What Is The Chance Of Finding Gold When Metal Detecting?
Have you seen all the hordes being found in the UK at the moment? There have been 2 or 3 really big ones just in the last couple of years which have made it into the newspapers and onto TV, plus of course people find smaller hordes all the time which we don't hear about. The big finds have fired up the imagination of treasure hunters everywhere and I have heard that basic detectors and metal detecting books are flying off the shelves at stores.
The problem is, all those people with the glint of gold in their eyes don’t realize that finding gold when you are out metal detecting is not a common occurrence! Some people go their whole lives without finding some of that elusive gold, others find it on their first visit, it is pot luck as to if you will find any or not, and certainly not something you can rely on. These people have a dream of just quickly sweeping a metal detector over a field and then finding lots of coins or some nice gold jewelry, but in fact metal detecting is hard and very often fruitless work. You need to the kind of person who enjoys getting out there with a friend and spending the day scanning a field and digging up bottle caps and iron nails and not be disappointed.
Even if there were gold coins or other valuables in the fields where these people were looking then they probably wouldn't find them with the cheap detectors people are buying, you need a decent quality detector that can scan down deep enough to find these things, and one that can discriminate so you know what it has found. You need something which is a step up from that, you don't want a top of the range model as you'll never understand all the settings, so just go for something worth a few hundred and that should give you some good depth, be easy to use, and allow you to tweak it as you get better.
If you do want to start detecting as a hobby, and aren't just looking for that next big find, then try and find a local club you can join. They will be happy to recommend good detectors that a beginner will get a lot out of, and they will take the time to secure permission for land to detect on, which can one of the most difficult things for people starting out.Then once you are used to it and you are confident to branch out on your own you can do that and try to find your very own horde.
