# Metal detecting!!!



## MJ Keever (Dec 28, 2010)

Just got my first metal detector for Christmas and man have I caught the fever.....abt 15 min into my first trial I found a 1892 dime nothing really since jus a few axe heads and hinges. How many others enjoy this hobbie?? Whats your best find yet?? Im new to this so all responses and Info is appreciated


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## Razor Blade (Dec 28, 2010)

Which detector did you get . I have always wanted to get into that , just didn't know where to start on the machine. Scott


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## Shug (Dec 29, 2010)

I've not found anything of any real value. Mostly modern change, a small gold chain...ect I dig almost every hit. I've found things in holes with old pop tops {Detector said it was tin} My unit was just a couple of hundred dollar several years ago. They have them now that will tell you exactly what it is and how deep. They are great for finding lost arrows


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## Jranger (Dec 29, 2010)

I have a Garrett. So far the only thing I've found is an old bolt. I live right down the road from Pickets Mill and I know my area has to be littered with relics. Hard to find stuff where I'm looking though. All the tree roots are a pain in the rear.


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## southgaoriginal (Dec 29, 2010)

parents got one for christmas, not sure the brand but it seemed to work pretty good.  i set it up for them and took it out in the front yard it said i found a quarter sure enough few inches down was a 1965 quarter and few minutes later dug up an old srewdriver that had been there years.  Seems like an addicting hobbie and i dont need another one


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## MJ Keever (Dec 29, 2010)

HaHa , I know what you mean about the addicting hobbies there just aint enough time or money to supplement them all.....I got a Teknetics Delta 4000 its not real expensive machine but its been everything I need to learn with . I think I got spoiled with finding that 1892 Dime so soon but got to admit theres nothing like the wow factor when you find something cool......I live near an old mill/mill community and where my house sits was actually where the mill doctors house was , I was hunting around the area where he had his old barn when I found the dime and most of the old tools....its cool to me to know the history around my community and then find some of the old things they used...jmo


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## crokseti (Dec 29, 2010)

I fooled around with one earlier this year and found every can, nail, penny, etc. that was around the house.
The best find was a roll of copper tubing and some romex
 I sorta got put off after finding out how restricted it is to hunt. Seems you can't use them on public land in Ga. or any place thats not privately held.


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## Square_Dots (Dec 29, 2010)

A great resource is here: http://metaldetectingforum.com/
Great people on there


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## jason4445 (Dec 30, 2010)

That is he trouble with detecting this day - very few places to go.  Back in the mid 70's I was out all the time and had hundreds of acres to detect on in Resaca and Rocky Face, you could get on any schol yard or public park and being in Law Enforcement I could get on church playgrounds and stadiums.  I still have two drawers and several boxes of stuff I found in the 7 years I did it.  One guy I knew creeped under the fence at night in the local fairgrounds that had been such since the 30's - man he dug the silver dollars and other silver coins up by the pounds.

Of course you take a risk by doing it, but if you can sneak in at night on under the fence at fairgrounds, local football stadiums and get under the bleachers and around concession areas - man you will clean up

Now half of the areas I dug civil war stuff in are subdivisions, and those not the owners have died and new owners won't let a soul on it.

One of the major reasons people have been restricted it they don't fill up their holes.  On some Bowater land in Resaca when I was doing it the ground was so pocked marked by holes it looked like the battle had just been fought.

Old homesteads never really produced for me- tons of nails, bolts, horse stuff and the rare occasional coin.  In more than one I dug up dozens of Prince Albert tins.  Like on he beach in Panama City back in the days of removable pop tabs from canned drinks - that is all I got hundreds of pull tabs.

However, here is a good tip.  Save a handful of junk - nails, bolts, rusty blobs of iron and before you go on land where you have permission stick this in your back pocket.  As you detect put other junk there, but if you find something good, hide it away in another pocket or hidden pouch so when the land owner comes by and asks how you are doing you say how you are having a great time, but not finding much and show him the junk.  Never ever show the land owner the good things you find or suddenly you won't be invited back.  Learned that from hard experience.

Another nice little trick for hunting war stuff in the woods, get a small spade - army shovel size - cut the handle short and out of heavy wire make a loop for a belt and carry it on your waist behind you.   Also bevel a sharp edge on it using a grinding stone and finish it off with a file and you will cut through roots like they are not even there.  IF you are going to be out a whole day carry the file with you and at about lunchtime hone the edge again.  Also for playground areas where you are hunting coins a cheap Old Hickory 5 or 6 inch blade carving knife is a wonderful tool to dig.  Just stick iti n the ground and sort of draw a circle taking the plug out, remove the coin and you can put the plug right back in and it looks like no one ever dug there.


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## mickbear (Dec 30, 2010)

i'v been detecting for 35 +/- years now and yes its getting harder to find places to hunt but there are also places if you know where look .i dont relic hunt per say but i have found a lot of relics over the years.if you have a local race track around your area check with the owners and see if they will let you hunt the place when they are not racing.check they local softball ,soccer,baseball and football fields.look around any place where and old phone booth used to stand.they are great if it was at an old bar!ride thru the country side and look for old abandoned stores.check with the owners of those,i'v done good around some of them.if you see an old chimney standing in the woods or out in a field check to see who ownes it and ask all they can say is no.


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## GOoutdoors (Dec 30, 2010)

Great hobby.  I have a Tesoro Silver.  Found a 1902 Indian head penny along an old loggin road in the middle of the woods.  I've found other pieces of silver spoons or other utensils.

Like others have said, spend time doing research to improve your chances.  You may have to dig up 10 junk items for every good find.  Be ethical with the land owners and leave the ground in a tidy manner.

Hope you enjoy the hobby and post some pictures of what you find.

Scott


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## Napi (Dec 31, 2010)

I bought a White's XLT several years ago. Used it a fair amount and then haven't had time since changing jobs. I've been wanting to get back out with it. I asked around here for people that had them. Nobody knew anyone. After I buy, several months later when asking permission at a few sites, seems every Tom, Dick and Harry had already detected there.

I found out about one guy that hit every church yard in 3 counties. They said he only dug the silver and wound up with a bunch. I haven't found anything of much value, just a few indian head pennies and a mercury dime.

It's fun though!


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## 3ringer (Dec 31, 2010)

I have been metal detecting off and on for over 30 years. I love to hunt for civil war relics. Like someone else said, you will dig 20 or so pieces of junk for every good piece. Most of the junk that I find in the woods are .22 bullets and old shotgun brass. I love it when I get a good signal and it is deep in the hole. My heart will start racing until I find what it is . It is like fishing in the ocean, you never know what is going to come up.  You don't have to have a very expensive machine. The first time I went out hunting for relics was with a guy who had a 1500.00 Minelab with a coil the size of a garbage can lid. I had a 250.00 Tesoro Bandito. I found 2 dropped and 1 shot Minnie ball to his none. I was just lucky enough to pass my coil over a good target. I would turn my discrimination off and dig every signal.

My Father-in-law and I went to PC Beach. We found over 200 coins , 7 rings and 1 14kt gold Superman medallion. The coins were all modern and the rings were junk kids toe rings, but were still fun to dig. My daughter and I were detecting in a volleyball sand court at a middle school in Mcdonough. She found a 1925 Standing Liberty Quarter. I guess some kid lost it there. The key is to go slow and learn what your machine is telling you.


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## sharpeblades (Dec 31, 2010)

*metal detecting*

Another good place for me is around parking meters and swing sets in the  school yards.The older the better.I have been doing it for 40 years off and on.I have a lot of cigar boxes full of stuff


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## 3ringer (Dec 31, 2010)

I forgot to tell y'all about this website ,  www.thetreasuredepot.com


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## MJ Keever (Jan 2, 2011)

Agree with you on the good signal part.....I was hunting yesterday and come across a good signal and started digging it up. The more I dug the bigger my find got. After I got a bigger shovel I found the peice was about 2 ft down and abt 12in across it had rounded corners as if it had sides futher under the dirt...well to make along story short it was an old cast iron frying pan from way back in the day turned upside down. It wasnt that great of a find but man was it exciting trying to figure that thing out while digging


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## crokseti (Jan 3, 2011)

My cousin has a property on the Toccoa river that has a rich history. An old log cabin more than likely built by the Cherokee and possibly chief DoubleHead.
 Later, was owned by a bootlegger named King Kendall who
as the story goes, loaned money and sold likker while growing corn that he sold in town.
 It was said that he collected corn keys that were made of gold on a ring and never cashed in.( Corn keys were gold tokens that represented 100 bushels.)
He never dealt with banks and would make people that wanted to borrow money sit in the front room while he went out back somewhere. He would be gone for 15 to 20 minutes then return with the money. 
When my cousin first purchased the property, it had sat dormant for 20 yrs. and was overgrown with briers and stuff so we would go up on weekends and cut brush and 
weeds.
 About the 5th time goin up we saw where someone had dug around the foundation and even used a chainsaw to cut into the floorboards.
He has been living there for 12 yrs. now after major renovations and we spent many days sweeping areas with a metal detector and flippin flat rocks only to find hundreds if not thousands of scrap iron pieces but nothing of real value. A loose board on the back porch /outdoor kitchen revealed a couple old jugs.
There was a blacksmith shop there at some point and someone used a dozer to clear all of the old out buildings.
We have got to know some of the descendants and have been told many interesting stories including the missing keys. Some still believe that there's buried money somewhere around there Theres also an old abandoned gold mine close by. I discovered a cave up river last fall that I'm going to check out this spring.


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## atljohnfe (Jan 8, 2011)

*MineLabs Metal Detector*

I purchased a minelab detector last year.  There is a great detector online store in Florida http://www.kellycodetectors.com/indexmain.php . The folks on the phone are a great resource to get the right one in your hands for what you are doing.  I looked at the models available at basspro and cabelas and would recommend going with one of the pro detector stores because they will also throw in several free items like the hand held detector which is a must.  With this model you can also get several specialty detector head if you want to look for a specific item like gold under water in a creek.


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