Metal Detecting Tips and Techniques: Welcome to the 21st Century Gold Rush!

Welcome to the 21st Century Gold Rush!

Did you know that metal detectors have been around for 60+ years, but only a very small percentage of our country's population have ever used one (much less owned one). Our country, on the other hand, is more than 200 years old during which time it has seen countless battles, undergone numerous gold rushes, minted billions of dollars in silver and gold coins, and whose population have lost millions of dollars in jewelry and buried hundreds of caches.

The other good news is that just during the last 10 years, metal detecting technology has exploded in parallel with microprocessor, battery, circuitry, and other innovations of the computer industry. Metal detectors today are extremely powerful, lightweight, efficient, and performance oriented. There has never been a better time to become a treasure hunter!

Can I Really Find Treasure?

No matter where you live in the US, there are numerous opportunities to be successful in metal detecting. So why haven't more people signed up? Most are either skeptical that the machines really work or believe that the grass is only green somewhere else. This is why they're wrong:

1. In states that experienced gold rushes such as California, Alaska, Georgia, and North Carolina (to name just a few - there are many more!), lots of gold is still being found. Part of the reason is that mining technology was very crude 100+ years ago. With today's metal detectors, "weekend prospectors" frequently uncover nuggets missed by these old timers in their washes and mine tailings . Also, it's an unfortunate fact today that many parts of the country are undergoing tremendous loss of topsoil and vegetation due to human activities. This erosion amplifies seasonal floods which wash away more and more earth and gravel leaving behind the heavier gold nuggets!

2. In the northeastern United States, a few enterprising treasure hunters have searched old cellar holes and foundations in the woods bringing home valuable coins minted by the colonial states. In the southeast, relic hunters searching corn and cotton fields are consistently finding Civil War era equipment worth $100s to collectors. In the desert southwest, several nugget shooters have literally discovered gold nuggets scattered on the surface!

How are all these people finding so much real treasure? Believe it or not, it has less to do with luck than it does with experience, research, and the right piece of equipment. Metal detectors have lots of added functions these days which greatly increase your chance to successfully locate some truly awesome goodies.