tigerbeetle
Full Member
- Jan 2, 2009
- 166
- 275
- Detector(s) used
- Many -- Fisher, White's, Minelab, Cobra, others
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
(I accidentally first posted this under "Precious metals" -- or was it a Freudian slip?
I still have to field glares from my live-in sister as she passes the admittedly trashy looking containers now perpetually propped against the side of my NJ Shore home.
Wires, pots, pans, pieces of metal sheets, and, most of all, an eclectic assortment of oft-indefinable pieces of smooth brown metal reside within.
There stands my prized showing of detected “hard metals,” an older blanket term for the likes of copper, bronze, brass and hybrids thereof. Detectorists sometimes label the whole hard metal shebang as “nonferrous metal.” As often as not, I now classify those findings as cash on the hoof.
About a year ago, I got my first marvelous lesson in what my hard metal menagerie was worth.
During what amounted to a mandatory cleanup of my long-accumulated hard metal findings, I had a “picker” buddy of mine take a slew of dug metal over to a nearby scrap dealer. I was stunned as we both had to strain to get container after container into his truck. There was a whole lotta digging represented there. Understand, there was nothing overly large or dramatically heavy in the containers. Mixed in, there was a load of old-as-the-hills brass, bronze and copper, some dug from truly ancient Jersey sites.
Note: Any hard metal with even a jot of discernable history attached to it goes into my goodie bags – and display cases. To get “containered,” hard metal, especially from ancient sites, has to be so nondescript it affords no discernable historical heritage.
Helping my metal/cash cause is the fact I’ve never been one to throw away any hard metal found when digging, like long pieces of thick copper wire. On nearly every dig, I find brass pipefittings. In the past, a few have needed two hands to lift. Many fittings date back 100 years, used in sewers, firefighting apparatus and such – when brass and such flowed freely. Copper sheets, used as roofing and for downpipes, are also commonly dug items.
Anyway, my first paycheck for my idly kept hard metal was stunning: $987. And that was based on what the dealer called “dirty metal,” the lowest grade.
Sure, that was, indeed, a nice cash payment, but how long had I been collecting that stuff? Years on end? Decades?
Well, yes, but it happily hit me that my hard metal profit came out – almost to the copper penny – at the exact amount I paid for my detector. Sweet. Then, I factored in the hundreds of incredible finds the detector has given me, including Washington inaugural buttons worth well over $5,000. Double sweet.
But there’s no belittling the impact of the non-displayable hard metal stuff. While my prized treasure finds are proudly residing in my display cases, the hard metal money actually goes in-pocket; spendin’ type cash.
What’s more, the hard metal payout has actually reenergized my metal detecting life. I now dig “big” (deep and large items) more than I ever have in my forty-five years behind the loop. If it reads “good,” it gets dug ,even if I have to bring out the picks and shovels.
In less than 6 months, I have again filled containers with hard metal magic. What’s more, I’m actually finding more “smalls” than ever: coins, buttons, tokens, i.e. the entire treasure game! It’s a hackneyed expression but it’s a win-win.
At last check, I’m closing in on enough metal to buy a new top-shelf underwater detector. I was helped along by a barely liftable roll of what must be very old electric company copper wire, something like 1/0 gauge. Also, I recently found over 100 inch-thick battery grounding cables (copper), throwaways from an abandoned junkyard.
No, I’m not becoming “Sanford and Son” material, it’s simply another phase of treasuring, especially with metal prices percolating upward.
I still have to field glares from my live-in sister as she passes the admittedly trashy looking containers now perpetually propped against the side of my NJ Shore home.
Wires, pots, pans, pieces of metal sheets, and, most of all, an eclectic assortment of oft-indefinable pieces of smooth brown metal reside within.
There stands my prized showing of detected “hard metals,” an older blanket term for the likes of copper, bronze, brass and hybrids thereof. Detectorists sometimes label the whole hard metal shebang as “nonferrous metal.” As often as not, I now classify those findings as cash on the hoof.
About a year ago, I got my first marvelous lesson in what my hard metal menagerie was worth.
During what amounted to a mandatory cleanup of my long-accumulated hard metal findings, I had a “picker” buddy of mine take a slew of dug metal over to a nearby scrap dealer. I was stunned as we both had to strain to get container after container into his truck. There was a whole lotta digging represented there. Understand, there was nothing overly large or dramatically heavy in the containers. Mixed in, there was a load of old-as-the-hills brass, bronze and copper, some dug from truly ancient Jersey sites.
Note: Any hard metal with even a jot of discernable history attached to it goes into my goodie bags – and display cases. To get “containered,” hard metal, especially from ancient sites, has to be so nondescript it affords no discernable historical heritage.
Helping my metal/cash cause is the fact I’ve never been one to throw away any hard metal found when digging, like long pieces of thick copper wire. On nearly every dig, I find brass pipefittings. In the past, a few have needed two hands to lift. Many fittings date back 100 years, used in sewers, firefighting apparatus and such – when brass and such flowed freely. Copper sheets, used as roofing and for downpipes, are also commonly dug items.
Anyway, my first paycheck for my idly kept hard metal was stunning: $987. And that was based on what the dealer called “dirty metal,” the lowest grade.
Sure, that was, indeed, a nice cash payment, but how long had I been collecting that stuff? Years on end? Decades?
Well, yes, but it happily hit me that my hard metal profit came out – almost to the copper penny – at the exact amount I paid for my detector. Sweet. Then, I factored in the hundreds of incredible finds the detector has given me, including Washington inaugural buttons worth well over $5,000. Double sweet.
But there’s no belittling the impact of the non-displayable hard metal stuff. While my prized treasure finds are proudly residing in my display cases, the hard metal money actually goes in-pocket; spendin’ type cash.
What’s more, the hard metal payout has actually reenergized my metal detecting life. I now dig “big” (deep and large items) more than I ever have in my forty-five years behind the loop. If it reads “good,” it gets dug ,even if I have to bring out the picks and shovels.
In less than 6 months, I have again filled containers with hard metal magic. What’s more, I’m actually finding more “smalls” than ever: coins, buttons, tokens, i.e. the entire treasure game! It’s a hackneyed expression but it’s a win-win.
At last check, I’m closing in on enough metal to buy a new top-shelf underwater detector. I was helped along by a barely liftable roll of what must be very old electric company copper wire, something like 1/0 gauge. Also, I recently found over 100 inch-thick battery grounding cables (copper), throwaways from an abandoned junkyard.
No, I’m not becoming “Sanford and Son” material, it’s simply another phase of treasuring, especially with metal prices percolating upward.
