Keeping My Hopes High

[DaytonaGold]

Up to this point my detecting with the ctx has been primarily on the beach and have had a hunt at a local park as well. I have yet to snag a piece of silver, wheatie, or jewelery or anything to get me excited. I have accumilated a good deal of clad and I'm ok with that. I am afraid to approach someone to ask for permission to hunt on private property for fear of rejection or a salt peter shell, lol. Not sure how I can approach this, any ideas? Or any hints on where to go besides parks and beaches.

Cheers

 

[spanish silver]

Look up goes4ever he has a section on his websight all about gaing permission. Here is the link http://goes4ever.mymdforum.com get some popcorn and enjoy his videos haha, cheers

 

[markincypress]

Here in Houston Texas, my hunting partner and I have been hunting demolition sites; residental and sidewalk removal. We have introduced ourselves to demolition companies, developers and real estate agents, explaining our hobby and have rarely (I can only recall one time) have been denied. Most folk are facinated and intrigued by metal detecting so we spend time talking with them and sharing some of our best experiences and finds. This has often led to leads onto other properties. In the last 3 months I have dug over 70 silver coins and over 300 wheat pennies. My hunting partner has similar totals. When I just hunted parks where lots of other folks detect before switching to demolition sites, my silver count was 2 and probably less than a dozen wheat pennies. Here are some examples to motivate you (the nickels are all war nickels).

 

[Dr.Deus]

Beautiful looking set of coins. A job well done.

 

[DaytonaGold]

Impressive! May I ask what type of agreement is made, do you offer them anything that you find?

 

[markincypress]

Nope no agreement is offered nor asked for. We just tell them we are looking for old coins, some silver some not and that we do this to occupy our time since we are retired "and it keeps us out of the bars". Since the lots are in the process of or about to be demolished and graded our digging does no harm to the property. We are honest about the value of silver coins with them; stating a silver dime has a melt value around $2.40 or so and a silver quarter might be closer to $5.00. They realize that we are not "treasure hunters looking to hit a cache" but are hobbyist doing this for fun and that we spend more money in time, gas and equipment than we would recover at any one time.Some of them have even told us where their childhood homes are located and add "keep an eye out if that one ever comes down cause I know I buried stuff there as a kid".

 

[Confused]

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the info. I often wondered how to approach people also. I'm a general contractor and I guess I should start calling all my demo contractors too. Are you in Cypress CA?

Thanks,

Rod

 

[markincypress]

No Cypress Texas (located northwest of Houston). Demo contractors are really your best source. After that I would say heavy equipment transporters. The demo contractors we have dealt with have been great. Almost all of them do not mind if we hunt while they are on site as long as we stay out of their way. They also will tell us where their next job is located. A computer check of the property tax records then tells us what year the structure was built and Google map street view or Google Earth (using the time slider to look at old aerial photo's) then help identify where the structure, drive, sidewalk etc were located. Just be prepared to work slow and this is where the small 6" CTX coil pays off. When I got mine I re-visited a site that we had hunted and the second coin was this Mercury dime.

 

[jas415]

Daytona, I assumed it was Florida. this sit has a listing of all 'comdemned buildings' and they must be repaired or demolished so that is where I would start. I would get the addresses then check the property tax records, if online, then getting the registered owner, give them a call if you can find them. If not check the postings on the buildings themselves and if they list a demo company, give them a call. Last, I would hit it on a Sunday. Be nice, polite, friendly, and ask permission if asked. If there is no signage; No trespassing, or Keep out, I would detect it. If asked to leave I would leave.

Here in Houston there is a web site that publishes all the demolition permits for the previous day.

 

[jmt48]

This might sound silly, but wouldn't permission have to be granted by the property owner? Or is the demolition contractor the property owner?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

jmt48, depends on what type site. If it's an old-town urban sidewalk tearout (or even building tearouts) that are public, then ..... no ..... I do not ask permission. After 5pm, when the workers cut out for the day, is a magical time. Just step over the yellow tape, and go at it. Oh sure, I suppose if you went down to city hall, and asked long enough and hard enough (with key buzzwords like "treasure" and "dig" and "lawsuits") that ..... sure .... you could find yourself a "no". But so long as you're not being a nuisance, and aren't being a "sore thumb sticking out", then my experience is no one cares. I work any and all old-town sidewalk tearouts I come to (and old school projects, public stadium bleacher tearouts, etc...). But, sure, if it's a private home up on blocks for foundation work, or some such private site, then technically, you'd have to ask.

 

[jmt48]

Thanks for the explaination Tom.