About Me

[Glenn]

I no longer treasure hunt. In fact I no longer even own a detector. However I as still greatly interested in the subject and will be reading these forums with great interest.

My THing experience goes back to the late 60s. My friends and I never were much on coinshooting. We were relic hunters. My first detector was a converted US Army mine detector which was quickly replaced by a Metro Tech.

That ladies and gentleman, was the best relic hunting machine I ever used. From the late 60s till the mid 70s 2 friends and I used to make trips to Harpers Ferry to reap the benefits of the numerous civil war campsites that once dotted the hills surrounding the little river town.

Now keep in mind it wasn't so nearly built up in those days as it is now, and we always had permission to hunt where we did. These sites were pristine in those days, we were the first to ever hit them. Just yesterday or so I was recounting this and I remember several times showing the "plumber's crack" or more as the weight of all the minnie balls in my pants pockets threatened to depants me. I remember sitting up in a bit of wood adjacent to Harpers Ferry High school leaning back against a tree too tired to hunt anymore.

That was the type of hunting I enjoyed the most. That's lost now. Nothing is pristine now and getting permission is almost next to impossible. Everyone thinks you are finding stuff of great value. Sure, we all ended up rich millionaires.

Eventually the three of us combined our collections and donated it to a museum.

Now coin shooting is available and always will be. For the most part coin shooting is where it's at today. The detectors made today reflect that.

I would be pretty much afraid the discriminators on most machines would shut out some of the stuff I used to try to find. Of course back when I hunted we wern't plagued with pull tabs and the like. We got some occasional shotgun brass, some .22s and maybe some cigarette pack foil but that was it and it wasn't hard to work around.

Now to get back to Metro Tech detector, She was a sweetheart. Ran all day and all night on 2 9 volts. She was BFO [beat frequency oscillation] which meant you listened to a constant hum in the ear piece or headphones. Now that is maybe crude by today's standards, but once tuned into your machine it is amazing how you can easily hear the slightest pitch change.... which meant DIG.

Like an idiot I traded it in on a Fisher 1260, which was a good machine if nickels and dimes are your targets. It was a lousy relic hunter.

Oh well. Sorry to have rambled on so.

[Riff]

Nice post Glenn, Perhaps you will get back into it.
It is amazing how things have changed. I don't notice because I am new to MDing. I have no reference point but yours and others history lessons. I appreciate what you have said.

Thanks,
Riff

[WOOD GUY]

i Must Say Glenn That Was A Great Story!!! Great Times Gone By. I Started Dectecting In 1970. My Grandmother Had A Friend Who Was A Whites Electronics Dealer Who Sold Whites Products Out Of His Home. I Was Over There One Day And He Brought Out A Coinmaster Detector And Buried A Few Coins In His Yard And Showed How It Worked. I Was Shocked And Amazed And Begged My Grandmother To Loan Me The Money To Buy One. She Eventually Said She Would Go In Halves With Me If She Could Use It And Somehow We Got It (Dont Know Where I Got The Money) And Ive Been Detecting Ever Since!! Still Have That Ole Boxy Coinmaster As A Souvenier And I Think It Still Works. Very Simple Machine With Two Dials, One For Threshold And One For All Metal Or Mineral. Like You Said Back Then It Was A Free For All!!! Must Have Found Hundreds If Not A Thousand Silver Coins. Days Of The Surface Silver, There Gone Now And Whats Left Is Deep. Still Have A Whites Machine An Xlt Spectrum And Still Get The Thrill Of Digging. Its Amazing How Much Jewelry Is Out There If You Want To Work It!! Oh Well Enjoyed Your Story Glenn. Take Care, Mitch

[Steve in PR]

I enjoyed the story, Glenn. I think we all must evolve as hunters. Sometimes we take a break to persue another passsion but it is good to know that the fire still burns. I am assuming that you have a few things that you didn't part with. Would you consider making a photo album of them on your Profile page? I'd love to see them.

[Yardog]

Great Stories Guys, I wished I would of started back then, I can just imagine what it was like, Thanks

[space_weaseal]

Welcome to TQ.
You sound like you have some great experiances and i for one look forward to hearing more from you, and learn from your knowledge.

[EBCIII]

Welcome to the site Glenn! it sounds like you did great with the relics. I have been to the area you are talikng about as a teen (50 now). I would have liked to hunt back then, Beale.

[anne]

Welcome to the Forum Glenn........I got this feeling that if you stick around and read all the posts on what people are finding you might just be tempted to give it another go.
Would love to see what you have found in the past.

[Bryan Jon]

Welcome to TQ, Glenn. Thank you for sharing the story with us. If you stick around here long enough , you will be swinging a detector again , in no time at all.

[gordiesgirl]

Hello and welcome to TQ, I have a funny feeling that you will be buying a detector soon, After reading the forums and seeing what all the great folks here find. I am glad you joined us.