find treasure

I’m starting to research/price metal detectors. I already own a 1980s White’s Electronics detector, which was great as a kid. I want something with more range and power. I also need something that goes underwater. Yeah, I’m thinking coins and jewelry.

I’ll research through the Winter and purchase in Spring.

Just a quick hit on an easy way to find treasure. As a kid I used to “pop” the seats out of abandoned cars and look for lost pocket change underneath. It sounds kind of crazy, but I found a lot of coins.

If memory serves (and it does because I saved all my finds) my best finds were a half dollar, a silver dime, and several wheat-back pennies. Toys and some costume jewelry were also frequent finds.

Over the course of a year I found three Luke Skywalker X-Wing pilot action figures. It was cool finding Star Wars toys, but getting the same one over and over seemed a bit odd.

When “seat popping,” station wagons are fertile hunting grounds. I’m not talking the new try-to-be-hip models, but those nasty old school faux wood paneled babies. Those bad boys just yell, “Hey, we have a lot of kids and are too damned poor to even try to look cool.”

One fudge-shit brown wood-grained baby, which was locked and took a B.B. rifle to the rear passenger window to get in, gave up several King Kong and Happy Days trading cards. She also yielded lots of pennies and one of the aforementioned Luke Skywalker figures.

Kids actually running around unsupervised with guns. Things have certainly changed since then.

I have an early 1980s Whites Electronics metal detector, which served me well as a kid. I never found a lot of coins or other treasure, but did discover some cool things (old metal squirt gun, straight-edged razor, 1941 Utah license plate, bullets, and lots of nails). Most of all, I had a blast.

I really want to get back into treasure hunting. It doesn’t take much, depending on what you are looking for. I plan to search old buildings, mines, and ghost towns. I also plan to search some beaches.

More to follow.