Living on Treasure at the Ocean!

JakePhelps

Silver Member
Jul 7, 2005
3,020
16
Massachusetts
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Cibola
Is it possible ???

One guy did it in the 24th volume of W&E Treasures in July of 1990.

Heres a quik summary of the article in my words:

Ernest L. Mitchell spent a week MDing on cape cod in october.
He just spent a week on a family vacation to disneyland and was a little short on money.
Rather than living out of a motel for a week he lived in his converted van.
He brought coffee cakes, oatmeal, tea bags, and other breakfast foods and such.
All he needed to cover now was gas, supper, and lunch.
His major interest was detecting shallow water at low tide.
He says "I can hunt two hours before low tide and up to two hours after before the tide chases me out".
He arived at 7:00, just in time for the 9 o'clock tide.
By 11 o'clock he was done hunting and had two gold rings, one silver ring, and a pouch full of dirty change.
He ordered a BLT for 4.50 and paid for it in dirty change, the clerk gave him a nasty look.
Next he bought a pint of ice cream! ate the ice cream, filled the container with sand, soap and water, threw in his change shook it up and it was all clean to spend.
Next he hit a schoolyard and had a "good handfull of change".
By 5:30 he was back at the ocean working to beat the sunset.
That night he went to friendlys for a sit-down dinner, payed for it with cleaned change!
For the rest of the week he was able to pay for both supper and lunch plus put gas into the van.
He returned from the cape with all the rings and some of the silver coins he found. He also found a blue saphire ring with twelve diamonds and a very large gold cross.

Now....Iv been to capecod many times, been detecting on almost every beach on the mid cape, plus lots of parks and such. Im wondering what beaches he hunted when he found all this in a week. He must have found loads of change in order to pay for lunch and dinner plus put gas into his van(which was alot cheaper then, but still..)this was 16 years ago, is there nothing left to find now?? Living on treasure would be THE life to live, but is it really possible for someone who wanted to? Has anyone else tried since?
 

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Hello Big Jake,

That would be a great way to live !!
I dont think it is possble to do full time everywhere.
I hope i'm wrong !!!!

I have heard stories of people who detect florida beaches and do quite well but i cant quote any sources.

I am curious what others think

Take Care,

Mike in SC
 

I'm sure it could be done providing you didn't have a family to support and didn't mind existing on more .99 hamburgers than you'd want to count. One gentleman I know did something similarand also field striped used cigarettes for the tobacco and then rolled his own, bleah.
 

Over the years I've met a few guys who claimed to be doing just that... and they found some amazing stuff, too. However, every one of them turned out to have another source of income— pensions, seasonal or self-employment, high-demand work skills that practically guaranteed them at least part-time work whenever they wanted it, etc. These things were what actually footed the bill and gave them the freedom to detect while most people were doing the 9-to-5 routine. Not magic... not easy... but one way to follow your dreams without ending up as a fast-food dumpster diver.
 

living solely on the change that you find sounds like fun at first, but ill bet it really sucks! when i was younger i was in a band that used to play for several days on end. we would load up this old piece of crap rv, and head out, sometimes for a week or more. we didnt have much money and ate a lot of peanut butter and raman noodles. while we did have fun most of the time, it was a much better life having a roof over my head, a comfortable bed to sleep in and "real" food to eat.......even if i had to work a day job to get it! being on the road with no money got real old real fast! ;D
 

Hey again Hollowpoint,

I did something similar to that back in the 1980's. After i got out of school i had a few jobs i got laid off of,and i put a camper shell on my pickup and traveled across the west and midwest US. doing construction and odd jobs. I slept in the back of the truck most the times unless i was crashing with co workers.

Money never went far . Got drank up as fast as i made it. Get done with a job and on to the next town. Seems like it was funner remembering it than when i was going through it !

Take Care,

Mike in SC
 

Cool Story....That would be a cool little dream...Could you imagine being retired...or hell winning a decent amount in a lottery and travel the beaches of the world just metal detecting and living in an R/V....And writing books of adventures along the way.....Hell why stop at the beaches just travel the country year round, From the Gold Hills of The Nevada's To the Gold Coast of Florida. Writing article's.

Yes ladies and gentlemen....That would be my dream Job....LOL
 

Maybe it could have been done in the 60's. And many have tried. But not now. Food is no longer your expense of main concern. What about auto repairs, insurance? What about health and dental? The old saying about "someone starving" is no longer relevant. Other things will be your main concern. Food, thank goodness, still remains very affordable.
Get a good job with benefits, retire, and live your dream.
 

I have heard that there are "resort hunters" that live primarily off the finds they make...Cancun, Hawaii, etc. Clynick mentions one of them in his book, DFX Gold Methods.

If it came down to it I believe that, if I had a place to recharge my batteries, I could actually live off detecting. Maybe not live well, but at least eat.

HH!
TBGO
 

Well, in a couple of years, I plan to live off of a combination of metal detecting and fishing. I'm also hoping to have some money saved up by then, so it won't be as hand-to-mouth as the above story. I am single though, have no car payments and only one credit card. Since rent and utility bills won't be a factor, I think I can live off of a meager $7,000-8,000 a year worth of fish and MD finds. I live right on the treasure coast of Florida and plan to MD the beaches here, as well as the placer gold areas of Georgia and Alabama. Does anyone think that this is possible/realistic with a Tesoro Vaquero or Cibola, a shovel, a fishing pole and maybe $5,000 savings as a buffer? How long do you think I'd last? If and when I decide to do this, I'll keep you all updated on my situation and try to send some pics of my finds, if possible. But getting on the internet may be tough, in that situation. SS
 

I bet there's a lot of people here who have thought of doing that but to go and try it.. hats off. I think you would have to have some other source of income though. I hope if you do try to do it you post here and let us know how it goes- even if you have to use the library computers! I could see a small pension and a trailer somewhere along the cost. I can see MD supplamenting your social security or pension or vice versa maybe. Sure would be fun to try but nice to have a second plan to fall back on. :)
 

Silver Striker said:
I am single though, have no car payments and only one credit card. Since rent and utility bills won't be a factor, I think I can live off of a meager $7,000-8,000 a year worth of fish and MD finds. I live right on the treasure coast of Florida and plan to MD the beaches here,...
I am thinking of moving to the Treasure Coast, some day myself, to be closer to the action. Why do you say "rent and utility bills won't be a factor?" Are you planning on sleeping in your car? I am just curious. Do you own property on the Treasure Coast?
 

When I was in college I used to live on a fixed budget, one month I bought me a bike, as a result I was short of money for the next month.

I survived by getting out on my bike every evening and finding enough money to pay for food. ( I used to find 1 to 3 dollars every time I went out)

Happily the rent and utilities were paid for for the month in question.
 

Not sure where I'll be sleeping yet, Cypress. Hopefully, either in an RV or the back of a van. But if that doesn't pan out, probably in a sleeping bag, inside of an underground bunker or a cave or on a friend's couch. Too early to tell. But it won't be no picnic, that's for sure. MD'ing for a living isn't really my dream, like it is for many of you. It's more of a desperation/survival situation. I can't give out any more details than that at this time though. But at least I'm not waiting until the last minute to plan this out. I should have another year and a half to save up some money, while still living in the lap of luxury (an apartment with a/c, heat, tv, a computer, a bathroom, a lounge chair, a bed, etc.) Boy, I'm sure going to miss those things. Ok, nuff said. SS
 

Brings back memories of the 60's as a teenager. Several times during the summer I would take metal detecting trips to the east for usually 3 weeks. I would detect all day and live off the land with my finds. I would take the back country roads and stop at interesting sites for old coin detecting. When I needed money for gas or food I would stop at a small town and detect around the parking meters. You could do better detecting than the $1.40 minimum wage at the time. Finding $8 in change in the 60's meant you could fill up your car with gas and have money left over for food.

Great memories but only what a dumb teenager would do.
George
 

Where do I put the MD when I'm shoveling sand?

Ok, I have a beginner question that's been plaguing me. If I go hunting on a beach and I have my MD in one hand and a shovel in the other hand and a water bottle in my 3rd hand (yeah, I wish), how do I juggle all of that stuff while I'm digging in the sand, without getting sand all over my MD? Do you guy wear tool belts or backpacks to hold your shovel, food, drinks, finds, etc? Do you park close enough by that you leave your drink in the car? Does it matter if you lay your MD down in the sand? What's the best way to handle this, as I am an MD virgin and really have no clue? Thanks, SS
 

remember, you could also go to the blood bank and sperm bank now and then to make some extra money. :)
 

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