What got you interested in treasure hunting and your 1st finds ever?

[NeedBucksNow]

Hey everybody. I was just wondering what got you all interested in treasure hunting? I guess for me, it was watching Indiana Jones when I was growing up and it has pretty much stick with me since then. I don't get a chance to go hunting very much because of work but I still like to write about it when I get the chance. All well, hope to hear back from you guys and look forward to seeing what your 1st finds ever are

 

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[austin]

Grandma took me to the Alamo when I was about 5 or so. Workmen were digging a hole. I looked in and saw marbles. One of the workers bent down, picked out a few and gave them to me. two years later Disney made Davy Crockett and there was a part where they dug the bullets out of the target. At that point I realized that my marbles were musket balls( various calibers) and I was hooked for life. Gave them away recently so that someone else could enjoy them
Bought a Radio Shack detector when I was 17-18. Didn't pay much, maybe $10. Drove with friends to an abandoned stage station and found a ton of square nails. Just loved finding stuff...

 

[Loco-Digger]

I was raised in a small town that was on the Miami Erie canal. I used to dig up blob top bottles that were partially sticking out of the banks at the age of 12. I also found a sealed jar with old letters in it. My dad appreciated my donations to his stamp collection. One day I pulled a weed out of the soil along the shore. There was an 186? something 3 cent piece tangled in the root. I also would crawl under old houses prior to demolition looking for the bottles that were discarded by the 1800's construction crews and also became a dumpster diver. One man's trash is another man's treasure... When I retired from the Army in 2004, prior to finding a job, I used to pick up items from the curb, take them home and clean the items up and fix the items that I could. I made $2000 that summer selling other people's trash at multiple yard sales. I average $125 per sale day. The 1st time I used a metal detector was about 6 years ago while visiting my wife's uncle. He let me play with his detector when we went to the beach. I found about $5 in clad under a boardwalk and pier in the dry sand. 5 years ago I purchased a cheap detector, but didn't know how to use it properly so I lost interest and it sat in the shed for 3 years. The winter of 2014 I found Tnet and began to watch many metal detecting videos, I even found a good set up for the cheap detector on Tnet. In May 2014 I dusted off the MD and began to find coins. The detecting bug bit hard and in 45 days I bought a used F4 and never looked back. The 1st year I dug about $510 in coins (face value). My 1st silver was an 1875 seated dime.

 

[ARC]

Here is what got me into treasure hunting.
1980 age 12... My first job offer at 5 bucks an hour and a "cut".

 

[DashHopes]

As a kid I was always treasure hunting. So naturally as an adult I still want to treasure hunt, and thought it would be a great hobby to share with my 6 year old daughter because she is also an adventurist and dreamer. I was right.

Our first hunt got us a silver plated spoon.

 

[Benhuntn]

I was looking at the finds by my brother. He was detecting near a Civil War site and found several horse shoes, axe heads and other relics. I was hooked. I enjoy searching school yards and parks. Now my daughter is hooked. So now I get to enjoy detecting and have some family time. First finds were mostly pull tabs and beer cans found a few unfired rounds on an old military base. Found my first coin and now that is my main passion. Looking for old coins.

 

[kingskid1611]

Indiana Jones, yea I liked that too. I remember always being fascinated by old things. When I started collecting coins at age 6, with the help of my grandpa, I begin to wonder about hidden treasure and that's what peaked my interest in the metal detector. First find was a pull tab and it was awesome......

 

[Argentium]

I remember as a kid living in Helena ,Montana - (late 60's early 70's) I was well into coin collecting and used to buy coin magazines,
some of the advertisers were metal detector companies . This was my first exposure to detectors . Around 1978 when I was in the
U.S. Coast Guard , one of my buddies had a White's detector, he used to show me some older coins he would come back with from
park hunts in Milwaukee. I finally bought an older White's (5900 Di pro) around 1992 - first finds probably were a pulltab ,a zincoln,
and a bottlecap . First keepers were likely a wheatie , a silver ring , or a rosie .

 

[toolmanbutch]

About 5 Years ago, My kids bought me an inexpensive Metal Detector for Christmas. My wife and I have a place in Melbourne, Fl also where I used it.
I decided to bury some Coins and Costume Jewelry in various places in my yard. I took my then 4 Year old Granddaughter out with me to find Buried Treasure (the items I buried). She absolutely loved it and to this day she and I go out to look for real Coins and such. I purchased the CTX 3030 just so that we can search for real items and to search along the Treasure Coast.
Toolman Butch

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

Ever since i was young i loved history and was always enrolled in AP history classes...(between that and AP math that's all though i wasn't much of a nerd like i am now) but i always enjoyed US history. I've been coin collecting since i was a little boy always buying and selling maybe some trading here and there too. Once i learned that there was always relics and coins in the ground pretty much wherever u go here in Northeast PA i decided to buy a detector and ever since then...ive been hooked! i guess i was always fascinated just from the mystery of the items story...for example how did i find a AU 1876 CC seated dime in the middle of (nowhere) the woods in Lehman PA? could u imagine the trip the coin had to go through just to get there....and the person who lost it...did they not have enough that day to buy what they needed...was it a young kid who was playing around with the dime when they lost it? did the kids parents beat his ass when they found out he lost 10 cents? who knows but its just so cool....every coin/relic/jewelry i find i always just think about stuff like that..times when the US was a great place to live and when the government feared the people.

 

[TheHunterGT]

Apparently narrow veins and arteries cause blood clots....which cause 9 surgeries and 14 stents from Feb-August 2014....which causes the surgeon to say keep active and walk/jog as much as you can.

Oh joy...lifestyle changes at 40.

Plenty of time to watch Youtube while in a hospital with wifi. So while searching "what is jogging" videos I happened across Jeff Williams and I Brake For Bedrock channels....few others as well. Decided gold prospecting seemed kind neat and would keep me active enough. Bought pans for the whole family, a sluice, and a Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger to hunt some nuggets. Found gold our first trip out and figured world domination must be soon to follow. It felt good.

Grandma from California shipped my son a Bounty Hunter Gold Digger so he could be like dad. Little crapper found a 10K ring and I was hooked on park hunts now. Although coins interest me more than rings since I get gold via the prospecting avenue.

Figured I better find a forum as well...picked TN since there are so many sub-forums to keep me interested in new aspects if one becomes tiresome.

Hooked on it now and go out 2-3 times a weeks to the park and still do the gold prospecting when I can. Going to be buying a new detector for my wife and myself in the next month. She is hooked as well. We are actually heading to the library today to go check old maps and newspapers. Probably see if there are any local treasure stories for us to read as well.

Blood clots and surgeries brought me here...always a positive side to everything I suppose. I still don't jog (those videos didn't load)...so perhaps some negatives too.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Apparently narrow veins and arteries cause blood clots....which cause 9 surgeries and 14 stents from Feb-August 2014....which causes the surgeon to say keep active and walk/jog as much as you can.

Oh joy...lifestyle changes at 40.

Plenty of time to watch Youtube while in a hospital with wifi. So while searching "what is jogging" videos I happened across Jeff Williams and I Brake For Bedrock channels....few others as well. Decided gold prospecting seemed kind neat and would keep me active enough. Bought pans for the whole family, a sluice, and a Garrett Scorpion Gold Stinger to hunt some nuggets. Found gold our first trip out and figured world domination must be soon to follow. It felt good.

Grandma from California shipped my son a Bounty Hunter Gold Digger so he could be like dad. Little crapper found a 10K ring and I was hooked on park hunts now. Although coins interest me more than rings since I get gold via the prospecting avenue.

Figured I better find a forum as well...picked TN since there are so many sub-forums to keep me interested in new aspects if one becomes tiresome.

Hooked on it now and go out 2-3 times a weeks to the park and still do the gold prospecting when I can. Going to be buying a new detector for my wife and myself in the next month. She is hooked as well. We are actually heading to the library today to go check old maps and newspapers. Probably see if there are any local treasure stories for us to read as well.

Blood clots and surgeries brought me here...always a positive side to everything I suppose. I still don't jog (those videos didn't load)...so perhaps some negatives too.

Make sure you go to this site, go to your state, then to your county, the best map for my area is dated 1874. It shows where all the houses were and some still are.
Historic Map Works, Residential Genealogy ?

 

[RGINN]

Treasure hunters way back in my family. A couple were very averse to real work so they kept hopin to find a buried treasure in SW Oklahoma. Never did, as far as I know, but they knew the stories, did a lot of research, and walked the ground. Always just pretty close to it. Pretty close, pretty soon. The real treasure in their cases was havin a treasure to look for and a place to look for it, I guess. Myself, I was more of an arrowhead hunter.

 

[bigfoot1]

Its greed for me.I friggin love treasure hunting...always did.I have owned the best of the best since day one.I'm completely addicted...all in.If I'm at work I'm thinking about it.If I'm hunting I know its about to happen.Been the most passionate thing in my life next to my family.Now that they are hooked too....nirvana.

I hunt because I simply must.been this way for 25 years.I am blessed to have been particularily successful.You may have my machine...when you pry it from my cold dead hands

 

[toolmanbutch]

Its greed for me.I friggin love treasure hunting...always did.I have owned the best of the best since day one.I'm completely addicted...all in.If I'm at work I'm thinking about it.If I'm hunting I know its about to happen.Been the most passionate thing in my life next to my family.Now that they are hooked too....nirvana.

I hunt because I simply must.been this way for 25 years.I am blessed to have been particularily successful.You may have my machine...when you pry it from my cold dead hands

You may have my machine...when you pry it from my cold dead hands, Love it.

 

[Digger]

I'll admit what first got me to swinging a detector was the hopes for riches. For several years it was all about finding and selling.

I can't remember the first thing I found, since that was well over 30 years ago, but I can remember the first find that changed my detecting motives forever. I was hunting a vacant lot and in an area where I suspected a clothesline might have been when I pulled out a wedding set. Up until then I had never put a personal value on the loss of something I found, but it all changed with this find. I went and set on the curb thinking about how sad the person who lost this must have been. And, it also hit me that I had probably just paid for a new detector with this single find. This was in the 80's and it appraised at $1,360. Changed my detecting view forever.

 

[Dagger Woods]

As a kid I was always interested in swimming at the lake, which led me to snorkeling, which led me to scuba diving.... along with a healthy interest in local history which led me to diving shipwrecks, where I would find..... "stuff". That led me to the whole "treasure" thing, the books and magazines... and the advertisements. Which led me to metal detecting. As a kid I bought a Bounty Hunter TR500 and played with that for a while, which planted the seed. My first finds are lost to me now, 30-odd years later, but were no doubt of the bottle cap - cigarette foil - can slaw variety. Finds I can remember came from Crystal Crescent Beach - a few coins, a Bic lighter, a Joe Howe "memorial dollar", a hoop earring. I also remember trying to make a free-standing sand sieve out of window screening and 2x4's.... friggin' thing weighed about 50 lbs and broke the first time I used it...