Bad knee leads to love of MD

laurentyvan

I've been suffering from a painful knee and thigh that lets me walk only in slow, halting steps.

So on a vacation to Rhode Island to visit my brother I decided to have my first go at detecting, just the flotsam and jetsam of the atlantic shoreline.

My youngest son's 6 year-old metal detector has stood in the closet for 99% of that time so I figured to finally put it to some use.
The pace of walking while detecting perfectly mirrors my current ability to walk, so I would look more normal than not.

Found about $3.50 all in modern US coinage except for a Mercury dime that is thoroughly encrusted.

But in the act of exploring a couple of beaches I discovered I loved detecting. I love the process of sweeping and analyzing the sound types that coins vs trash create.
The thrill of anticipation and discovery is almost hypnotic, and almost better than that is the social dialogue you have as people
stop to ask the question: "What's the best thing you've found"?or endless variations on the theme of discovery and the cost of a detector and how they work.

As a total neophyte I always answered "just pocket change" or instead told a detecting story I had heard
or read so as to demonstrate what was improbable but possible.

The magic was always glinting in their eyes as they asked their questions,
these folks I met, really wanting to believe that you could indeed get lucky.

Can't wait to get out again and catch some of that magic...

pocketpiececommems

Be Careful You may come down with detecting fever next. I don't know of a cure for it.

laserart

What type (brand, model) of detector were you using?

ricko

I think he already has 'the bug' - and yes, incurable.... and only relieved by more detecting... Cheers, RickO

BillyKingsley

Sometimes you have to look for the good in bad things, and I think you have found something very good to take from the bad. Good luck on future hunts!

laurentyvan

What type (brand, model) of detector were you using?

A Bounty Hunter "fast tracker". I know nothing about this brand (or any other), it was probably around $100 years ago when we bought it.

laurentyvan

I was out again this morning in a park where the village has firework displays and fund-raising carnivals.

Quite a difference digging grass and dirt as opposed to beach sand.

Broken belt buckles, nails, trash and about .40 in modern coinage.

Where are your favorite type of spots to dig?

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Where are your favorite type of spots to dig? >>

The yards of old Victorian homes.

Or even older sites when possible, but in my hometown the Victorian yards are about the oldest sites with existing buildings. The colonial era sites with surviving buildings are all off limits. The only way to hunt colonial sites around here is to go relic hunting and crash around on more remote sites where the buildings long ago vanished. These are often overgrown and a bit more difficult to find. Not so heavy on coins, either, but when a coin does turn up on such a site, it's a keeper. For coinshooting, the Victorian homes are some of the best real estate because they offer enough coins and silver to keep things interesting, and some of the finds will be obsolete coinage.

I also like the sidewalk areas and parks in the older part of town.

metalmeister

Hope yor knee feels better. Been there friend.