Metal Detecting and History
Like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Andy loved metal detecting. Finding a few old coins in local parks and schoolyards was gratifying. But Andy always wanted to hold something more than a few old coins in his hands. The problem was. He was not sure how to go about finding more than old coins.
Sam loved American history. He also loved the hobby of metal detecting. He filled his home with relics dating back to the 1500s. The shelves in his treasure mancave held hundreds of items. The items echoed what living in colonial America was like.
The shelves contain colonial-era relics. Silverware made by Paul Revere. French & Indian War and Revolutionary War military buttons, breastplates, daggers, and muskets. Native American Indian relics. In particular, arrow points, colorful Indian beads, and two-thousand-year-old copper knives. All of them are in walnut trays. Spanish reale silver coins. Once used by pirates. Rest in a beautiful mahogany tray next to a handwritten story about how Sam found the reales.
Andy had metal detected for more than twenty years. Sam was in his ninth year of metal detecting when he showed me his collection of finds.
Andy was not interested in history. Sam loved American history. His library of hundreds of books on the subject sat on shelves next to his relics in his treasure mancave.
When metal detecting. If you are not finding more than a few coins, old pull tabs, and rusted bottle caps, but you want to find more stuff, then you need to be like Sam, and not like Andy.
I’m not disparaging Andy, or anyone that enjoys searching in parks and schoolyards. But the fact is, those in the hobby that have even the smallest amount of interest in history, find more items. And those items bring them joy and a deep sense of understanding of what the items represent.
Metal detecting and history go hand in hand. Unfortunately, many in the hobby do not recognize this marriage. They will find an 1850s silver coin and want to know how much it’s worth. They give no thought to who designed that coin. Or, its importance at the time minted?
I traveled to junior high and high schools showing my metal-detecting relics to history classes and explaining their connection to American history. The students would ask important questions about the items. I could see the interest they had in my finds. Teachers told me how much the students appreciated and learned what I showed them. They would have never been as interested in the subject of the French & War. Until I showed them broken muskets and musket balls used during that campaign. The students were also not interested in knowing about how the first American colonials lived in harsh environments in rural areas. But my presentation piqued their curiosity.
I explained how difficult it was to build a home and clear property for farming. As I talked to the students, I showed them items found with my detector near those homes. Showing them old coins like the British Pound and the Spanish Milled Dollar used by the colonists usually heightened their excitement. I mentioned how lucky I was to find many of those coins at the old homesites, and how I found them.
When building their homes in the wilderness the first Americans would bury a coin, like the British Pound, or the Spanish Milled Dollar four feet from one of the four corners of their cellar. Burying the coin four feet from one of the corners of the new home was a practice used to bring good luck to the family and their home as they settled in new America. So, I made it a practice to metal detect those four areas in hopes of finding those coins.
During the many years of selling metal detectors, I’ve become adept at knowing which buyers would last in the hobby. I had a good idea of who would most likely give up within a few years. Asking a few questions about why they want a detector and where they want to use it, does two things. First, it establishes what detector to sell them based on their needs. And second, what their interests in metal detecting are.
Buyers who tell me they want a detector to just find old coins and they are not interested in history tell me the chances of them staying with the hobby after a few years are low.
If a buyer says they love history and want to search for areas that give them the best possible chance of finding old coins and relics, then that person has a much better chance of not becoming bored with the hobby.
I’m not saying everyone with a metal detector should seek out areas other than local parks. Or they should study history for better metal-detecting results.
What I am saying is anyone who is not happy with the number of good coins they are finding, or they are not finding items more than coins, should change what they are doing. They should look into reading about the history of their area to find places to search.
I began the hobby much like everyone does. I searched local parks and schoolyards. However, my love of history and my questions about what made the world and America tick began to seep into my curious nature. It was then that I began to branch out beyond parks and schoolyards. I moved into the world of lost and buried treasures. The myths about the history of America intrigued me. So I began to search areas for the truths about its beginning.
Andy is no longer metal detecting. His reason. “I’m tired of finding clad coins and tons of junk in parks.” He told me not long ago. “And I’m not the guy that will sit down and read a local history book in hopes of finding new areas to search.”
The last time I spoke to Pete he had returned from a treasure hunt in the opposite end of the country from where he lived. Pete told me, and I’m paraphrasing because the conversation over our cell phones was a year ago.
“Frank, I cannot believe the adventures I’ve been on since beginning the hobby. I just got back from ------. My friend and I were looking for a silver horde buried by the Spanish during the Inquisition. I read and studied about that time in America. So I was ready to go after a possible treasure. I believe no one knows about it.”
Pete and I spoke for over an hour. The entire time I could hear the excitement in his voice as he relived his adventures with me. Listening to Pete reminded me of my adventures.
Because of my interest in history, I moved on from searching parks and schoolyards to searching for lost and buried treasures. I traveled to states to search the areas where it’s been rumored the Egyptians once populated. Thousands of years before the discovery of America.
My fascination with the history of the Knights of the Golden Circle, KGC, has taken me to areas in search of the many treasures the KGC cached.
My interest in the history of the Knights Templars led me to stories of Templar treasures buried in America. Have I searched for those treasures? Stay tuned!
Metal detecting and history. Like peanut butter and jelly.
“Frank, I wanted to bring you up to date since I purchased the metal detector. I have to say. It was one of the smartest purchases I have made. Even my wife is glad I bought it. She says the hobby calms me down. LOL!!!
Okay, so I have been finding old coins and artifacts, or relics some call them. I’ve metal detected around the old cellar holes you showed in your TV series. My class loves it when I show them what I found. Explaining to them the history behind the items grabs their interest. A few times I have brought students with me. They get so excited they are hounding their parents to buy a detector. You may get a few more customers.
As a teacher and history lover, I never thought metal detecting could enhance the interest of my students. Or be so much fun.
Thanks again for your help.
Chet”
Likes and shares are much appreciated. They help bring in new subscribers to “The Digger.”
Thanks,
Frank
My metal detecting/treasure hunting TV series, “Exploring History’s Treasures” EHT, was the first REAL, reality, show of its kind. There was no scripting, no planting or salting the ground with finds before we dug them. Exploring History’s Treasures can now be viewed here.