Story Time
What follows is just a collection of metal detecting stories which I'll add to as I write them,remember them,or make up as I go along. Stay tuned, nothing will put you to sleep faster!
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My First time.
I always had an interest in metal detecting. For me it's the same sort of kick I got as a kid when I'd open up a new pack of baseball cards hoping for an Aaron, a Yaz, a Rose, a Bench.I usually ended up with the Marty Pattin cards. Metal detecting is a lot like that.
I did some research online,found some message boards, and finally settled on buying a Tesoro. Spent about $400.00 with the detector,headphones,trowel,coil cover, etc.
First day out, SO excited! Now I am a 44 year old man and this was exciting right? So you already know If THIS was exciting I've been indoors a long time. but the Doctors let me out thank you very much.
My very first time out, I found one thin dime.One crappy penny, and an old axe head. 11 cents and a rusted piece of crap.Uh-oh.
The second time out I found one quarter! TWO dimes! and three more pennies. Oh boy a 48 cent haul,my back hurts, my knees hurt, my hands hurt.
About the tenth time out, I finally understood the detector enough to find some quantity of coins. The good stuff was still hiding, but I found about 50 coins on that outing, and that seems to be about what I find now on most given days.
The first old coin I found was a 1922 one Shilling coin, found about 6 weeks after buying the detector. I was hooked!
I started detecting in the fall of 2001, and have found about 4,000 coins up till now. Once a year they end up at a coin-star, and I use the money to buy something fun, or to blow it at the casino. But hey the drinks are free, right? Right???
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WHAT DO YOU USUALLY FIND?
That's the question I get asked more than any other. The easy answer? "Poison Ivy".
Geez, I run into that stuff at least twice a season,and what starts as a fun day out in the woods ends up as an exercise in defending to your own rational mind why you did it to yourself again.The rash goes away,but the metal detecting itch never does, it's that simple, and the risk is worth the reward.
"How far down will that thing find stuff ?", is another question I get, and depending on my mood I'll answer with "it depends on the target size" if I'm being asked nicely, or "I don't know", if I just want you to go away.
What I've found is most people have the same general questions, and people have the same attitudes depending on age. Older men will come over, smile, chat and sometimes tell you a place worth looking into. Older women on the other hand will tell you NOT to dig, tell you it's illegal, and generally be a royal pain in your testicular region. Meanwhile, some guy is hitting golfballs, kids are playing soccer, and turf is being chewed up, but I'm the bad guy.
Younger women with dogs will always come over and ask the same general questions while chopper strains to finish the hole I started. The answers to her questions are usually pretty curt. Don't get me wrong , I love women in general, and Love one in particular, I just don't like Cujo sizing me up.
Women alone don't ask many questions unless they are looking for the nearest bar or tattoo parlor. Then I'm the one too scared to talk.
Younger men pretend to ignore you, it's not macho I guess, still I always see them casually looking over again and again. They'll get the bug once the honeymoon is over.
Teens? Girls giggle and say "look at the nerd, is that your father, what a geek" and other things they think I cant hear under my headphones. I hear them just fine, but have learned to turn a deaf ear when needed...having had a few teen sons, I learned the drill.
The teen aged boys will circle warily, they WANT to ask you what you are doing, but? It just ain't cool. Still they manage a disinterested "what are you finding dude", before heading off. It's in a guys blood I tell you, hunt and gather.
Of course the pre teen set are all over you like a hooker at Mardi Gras, and they get a kind explanation of what I am doing. You have to draw a fine line with kids though, be TOO nice and it's like finding stray kittens. They usually get a few minutes of my time before I mention that MY kids get all the coins, that gets 'em to scatter every time.
It's getting harder and harder to find a place to be alone, have you ever noticed? I think the next trick might involve pretending not to speak English, I'll let you know how that works out.
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Me and the Coppers
No, it's not about old colonial pennies. It's about my recent experience with the local police. Gotcha there for a minute though didnt I?
I was detecting in a local kids park. Not much of a park really,basketball court,some swings and some open space.It's a small out of the way place I'd been to a few times. I'd found a decent amount of wheat pennies there, so I know the old silver is waiting for me.
On this occasion, I was there for about 15 minutes when a police car showed up. He was responding to a report of a man burying things. I'm serious. Now, if you do metal detect? You know your digging tool wont bury much more than a rock or two.
I explained to the police officer what I was doing, he said I was fine,but he'd like to see my license to run a check on me, standard procedure blah blah.
While he was waiting to see if I was one of the faces on the post office wall, he asked me what I've found in the past, how deep would it detect, how much does one cost.
I was smart enough not to answer "I find guns now and then, and it doesnt cost a dime if you wear a big enough coat at the mall".
He was a good natured guy, and we chatted easily. Then the next cop shows up. Lights flashing, squealing to a stop. Uh- Oh.
Thoughts are now starting to enter my mind. "Whaatya in for guy? Asks Bubba as he smiles and shows me his last remaining tooth.......uhhh digging a hole I mumble. He stops dead in his tracks and says "A HOLE? are you kidding me"? I look at him steely eyed and say...."it's big enough for two". He stops.Thinks. Shakes my hand and walks away quickly.
Now THIS cop is all business. Whats your name, why are you here,ever been arrested? Ever been to Ohio?
He gets my name, my license, I point out my car, I show him the 27 cents I've found so far, I explain No I've never been arrested, No I've never been to Ohio.
To which he asks....are you sure???
Sigh.
NOW they want my social security number. They get it, and that seems to clear things up.They wish me well, and drive off to solve the next serious crime.
Of course at this point I dont want to metal detect ever again. I want to go home lock the door, curl into a fetal position and watch cartoons.
But then whoever called the cops on me in the first place would have won, and we can't have that now can we.
So I stayed a few more hours dammit, and I'll make sure to get back to that park on a regular basis. And I'll bring friends.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THINGS LEARNED THE HARD WAY
When you walk down a steep incline leaving the sun behind and walking into the shade? The first rock you step on will wake up a snake. The contest is on as to who will move faster you or him.
When it's July and it's 90 degrees? You will be in the middle of the perfect field, no one else around for miles, you have the place to yourself! And? You forgot water and a towel to wipe the gallons of sweat. If the birds in the trees start making sense, you've been out in the sun too long.
Checking out an old swimming hole can be a very productive spot. Old coins are waiting, but so are mosquitos. Thousands of them, and you are the main course. Bring spray.
You've found a great little location. You are finding coins every minute, the weather is comfortable, the sky is a beautiful blue, the views around you are postcard like.Ever notice you've never seen a bathroom in a postcard? Uh Oh.
Great headphones, check. Fresh Batteries, check. Good sunglasses, check. Digging a deep hole, you put the glasses on your head so you can see into the hole better.They keep sliding off your head...not good.Take them off, put them on the ground. Forget you put them there. Realize 20 minutes later why your eyes are on fire. Leave to buy new glasses. Store only has pink rhinestone model. Hey you look wierd enough out there, let's call it a day.
THE CLADIATOR
Today is monday October 31st, Halloween. It was in the mid 60's today, a nice change from saturday when it actually snowed here for the first time of the season.
Time is running out for metal detecting opportunities here in New England, but I managed to steal two hours outdoors, and found the usual pile of clad.
For those not informed, clad is simply modern coinage.Coins minted after 1964 are minted without silver, and are just cheap metals.Pull a silver coin out of the ground and it still gleams. A modern coin however, even if only lost within the past year usually turn into the junk they are made of.
Today's hunt was at a grassy area near a beach with a great breeze blowing in off of the bay. Eight quarters,nine dimes, and twenty two pennies were found. The oldest was a 1940's wheat penny. Also found were two rings. One is a sterling ring with an oriental design, the other a small diamond (I hope) ring with a dozen small stones.
Bottom line? Thirty nine coins, worth $3.12, but 
Even when you don't find those old great coins, you never know what's waiting. The diamond ring is a man's size, and if it is in fact diamond? There's a nice little payoff for the day. A jeweler's eye will fill me in. And if it's not diamonds? It still beat the hell out of shoveling snow.
Thoughts on finding 6800 Coins
Recently, I decided to sit down and figure out just how many coins I have found since I began detecting in September of 2002. I searched for a program specific to metal detecting, and found a free software program called treaure journal, on aol. The fact that I kept records on all these finds tend to point out that boy, I have a lot of spare time on my hands.
4,941 pennies were found.
90 nickels were found.
1.019 dimes were found.
748 quarters were found.
3 fifty cent pieces were found.
3 dollar coins were found.
total dollar amount =$347.31
Of the coins,14 were silver, the oldest being a 1853 dime.
3 colonial pennies were found, as well as 1 old copper.
3 indian head pennies were found.
You would think that with all that digging, I'd be in fantastic shape. You'd be wrong of course.
What it shows me is that first,I dig in heavy traffic areas and use discrimination to notch out pull tabs and dont look for gold/rings etc enough,the nickel total points that out.Of course notching out means I also didnt find some goodie at some point, but them's the breaks.
It also seems to confirm the theory that you'll find one silver coin for every 500 clad coins found.
When I think of the holes I dug that tricked me,that had nothing more than a bullet shell casing or a small piece of metal? WHY ARENT I IN BETTER SHAPE???
Still, all things considered....cold weather, hot weather,rain,wind,dogs,mosquitos,nosy folks,snot lot refugees,it's still the best time of the week for me.
20 lb box of clad coins and growing!
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