Treasure
isn’t always found for pure “gold weight” value – there can be many
historic coins and other treasures that are rips for the picking.

In your local community, there can be many metal detector finds worth looking for.

If
you’re looking to get started, this can be the easiest way to find
quick success – any town with history can have treasures buried all
over its area.

- Focus on where the old buildings are (were)

Churches,
Schools, Town Halls, Taverns, Bandshells – if you can pinpoint where
these were, then it’s likely that you’ll be able to find a fair helping
of treasure nearby.

These are all locations where people
gathered regularly. From the sheer amount of activity going on, it is
likely that there are still many (as of now) unclaimed treasures just
sitting in the dirt!

Especially areas like bandshells, where
people would gather for celebrations to hear the music (concerts of
those times) are ripe for picking.

- Churches can be a Gold Mine

Many great metal detector finds have
happened near churches. These are often the oldest buildings in the
community, and are representative of the changing demographic of the
area. Almost every town has gone through a boom period in its history,
and items were likely dropped at some point.

Being the oldest buildings, it’s likely that the most historic coins are also available here.

The
further back in history you go, the more likely that you’ll be dealing
with gold or gold equivalent metals – which are much more lucrative for
your time.

- Town Sporting Events

Where were town
sporting events held? If you can find the location of the bleachers,
it’s likely that you’ll also find hidden gems.

Bleachers are areas ripe with people standing up and sitting down – and with every shift, losing coins out of their pockets!

Keep
in mind, that one historic coin can be worth thousands of dollars – due
to the scarcity of coins at the time compared with today’s coins, it’s
likely that a simple find can easily pay off your equipment, and give
you a reasonable profit as well!

With the price of gold fluctuating each and every day, finding gold has become that much more lucrative!

Think of the fever that has existed for gold in the past.

Thousands of people, spending their life savings, digging through dirt for metal detector finds.

All those years, all those people looking.

And yet, it is estimated by most geologists that in the western United States alone, only 5% of the gold available has been discovered!

Think of all the money that was made during the gold rush (in terms of gold finds, not dollar value), and multiple that by 20 – that’s how much is potentially still available in the American west!

If this, and other factors involving the potential to find gold has given you a bit of fever, we’re here to help.

– Get the right equipment

If you’re going after this find, the first thing you’ll need is a proper gold metal detector.

Don’t be frugal in this area – do proper research and find the one that is right for you.

As nuggets are often found in groups, the right equipment can potentially mean a difference of hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in the long run from various metal detector finds that you may encounter.

When looking in the American West, get a gold metal detector that is built for gold only.

There are many on the market that are great for multi-use, however they are much more useful along a beach, searching for rings or jewelry. In these areas, people can drop platinum, silver, and other types of metal.

In the America West, you’ll need a good gold-only metal detector. Gold puts out a signature very close to that of Iron, and avoiding the confusion between the two will save you lots of time!

These tools will save years of time, and in the last few years have come a long way.

– Find the right places

Normally gold nuggets are found low lying areas (due to their weight and composition, they often find low ground).

Washes, riverbeds, and other areas that have been washed by water or time will yield the best location for gold.

Gold nuggets will often be found in groups, and if you can find one it’s likely that there are more nearby.

Old mining tailings are a good source for potential gold as well – keep in mind that the old timers only had limited resources for being able to pick gold from the dirt. Efficiency was very low at the time, and there is still a lot of gold left behind for easy picking in old mining tailings.

Once you find the right place, use it as a system to find other places of similar composition. You’ll know when you’re in the right area and can zoom in on specific gold depositis with your gold metal detector in no time.

With the right experience, in no time you’ll be able breathe the air, feel the ground, and know whether or not there’s metal detector finds!

In recent years, the popularity of Gold Metal Detector clubs has been on the rise.

As the price of gold continues to rise, people are looking for gold hidden on popular resort beaches.

While many are doing this on their own, many clubs have also started – partly to teach and learn from others the art and science of gold metal detecting, partly to have a hobby and socialize together.

Gold Metal Detector clubs can be a great activity. Here’s some ideas on how to set “ground rules” with yours.

- Establish a written constitution and club rules

This is very important – rules are the groundwork for what is right and what is wrong in the group.

Rules allow you to go back to the “basics” if your members or executive get off track. 

- Help your members gain knowledge

Bring in experts, allow specific members to make presentations on techniques and equipment that have worked for them

- Allow your members to learn from each other

Groups of people can learn the basics fairly quickly. As well, as they grow and become better gold metal detectors, they also have a network developed to share their information

- Develop a sense of trust

Trust is a large part of working together in a group, especially in a group focusing on detecting gold!

Some clubs operate off of rules of trust such as “if a great metal detector location is given out to one person, it should be given out to everybody in the club”

Others operate off of a rule such as “nobody is allowed to ask where good areas are” and focus solely on technique and finding items in the sand

- Have regular meetings

Regular meetings are important to keeping the continuity of the club

- Have competitions

Bury an item in the sand, and race to see who can find it first

Set a day where you see who can bring in the most items by number or weight

Have people guess the depth of a buried item by the sound their gold metal detector tells them

Anything is possible, competitions help people work together and exchange information more.