Metal Detecting: Who's doing it?

Many people from US and UK are actually making a living out of it while doing it as a hobby. I heard many successful stories in treasurenet.com forum and this is the reason why I invested just over $100 for my first metal detector just this August.

I have a busy schedule and although my hand is itching every weekend, I am very careful in selecting locations because people here are not familiar with this detector thing. I only did it twice in different old beaches and so far I found 2 silver rings, a broken gold ring which I sold for $105 (detector paid), lots of new and old Philippine coins, but the most important find so far were the 6 pre-WWII silver coins when Phils was under US. Below are some samples I just taken a photo. I plan to hunt more when my buddy is available starting this month. It's hard to hunt alone.

Pre-WW2 things here are highly valuable. These coins can cost $15 to $25 a piece when sold to collectors


First row:
1942 five cents silver (obverse)
1944 once cent brass/copper reverse (low value)

Second row:
1944 five cents silver (reverse)
1932 five cents silver - highly valuable (reverse)

This metal detecting hobby is just so exciting and thrilling. You didn't know what you can find..

Most youtube videos are scripted but if you look at some metal detecting forums, especially treasurenet, you'll find out other people's finds that could encourage you to do it. There are good stories to read ... encouraging stories... and sometimes I'm jealous on their finds.. lol

There are a lot of good detecting spots in US and Europe because of your country's old history than ours. Abandoned parks, mining camps, etc are the best sites to do metal detecting. This hobby I think is just for everyone who has patience..

I spoke to this person via skype and he was really helpful in educating newbies on metal detecting...


It's not too late Steve. You can have a good detector for around a hundred dollars. Who knows, you could still find gold nuggets.. ..

Here in my country, both young and old people are playing with airsoft spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars for this crazy war games. Metal detecting here is almost unknown so there are plenty of good and unspoiled detecting spots.

I'm not sure where you are Alistair but St Albans is a good place to go near the Roman remains. I often see people in the fields there when the farmers have ploughed them. Someone found a large amount of gold coins there a few years back and if you don't find anything you can always have good stroll around the remains. I also have it on good advice there are enough pubs in St Albans to visit a different one every day of the year.

So a great place all round.


Many of the Romans had to leave Britain in a hurry and it's rumoured many of them buried their gold in the belief Rome would re-conquer it again one day. I think that's probably where these gold hordes are found over here and as you say, they'll be all over Europe and anywhere the Roman empire was.

Been detecting inland for about 5 years now and had some very nice finds including coins and plenty of interesting artifacts, had plenty of silver finds but still awaiting my first gold find. When you find a coin that is 800 years old the first thing you think of is who was the last person to hold this coin, it's a great feeling. The hobby keeps you fit and gets you out in the fresh air. I love history.

Got a mate Steve who has been detecting for over 30 years including Bronze Age, Roman, Viking, Saxon and tons of medieval stuff... and to top it all he found a fantastic gold hoard.
Here are a few of his finds...