Metal detector

[balz]

My dad has some land that 50 years ago was an hotel with a small ski resort. I was thinking about buying a metal detector and try to find some silver coins.

Any recommandation? I am on a limited budget.

Thanks

[shinnosuke]

Given your limited budget, why don't you borrow one before you go all in on a purchase? Know anybody who has one?

[balz]

UNfortunately I know nobody who has one...

[balz]

Would you have any recommandation as for what I should be looking for, even if it is trying to rent one? Thanks

[Diggin4copper]

Where are you located?

[balz]

Canada

[Mercuryman]

Garret Ace 250, just got myself one last week. Under $250 and a decent detector

[balz]

Yeah I did some research and those are the two that I think are interesting for a beginner:

1) Garret Ace 250
2) Bounty Hunter IV

The thing is that the second one is half the price...

From a stricly cash point of view, do you think there is any chance to recover the price of the metal detector in North America? In Europe, there is A LOT to search for, but not in North America...

250$, this is still 5 oz. of silver!

[gettin copper]

metal detecting has a huge learning curve. Be ready to dig alot of junk, people spent months before finding one peice of silver. I've had both those machines you mention. You have to enjoy it has a hobby finding clad, pulltabs, and other junk or dont bother.

Your also gonna need a solid trowel and a good pinpointer, or your really gonna be a "blind squirel". I'd maybe put an add on craiglist looking to rent or borrow one in your area. Maybe someone has two, and you can hunt the property, or local park and split the finds or something. If you were in my area and wanted to borrow my bounty hunter 5, i'd giggle and gladly give it to you cause I'd know exactly what your in for.

goodluck!

[Thogey]

I have a tesoro lobo super trac. It's a badd ass MD.

My back is broken and all I find is CRAP, JUNK, DUNNAGE! I can detect a fragmant of a piece of tin foil 20 inches deep.

I hate this thing!

[shinnosuke]

I have a tesoro lobo super trac. It's a badd ass MD.

My back is broken and all I find is CRAP, JUNK, DUNNAGE! I can detect a fragmant of a piece of tin foil 20 inches deep.

I hate this thing!

Somebody cue the violins! Wah...wah...wah. Thogey can outmoan (is that even a word?) anyone on this site. And we all enjoy it so much.

[Coppercrazy]

It sounds like you have a great location to search! I say go ahead and buy one,give it a go if you get fed up and want to sell the detector,you will be able to recover about 1/2 what you paid...in fact if youre okay with used check ebay and craigslist-you never know...but an old hotel/resort location sounds like a fun spot to detect that might just get you some nice finds.Also hit little swimming holes,beach type places(im assuming you have lakes and stuff nearby) good luck! no advice as to what detector to buy though...

[balz]

metal detecting has a huge learning curve. Be ready to dig alot of junk, people spent months before finding one peice of silver. I've had both those machines you mention. You have to enjoy it has a hobby finding clad, pulltabs, and other junk or dont bother.

Your also gonna need a solid trowel and a good pinpointer, or your really gonna be a "blind squirel". I'd maybe put an add on craiglist looking to rent or borrow one in your area. Maybe someone has two, and you can hunt the property, or local park and split the finds or something. If you were in my area and wanted to borrow my bounty hunter 5, i'd giggle and gladly give it to you cause I'd know exactly what your in for.

goodluck!

Thanks for the tips... So basically you're saying I won't get any revenue from that... I could break my back ... for nothing basically, right?

I'm not sure about spending 200$ on something that I may use only a handful of times and not been sure what I can find (that was a very small ski resort with like one or two trails and a small hotel)...

I thought it was pretty easy: you walk around a trail, you spot old silver quarters and voilà!

Hmm... not sure what to think about this now

[balz]

It sounds like you have a great location to search! I say go ahead and buy one,give it a go if you get fed up and want to sell the detector,you will be able to recover about 1/2 what you paid...in fact if youre okay with used check ebay and craigslist-you never know...but an old hotel/resort location sounds like a fun spot to detect that might just get you some nice finds.Also hit little swimming holes,beach type places(im assuming you have lakes and stuff nearby) good luck! no advice as to what detector to buy though...

The problem is even if I can sell back my metal detector for 100$ (assuming I paid 200$) I'd need to find 100$ worth of stuff there... which is not sure...

Maybe I'll need to learn a bit more about how those metal detector works. It seems it's not that easy to find silver coins!

[Treetop]

A ski resort? Its probably scattered like crazy but I bet there is more lost jewelry then silver coins...

[PennyBoy]

A ski resort? Its probably scattered like crazy but I bet there is more lost jewelry then silver coins...

That's what I was thinking! I'd be all over that!

[balz]

That was a very small ski resort... one trail or two I think.. more of an hotel with some skiing... and a lake close to it.

I'd need to be able to rent the thing cause I won't need more than 2-3 days to cover the whole area.

Man, I just can't believe how difficult it is to find such metal detector to rent...

[Thogey]

I have a tesoro lobo super trac. It's a badd ass MD.

My back is broken and all I find is CRAP, JUNK, DUNNAGE! I can detect a fragmant of a piece of tin foil 20 inches deep.

I hate this thing!

Somebody cue the violins! Wah...wah...wah. Thogey can outmoan (is that even a word?) anyone on this site. And we all enjoy it so much.

[shinnosuke]

I have a tesoro lobo super trac. It's a badd ass MD.

My back is broken and all I find is CRAP, JUNK, DUNNAGE! I can detect a fragmant of a piece of tin foil 20 inches deep.

I hate this thing!

Somebody cue the violins! Wah...wah...wah. Thogey can outmoan (is that even a word?) anyone on this site. And we all enjoy it so much.

That's hilarious. Speaking of violins, it looks like I am 2nd fiddle to Ray. You gotta go West to get him. If he stops posting then I'll know that you're coming for me. Don't forget that I've got a silent ninja of death on my side, and now I return this totally hijacked thread back to the scheduled programming.

[IdahoCopper]

metal detecting has a huge learning curve. Be ready to dig alot of junk, people spent months before finding one peice of silver. I've had both those machines you mention. You have to enjoy it has a hobby finding clad, pulltabs, and other junk or dont bother.

Your also gonna need a solid trowel and a good pinpointer, or your really gonna be a "blind squirel". I'd maybe put an add on craiglist looking to rent or borrow one in your area. Maybe someone has two, and you can hunt the property, or local park and split the finds or something. If you were in my area and wanted to borrow my bounty hunter 5, i'd giggle and gladly give it to you cause I'd know exactly what your in for.

goodluck!

In 1985 I was living on the south coast of Australia, and bought a metal detector. I went to the beach and on my 1st sweep found an enamelled copper ring. All the rest of the day I found pull-tabs.

Later I went to the gold areas near Ballarat and found lots of lead bullets in the gold diggings areas. Later I learned that was a sign that the area had not been searched with detectors. Back in the day, black powder arms were unloaded by firing into a hill every night, to keep the damp from causing misfires of a two or three day old load. Dang, there was a good chance of finding gold nuggets there, if I had only stayed there camping a day or two.

[cesariojpn]

The problem is even if I can sell back my metal detector for 100$ (assuming I paid 200$) I'd need to find 100$ worth of stuff there... which is not sure...

Buy the metal detector not as an investment, but as a hobby. Hobbies will cost you money, so treat it as such.

[balz]

The problem is even if I can sell back my metal detector for 100$ (assuming I paid 200$) I'd need to find 100$ worth of stuff there... which is not sure...

Buy the metal detector not as an investment, but as a hobby. Hobbies will cost you money, so treat it as such.

Thanks. I think you may be right: not that much money to be made from this *hobby*.

Thanks to all