Is Metal Detecting on the Decline?

[JimmyCT]

I agree….. we need to start searching places and areas where others have passed right on by for years….hillsides are great too….they are often overlooked and still hold lots of finds.

Exactly!

 

[JimmyCT]

…hillsides are great too….they are often overlooked and still hold lots of finds.

Especially your favorite coin denomination

 

[fwcrawford]

Especially your favorite coin denomination

 

[JimmyCT]

 

[vlad]

I ask this because, I have not seen anyone metal detecting in my area ( NE OHIO ), in the last 20 years. I'm not saying there isn't anyone doing it, I just don't see it.

In general, years ago, I use to see kids riding bikes, motorcycles, now everyone hides in the house, playing on their smart phones.

I remember going to a camp ground a few years ago... and no one was outside. Even camping now, many stay in their campers with their A/C and smart phones. A lot of our population is overweight and has a hard time walking!

So my question is, is the hobby growing or declining? As many outdoor activities are. Are Metal Detecting clubs shrinking? (Although there is less of a need for them with the internet)

And even if sales are up, are there really as many dedicated people putting the total # of. hours in, as their use to be?


A Nickel for your thoughts!

When I was a small child those my age age could not wait for Christmas because there was nothing else like it, looking at the Wards or Sears catalogues, and telling Santa Claus what I wanted was like magic. And when the gifts arrived I was ecstatic. As I got older I realized it was my parents putting things under the tree. Hitting a Civil War site looking for relics or an old field looking for silver and old coins (and gold jewelry is a bonus) is the only thing today that brings back the sense of magic I felt as a child. But it requires a lot of hard work and while I may go for long periods of time not finding much silver the reward is in the doing. Unlike those who saw some program on TV making it look easy anyone who has been at it any time knows dedication is required, and I started when there was only beep and dig, I returned home on many occasions with my finds apron more full of trash usually than any goodies except cents. But there was days the silver was overflowing. I may not find as much because I am a lot older, but the desire is still there. Here is those who still believe in magic.

 

[targits]

Maybe old timers are dieing off with no young newbies

 

[The Coin Magician]

DETECTOR SALES HAVE FALLEN OFF SHARPLY TOO , THATS A FACT.

 

[moose57]

I ask this because, I have not seen anyone metal detecting in my area ( NE OHIO ), in the last 20 years. I'm not saying there isn't anyone doing it, I just don't see it.

In general, years ago, I use to see kids riding bikes, motorcycles, now everyone hides in the house, playing on their smart phones.

I remember going to a camp ground a few years ago... and no one was outside. Even camping now, many stay in their campers with their A/C and smart phones. A lot of our population is overweight and has a hard time walking!

So my question is, is the hobby growing or declining? As many outdoor activities are. Are Metal Detecting clubs shrinking? (Although there is less of a need for them with the internet)

And even if sales are up, are there really as many dedicated people putting the total # of. hours in, as their use to be?


A Nickel for your thoughts!

Hi my name is kevin I belong to a metal detecting club in ohio. Named The Buckeye Searcher of N.E.Ohio
they have a club meeting coming up Jan.12,2023 Located at 124 Ellenwood Ave. in Bedford Ohio at 7:00 pm
there you can ask other people where to go and they are people looking for treasure hunting partners to go
hunting with..

 

[vlad]

DETECTOR SALES HAVE FALLEN OFF SHARPLY TOO , THATS A FACT.

I disagree: sales are more dispersed from a multitude of sources because of the internet. They may not be "factory authorized" as official dealers but the points of contact are a myriad. Plus selling from homes keeps overhead down. (and there are factory direct sales too, often as specials or close out events) If you have facts in support of your allusion bring them on. People are avid buying used too as Finds classified forum shows (and there are a lot of detecting blogs.)

 

[5900_XL-1]

Metal detecting is declining

 

[vlad]

Maybe old timers are dieing off with no young newbies

People pick up new things all the time and as there is only 24 hours in a day that means something else does not get as much attention. When it comes to detecting the thing most in demand is sites that produce. Many places like sidewalks and ball fields have been pounded to death, and often the alternative is yards, and many are loathe to ask. I got back recently from the Philippines (and will be returning soon) and I have found silver there like I never have in the U.S. and I found a lot here. No one hunts there so its wide open. The silver coinswas minted in the U.S. for there and is very collectible. Even better are the various denominations of Spanish Reale and Cob treasure coins. Add to all this is gold and silver jewelry at both inland and salt water beaches. And Everyone there is gold crazy for gold that was hidden in WW-2. It is all a matter of perspective. (and there are relics from the war too such as a bazooka rocket and mortar round I've found, along with Garand clips and cartridges)
There are posts from new people on various forums and this says otherwise. (and many older hunters choose to go alone or with a partner and keep their best sites secret) The ML Vanquish / Equinox Forum on FB is awash with new people, and many are new hunters and making multiple purchases, and when they decide on which they prefer will sell off the extra. Some of the manufacturers cannot keep up with the demand. While I have good working CZ's, since Fisher ceased production I know that one day when there is a problem they will become paperweights, so I'm looking at a new ML multi and the new technology is better than my 30 year old design. The only time you stop finding is when you stop looking.

 

[TC-NM]

Only if you guys let it. ️️️

 

[The Coin Magician]

I disagree: sales are more dispersed from a multitude of sources because of the internet. They may not be "factory authorized" as official dealers but the points of contact are a myriad. Plus selling from homes keeps overhead down. (and there are factory direct sales too, often as specials or close out events) If you have facts in support of your allusion bring them on. People are avid buying used too as Finds classified forum shows (and there are a lot of detecting blogs.)

Well i can say for sure when i have put second hand detectors up for sale over the last year there are far fewer interested buyers compared to what they used to be. I find most places i go detecting to are extremely hard work
because of the army of detector users over the last 50 years that have swept ground clean of the good stuff. I went to my woods for 5 hours detecting and came back home with just a penny. I can see inland detecting going into sharp decline
once hunters get sick of the slim pickings inland. Beaches will probably keep been replenished in gold and coins though. The finds can't keep coming out forever that's for sure. Decline is inevitable. GREEN waste is a big problem , once most of the fields are covered in this sliced up metal junk that will stop the detecting hobby for sure , That might take a few decades probably, i think before most of the fields are turned into rubbish dumps.

 

[Ism]

Metal detecting may not be on the decline, but participation on the forums sure is. I've been away from the forums for a couple years. I can't believe how dead it is.
Days go by without a new post in brand specific forums. Even the main detecting forum only has one or two posts per day. Very slow in comparison to my memory of pre-covid activity.
Mod, do you have access to forum statistics for a comparison of current to pre-covid activity?

 

[Mind Bender]

[QUOTE="ManInTheWall, post":]Is Metal Detecting on the Decline?
I ask this because, I have not seen anyone metal detecting in my area ( NE OHIO ), in the last 20 years. I'm not saying there isn't anyone doing it, I just don't see it.

Absolutely, especially here in the USA, and it has been for almost forty years. The hobby got off to a good start with growing interest in the mid-sixties, and by the very early '70s it became more and more visible.

As we went through the '70s and into the early '80s there were a lot of magazines at grocery stores and magazine shops that dealt with the metal detecting hobby.. Metal detecting clubs started, all across the country, and on any nice weather weekend as well as other days during the week it was not unusual to see people out and about metal detecting at parks and schools and all sorts of all sorts of public areas. I joined my 1st club in in January or February I believe of 1972, in Portland Oregon, and started one in Utah in '81/2, and my friend David & I started another club there in '85.

Most detecting clubs from small to medium to large would sponsor an open competition hunt every year and some of them were quite large with very impressive prizes. Attendance could be hundreds and there were a lot of very good times shared between club members and all those who came from afar to their hunts.

Many of us got into selling metal detectors early on because it was a great hobby to be in and it was fun being able to work with so many people looking to get into this great sport. Home-base dealers and some just dealing in detectors at a coin shop or hardware store and to the full fledged full-scale metal detecting dealers. And I mean local metal detecting dealers.

By the mid-eighties however you could feel the change with a lot of the small and insignificant detector maker's dying off. Even some of the bigger manufacturers here in this country went out of business and/or someone bought them out and started them up for a little while and it was back-and-forth until the early nineties.

When I went to work for Compass Electronics in July of '87, Ron Mac, cofounder and company President, Told me that they were for sale and and that things were not looking good in the industry. He said the detecting industry pretty much peaked right around '83 to '86, and as I looked back as time went by I realized he was correct.

We had a few surges with some of the remaining manufacturers that carried us on through the nineties and into this century, but it's definitely not like it used to be. The late eighties and very early nineties was an obvious time when many manufacturers were we're losing the market with many going out of business and some upstarts also failed in short order. With some discount marketing that started getting bad in '87 and '88, there was more and more cuts and more cut throat sales going on and many so called local dealers and those dealing from their home just started going out of business. Then when the Internet came about in '95 or '96ish it really took a turn. The treasure magazines died off, local dealers became almost non existent, metal detecting clubs started to fade away quickly and that meant no more or competition hunts like we used to see or other involvement with clubs trying to recruit new members. Most metal detecting clubs were made up of the older people who had been in there for a while and it seems like none of them went out to try and recruit younger people into the hobby .... or the younger people just didn't find this sport very interesting.

There is still a lot of interest in the metal detecting hobby in other countries like the UK, but here in the US, or I should just say North America, it has been on the decline and it looks like it will continue to decline slowly.

However, if anyone is really into this sport, and they devote some time to researching and finding sites to hunt, it will continue to be a fun hobby, just with a lot less interest and involvement.

Monte
[/QUOTE]
I believe a lot less people are metal detecting because modern electronics has made many people lazier. We don't have to get up to change a channel, we don't have to dial a number to make a call, and pretty soon we won't even have to drive our car. So, it's not surprising that fewer people are metal detecting.

 

[sprchng]

Detecting is as dead as you chose to make it. From my vantage point it is certainly on life support equipment with a looming power outage with no backup generators to keep the respirator going. Largely a geographic activity , and in this area the availability of productive sites has dwindled through the shut downs and shootings at schools to the point there is nothing left to hunt without significant travel but worn out modern public parks. Yesterday after driving out a gallon of gas around looking for someplace with promise I realized there is no longer a need for me to keep my etrac and stuff as a backup so it will soon be on the market.

 

[thepest]

For What My Take Is... Until "they" hand everyone a star trek tri-corder that will find everything... (no fun in that) There will always be enthusiasts with machines willing to hunt the dirt... It's the last wild west so to speak... In the last 14 years since I took the hobby seriously... I have noticed ebbs and flows... the participation happens in waves... And there really doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it... until recently with the elephant in the room (pandemic)... I myself didn't get out... mostly because my work was actively involved during that time... Right this second... I feel like people in general are just in a holding pattern... There's allot of uncertainty... people that might buy a machine and give it a whirl just aren't going anywhere... Some clubs have folded.... but new ones will happen... this dust will settle... And all new dust will get tossed around.... Too many have shared what they know with anyone who is willing to learn and listen... As long as there could be a Ring or Coin to find.... Somebody will want to hear the stories and know how.... Metal Detecting is the last great adventure anyone can go on... Til "they" try to make it illegal.... even then.... I wouldn't be too shur...

 

[Mind Bender]

For What My Take Is... Until "they" hand everyone a star trek tri-corder that will find everything... (no fun in that) There will always be enthusiasts with machines willing to hunt the dirt... It's the last wild west so to speak... In the last 14 years since I took the hobby seriously... I have noticed ebbs and flows... the participation happens in waves... And there really doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to it... until recently with the elephant in the room (pandemic)... I myself didn't get out... mostly because my work was actively involved during that time... Right this second... I feel like people in general are just in a holding pattern... There's allot of uncertainty... people that might buy a machine and give it a whirl just aren't going anywhere... Some clubs have folded.... but new ones will happen... this dust will settle... And all new dust will get tossed around.... Too many have shared what they know with anyone who is willing to learn and listen... As long as there could be a Ring or Coin to find.... Somebody will want to hear the stories and know how.... Metal Detecting is the last great adventure anyone can go on... Til "they" try to make it illegal.... even then.... I wouldn't be too shur...

There's a list online of places that have already outlawed metal detecting. In Arizona, if you find anything over 100 years old, the state wants to take it from you.