So how did we all get into this hobby?

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Can't wait to try my detector. Will be awhile til the snow is gone.

 

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[fistfulladirt]

i was a teen back in the mid-70's. I don't remember how or why, but I started detecting with the Jetco Mustang. I saved my $, and had my dad take me downntown where I bought a White's Coinmaster II, big bucks for a kid back then. Too many knobs, switches and guages, a couple years later I ended up tearing it down to see how it worked. I loved old stuff even as a youngster, I really did dig coins as 10 year old, and was digging bottle dumps at age 13. Now, at 50, I still like to play in the dirt and have two kids of my own, 9 and 12. Hope to get them outside for some excercise and treasure hunting this summer.

 

[63bkpkr]

As a little boy I was always finding money in the yard, on streets, in parks and even while planting an apple seed in my Granny's back yard I found an Indian Head Penney, bought bubble gum with it, ouch!
At an amusement park/dance hall in Michigan when I was 10 my brother showed me a $10 bill that his buddy had just found(he fibbed to me about it having been found) and that was the last of the rides for me. When we went home that night I had found almost $20 and I have nothing to show for it now. I also read a few of the Easter/Western Treasure magazines, built some detectors from plans in electronics magazines, built a HeathKit metal detector and finally borrowed a fellas 6000D Coinmaster in the mid 70's and thats when the fun began. I was also into backpacking and at some point purchased the original Gold Bug but never found Zip Zip with it, bought the GMT and I was on my way again. The backpacks keep getting heavier, the trips longer and into wilder country and yes I have found gold with city and back country machines. Hooked for life...............63bkpkr

 

[GMD52]

You hear of a myth, or legend-you turn the myth into historical fact and the search is on. Once you cross the line there is no turning back.

I have a love of history, early civilizations, and every ones dream of hidden treasure. For me it is the search and the research, the find signals the end of one project and the start of the next. It makes the worst of days bearable, and the best of days out of this world. You can't ask anything more than that.

 

[MADJOKER]

I watched a show on history channel i think history channel or discovery, anyway it was about Jesse James and how this group was trying to retrace his steps. They came upon a place where Jesse was known to leave payments for his guys. Then they got some metal detectors and found some mason jars filled with old coins, and I thought what a cool hobby metal detecting could be.

 

[vhakra]

I always wanted to try metal detecting, but growing up on a farm with tons of used machinery my dad always told me it'd be pointless. Years later I finally clipped the Hobby Lobby coupon for 40% off and picked up a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV and then hit Amazon for a 4" gold coil. All in all I'm hovering around a little more than $100 into this hobby. Of course my back goes out and now I'm heading for surgery tomorrow. Looking forward to finding that first item though when I get back on my feet.

 

[-Taz-]

Haven´t started yet..haha! But have always been fascinated with the concept of metal detecting and remember from my high school days in the 80´s wanting to get one. Unfortunately that was never in the cards for several reasons, mainly because there just wasn´t any shops in the vicinity that had any and I didn´t know anyone that used one.

Fast forward to 2013 and I am in a situation where I have found a woman that lives 500 kilometres from my hometown, and work. This leads me to move from civilisation to a (almost) barren island at the far west of the country with the North Sea next door and England and Iceland as the next neighbours. I now work one week in the civilisation (Oslo) and one week from home. As the house is a bit crowded I don´t have an own office and spend the days working from the living room. Since it’s a bit boring sitting by my self, I usually have the TV on as company while I work. History Channel is the primary channel and I have seen countless reruns of Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, American Pickers have also got my dose of Gold Rush Alaska, Antiques Roadshow and other “treasure hunting/picking” programs. This has really spurred my interest in MD´s again and after thinking about it for a couple of months I ordered my self a Fisher F5 last week, can´t wait until it arrives

The only downside is that I grew up in an area with tons of farms and rich pickings, with viking grave mounds dotting the landscape (off limits of course). One colleague of mine that came off a farm told me how his father constantly ploughed up Viking artefacts in the 60´s, he just ploughed it down in the earth again. He wanted to keep his family farm and didn’t want any archaeologists on it. Since he passed away it has been excavated and its now recognised as the largest and most import Viking tradetown in the country. The name that describes that kind of tradetowns is now actually the name of the farm, and his family name, because of the significance of the finds. Now however I live on a (large) island where 50-60% is cliffs, marshes, mountains with a little topsoil on top, and the farms that are here are very small with fields spread around. Been people here since the stoneage, but I don´t think there will be rich pickings, but I will most likely be the only one, or one of the few, detecting here so hopefully I can still find a “gem” or two.

Doesn´t matter, I can´t wait and I am spending the wait online by mapping out all the local farms in the national “forest and landscape” database. It has detailed maps of all the countries farms, great help and shows you which house you should go to to get permission to detect on different properties/lands. Will start knocking doors next week

 

[joetoilet]

I was on a job site some years back and saw a metal detector in a co workers truck and asked if them thangs really worked? He said sure, try it out. So after some brief instructions I started to swing...and found an old rusty nail about 2 inches down, and it blowed my mind. To really to be able to find something under the dirt. I bought a cheap one the next day. Since then I've gotten a Whites M6 for about 6 yrs, then went and got a Atpro...still amazed at whats down there.

 

[Doc Neeley]

I was with a friend in Montana and he had a metal detector and found an old (really old) fallen down log cabin in the forest. He went inside the cabin and after a bit, got a hit over a crack in the floor and dug out a pristene 1856 large cent. I was dumbfounded. I always remembered the excitement and one of the guys who works for me is a MDer and wanted me to go with him, next my wife wanted to try it, so now I have a 250 and an AT-pro and another hobby.

 

[Shawn1972]

I was at NAGS HEAD beach NC.kinda touring the east coast when a guy using a homemade contraption,made up of plumbing piping,gobs of silicone had caught my eye.i continued to watch him frantically scanning the beach with his monstrosity(it was crazy looking to say the least).I knew it was some sort of metal detector and thought this thing could not possibly be working or even find anything for that matter.After about an hour watching him,he dropped to his knees and looked toward the sky saying ty,ty god,it was too tempting for me not to rush over and see what it was all about.at 1st he was quite reluctant to share his find with me,yet after some 20 min. of talking to him about his homemade detector he finally showed me a silver piece of 8( spanish reale ). I was awestruck and felt the fever all at the same time,after returning to NY i got my very own detector and have been hooked ever since.

 

[sdupont65]

A friend of mine was a "professional" about 20 some odd years ago. He got me into it. I went with him and a rented Garret. I enjoyed it but like alot of things I wanted to do my wife at the time put an end to it quick...Back then I had several thousand saved and actually could afford it but she said we couldn't..LOL,. Fast forward until last year..I was back at work with aforementioned friend..health wont let him do it anymore,but he sparked me up again and I went and bought my Whites Coinmaster from a local hobby shop and my current wife loves looking around with me. Nothing fantastic yet but learning more all the time cant wait to get going again very soon!

 

[Produce Guy]

I did odd jobs when I was a kid & was saving up my money for a mini-bike,but instead,I bought a Jetco metal detector for about $50,back in the 1970's.A older man across the street had a metal detector from WW2 and was out in his front yard finding tins cans and coins.After I bought mine,I took it out in the woods,where an old house stood and found all kinds of coins,from 1910-1945(don't have them anymore),broken plates,and other kind of household goods.There's a strip mall sitting there today

 

[jamey]

my broke a== needed some money

 

[WhatTheBeep]

For me it's a culmination of a lot of things, really. I enjoy old coins, though I'm not a coin collector. I like finding things that are hidden that you'd never guess were there. I love history and wondering about people who lived tens, hundreds, and thousands of years ago. I definitely love electronics and am a geek. I remember years ago as a kid asking my dad what a metal detector was, and that interested me way back then when I'm guessing detecting depth was only a few inches and discrimination probably didn't exist as we know it now. I like finding new hobbies and if I don't periodically I get very bored and become a waste product. So it's a whole lot of things, but I guess mostly it's fun and addicting and the thrill of looking for the next potential treasure is what keeps it interesting for me.

 

[BruceB]

While I'm not as old as most on here , but when I was little I use to always find old dump sites and dig in them for toys and that transformed into Toys and bottles and then that transformed into toys, bottles and anything else recognizable from the piles. Years later into my late teens early 20's I found myself getting into MD but with a small budget I wasn't really hitting anything (just didn't have the knowledge or luck) so I found myself turning to searching for gems and other precious rocks. but then about 3 years ago I decided to give MD another try and found some cool items and with a bigger budget, and I'm assuming more smarts lol I've fully committed to this hobby and love every little piece that I pull up. I've learned to appreciate everything that I find.

 

[Digger2]

A friend took me hunting with his detector, I enjoyed it and bought a Compass (I think it was a coinmaster), it never did work right, after several months of frustration I gave up on it.
Fast forwarding to 2003, I was having problems with back and knees, so I remembered the workout the Compass gave me, I bought an Explorer II, which was way above my tolerance for learning. I kept the Explorer and bought a Garrett GTI 2500. I had a lot of luck with it, but the job brought me all over the USA so I had to put it aside. Now retired, I picked it up again and I am really enjoying this hobby!!!

Roy