Home Metal Detecting

What’s the best thing you have found? Or have actually witnessed someone else find?

Gam3rBlakeGam3rBlake Posts: 165 ✭✭✭
edited November 5, 2020 12:19AM in Metal Detecting

I’ve never been metal detecting except once as a kid, but after watching a YouTube video about a guy who found 30-40 French & Spanish silver coins from the 18th century buried about 8 inches deep on a riverbank I’m very curious about it. I’m thinking about buying a Garrett Ace 400 with my Amazon Rewards points but I’m not sure yet.

I could use some more inspiration...

So what’s your best find?

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Comments

  • Namvet69Namvet69 Posts: 8,623 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Gam3rBlake since you asked, approx 1 year ago I was in the woods in NJ, uphill from an old rr right of way, along the Delaware river. Flat ground with old growth trees, noticed lots of fresh water oyster shells, some broken early applied neck bottles and fired up my ATpro. I have dug more than 50 IHC, a dozen liberty and seated dimes and 2 killer wood splitting wedges that were forged out of railroad spikes. So there's that. Peace Roy

    BST: endeavor1967, synchr, kliao, Outhaul, Donttellthewife, U1Chicago, ajaan, mCarney1173, SurfinHi, MWallace, Sandman70gt, mustanggt, Pittstate03, Lazybones, Walkerguy21D, coinandcurrency242 , thebigeng, Collectorcoins, JimTyler, USMarine6, Elkevvo, Coll3ctor, Yorkshireman, CUKevin, ranshdow, CoinHunter4, bennybravo, Centsearcher, braddick, Windycity, ZoidMeister, mirabela, JJM, RichURich, Bullsitter, jmski52

  • Bayard1908Bayard1908 Posts: 3,975 ✭✭✭✭

    If you expect to find anything like that, literally a once in a lifetime find, you'll quickly be disappointed by this hobby. If you buy a Garrett Ace detector, you'll find modern change and if you get lucky you might find a silver dime or two. After years of developing your skills, including research for site selection, and the acquisition of a better detector, you might be able to find silver coins with some regularity.

  • Bayard1908Bayard1908 Posts: 3,975 ✭✭✭✭

    Also, if you actually want to make some good finds, I suggest you forget about getting a Garrett detector and instead buy a Minelab Vanquish or Minelab Equinox.

  • Ron1968Ron1968 Posts: 45 ✭✭

    I’ve also found one $5 gold and. Silver Morgan. Several Barbers silver Roosevelt’s and two Mercury dimes also. I’m retired and spend a lot of time swinging my detector.

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    2300 Religious Medals in two holes 12 feet apart and a $5.00 gold 1878

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    Nice finds Guys............I am fortunate to live on the shore of Lake Erie and have found many items over the years. Some of the best were, over 800 coins trapped behind very large boulders that were covered with sand for years and then a bad storm removed the sand and behind the rocks we found over 800 coins trapped including large cents, bust half dime, seated dimes, barbers, silver and new coins. Gold and silver rings, religious medals and so much more. Coins were trapped in the slate, standing straight up. Also found a silver cob 1655, a barber half just laying on the slate. In two weeks we found over 40 rings 28 were gold the rest silver and many others were trashed. Found over 20 reales including a 4 reale on the shore line since 1980 . A friend of mine who showed me what to do and what to look for found a 1794 dime, Pine Tree Shilling and a 1799 US silver dollar. He had a 5 year jump on me.. To the day he is sorry he showed me what to look for..

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Ron1968 ... Were the gold and silver coins all from the same area? Or many sites you have searched? Cheers, RickO

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HiBucky ... Very interesting... That method is similar to dredging for nuggets in a stream...Cheers, RickO

  • Ron1968Ron1968 Posts: 45 ✭✭

    Wow! You guys have great finds!! Ricko, I found the $5 and the
    Morgan in the same property in Plumas County. I have two 1908 Barber dimes I found on my own property and one 1906 Barber. One of the 1908 dimes was with the 1920 D WLH. I spend a lot of time detecting, so far II feel I’ve been very lucky. Metal detecting has gotten me interested in US coins. I’ve found at least 30 to 40 wheat pennies ranging from 1910 to the 50’s. I have yet to find any type of silver quarter!!! I have found dozens of quarters dated to 1965 but not a minute before!! Lol

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    exactly like looking for gold.. with the right storm the sand is removed from the slate and the waves bring all the metal together that is in the sand....... Nails, boldts, small iron tiny scrap, gold links, silver rings... So much metal is brought together a detector is useless. So I grab my knife and start at one end of the rust pile. Some metal rust piles are 20 feet long and three feet wide. Silver coins, rings, gold and silver , links, gold chains, silver rings barbers, seated and all kinds of silver are mixed in..Its like a treasure , its crazy... Happens about once or twice every 5 years in about 5 different locations on the beach...

  • That’s incredible!

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HiBucky... Wow.. that is an amazing array of finds...How exciting to find one of those troves. Cheers, RickO

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    I am lucky to be in the area I am .. Plus been at this hobbie for a long time.. Thank s for the like...

  • That’s a good detecting experience!

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @pocketpiececommems.... That is a great experience.... Thanks for sharing that story... What a thrill, for all involved. Cheers, RickO

  • DBSTrader2DBSTrader2 Posts: 3,444 ✭✭✭✭

    HiBucky: Not asking for any that would offer any clues or give away specific locations, but do you have any pics you can share of what the slate & metal rust piles you described look like? Just curious, as I'm trying to get a mental picture of them. I've fantasized about getting a detector & making some finds of my own, but likely never will...... I just live vicariously from all these posts..... Thx!

  • Gam3rBlakeGam3rBlake Posts: 165 ✭✭✭

    @AUandAG said:
    Two gold nuggets, each over an ounce and a half. Years and a thousand miles apart.
    bob :)
    Here's one I can find a picture of:

    Oh wow that’s incredible! I had no idea that gold nuggets of that size could be found with a metal detector. I always assumed that stuff was so deep down that you’d need heavy machinery to get it.

    I think that gold is worth even more in nugget form than if you melted it down into gold bars/rounds.

    Great find!

  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,515 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh wow that’s incredible! I had no idea that gold nuggets of that size could be found with a metal detector. I always assumed that stuff was so deep down that you’d need heavy machinery to get it.

    I think that gold is worth even more in nugget form than if you melted it down into gold bars/rounds.

    Great find!

    It was only a few inches down. And yes it sold for about twice the price of gold. The bigger they are, or more unusual they are, the bigger the premium.

    bob :)

    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • Hey everyone New here. I found this 1892S Barber Quarter back in 2005 .

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SensibleSal66.... Welcome aboard... and that is a really nice find. Cheers, RickO

  • I'm going to try this again . full pic that is .

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @SensibleSal66....The picture is a tad blurry, however, there appears to be some very interesting pieces in there. A couple look like gold and that large 'shield' is intriguing. Some better, individual pictures would be welcome. Cheers, RickO

  • @ricko I'll try this week . Mery Xmas all !

  • @HiBucky - wow! Nice finds! I recognize that Elizabeth 1st hammered silver pierced coin from when I detected in England. Her portrait is always the first to wear off so actually the fact that you can see her a bit is a plus! Her reign was 1558 to 1603 so check the date again.

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    Ok .. Could be wrong on the date. This was found in the Southern Tier of NYS near the pa border near Wellsville NY. The way I understood it was (I could be wrong) this coin is not dated the first coins of this series as I recall when I looked it up was the date 1540 had no date .. All other were dated after that... When I found it i thought it was a reale but was stunned when I look close. The coin may be worth about $35.00 as my buddy was looking at the coin he turned and dug a NYS Belt Plate worth $700.00 go figger . This find is on you tube both of them as they came out of the ground....

  • @HiBucky ... It really makes you wonder about the history of it. It obviously was worn as an adornment, either as a necklace or on a bracelet. Was it passed down through someone's family? Was it brought over during the 15th /16th centuries, or later by a later British immigrant? Gotta love metal detecting!

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    The foundation was on a 1850 map.. Just a few stones were visible. So the coin was about 300 years old when it came over. Who knows why ! I have found a cob on the shores of lake Erie and about 20 reals. All told In this one area of the lake some guys had a 2 year head start on me and found many Spanish reales. They found a 1794- 0r 1795 dime they ran to the coin store and sole it for $1200.00 .. I think it was still wet..

  • I wish that I lived in your area! How cool! I live on Whidbey Island in Washington state and there's nothing older than 20th century coins if you can find those. Lots of forest that has always been forest. That's why I've gone to the UK to detect. I would love it if there were detecting hunts /tours in areas of the US. I'm sure that there's some but I don't know of them yet. 😁

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    Just to talk .. We had this old grove that the coins were only a few inches deep. My dad was hunting a few 100 yards away from me and when I finally saw him, he said " Jim i thought I had a hole in my pocket the coins are everywhere! He was finding seated dimes and half dimes down a inch or two .. Soil was like rock .Best seated day for me was 8 seated dimes, half dimes and a seated quarter. I have 3 seated halves found over the years including a 1805 bust dime.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HiBucky .... WOW!! If I hit a site like that, I would even set up lights so I could search when the sun went down... Amazing. Cheers, RickO

  • Clackamas1Clackamas1 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I found a meteorite, actually 3, gold nugget hunting.

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    [ want a meteorite and I want gold nuggets the size of bowling balls. Nice find.. Can you post a pic of the space rock..

  • @HiBucky said:
    Just to talk .. We had this old grove that the coins were only a few inches deep. My dad was hunting a few 100 yards away from me and when I finally saw him, he said " Jim i thought I had a hole in my pocket the coins are everywhere! He was finding seated dimes and half dimes down a inch or two .. Soil was like rock .Best seated day for me was 8 seated dimes, half dimes and a seated quarter. I have 3 seated halves found over the years including a 1805 bust dime.

    Wow! That would make my day (month, year,) for sure!

  • @Clackamas1 said:
    I found a meteorite, actually 3, gold nugget hunting.

    That's something that I would love to find. I saw a documentary about that once and they were finding them on huge flat expanses of frozen lakes. They stuck out against the white surfaces.

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    OK... New goal... find a meteorite....always wanted to find one, just never dedicated the effort... Cheers, RickO

  • 1630Boston1630Boston Posts: 13,772 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @ricko,
    I think there was a large meteorite impact not too far from your location :) .


    Panther Mountain is one of the Catskill High Peaks, located in the Town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York. At approximately 3,720 feet (1,130 m) in elevation, it is the 18th highest in the range. A combination of factors has led geologists to believe the mountain is on the site of an ancient meteorite impact crater.

    The nearly complete circle made by Esopus and Woodland creeks around Panther gives a rough indication where the crater walls were

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  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @1630Boston .... Thanks, that is not far from me.... will see what springtime brings...Snow and ice and rough terrain are not good for these old bones. :D;) Cheers, RickO

  • Clackamas1Clackamas1 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HiBucky said:
    [ want a meteorite and I want gold nuggets the size of bowling balls. Nice find.. Can you post a pic of the space rock..

    Sure - I will try this eve when I get home.

  • Clackamas1Clackamas1 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The bomb - 3 meteorites found. Crazy thing is I found two in one day but different falls. The third I don't even remember I just thought it was a hot rock and kept it.

  • Clackamas1Clackamas1 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited January 14, 2021 9:42PM

    @ricko said:
    OK... New goal... find a meteorite....always wanted to find one, just never dedicated the effort... Cheers, RickO

    You need to hunt deserts. They break down quickly with moisture. I found mine is high desert conditions. One was actually on the surface. It could however have been there for 5000 years.

  • HiBuckyHiBucky Posts: 581 ✭✭✭

    Nice finds guys....I know they have different names and types, what are yours? Are they magnetic ..?

    JIm

  • Clackamas1Clackamas1 Posts: 730 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @HiBucky said:
    Nice finds guys....I know they have different names and types, what are yours? Are they magnetic ..?

    JIm

    Oh yes they are magnetic. They key is the fusion crust to identification. One of these is really cool under a loop with melt flow lines. None of these are FE/NI rich, they are all stony and that is where my knowledge ends.

  • basetsbbasetsb Posts: 508 ✭✭✭✭

    I found this silver thimble in a backyard.

    @basetsb_coins on Instagram

  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭

    That thimble is a nice find... Did you research it at all? Looks like some markings on it. Cheers, RickO

  • basetsbbasetsb Posts: 508 ✭✭✭✭

    @ricko said:
    That thimble is a nice find... Did you research it at all? Looks like some markings on it. Cheers, RickO

    I didn't. The owner of the property wanted to keep it, I didn't have the opportunity to research it.

    @basetsb_coins on Instagram

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