Research Secrets

[Dan Hughes]

A lot of treasure hunters subscribe to all the treasure magazines and read them cover to cover every month.

Ironically, many of these treasure hunters are ignoring the FREE resource that might give them a much better chance at recovering valuable targets - their local library!

My latest podcast (internet radio show) is full of tips on how to use your local library to zero in on rich, local hunting grounds.

If you're serious about getting beyond new coins in the local schoolyard, click the pink button here:

http://thetreasurecorner.com

And please post your response back here after you've listened - your notes help make the show better.

---Dan Hughes, http://treasuremanual.com

 

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[Dan Hughes]

I have to say, Dan, that I do not really understand the need to portray the hobby as "paying for itself" or "beating the recession" or as a way to make money at all.

Nor do I. But unfortunately, any hobby whose main focus is on locating money automatically spotlights its lucrativeness, or lack thereof, to our non-detecting friends.

I understand the concept of the podcast is the finding of older coins with numismatic premium to enhance the return of the time spent detecting, but if you made a pile on one side of my very worn Barber dimes, and a pile on the other side of my premium condition Barber dimes that would bring 50 bucks, the pile of worn dimes would be as high as Howard Hughes on Mt. Fuji, and the pile with the premium dimes would be as high as a crouton lying on its' side.

Yes. And though worn Barber dimes have little cash value, they are quite impressive to our non-collecting friends who have never even seen one, let alone one in good condition.

I will have to disagree about this hobby being a profitable one. Anybody that wants extra money would be much better off by getting a second job paying minimum wage. Statistically, this is a lousy way to get rich. While all of us have made an excellent find or two, we have also spent hundreds of days scouring stupid old fields and lots.

If your goal is to make solid, steady money, get the part-time job.
If your goal is to increase the value of your finds, hit the beaches - finding gold rings and other jewelry is a lot more profitable than finding coins.
If your goal is to increase the quality of your coin finds, do the research and hunt the old places.
If your goal is to dig lots of coins and have fun, hit the local parks and schoolyards.
So many choices in this fantastic hobby!

The only people that benefit from portraying this hobby as "profitable" are the manufacturers and major distributors. The rest of us want to tell the truth, and attract the kind of person that gets a strange kick from unearthing the junk of our forefathers- romantics in other words.

I do have a friend (Kenny Links, Champaign IL) who generally turns a pretty profit on his vacations by hitting beaches. He and his wife both regularly come home with valuable rings. He even found a 1914D penny at a local park!

But yes, most of us are hopeless romantics, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

And really, let's be serious....... at least 80% of the vehicles parked in the parking lot at the local monthly club meeting are decrepit old vans that barely run and still have ugly old '70s paint jobs.

It looks different than the parking lot of the country club, if you know what I mean.

I do know what you mean, and I'm a lot more comfortable with the old-van crowd than the country club crowd.

Other than that, great podcast. You have a radio voice.

Thanks! I was in the biz from 1967 until 2007, when I retired. (I was a radio broadcasting instructor at Parkland College here in Champaign, and when I retired I missed being behind the microphone. Hence the podcasts!)

---Dan Hughes

 

[scrubber]

So who are you trying to reach in a podcast? My guess is primarily newer members of the hobby who could use tips on cutting the frustration of not having instant success and finding ways to be more efficient. But we all can use suggestions and ideas to make the hobby more enjoyable, even if we're already relatively skilled.

This brings up the question -- Why do we enjoy this hobby? Humans have a genetic predisposition to hunt. This underlying need is not satisfied by turning a screw or soldering a wire 1500 times a day on an assembly line. There's a satisfaction in finding what you're hunting that can be met in many ways, but treasure hunting has an element of discovery that makes it one of the most appealing. There is no upper limit to what you could find. You are out in nature and are getting some form of exercise. You are alone with your detector and your thoughts. There are many appealing aspects to this hobby.

No, "profitable" isn't the best word to use when describing this hobby. "Rewarding" is a better one.

scrubber

 

[Dan Hughes]

"profitable" isn't the best word to use when describing this hobby. "Rewarding" is a better one.

scrubber

You know it and I know it, scrubber.

It's our "friends" who make fun of our "penny-finding" hobby we have to deal with, and I'm exploring ways to make them understand why we love this hobby so much. Your note really does the job.

Thanks!

 

[pegleglooker]

bump

 

[MaineTHDiver]

A lot of treasure hunters subscribe to all the treasure magazines and read them cover to cover every month.

Ironically, many of these treasure hunters are ignoring the FREE resource that might give them a much better chance at recovering valuable targets - their local library!

This information is very good. It is like a book that you read and only use what you need out of it. Too many people are critical of how you presented yourself. It is just like a classifier. You sift through it all and keep what you want. You have a good ipod voice too.

 

[RGINN]

It's a hobby. I have no intention of getting rich on it. I used it once to meet my goal of finding enough to buy a newspaper and a cup of coffee every morning, when I had no job, and that worked out. I had a great-great uncle who did intend to get rich by it and maybe he did, as he never told us much about his searches. Then again, his funeral wasn't that impressive, so maybe he took it with him, or never found it.

 

[tseekerMike]

Great podcast Dan. I would basically agree with the statement that most of us will never get rich at this hobby and do it for the fun of it. There's no indication that I will either. But using your Friends who have done well at it as an example, it goes to show that you never know. And that's the point. Those beat up old vans in the club parking lots? As the great Karl Von Mueller emphasized so strongly in his books, the smartest treasure hunters are the ones who keep a low profile and their mouths shut! Food for thought for whatever it's worth.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Good sources of info for research:

Library
local citizens (preferably old but there might just be young history interested people as well)
Archives
Maps
Diary's
Church notes
To name a few.

 

[ldablo]

I would've loved to buy a beer for and chat with KVM just once.

I'm kinda weird--I've been digging in the ground and looking around for stuff my whole life. It just took me a while to figure out there are others and there's a name for it ( actually several names for it but some are not flattering).

I do it because it's just my nature. If I happen to find anything, well, I guess that's why I do it.

LD

 

[Dan Hughes]

Those beat up old vans in the club parking lots? As the great Karl Von Mueller emphasized so strongly in his books, the smartest treasure hunters are the ones who keep a low profile and their mouths shut!

Hey, Sam Walton (Wal-Mart) was the richest man in the US, and he drove a beat-up old pickup truck.

Need I say more?

---Dan, http://treasuremanual.com

 

[Dan Hughes]

I would've loved to buy a beer for and chat with KVM just once.

I came close! I met Hardrock Hendricks (Karl's best friend and treasure-hunting partner) after Karl died, and Hardrock indicated that Karl had not found nearly as much as he claimed.

And when you think about, Karl never made claims - he just hinted around, advocating secrecy as the safest policy.

---Dan Hughes