return on investment?

[Hank McMauser]

O.K. I know this is a hobby that is done for fun, but how many of you have noticed a return on you're investment.
I see clad counts posted & etc but how much time are you putting in to find $50.00 worth of clad.
Please don't misunderstand the reasoning behind my Questioning, I do reallize the thrill of the find. Heck my first and only hunt so far has been at 20 deg.F. having to hack away the froen dirt with my claw hammer to find 6 pennies. and it was the most fun I'd had in weeks/months.
Hank

[SandSkimmer]

You would be supprised....

some of the guys find enough gold rings, silver and platnum to buy new detectors every year....

Its all in how much you know your machine and can find good places to hunt... HH

jT

[Steve in PR]

Don't quit your day job! I make between 50 cents and a dollar an hour but when the silver rings and any gold shows up, it goes a long way towards recooping on the investment.

Good research and planning helps a lot. Go where the people are and if any of your friends and relatives own older homes, see if they will let you search there. Just be careful with lawn areas. Try to make sure you leave it the way you found it!

[ERnurse]

I've more than payed for my detectors. Not by finding clad, but by finding old silver coins, gold ring, etc. The clad is gravy.

Rob

[smartfox]

Definitely a return on your investment. I already cashed 78 dollars to bank and I have about another 50 that I need to cash soon. I need to find a jewlery place where they could find the value of some miscellaneous jewlery I have found. I might already made my money I invested and not even know about it. That will be my next question.
You will make your money you spent over the years in clad but you will need to put time to metal detecting sord of like working out. You cannot go out there 3 or 4 times or work out 3 to 4 times and expect to make your money's worth unless you are some lucky freak. Over tome you will make more than you spent. I am a newbie at this but have already figured it out. Am I right all you experienced detectorists or am I being misleading? let me know.

[cntrydncr1]

In the 10 months I detected last year ( and I'm a beginner!) I paid for all of my equipment with what I found. Does it pay for my time...never but that is my hobby and I enjoy every hard earned minute of it and would not expect it to pay in that respect. I don't even care if I find anything of value in a hunt but I do like to at least find one interesting thing.

[anne]

You will get a return in pleasure as well as monetary value but if that is the reason for coming into the hobby of Metal Detecting then you are in the wrong place, Remember it is a HOBBY and it is the only hobby with a possible return.

[Joker]

Its a very honest question and I approach it a few ways. 1st of all, I dont think you can put a value on anything you enjoy doing. 2nd, like a few members posted, putting in time researching and knowing your machine will lead you to finds that will pay your investment back many times over..
3rd, Im only here once and my quest in life is to enjoy it to the fullest so here I am.

But like anything fun its also hard work and what you put into it is what you get out of it... Good luck!

['E']

All very well said, I personally love the hobby & I look at it more than just finding money or jewelry, I get to get out on the beach on a warm sunny day, it's great exercise, you meet a lot of great people, I met Buster at the beach hunting & we've become hunting buddies but more than that we've become friends, he also was the one that told me about this site, so without that I wouldn't have my TQ 'family', I've found a good amount of clad & expect to find loads more this spring break & summer so yeah that's just a plus.

[TwoDogsBob]

Lets see, I'm outside, I'm having a good time, there is the thrill of the find and the hope of "Maybe tomorrow"
Hours spend on research and planning, sharing with friends and seeing them get excited over finding a penny.
Yeah, I've more than gotten a FULL return on my investment for all my equipment.
Enjoy the hobby..... Bob