is my giant haul from today, lol. the ACME THUN-DERER!!!
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Boo-yah! Yesterday's find:

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After spending an hour knee-deep in Lake Ontario, I found this 6" from the shoreline in one inch of water.

I can picture a woman standing in the sand, saying, "You bastard, how could I ever have loved you?" and pitching the thing into the lake. Yes, I am a romantic.
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I can see a man skipping stones and a woman saying 'teach me how to do that" and her losing her ring.
I CAN SAY nice find! I never find anything good unless it's made of silver, cause I mostly hunt trashy areas
and gold and crap are in the same range of conductivity. I discriminate heavily, and my finds reflect that.
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Very nice find Tiki!!
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How much does a decent unit cost? Who makes a solid unit?
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Seems like the most popular, in order of $$ least to $$ most is:
Garrett
Whites
Minelab

Obviously each brand has its own levels of effectiveness and $$cost.
I was once told that with a decent dector, expect to pay at least $100+ per inch of good depth reading.
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Congratulations Tikihut, great find!
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Nice thread. Love seeing this old stuff re-discovered.
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Hmm that's funny, I lost a diamond ring right where you described, there was sand and water and stuff. I stood on the sand saying, "I'm a bastard, how could I ever have been loved by you?" And then I pitched it into the lake. Yes there was a body attached to it. oops I don't know where I was going with that. I need a smoke.


Nice found items guys.
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Subscribed hoping to see some cool Civil War era finds :-)


PS - will possibly trade for $ or smokes FYI
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Never done any detecting, but my brother and I have rafted the Dechutes river in Oregon our entire lives. Actually since we were each one. We call it digging, but know quite a few places on there river where stuff gets stuck, and dive in after it. Found everything from coolers to last year my brother pulled out 5 wedding rings from one hole. I think he made about $750 at the pawn shop.

Great thread!
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I'm hoping to see some as well although I will be very jealous.
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Here's today's update.

I was out about 50 meters in 2' of water this morning and spotted this guy:

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A little ceramic Buddha! Very cool. So I puts me Buddha in me pocket and keeps on wading- for like two minutes until I found this:

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A 14k Baby ID Bracelet (with no name engraved). Thanks, kid! #7 gold find!!

Needless to say, Buddha will be going treasure hunting with me from now on.
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Nice Finds.
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That Chuck E. Cheese token may be a collectibe, being it's an old Pizza Time Theatre coin.
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Today: #8, another 14k earring:

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Not much, but I'll take it. Always nice to have a pile of free gold.

I'm really finding these, I'm not just slowly taking pics of everything in my wife's jewelry box. She's funny- everytime I show her something she says "Oh, a cheap..." (ring, earring, whatever). I keep telling her I'll start finding better quality jewelry, but it hasn't happened yet. If I find a solid gold Rolex she'll tell me it's the bottom-of-the-line model.

The treasure hunt is addicting; I think it's amazing how much stuff is out there just waiting to be found. Lake Ontario has 712 miles of shoreline; I search 2 miles of it! Who knows what's in that other 710 miles...
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Keep the pics coming and good luck to you all!
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