Metal detecting is a comparatively new hobby. Sure there have been hobbyist type metals detectors for decades but new and superior detector technology has come out in recent years. The metal detector is an electronic device which can sense metallic objects buried in the ground. Finding a lost gold ring or old valuable coin can be really exciting, but even just picking up a few dollars of change at the local school can be loads of fun and a lot of good exercise. Once the operator is well practiced, it is possible to dig targets out of the ground with so little disturbance that the spot cannot be seen afterward. The biggest advantage of modern detectors is that most of the time they can actually differentiate trash from valuable coins and silver jewelry. Hobbyists are using their detectors to hunt lost treasure caches, prospecting for gold nuggets or just locating lost coins and jewelry at local parks and schools.

There are many varieties of metal detectors with technologies and features designed for certain characteristics and certain types of uses. All of the technologies currently in use work by putting electrical energy into a coil which creates a magnetic field and then sensing the response of a metallic object to that magnetic field. Some types of detecting equipment are specially designed for hunting deep caches and treasure, others for general purpose coin and jewelry hunting, and still others for underwater or beach hunting. Another type of detector is designed specifically to prospect for gold nuggets.

Most new folks considering the purchase of metal detecting equipment to get into this exhilarating hobby want to know what model will be best for them. There are a large number of models from the different makers, and the decision is not easy. It is often said that there is no one detector that can do it all perfectly. This is a true statement. The goal of the “general purpose” machines is to do as many of the specialty applications as well as possible. This always requires some degree of compromise in the design of the detector. No general purpose machine can do all the specialty applications as well as a set of detectors, each designed for a specific special purpose.

No discrimination system on any detector is absolutely perfect, even though they are very helpful in most situations, as no one wants to dig up trash. There are always tradeoffs in any target ID system design, and even the best systems available today can be fooled sometimes, and although it works 90 percent of the time, it cannot always differentiate between some types of targets and some types of trash. The discrimination readings are influenced principally by the target shape, size and conductivity of the metal. As an example, nickels, some pull tabs and rings all appear the same to VLF type metal detector ID systems. Most men’s wedding bands and ladies gold rings read in a similar range in my soils. The lower end of that range includes junk foil, and the upper end includes many types of pull-tabs and cut up bits of aluminum can.

Yes, there are still valuable coins and jewelry at local parks and schools, old houses and residences, sports fields, church yards, campgrounds and other places where folks congregated in the past. With a metal detector, you can get your exercise and pick up a little treasure while you are at it!