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I bought a detector years ago, and don't think I've found even one coin with it yet.

I haven't had any luck with one either. Bought a detector and returned it to the store as I didn't find anything of note. Also, I rented a metal detector to comb the backyard of an old house I inherited where I thought someone might have buried gold in the backyard back when the government tried to get people to turn it in. Still nothing- so renting the detector was a waste of money and time.

All that said, I do want to share a story I heard from someone perhaps 4-5 years ago. He was driving cross country and had his metal detector with him. He got bored while driving across Kansas (understandable) so he saw an old abandoned building and decided to do a bit of detecting in that area. I forget which date he found but it was one of these two Buffalo nickels-- either a 1916-P double die or a 1918-D 8 over 7. I think he said the coin appeared to be about Fine or Very Fine, except that it had been in dirt for all these years. So he sent is off to PCGS to get it certified and it came back as authentic. What a find!

I imagine that people who live near the ocean and lakes (especially somewhat remote ones) probably have some interesting stories to tell.

Very nice on the Kansas story!

And funny that you mentioned the buried gold thing because I was telling someone recently about a manager that I had in 2008 that found a $5 gold piece a little bit under the ground at a new property that he had purchased, and it wasn't until I came to this site that I found out about that gold turn in in 1933!

I am an occasional metal dectectorist. I have several mid-range detectors that use when I have the time and places to swing. I usually do playgrounds (tot-lots) and parks and schools. There are some restrictions about digging on public property or disturbing anything contained within those areas, so a fine line what that actually means. Tot-lots where the playground equipment is located is usually wood chips, so no fear of being accused of disturbing that.
Anyways, I have never been skunked and not found something. Many pennies, quarters are next, dimes, then lastly is nickels. I do find jewelry, and I have found silver and gold, but that is rare.
I live in the suburbs of Minneapolis which has older areas and not many restrictions about detecting, but the neighborhoods are not the best to be out alone and distracted with detecting with an expensive piece of equipment.
My area is too new to even think of finding silver or gold coins - which has not yet happened and doubt it will.
I enjoy the hobby as it gets me out and always exciting to hear the machine beep, and dig with anticipation of finding something of value.

Glad to hear that someone has good luck detecting! And thanks for the location tip!

I've never tried it before, but I would think the area near abandoned mines (without going inside unless it is safe, of course) would be interesting. If you know there were several hundred or several thousand people who passed by the same area every day when coming and going and this was, say, 50-100 years ago, there might at least be some silver to be found.

Ditto for an abandoned fairground or amusement park.

Detecting is what got me into CRH'ing.......I hunt just about every weekend and I am headed back to England later this year to hunt there. There's nothing like turning over a clod of dirt and seeing shiny!

So what's been your best find to-date?

I had to share this, as it cracked me up. This was a question on Amazon about a metal detector, and a random person's response.

thecrazyone wrote:I had to share this, as it cracked me up. This was a question on Amazon about a metal detector, and a random person's response.

thecrazyone wrote:I had to share this, as it cracked me up. This was a question on Amazon about a metal detector, and a random person's response.

Good one. Reminds me of a football coach whose team just got pounded. The reporter asked "How do you feel about your team's execution?" To which he replied "I'm in favor of it!"

thecrazyone wrote:So what's been your best find to-date?

Non coin would be the CSA belt plate I found a few years ago. Coin wise I can't say I've found anything super valuable other than silver value. Jewelry would be gold and silver rings.

Of course everything was lost in a tragic boat accident....................

thecrazyone wrote:I had to share this, as it cracked me up. This was a question on Amazon about a metal detector, and a random person's response.

Hahahaha.........

Recyclersteve wrote: I do want to share a story I heard from someone perhaps 4-5 years ago. He was driving cross country and had his metal detector with him. He got bored while driving across Kansas (understandable) so he saw an old abandoned building and decided to do a bit of detecting in that area. I forget which date he found but it was one of these two Buffalo nickels-- either a 1916-P double die or a 1918-D 8 over 7. I think he said the coin appeared to be about Fine or Very Fine, except that it had been in dirt for all these years. So he sent is off to PCGS to get it certified and it came back as authentic. What a find!

I found the facts buried in my notes and want to clarify this post. The coin was a 1916-P double die. It was sent to NGC and came back graded "VF- Environmental Damage", but the coin looked really good to me. And, yes, it was found with a metal detector.

I live in a rural area. I have a gravel/dirt driveway as do many other people in the are. They always have coins in them.

I decided to go over the backyard of my new to me house today. Found nothing.

thecrazyone wrote:I decided to go over the backyard of my new to me house today. Found nothing.

It helps to turn the power on and make sure the power light indicator is illuminated!

Oh it was working fine, it detected my chicken wire and umbrella holder for the deck :/

I have found thousands of coins in the last 10 years detecting. My various injuries has slowed me quite a bit. I used to have a milkrun of a couple school playgrounds and a couple parks. Found too many copper cents!

TheJonasCollegeFund wrote:I have found thousands of coins in the last 10 years detecting. My various injuries has slowed me quite a bit. I used to have a milkrun of a couple school playgrounds and a couple parks. Found too many copper cents!

Nice! Maybe I just need to throw the detector in the Jeep and tote it around.

We're also doing some camping this wknd, so maybe that will be a good place to check as well!

Hopefully you have one of the better metal detectors. Lots of crappy ones out there. IMO, Garrett is the best for finding gold and silver. They are expensive, but worth it.

Cu Penny Hoarder wrote:Hopefully you have one of the better metal detectors. Lots of crappy ones out there. IMO, Garrett is the best for finding gold and silver. They are expensive, but worth it.

It's a Bounty Hunter Tracker 4. Entry-level but still fun and works.

I let the kids try it out, and unfortunately only found washers and screws. But, it still got them curious!

Today I tried detecting at a park near work on my lunch break. Only found bottlecaps, but still nice to try something new.

I wanted to share that we went camping this weekend, and my son found .28 in change. That's more than I have ever found using our detector! Maybe I should tell him .14 goes to the house, lol.

thecrazyone wrote:I wanted to share that we went camping this weekend, and my son found .28 in change. That's more than I have ever found using our detector! Maybe I should tell him .14 goes to the house, lol.

You are teaching him all about taxes at an early age.