What do you think is the most lucrative form of land treasure hunting?

Gold prospecting? -----------------Good if you can get on a good claim.
Seeking a "legend" cache?--------About a 1 in 10 chance on a lesser known cache.
Regular "farmer" caches?---------This is pot luck, but they are there.
Gem hunting?---------------------Never tried this.
Meteorite hunting?----------------Never tried this.
Relic hunting in Central America?-- Never tried this.

Something else?-------------------Old back yards where the rich have lived, good

Found this in a back yard. 3 ct ruby in 22kt gold ruby gold ring 700.jpgFrank...
 

Is it:
Gold prospecting?
Seeking a "legend" cache?
Regular "farmer" caches?
Gem hunting?
Meteorite hunting?
Relic hunting in Central America?

Something else?

Gold prospecting is fun, but usually not worth the effort and time for what little you find.
Legend caches - not likely. There's a reason why the cache is "still there".
Farmer caches - pretty good if you have a lot of farms to search.
Gem hunting - again, fun, but cheaper to buy at annual western rock shows. Most of what you would find are amethysts, citrines, maybe a tourmaline if lucky. Not overly profitable.
Meteorites - gotta be a lot out there, but find one and recognizing it might be pretty tough.
Relic hunting in Central America - if you mean Spanish relics, definitely a good bet. Pre-Columbian artifacts can get you twenty years in Tamara. Not a good idea!

Actually, for me the most lucrative has always been plain old coin and relic hunting in old sites, and gold jewelry in modern parks. I paid off all my equipment with found gold jewelry.
 

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Nuggetshooting.
 

If you're looking for pure monetary value, I'd say hunting at the beach(in the water) if you're in an area that isn't too flooded with hunters. Otherwise I would hit up soccer practice fields, or go clad hunting. You can pull a lot of clad value in a season! Of course neither of these options is as fun as pulling old silver or a cache. Ok maybe pulling gold rings is pretty fun. :)
 

It's hard to say and depends on where you live. Beach hunting yields amazing results to the pros. A woman in my club found a $30k ring. That would make anyone's year. Personally, between metal detecting, gold prospecting and gem hunting, gem hunting has paid off the best so far. But I am only 3 years into the hobby. Gold or metal detecting could pay off this year. Who knows. At least when I go gem hunting I always bring home something of value. I made almost $1k from Halite and Hanksite in 4 months. That's my best so far. Can't say the same for the other two yet....
 

It's hard to say and depends on where you live. Beach hunting yields amazing results to the pros. A woman in my club found a $30k ring. That would make anyone's year. Personally, between metal detecting, gold prospecting and gem hunting, gem hunting has paid off the best so far. But I am only 3 years into the hobby. Gold or metal detecting could pay off this year. Who knows. At least when I go gem hunting I always bring home something of value. I made almost $1k from Halite and Hanksite in 4 months. That's my best so far. Can't say the same for the other two yet....


I agree that gemstones can be lucrative, especially if you can cut and polish them yourself. But what do you do with Halite? Is it sold as mineral specimens? It certainly isn't a jewelry stone. :icon_scratch:
 

REMEMBER! Every adult person around you has taken their own path through life, and are like a book if you only open them up by talking to them. some can turn you on to some good information as well as folks in their own family that may have buried a stash. So talk to people as to where you can find a million dollars' They will give you a hard laugh and tell you if they new they would go dig it up! Then they start talking and some really have some good leads but for some reason never looked into it them. I've gotten some good leads this way. GOOD LUCK
 

HAHAHA The most dependable source of treasure hunting income would be selling cans to a recycler. Then, selling cardboard. Last is probably beach hunting with a good detector.
 

Or just sometimes pure dumb luck. How I made mine.
Bought my Grandpap's farm when he passed. No one else wanted anything to do with it. Like the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover". Couple hundred acres of farm land and woods, eh so what? Seems Gramps failed to mention to anyone that he owned the mineral rights too. Amazing how much coal and natural gas is/was on that property.

Now I can look for the other treasures that's on the property, when I'm not in Florida, or out hunting or fishing or flying. Or hanging off that darn post chasing the crows out of the field.
 

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