Time to stop lurking and say hello...and thank you! to Monte, Beale, Hightone, Gunnar of stream of conciousness MN, dahut, trueblue, rmptr, Mr Compadre aka Tabdog and all of the others I've learned from. All of you, and several others, have helped me get started and learn about this wonderful hobby of metal detecting. I know it's not cool to lurk and not post, but as a newbie I didn't have a lot to add to the discussion. But even though I still don't have a lot of experience I feel I have something to add for any others who are new to doing this.
With the exception of one friend, everybody told me I was wasting time doing this. My wife, family and friends. Comments like "you're not going to find anything", "I know somebody that did this for a few weeks and now the detector is sitting in the basement gathering dust" and my favorite: "how much are you spending on gas to get to these places?" If I listened to the naysayers I would have stopped this long ago.
To anybody who is new at doing this, I was frustrated as hell after about 30 hours of doing this. I had found a bunch of new money and tons of trash, but no old coins. Not even a wheat penny! But I was determined that I was going to stick with it. I know there is a learning curve, but I thought I was smart enough to get around it. Wrong!!!
Shortly after 30 hours I found my first couple wheat pennies and an old WWII tax token. This was in the yard of a nice 81 year old lady I stopped to talk to when I saw her out when I was driving by. I'm at about 65 hours now and I have found Indian Head pennies, Mercury dimes, trade tokens, a bunch of wheat pennies and I'm finally finding some nickels including a Liberty Head, Buffalo and a WWII Silver Nickel.
My point for the newbies is, stick with it. Your friends and loved ones are going to think you have a screw loose and they won't hesitate to tell you so. But if you want to persist and learn your machine and the hobby you will be rewarded. I can't think of anything outside the bedroom that is as much fun as finding items lost decades or even centuries ago.
My first really old find was a 1903 Indian Head penny, worth less than two bucks. But I got excited as can be. I didn't get into this hobby thinking I was going to find a priceless cache, if that's why I was doing it I'd buy myself a lottery ticket. My chances would be better that way.
With work and family, I only have a few hours a week to do this. But I know I'm going to be a detectorist for life. Hopefully some day I'll have the knowledge to help someone the way you guys have helped me.
PS to Tabdog: I'm glad you're out of the hospital and doing better! My 8 year old niece is the only family member who doesn't think I've lost it and she loves taking my 2nd unit (the Compadre) to the tot lots with me and cleaning up!
With the exception of one friend, everybody told me I was wasting time doing this. My wife, family and friends. Comments like "you're not going to find anything", "I know somebody that did this for a few weeks and now the detector is sitting in the basement gathering dust" and my favorite: "how much are you spending on gas to get to these places?" If I listened to the naysayers I would have stopped this long ago.
To anybody who is new at doing this, I was frustrated as hell after about 30 hours of doing this. I had found a bunch of new money and tons of trash, but no old coins. Not even a wheat penny! But I was determined that I was going to stick with it. I know there is a learning curve, but I thought I was smart enough to get around it. Wrong!!!
Shortly after 30 hours I found my first couple wheat pennies and an old WWII tax token. This was in the yard of a nice 81 year old lady I stopped to talk to when I saw her out when I was driving by. I'm at about 65 hours now and I have found Indian Head pennies, Mercury dimes, trade tokens, a bunch of wheat pennies and I'm finally finding some nickels including a Liberty Head, Buffalo and a WWII Silver Nickel.
My point for the newbies is, stick with it. Your friends and loved ones are going to think you have a screw loose and they won't hesitate to tell you so. But if you want to persist and learn your machine and the hobby you will be rewarded. I can't think of anything outside the bedroom that is as much fun as finding items lost decades or even centuries ago.
My first really old find was a 1903 Indian Head penny, worth less than two bucks. But I got excited as can be. I didn't get into this hobby thinking I was going to find a priceless cache, if that's why I was doing it I'd buy myself a lottery ticket. My chances would be better that way.
With work and family, I only have a few hours a week to do this. But I know I'm going to be a detectorist for life. Hopefully some day I'll have the knowledge to help someone the way you guys have helped me.
PS to Tabdog: I'm glad you're out of the hospital and doing better! My 8 year old niece is the only family member who doesn't think I've lost it and she loves taking my 2nd unit (the Compadre) to the tot lots with me and cleaning up!
lol not me 