Can you make a 'living' metal detecting?

[ScouseRicey1]

Hi Everyone,

I have been involved in metal detecting for a long time. Does anyone actually make a 'living' out of it?

Kind Regards,

Colin Rice

 

[jbow]

Ask Charles Garrett. Then there is TR. Some people can and do but I prefer to keep it in the hobby realm.

J

 

[Macaco]

I love doing it for fun but If I had to do it for a living it wouldn't be fun anymore.

 

[jmaryt]

not only would it NOT be fun anymore,but you may drop dead from starvation while hunting!

(h.h!)
j.t.

 

[UK Brian]

Charles Garrett doesn't make a living metal detecting, what gave you that idea ?

There's three detecting full time in the U.K. at the moment, one in France and I believe a couple in the States who do a little general detecting/civil war stuff but mainly gold prospecting.

I haven't had what my wife calls a proper job in over twenty years. Paid the house off years ago and have found sufficient now not to even get out of bed in the morning.
For anyone considering it as a lifestyle then you have to remember that your health could fail at any time and there's no fat pension coming a few years down the line.
You need several machine's to cover all types of hunting plus a few pairs of headphones, a couple of spades and other digging tools.
A new/newish car. I change mine every three years so its always under warranty.
A motorhome. If a beach strips or a field is productive you need to stay on site as long as it stays productive. In the U.K. you can't afford to drive much with the price of fuel.

What is not claimed by the Goverment (you get a pay out but it could take up to two years) you can sell. If you auction then you have to write off 25 % of what the item fetches. You may have already made an agreement with the landowner to give him 50% of the value of the find.

The opinion that it would suck as a job is fairly accurate as however ill you feel or how bad the weather is you still have to get up and get going. A major problem was, and its getting worse, is finding land to search within reasonable traveling distance. In the days when I tried to detect six days a week I ended up moving house every four or five years to keep in a 'fresh' area.

Having to go out, rather than just wanting to makes a heck of a difference. On the other hand I have detected in around 18 different countries now and have met some wonderful people. Another consideration is that only one member of my family has ever made it through to draw a pension at 65. If you wait till you retire you might never do it.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I wouldn't quit my day job.The wife may not have a sense of humor.

 

[jbow]

Charles Garrett doesn't make a living metal detecting, what gave you that idea ?

Charles, unlike most other designers of MDs, is an avid treasure hunter. Yes, he has made his living designing and selling MDs but all out of love for the hobby. So, what I meant is that he is not just a businessman but also a detectorist. His living is derived from his hobby, from his love of treasure hunting.

J

 

[tab-nabit]

n/t

 

[UK Brian]

I agree with you re Charles Garrett. What should be pointed out is that most of those who claim to be making a living are either retired with a pension, unemployed on some form of State benefit or do have a job on the side.
When foot and mouth closed all the land sites a few years back my wife ended up getting a job. The beaches got stripped of finds as every detectorist in the country was blocked from their regular inland sites. It took a few years for the beaches to recover which was not helped by the poor summers that followed.
No one with children could manage and its a great advantage if you live in a part of the world with 3000 years of metallic finds to be made. You have to be prepared to sell items you would love to keep and much of the time would make more digging gardens and mowing lawns.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Most full time hunter's have a supplement income.Just as a com-mom coin hunter you wouldn't make enough money to live on.I would like to see a reality show where a coin hunter is dropped off in the middle of Central Park with just a metal detector and tarp.Four two weeks you would have to live on what you found.Just imagine would you find enough for a soft drink and hot dog.I don't have one now, but good battery life and fast to find clad would be a must.The Ace 250 would probably be my choice.I'm sure some Treasure hunter could do this video the whole two weeks and place on you tube they would be famous.

 

[jbow]

They have too many laws here too. In Georgia they have a law that say's you are suppossed to have written permission from the property owner to hunt on any private land but not many people bother with it unless the land has historical significance, like near a battlefield park.

Thanks,

Julien

 

[UK Brian]

Foot and Mouth has recently reared its ugly head again. Its highly infectious and the last outbreak led to thousands of animals being slaughtered.
All markets have to close, farms quarantined etc so no way you can go onto farms and detect.
Really nasty.

 

[ScouseRicey1]

Many thanks for all your replies.

 

[John Nelson]

The old saying=(Anything is possible). I personally don't think a 100% living can be made from MD'ing, but there are possibilities of some profit. !st., with luck finding coins and or relics,with a good marketable value. 2nd. Contracting yourself, to look for lost rings, or other jewelery, for half of there appraisal value. this involves lot's of detective work, working with the person your hunting the item for, and then there could be some legal problems involved. I personally like it strictly as a hobby. Jjohnelson@AOL.COM

 

[Doctorcoinz]

Maybe thirty or 40 years ago i would say it would have been possible to make a living metal detecting but these days a lot of sites are either worked out or close to been worked out.. Still things to find yes but no where near enough finds to make a living from it.. My finds barely cover my petrol costs..

 

[UK Brian]

Only because your sticking to the Explorer. You need a range of machines PI, two filter, four filter, single and multifrequency + non motion for iron see through and a non motion meter discriminator. Then you just need the time to use them.
Since my post below I've been contacted by another two fulltimers.

Brian

 

[Steve(MS)]

I understand the rest of your list, just wondering what you meant by that one.

 

[UK Brian]

Non motion giving audio on all metal targets with a ferrous/non ferrous meter. All were analogue but there are now digital models.There's quite a few as they never went out of fashion in Europe.
Disadvantage is you have to check out every signal on a site including small nails. Advantage is the primary all metal search mode gives great depth and the meter either indicates good or bad if the target is in range or stays central is which case you take off a couple of inches of soil plonk the search head down the hole and get an I.D.
None motion so the hole doesn't have to be bigger than the coil and as there's no sweeping there's less chance of nearby items affecting the discrimination.
Foil can be identified by there being little meter deflection but a very loud audio.

C-Scope make the CS990XD which is very cheap about $400 and the digital 1220R which is much deeper. Saxon the X1 Ultradepth which is very expensive. The Arado company had several models, the 120,120b,130 and the Falklands special made for the army. Fieldmaster three versions Mk I,II and III and Sensor produced the 7K. The 7K could be used as a normal IB/TR discriminator with a full range of controls, including discrimination, for both the primary search mode and the meter. So you could tune out small iron from the 'all metal' primary search mode and hunt quicker.
Fieldmaster had a slight degree of audio discrimination of small iron in the all metal primary search mode achieved I think by having a slight offset in the balance of the coils.

The Saxon web page shows the Ultradepth. Arados look very similar but with a smaller coil and a plastic control box. http://www.saxons.uk.com/

Brian