Everything is covered with snow, the wind is howling, it's -37C with windchill today... So it's the perfect time to dig out my bag of coins that I found with my metal detector and reminisce about happier times, when the ground wasn't frozen solid...
One short summer season got me the following pile of coins:
My province was only really settled in the late 1880s, mostly by Ukrainians, Poles and Germans from Germany and Austria-Hungary. One of my great-granduncles was a Polish lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian army, but I'm too far gone to know any of my family from this area. Anyway, the point is that there is only "modern" change to find - no silver coins yet, but I am hopeful. I have also gotten permission to dig around a few old sites dating from 1908... probably laughable to most of our European members but this is as good as it gets here! Luckily, $1 and $2 coins mean that modern change adds up fast and I think there's nearly $10 in this pile.
American coins are everywhere. I was happy to find the Glacier National Park quarter, though! I dug it up in a national park, because I figured the sand playground for children wasn't a part of our national natural heritage. Many tourists come to that park, but I certainly wasn't expecting to find this:
It's a British pound! I was amazed to find it in the sand. Someone must have dropped it during the hols
The oldest coin I've dug up, a 1952 penny. King George VI just made it onto this coin because he died in the middle of that year - he smoked way too much and got lung cancer (so, a warning: don't smoke). This was found at my Polish relatives' farm out in the middle of the prairies between Edmonton and Calgary, on the site of a garage that was torn down.
I have found one silver item so far... this pendant marked .925 (sterling)! It looks authentic to me, but I haven't tested it. Anyway, I just thought I'd show this off because I need something to distract me from the cold.
I have been considering purchasing one for several years now, I think I'm going to make a hint to my wife as it's our wedding anniversary in May. Wish me luck.
Quote: tony_k_1965I have been considering purchasing one for several years now, I think I'm going to make a hint to my wife as it's our wedding anniversary in May. Wish me luck.
I have already put into action with the benefits of my friendly neighbour (whiskey man like myself) and at present (wife has had a bottle of wine bonus) things are looking good.
I've got a metal detector, but frankly haven't the slightest clue where to use it! So far I've wandered around my back yard and found a bunch of random chunks of metal (mostly nails with a few pennies and nickles mixed in) but nothing really cool or valuable. There are a few play grounds in the area, but I want to find the good stuff, you know?
"What we are is not as important as what we aren't"
Quote: glorkarI've got a metal detector, but frankly haven't the slightest clue where to use it! So far I've wandered around my back yard and found a bunch of random chunks of metal (mostly nails with a few pennies and nickles mixed in) but nothing really cool or valuable. There are a few play grounds in the area, but I want to find the good stuff, you know?
Speak to your local farmer and get permission to wander his/her fields, on agreement you share what you find. Good luck - it may well be worth it.
Quote: glorkarI've got a metal detector, but frankly haven't the slightest clue where to use it! So far I've wandered around my back yard and found a bunch of random chunks of metal (mostly nails with a few pennies and nickles mixed in) but nothing really cool or valuable. There are a few play grounds in the area, but I want to find the good stuff, you know?
Yeah, me too. Scoured my backyard and found a badly corroded arrowhead and two trips to the beach have yielded some pocket change and an ankle bracelet with the word "SLUT" on it. Now what am I supposed to do with such a thing? Can't give it away for sure.
A Numista member who lives just along the gulf from me offered to show me some of the better local sites but unfortunately it coincided with a bout of ill health so I couldn't take him up on his very kind offer.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
Sandy playgrounds have worked for me in the past, but in the USA it's not much fun when the largest coin you're likely to find is $0.25. The UK is much better... not only do you have the chance to find Roman, medieval and classic buried coins, but you can also find high-value modern coins of up to 2 pounds. Go where people have been - public parks, abandoned houses and foundations, beaches (if your detector is waterproof, dig around in the swimming area!), schoolyards (assuming you don't look like a pedophile and you're not visiting during school hours).
I know for a fact that my father tossed his first wedding ring into an unnamed swimming area somewhere in Vancouver (luckily the second marriage is still going and it's what produced me), so there's usually something out there to be found - just not what you were expecting (like, I was expecting that .925 bangle up there to be made out of Chinese lead). My relatives in B.C. live on a beautiful and popular lake and they used to love to go swimming around with flashlights after all the tourists had gone home for the night - and that was without a detector.
Quote: nalaberongSandy playgrounds have worked for me in the past, but in the USA it's not much fun when the largest coin you're likely to find is $0.25. The UK is much better... not only do you have the chance to find Roman, medieval and classic buried coins, but you can also find high-value modern coins of up to 2 pounds. Go where people have been - public parks, abandoned houses and foundations, beaches (if your detector is waterproof, dig around in the swimming area!), schoolyards (assuming you don't look like a pedophile and you're not visiting during school hours).
I know for a fact that my father tossed his first wedding ring into an unnamed swimming area somewhere in Vancouver (luckily the second marriage is still going and it's what produced me), so there's usually something out there to be found - just not what you were expecting (like, I was expecting that .925 bangle up there to be made out of Chinese lead). My relatives in B.C. live on a beautiful and popular lake and they used to love to go swimming around with flashlights after all the tourists had gone home for the night - and that was without a detector.
If we have a good summer the beach is especially productive.
Last night I was looking for information on a coin in the Identifications section, and for some reason the Search also included details of someone finding with hands (and later using a detector) silver coins on a beach after a storm had passed by. I thought it was a recent story, but at the end it had copyright 2004, but will see if I can find the story again. Yes - here it is ...
Great topic. Metal detecting is my next favorite pastime, next to coins.The biggest challenge for me was getting to know my machine. Practicing with different metal objects gives you a good idea of what sounds it emits when out in the field. Then you can better determine if you're detecting junk or not. And a pin pointer is not a must have, but very helpful. I used a Bounty hunter for years. And Tony, my wife gave me a real nice Garrett for my birthday. Kellyco. is a good place to buy one. You get lots of extras for free.
A few places I have found silver coins in the city, is on a baseball diamond behind home plate. The umpire is always digging in his pockets and dropping stuff. Found my 1st 1964 silver dime that way. Picnic areas, waysides, around school playgrounds, and anywhere people congregate. Found some nice gold jewelry in the bushes off the beach by lake Michigan (Hmmm). This hobby takes a lot of patience. You have to go with more then 1 agenda. A lot of times you don't find anything. But the time with my niece and my dog is the best part. Well, Happy hunting.
I wish I had a metal detector... I would love to do this! I wonder what the harbour front, Signal Hill, etc might yield?! Not to mention searching bays and shorelines across the province. There's always a chance I'd find something REALLY old, too, like actual Newfoundland coins...
A six year Numista absence makes the heart grow fonder... ?
I used to metal detect in the past.
The lowest you should pay for a metal detector is in the entry range of a Fisher F2 or Garrett Ace 150 so a used one maybe around 120 Euro and new around 175 Euro, anything cheaper than that don't trust it they are crap.
I never used to enjoy detecting on beaches as the finds are usually heavily coroded from the seawater. Best and older finds are usually made inland.
If you like coins, medals and tokens with ship motives follow my new instagram account with regular updates @numisnautiker
From time to time I sell some coins on Ebay make sure to follow me @apuking on Ebay.
Hi , I've been detecting for the past 16 years, what a fantastic hobby it is too. I try to go every Sunday and maybe once during the week as I work shifts.
I have been able to build my coin collection over the years with silver hammered coins ,and a couple of gold ones. Roman coins and early milled coinage along with artefacts from all eras.
You don't have to start off with a really expensive detector. There are some very capable ones out there for beginners ,like apuking said ,the Garrett ace 150 is a good entry level, ideal for kids as well. With these entry level machines is a downside of course, you do tend to dig more ferrous items , nails etc.
Even on the top of the range detectors, large iron, like horse shoes ,plough shares etc. give off a good signal that you end up digging. but if you learn your machine well you get to know the sound iron gives off and are able to leave it in the ground and just dig the non ferrous signals.
One of the most difficult things about detecting is gaining permission from land owners. Once you have done this you can look forward to hours of fun . The not knowing what you might unearth on the next beep beep of the detector.
Good luck to any of you that take up the hobby, and don't give up , keep at it . You will be rewarded.
I've got a metal detector and many hundreds of acres to detect on. So far no real major finds victorian penny and half penny being the oldest. I did find the new shape EC 50p coin near a kissing gate though. Still lots of land and lots of time for things to turn up.
I was trying to find photos of his collection because it truly is eclectic. He kept everything from bottle tops, rings, keys, coins, even unusual things like old metal toys and cannon balls from the early NZ land wars.
I've found only one coin so far, a Netherlands 5 cents from 1980. Unfortunately I never have time to go out with my detector, so I'm putting it into sale...
"For by telling them of many things without teaching them you will make them seem to know much, while for the most part they know nothing"
-Plato
Lotus07, dont put it into sale. If detecting is something that you would like to be doing if you would only have more time... then believe me, at some point in life you will have this time (even if it is a random day at beach) and you will regret selling it as you are sure to be buying a new one at some point and lose out a lot between these transactions.
I have a telescope and stuff like that. Life however has been hectic as anything for a past ... well, about 6 months. I havent even touched all these things and they gather dust while im busy with other things... but there is no way i would sell them, because i know when the time comes and i have spare night in my hands and it is nice and cloudless.... i will want to disappear into the night with all that stuff and would be guaranteed to spend money on new ones.
Quote: pnightingaleScoured my backyard and found [..] an ankle bracelet with the word "SLUT" on it. Now what am I supposed to do with such a thing? Can't give it away for sure.
My ex-wife should be a most suitable recipient....
Quote: nalaberongEverything is covered with snow, the wind is howling, it's -37C with windchill today... So it's the perfect time to dig out my bag of coins that I found with my metal detector and reminisce about happier times, when the ground wasn't frozen solid...
It's a British pound! I was amazed to find it in the sand. Someone must have dropped it during the hols
Or thrown it at a football match, they make excellent ammunition for catapults, and are popularly thrown at the rival team's players by 'fans' (spelled y-o-b-s) at (association) football matches.
So it's the perfect time to dig out my bag of coins that I found with my metal detector and reminisce about happier times, when the ground wasn't frozen solid... 
