I recently learned that a decade ago, an amateur hobbyist with a store-bought metal detector unearthed the £3.2 million ($4.5 million) Staffordshire Hoard. I began reading more on the subject and quickly found that many people actually pick up the activity in hopes of discovering the jackpot.
Journalist Emily Yoffe, for example, even called metal detecting "the world's worst hobby" after she failed to find her own treasure. However, I think that—as with most areas in life—if you enter it with a results-orientated mindset, you'll grow so frustrated by the constant beeping and let downs, you'll give up metal detecting as quickly as Yoffe. It's the process that matters.
The subreddit r/MetalDetecting highlights it perfectly. This online community has enthusiasts celebrating every step of their journey; whether it's a miniature of Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants or an old Soviet motorcycle! Below are some of the most popular posts on the sub. Enjoy.
This post may include affiliate links.
So Excited! Was Toying With The Simplex's Settings In My Field Last Night. Found My First 10k. Grad Year 1967. My Brother And I Hunted Him Down By Initials. Called This Morning And He And His Wife Cried With Joy. His Mom Bought This For Him As She Was Passing Of Cancer. Was Stolen In The 80s
Wow, This Was Really Cool. Landlady Saw Me Metal Detecting In The Yard And Told Me She Had Lost A Treasured Silver Ring She Got In Bali 5 Years Ago In Her Garden. I Found It In An Hour, She Was Almost Crying
The founder of Metal Detecting WWII Battlegrounds, Chris, has been 'beeping' for artifacts since 2010, and he thinks getting into metal detecting does not have to be hard or expensive. "If you are a beginner, it's better to start with a low-price range detector ($200-$300)," Chris told Bored Panda. "Not only will you save some money, but these machines are also really easy to get the hang of."
According to Chris, more expensive machines require more time and practice to understand how to properly operate them. "Getting to know your equipment is essential to optimize your chances to unearth valuable objects. If you do not take the time to familiarize yourself with your equipment, there is a big chance that you will not find what you are after and frustrate yourself out in no time. So take your first steps wisely when you seriously want to get into metal detecting and you might just be off to a really smooth start."
I Just Sent Home "Jr" To California. The Family Are Thrilled And I Can Rest Easy Knowing The Right Thing Is Done
It's Finally Happened. My First Hammered. Henry III Silver Hammered Coin ~1250, England
The WWII enthusiast, who also documents his expeditions on YouTube, said a typical metal detecting session starts even before going outside. "Make sure you do your homework, your research. Pinpoint a good spot and try to arrange permission to detect the land you want to explore," Chris suggested. "Do yourself a favor, check the weather forecast, and gear up accordingly."
Only then do you go to the site. "You drive off to your location and walk the last bits. Time to set up your equipment. Don't rush and make sure you get all the settings right," Chris explained.
Usually, he puts down his bag and metal detects around it to make sure his resources are always close. "If the spot turns out to be a bust, take your stuff and move a bit further away before trying the same principle again."
"Sometimes, I also keep my backpack on and walk a certain trajectory while swinging my detector in hopes of finding valuable objects. This is especially a good idea if the area you visit is vast and still unknown to you," he said. "You might discover something great right at the beginning. Or you might have to be patient and find something at the very end of the day. There are also times when you don't find anything. But that is just part of the game. You can not always be lucky and that is what it is all about in the end, being lucky."
"I usually unearth WWII relics because this era interests me the most [and I dedicate most of my efforts to it]. Sometimes, however, I encounter older objects, like coins or buckles that are hundreds of years old. This, of course, depends on the age of the land you are exploring."
First Time Metal Detecting Found A Over 100 Year Old Time Capsule!
Found 320 Year Old Silver Today In The Netherlands!
Steve, honey, you don’t Walk around with a magnet. It’s a metal detector. By the way, gold isn’t magnetic either.
metal detectors detect metal, not magnets or magnetized things - METAL... for the naysayer who is trying to spoil the fun.
Its something called the lenz effect. It does some stuff with electricity fields and wham bam boom you got some silver.
Load More Replies...Samuel Andrew Hardy determined that it is possible to estimate how many people are metal-detecting, how much detecting they do, and how many historic or cultural objects they find, by analyzing publicly available (open-source) evidence from online forums, social networks, and elsewhere.
In his 2017 study, Hardy established that there are around 2,288,188 licit and illicit detectorists worldwide (excluding the US) and each of them devotes 286 hours to detecting per year, digging up 314 material finds.
And while many of these people are not in it for the money, a report by media organization Business Africa found that for some amateur metal detectorists in Africa, the rewards could be life-changing.
For example, a treasure-hunter in Burkina Faso, named only Souleymane, said he had found enough gold to purchase three plots of land, three motorbikes, and three more metal detectors... in addition to putting his 10 children into school.
My Buddy Threw His Detector Down And Started This Wild And Crazy Dance. I Tried To Ask Him What He Found, But He Couldn't Speak. He Had To Point To It
Bob Is Heading Home To Wisconsin Tomorrow
But according to Chris of Metal Detecting WWII Battlegrounds, the right mindset for this hobby is to not expect too much in terms of discoveries.
"When you go out on a hunt, you should look forward to spending a nice day outdoors," he said. "Look for a good company and you can be sure to have some good laughs. A partner also helps to keep each other motivated, especially if you are not finding much at first. Keeping a positive spirit like this protects you from disappointments."
"Usually, I make the greatest discoveries when I expect them the least. I found ancient coin treasures on forested hills where fierce battles took place during WWII while I didn't discover any WWII items there at all. So keep an open, positive mind and keep swinging that detector. Accept that you will not always find treasures, but there are more aspects that make a hunt exciting and fun."
Finally! It Wasn’t A Pull Tab
Motorcycle L-300. According To Archaeologists, This Motorbike Was Hidden By The Retreating Units Of The Soviet Army In The Summer Of 1941
The Ring I Found Earlier This Year Has Been Identified As Late Medieval Dating Around 1450. Due To Its Age And Material I Am Obliged To Report It And Auction It To Museums
The ownership thing: many may not agree, but I think handing it in is the right thing to do. To a museum who will share it with the public for all to enjoy. And there are some grey areas with ownership. Case in point: I found a large piece of river smoothed pounamu about 0.5m depth down, in my garden several years ago. Clearly put there at some point, as I'm not in the right area for pounamu or river stones. It's size was a factor too, so I contacted the local iwi group in charge of taonga and heritage, with photos etc as pounamu belongs to the iwi, with some small exceptions for small pebbles etc. They discussed it and decided that due to my open honesty about finding it and wanting to return it, that it should stay with me, as pounamu stays with those it chooses along the way of its own journey. Almost everyone asked me why the hell did you tell them, just keep it, or sell it blah. Even if that wasn't illegal, I still wouldn't have as some things have a higher meaning than my wants
Random Find Of The Day... Squidward!
Found In My Front Yard, Live About 5 Miles From Where The Carnival Was Held! One Of My Favorite Finds So Far
What I Thought Was A Roman Grot Turned Out To Be A Heavily Oxidised Denarius Of Titus Dating To Around 80ad!
Last Year I Found This Silver Annular Brooch. It’s Been Disclaimed As Treasure So I Can Now Wear It For The First Time In 400 Years!
That's one of the things I like about the 'Treasure' legislation: Finds of certain type you have to bring for assessment, and if declared "treasure" for quantity/value/historical importance you are obliged to offer it for auction/sale --- but if falling short of that, you have a free expert evaluation by people that really care and give you the maximum background details.
Dug This Lovely Small Viking Era Broach From Finland
Take A Look At What I Found! A Dream Come True! The Gard From A Viking Sword Found In A Field In Norway. Look At The Intricate Design On This One. Found With Fisher F75+
This Silver Pendant I Found Metal Detecting Is Dated 227 Years Ago Today
Y'all Are Always Posting Damn Coins And I'm Digging Up Bottled Tomato Sauce
Lady Of Lake Washington Seattle. This One Was Recovered In 12 Feet Of Water. Who Was She? Where Was She From? And What Was Life Like Then?
Okay. Now That I've Stopped Screaming "Holy S Holy S* Holy S" I Can Actually Post This. I Just Found This Absolute Stunner Out The Back Of A Supermarket In Scotland With A Garret Ace 150. Ran Home To Clean It Detector In Hand Lol
One Of My Favorite Finds. Wwii Paratrooper Wrist Compass
Easily My Weirdest Find
A rapper somewhere is missing their grill. I imagine they are pretty pissed about it too.
From 1 Beach With My Girlfriend The Other Night. Both Rings Are 18k, 1 With Diamonds. That’s 7 Rings In Total! All Were Shallow With The Equinox 800 And 15x12 Coil
Metal Detecting In Australia, Minus 2 Gold Rings I Returned
I Was Flinging Out A Cast Net And Lost A Ring. This Lady Was Out With Her Detector In 16 Hours Notice And Found It For Me!
So, I Was Advised By An Elderly Resident That A Local School Field ( School Is No Longer Open), That It Used To Be An Army Camp. Took My Detector Over There And Over The Course Of Two, 2 Hour Trips, I've Had These Coins. All Dating Back To Victorian Era, Up To Both King Georges. Wow!
Local Police And Detectives Are Here. Called State Police Who Are Getting The Medical Examiners Office Involved. Human Bone Fragment + Handgun + Concrete Slab
Found My First Bit Of Silver!
First Time Hitting Gold! Definitely Did The Gold Dance In My Head. Weighs 5g
Parents Gave Me A Metal Detector. First Time Ever Detecting, First Beep I Heard. Found An Earring I Lost As A Little Girl (Probably 15 Years Ago) About 2inches Down
This Brooch I Found While Metal Detecting
I Found This American Coin Far Away From Its Country, In A Quiet Field While Metal Detecting In Scotland
Found This Pretty Brass Lipstick Tube With Bright Fuscia Lipstick Still Inside
Today Was A Good Day. 1715 Gold Guinea, And Two 1696 Silver Sixpences
Was About To Give Up When I Found This Mega Upvote
Wow. Just Wow. 23 Grams Of Almost Pure Silver. Napoleon The Third 1867. First Real Silver Coin And One Of My Best Finds Ever. Found In The Neterlands Of All Places
Pulling A Gold Ring Is A Great Feeling. Popped This Sucker Out This Morning
All My Silver Rings Found In 2019, Dated From 1900 To 2019
Why Shouldn't I Keep It
My First Metal Detector Find In Vietnam!
Might Only Be $.02 Worth Of Slag Metal, But My 5 Yr Old Thought It Was A Million Dollars Worth Of Aztec Gold!! He’s Hooked
Found This Brooch Today I’m Guessing It’s Victorian. I Think The Stones Are Amber And It Looks Like It Used To Be Gold Plated
I Found My First Silver Thimble Last Week. Today I Restored It, And Can Use It For The First Time In Over 100 Years
Best Clump Shot Ever!! Turned Out To Be A Turn Of The Century Gold Ring With Diamond!! Winter Detecting Paid Off
My 7 Year Old Son Found This Today And Two Pennies. We Bought Him A Kids Metal Detector For Christmas
Found A Set Of Silver Rings This Morning!
First Ring Found!!!! Too Bad It's One I Already Own Lol... Lost It Two Years Ago At A Friend's Place, And I Wasn't Into Metal Detecting. Had The Idea Today To Go Back With My At Pro And As Always, She Did Not Disappoint! I Know It's Just A Tungsten Ring, But It Is My Wedding Ring And Means A Lot
Aww that’s so sweet. You found your wedding ring, doesn’t matter if it was made of tin. It’s special to you.
My Best Find In 3 Years Of Detecting, A Groat Of Philip The Fair Minted In 1295!
Found Metal Detecting In My Backyard
Another carnival badge--okay, I need to look these things up and see when they got started and when they ended.
Went Out To Take My Mind Of The Corona Virus, Found This Old Lead Seal
Whilst Metal Detecting In The UK, I Found A Usaf Dogtag Belonging Peekskill A Pilot From Belmar Nj. He And His 4 Brothers Had Been Posted Over Seas In The Early 1940s, He Sadly Passed Away In The Late 80s, But I Was Lucky To Trace His Daughter And Return The Tags To His Family In New York
I Thought My Day At My Civil War Permission Yesterday Was Nuts But That Was Nothing Compared To Today's Finds. Found A Creek On The Back Of The Property And Decided To Detect Down In It And That Was A Great Decision Apparently
Found This Russian Ww2 Tt-33 Pistol In The Forest
I've Been Wanting To Find A Skeleton Key. I Got More Than I Bargained For Today
First Gold After Detecting 6+ Years. 1871 Victoria Half Sovereign
Found My First Gold Today!
Finding Forgotten Easter Eggs At The Park
We have one very similar that was lost in our house during an indoor Easter egg hunt on a rainy Easter weekend when our son was little. I know our cats knocked it under or behind something but our son it now almost 20 year old and we have never found the d@mn thing - we still get a laugh about it every year!
Not Gold, But Still A Really Cool Find!
1 Year Of Tabs Next To 1 Year Of Gold
Roman Snake Motif Ring - Favorite Find I’ve Ever Made (Southern France)
Found This Stainless Steel Michael Kors Watch Totally Buried In The Mud And Amazingly Was Still Ticking Away!
I Dug Up 4 Rings Today!
My Son And I Pulled This Out Of Our Front Yard Yesterday. Appears To Be An Old Toffee Hammer From (Presumably) One Of The Oldest Candy Companies In Western Canada
I Found A Dagger!!! How Old Do You Guys Think It Is? Can Anyone Identify It?
5y old seems a reasonable guess... it's a dagger with a mixture of medieval and older style elements, with no background context (e.g. a roman sword found in the US = exceedingly improbable, found in Denmark = possible) to make any sense of it. It doesn't even fit the tiny hole it's stuck in here?
Camping, Metal Detecting, And Gold Nuggets. Not Many Hobbies Pay For Themselves
Found This Metal Detecting In New Hampshire. Small But Super Heavy
Looks like a lamp. I think it's upside down. It should hang from the Griffin-thingy, which was probably on a bracket that went on a wall
A Watch Collection
Nice Little Nuggy With The Equinox 800 Yesterday. Gold-1, Sensitivity 22. Approx 6in Deep In The Victorian Golden Triangle (Australia). 12.4ish Grams After A Clean
A Handful Of History! My Silver Hammered Coins Dug Up Over The Last Few Years
Cool Find From The Backyard - 1930s Cast Lead Mickey Mouse
Found My Father In Law's Gold Ring He Lost 10 Years Ago In His Garden. First Gold Find And I Don't Get To Keep It!
Gold In The Snow!!!! What A Magical Day. A Medieval Gold Hammered Quarter Noble Of Richard II, Circa 1377-1399ce
Found This Today
I understand the owners wanting to bury all traces of the prequels. I don't support digging them up!
A Treasure From Sudetian Churchhouse Gard. It Was Propably Hidden By Locals Before Germans Were Forced To Move Out Of The Czech Borderlands. It Took Us Full Two Hours To Dig All Out
Finally My First Ring After 2 Years Of Detecting!
You Take Your Centennial Belt Buckle Or Your 500 Year Old Coins. I Found Some Jeans Shorts With A Kia Keyfob In The Pocket!
The Oldest License Plate I’ve Ever Found
Ferrari, Lesney Collection, England
This dude found a whole CAR while metal detecting! (A small car, but a car)
First Find Of 2021 And It’s A Medieval Coin!
Over The Moon With This Find
My First Big Hit! 250 Years Old Silver Coin
A Ww1 Canadian Military Canteen That Has Been Sitting In 40 Feet Of Water For Over 100 Years
This Cool Makeup Tin From The 1920s Was Found On Our Property!
Today Was Awesome! I Found A Nearly Complete German Trench Stove From Ww2!
Finally Struck Gold
Roman Ring
My Father Passed Away Recently And This Is His Prized Metal Detecting Find. Found In Se Oklahoma. I Would Love To Have More Information On This. I Can't Find Anything Remotely Similar To It Anywhere Online. I Can Provide More Photos On Request. There Is Also What Looks To Be An "1872" On The Back
Kind iof important information. On the side facing us, the names Jessie James and Frank James are apparent. Found in Oklahoma... SURELY this has been researched already. The guess about a tobacco tin is a good one. But the names are a pretty big call out.
The Find Of The Day! Super Pumped My Dad Found It As I Was Digging A Belt Buckle 10 Yards Away
I Just Found A 500 Years Old Silver Coin
Found An Viking Age Arrow Today!
Some 1938 Finnish Mosin-Nagant Clips Still In Cardboard!
First Find Scouting A New Spot. Hopefully It Brings Good Luck
Dug This Up Yesterday In The First 15 Minutes Of Detecting. Pin Pointer Batteries Died Right After. Oklahoma
Big Silver Score
I Found An Old Pocket Watch Today! Really Happy With It. Found In The Netherlands
We Found An Entire Civil War Burnside Carbine, A Soldier's Silver Spill, Two Spurs, Hundreds Of Bullets And More At A Civil War River Crossing I Found!
Had The Find Of A Lifetime Today! 1795 Flowing Hair Half Dime!!! What A Day To Remember
Oldest Coin I've Found To Date. 1660 Spanish 1real. Tidewater, Virginia
My Grandfather Was Metal Detecting For Stones With High Metal Content And Came Across These 2 Jars. A Few Coins Were As Old As The Late 1800s
Portuguese 1000 Reis, 1733 Gold Love Token! Absolutely Over The Moon With This One
Find Of The Day. I’m So Excited!
Poor Bird
Killer Mid 1800s Skeleton Key Comes To The Surface
Today Find - Mg42 Anti-Aircraft Sight
Todays Finds On Roman Field
Thiel. Ww2 German Pocket Watch
Oldest Coin I’ve Found, And In Fantastic Shape
Found A Coin Purse From The 1700s. The Coins Were Buried In The Roots Of The Tree
I Finally Found My First Gold!!!
After Hundreds Of Broken Nails And Cat Food Cans I Finally Found Something Interesting
Of All The Things We Could Dig Up, We Found A Shovel
Gold At The Beach!
Just Bought My Very First Metal Detector Today! Found This Buried Next To A Creek. Was Not Expecting This
My First Find On My New Metal Detector!
1920s Condom Tin (3 Merry Widows Prophylactic)
Because the best place to store a condom is in a metal tin with sharp edges.
Yay! My First Silver Coin. It’s From 1740
Contractor Doing Work In My Pre-Civil War Era House Pulled This Union Officers Civil War Belt Buckle Out Of The Ground. Needless To Say I Bought A Metal Detector!!!
Silver Denarius Of Julia Denma Found In South Gloucestershire On Sunday!
Possibly The Best Morning I’ve Had! All Found Within A Couple Of Hours In Norfolk, UK
Found Metal Detecting Southeast Oklahoma. Some Type Of Valve Manifold
Aw, Come On! Who Puts 11 Pull Tabs Together Like This?
Found My First "Treasure" Today
My Son Found His First Coin Spill
Ink Bottle I Found In My Great Grand-Parents Backyard
Oh that perfectly fits the deer head ink holder I have! Looking for that size for a while! I think the inkwell holder is from about 1860. Apparently was Art of a whole desk set but I have not found the other pieces.
Here Are More Pics Of My Portuguese Buckle Of A Military General, From The 1815-1830!!!
Me And My Dad Found Our Third Canonball Yesterday!
Water Hunt At The Same Spot, 6 More Silvers
Find Of The Day
Eifel Germany
I Got About Half Hour In At George Washington's Friend's House Before It Started Pouring. Good News Is It's Never Been Hunted!
All My Good Finds From A 1880s Hotel
Bronze Age Socketed Axe Head
Can't Believe This, Just Found A Whole Cannon Ball On A Hill Near A Revolutionary War Battle Site. Feels At Least 10lbs. Super Exited Now I Gotta Figure Out How To Get It Back Home!
After A Little More Than A Year Of Detecting I Finally Got My First Gold Ring! It’s Only 10k But Gold Is Gold And I’m Excited About It!
This Is Why You Don’t Give Up On A Hole. Signal Kept Jumping From The 50s To The Upper 80s. Dug About 6 Inches Down And Just Kept Finding Little Scraps Of Aluminum Dug Over A Little And There It Was 1 Oz Sterling Spoon
I Found This Tiny Elizabeth I Penny Today! It Was 10 Inches Deep With The Xp Deus And Weighs Just 0.6 Grams! It’s Cleaned Up Well!
Cool Plates Found At A Farm Site. Farm Is Gone But The Relics Remain!
Some Grenade Pins From A Recent Hunt - Australia
Last Week I Posted About The Shrapnel In My Garden, Today I Found The Likely Culprit. A 4.5" Naval Shell From 1940!
Found An Old Model T Ford Key Today! Made Between 1919-1927. It Was Super Deep, Probably About A Foot Down At An Old Church
Not A Bad Day Out!
Found Capped Bust Half Dime Today In The Pa Woods. 1833. Good Day
Finally! My First "Big" Silver!!!
Always Nice Finding M1 Garand Clips
Also Found The Coronavirus Vaccine While I Was Metal Detecting Today
I Was Clearing Out A Spot For A Doggie Pool When I Found This About 6” Down In The Georgia Clay
My Best Find A Ww1 Luger
Metal detetectors are a nightmare for archaeologists because the artefacts are ripped out of their original contexts and the finds become therefore worthless regarding their interpretation. One has then a pretty, old coin for example, but if later on the rest of the context is excavated the coin could have been the only marker for dating, making it more difficult to date the context without the coin.
But on the other hand, these things may never have been found at all otherwise.
Load More Replies...i once fond a civil war bullet while messing around with a kiddie metal detector.
I've always wanted a metal detector, and this just makes me want one more!
My siblings and I used to take a metal detector the county fairgrounds after the fair, the best thing we found was a watch. The crystal was cracked, but it was gold in color and I was convinced it was a solid gold watch worth a fortune. I took it home, cleaned it up well and presented my big find to the family. My older brother said "I recognize that watch!" he went to his bedroom and brought out an identical watch - he won it as a prize at a fair game the previous year, but never used it because it wouldn't keep accurate time. Even if it was in perfect working condition it was probably worth $5 at most, the broken one I found was worth nothing.
I need a metal detector... even though I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find anything cool here.
My parents bought a metal detector for each of them years ago and only used them once.,
Metal detetectors are a nightmare for archaeologists because the artefacts are ripped out of their original contexts and the finds become therefore worthless regarding their interpretation. One has then a pretty, old coin for example, but if later on the rest of the context is excavated the coin could have been the only marker for dating, making it more difficult to date the context without the coin.
But on the other hand, these things may never have been found at all otherwise.
Load More Replies...i once fond a civil war bullet while messing around with a kiddie metal detector.
I've always wanted a metal detector, and this just makes me want one more!
My siblings and I used to take a metal detector the county fairgrounds after the fair, the best thing we found was a watch. The crystal was cracked, but it was gold in color and I was convinced it was a solid gold watch worth a fortune. I took it home, cleaned it up well and presented my big find to the family. My older brother said "I recognize that watch!" he went to his bedroom and brought out an identical watch - he won it as a prize at a fair game the previous year, but never used it because it wouldn't keep accurate time. Even if it was in perfect working condition it was probably worth $5 at most, the broken one I found was worth nothing.
I need a metal detector... even though I'm pretty sure I wouldn't find anything cool here.
My parents bought a metal detector for each of them years ago and only used them once.,