What's covered in this post: (click on a heading)
So here goes:
Can metal detecting make you money?
In a word yes, BUT, if that's your sole intention when setting out in metal detecting you will almost certainly end up highly disappointed. Most detectorists start out because they have an interest in history. For those setting out with visions of finding pots of gold, reality soon sets in. The stark reality of metal detecting is that more often than not we don't find anything on most trips out. We find buttons, lots of buttons, shot gun cartridge ends, and plenty of non-descript bits of lead. However, sometimes we also find something interesting, like a Roman coin, or a medieval hammered coin. And it's those moments that make all the times you didn't find anything even better. But again, prepare to be disappointed. You'd think a Roman coin or a medieval coin would be worth some good money but alas not. Oh yeah, some coins are worth serious bucks, but they're few and far between. A lot depends on the condition of the coin, most Roman coins don't fair too well in the ground after nearly 2000 years. Don't get me wrong, there are those that go out first time and hit the jackpot and find something special. I hate those people! LOL. Bear in mind, that if you do find something special that qualifies under the Treasure Act that it can take 2-3 years to go through the process. I'm not trying to put you off metal detecting, I just want you to know the bare facts and go into the hobby armed with the truth and realistic expectations.
Can metal detecting be profitable?
The answer to this question is pretty much the same as what I said above, BUT, there's that capital BUT again! You need to factor in a few other costs that will very much impact whether metal detecting can be profitable. These are your equipment costs. Here's a break-down of what you will need:
Metal detector These can cost from anything between a few hundred pounds to around £2,000. You can buy a metal detector second-hand or new.
Headphones These usually come included with a new metal detector but if you buy a second-hand machine you may have to buy these. Nowadays these can be wireless and again can vary price range.
Spade/digger
There are a wide range of these on the market and again can vary in price range. Your average garden spade would do in the short-term but the edges will sooner or later cut into the base of your boots and ruin them. I wouldn't recommend a wooden handle spade as this will fall-foul of tough ground and break sooner than later.
Boots
You can use either a good pair of walking boots (preferably water-proof) or a good pair of Wellington boots. Just remember not to get boots with steel toe caps, otherwise you'll be looking for false signals all the time! More than one person has made this mistake!
Pinpointer
This is a small hand-held mini metal detector that fits in your finds pouch. It's around the size of a good hand-held torch. Garret make a good one that is often called a carrot as it looks like just that, a large carrot. You don't need one of these and if you're starting out I would maybe recommend against spending lots of one until you know if you're going to stick with the hobby. You also don't necessarily need one because in the old days, you would dig up your signal, then wave handfuls of soil over the metal detector search coil and whittle the soil down until you located the item. I still do this as I think it's quicker than using your pinpointer all the time. I use my pinpointer only to locate a signal in the hole to narrow down where to dig or to find the item on the surface if it disappears.
So, can metal detecting be profitable?
Well, when you factor in all of the above costs and even if you start out with a lower-end or second-hand metal detector, you're talking of an initial outlay of around £400? Give or take. Then you need to find somewhere to metal detect, I'll talk about this more in later blog posts. You have 3 options here:
1). You can join a club, either the type where you can attend regular meetings and thus attend their digs. There's usually a dig fee involved which is paid to the land-owner. Or there are online Facebook groups and such like that organise digs all over the country. These typically don't hold any face to face meetings other than the digs and you will have to pay a fee or around £20 to attend these digs.
2). You can gain your own permissions from landowners, usually you don't have to pay to detect once you have permission from the landowner. I will discuss gaining permissions in a later blog post too.
3). You can metal-detect on beaches. You will need to check the rules about beaches as these can vary as to whether metal detecting is allowed.
Note - when it comes to metal detecting, all land belongs to someone and you always need to ask for permission, whether it's a park, footpath or field. Check specific beaches as this is the only type of place you can detect without seeking permission.
That's where the real reward lies.
So, to summarise, can metal detecting make you money? It will take some time to make your money back and there are no guarantees. Honestly, I would say you can make money, but you have to stick at it in the long term. You might get lucky, but you probably won't find your fortune quickly. It takes patience, research, knowledge of how to use your machine, technique and dedication to be a good metal detectorist. Lastly, I would say that nearly all detectorists get involved with the hobby because they love finding history, being the first person to touch an object that was last held by the Roman, Saxon or other ancient person who owned it. That's where the real reward lies.
Can metal detectors detect vapes?
So time for a random question I discovered in my web research. Can metal detectors detect vapes? The simple answer is yes. Well, I say simple, if the vape has enough metal parts within it to trigger a magnetic reading on the metal detector, it will set the metal detector off. I'm guessing this question was asked by students who attend schools with metal detectors located at the entrance? Note that todays metal detectors are very sensitive. For example, I once found a single chain link from a necklace!
Well that's all for now folks. In the next post I'm going to talk about the following:
When were metal detectors invented
How a metal detector works
What metal detector to buy
Until then, thanks for reading!
Dan