Future of MD?

[mwaynebennett]

Well, it is pretty much a sure thing that the USA is going into a period of hyperinflation where gasoline may cost $50-$100 per gal, a loaf of bread $40-$80 etc. If that happens, the clad coins we have been questing will be worth no more than the old rusty steel washers we discriminate-out now. Sure there is the value of the metal, however it is illegal to melt coins for their metal value. When/if this happens, how will it impact the MD hobby? Since I have never found a silver coin or one with numismatic value, and I have retrieved many hundreds of coins, digging for, in essence old rusty steel washers does not excite me too much. At the present I can justify my time by saying;

 

[JJ]

While you're passing the happy pipe, lets assume this happened. Your two 9 volt batterys are now around $150 and gold is nearly $40,000 per ounce. I say buy a gold machine with rechargeable batteries. JJ

 

[mwaynebennett]

I am offended by your comment.

 

[dave5710]

Mark, I started this hobby several years ago to kill time while I waited for my Dad to undergo kidney dialysis. I would drop him off at 6am and not pick him up until 10:30. It sure beat sitting in the car with nothing to do. It is relaxing. It is frustrating at times.

Would I rather find a quarter than a zinc penny? You bet. Would I be happier still if that quarter was a 1964 or older? You bet.

Personally I set goals each year, total coins, total value, total silver. These last two years since my Dad passed, I have failed at my goals, I don't have as much time to kill. If you aren't finding the stuff you want to find, ask yourself why? If I lived in an area where there was no silver, I would find all the clad I could and cash it in to buy silver coins with.

I hope I don't live long enough to see the world you describe.

Dave

 

[JJ]

Any thoughts from you folks?

Offended? Did you honestly expect everyone to see things your way? Inflation is a given but your figures are ridiculous. JJ

 

[mwaynebennett]

Dave 5710:

So if all the clad and pennies instantly turned to rusted steel washers, would you continue looking for them? That is my point.

Regarding the time frame, many successful economists and forecasters are predicting such hyper inflation within the next year or so. Let's hope that your wish does not come true... that is, you dieing so soon.

JJ: Are you familiar with the history of Germany in the 1920s? If not, here is a link for you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

"The main cause of hyperinflation is a massive and rapid increase in the amount of money, which is not supported by growth in the output of goods and services."

This is EXACTLY what Bush and Obama have done. Why do you think the USA isn't subject to the same rules and laws of market forces as is every other country on earth?

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[JJ]

Mark, Maybe you should save that garbage for the views forum. They eat that stuff for breakfast. JJ

 

[mwaynebennett]

JJ:

Maybe you should refrain from insulting others.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[JJ]

 

[aushunter]

Live for today, fella's not tomorrow.
Who cares what you hunt, its the passion that keeps me going, of not knowing what you'll dig up next.
HH and cheers
And an old saying we have in Oz - haveagoodweekend.
aushunter

 

[bountyhunter1972]

You know I don't ever tell people this but I am going to chime in anyways. Would I still hunt for clad if it's value was the same as a rusted washer? Yes I would. you said you don't want to hear about how relaxing it is, but it is. For me it is a new Addiction, I am a recovering addict. I was addicted to pain pills, I have issues with my back. When I metal detect I am in another world, I have something to live for, I don't think about drugs. I love finding bits of foil, I would rather find a merc dime, which was my goal this year that did not happen. My son has his own metal detector and we go together everyday, my wife understands why I go everyday and she loves it because she has her old husband back and my son has his old dad back. I love metal detecting, it is Therapeutic for my back, and for the drug addiction. So yes I would dig foil, pull tabs, rusted washers and clad pennies, and silver all day long if I could. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me, I wish I would have found Metal Detecting first before the drugs!!!!!!!!!!! So with all due respect what is your deal, your telling me that you wouldn't MD even if a clad dime was worth nothing, my dad always said pennies add up, your dad ever tell you that? If gas was 10.00 a gallon you bet I would bend down and get that penny. My daughter and son and I rolled up all the pennies that we have found, we put $5.00 in gas and got some new batteries for the detector. I will never stop Metal Detecting, it is my new drug and helps create a stronger bond with my son, and my whole family for that matter. You need to find the spiritual side of detecting, instead of the I'm going to get rich. I know I wont, but like I said above, it's something that has returned my life to me. I hope this has helped your question, and maybe put you on the right track of metal detecting. Good luck with it.

 

[dave5710]

If this so called hyperinflation takes place, metal detecting will not. Crime will be so out of control that no one would be safe. Not in your own home, not at work, and definitely not strolling through a park swinging a metal detector.

You see there are some people who will do anything, as long as it is easy money. Shooting you for a little cash wouldn't bother them a bit, and if they were hungry......

 

[mwaynebennett]

BH1972:

I never expected to "get rich" or even find any significant amounts of money. I would however like to find old coins/relics for the pure joy of "touching the past" so to speak. I look at the clad as something to justify the time spent. If all I ever found was pull tabs, rusty washers and bottle caps etc., I would not continue. If clad becomes worthless, I would no longer go looking for it, but would limit my MDing to areas that had a higher chance of finding older coins. If all I wanted was to pick up garbage, I would not need a MD to do that.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[dave5710]

Mark, let's see what we can do to help you out. Did you check out about hunting under the ski lifts? How is your research going on those mining camps. Look into locations of old logging camps, military bases, old schools and colleges. What about factories, foundries and mills. Washington is famous for apples, what about orchards? Years ago when they picked apples by hand, it would of taken alot of manpower. Those people would have lost coins. What about those state parks of yours, where people go to pick those wild blueberries? How long have they been doing that? Are you getting out of town at all? How close are you to Oregon, or Canada? What about old farm houses? Any wooded areas near you where people would have hunted game or mushrooms. You have alot of rivers and streams, go where people would sit and fish all afternoon. Sometimes when a guy would pull out his pocket knife, a coin or two probably would come out with it. There must be silver in Washington, you guys have been a state for over a hundred years. Are there any detecting groups in your area? Go see what those guys are finding and listen to what suggestions they have.

Take care, Dave

 

[bountyhunter1972]

I'm with Dave on this mark, I get disappointed also I spent all day at a street and sidewalk tear out the other day. I had visions of silver in my head all day. All I came home with was square nails and junk. It happens to all of us where we get upset about not finding the things we dream about. I have yet to find one piece of silver, I have found a silver dime on the ground, I didn't even get to detect it, it was an eye ball find. The last and only silver dime I ever dug was years ago. Don't get mad because you can't find the silver get even. I ordered a couple of books to help me out, I will list them later when I have more time, but research is the key to finding old coins and people might argue with me on this one but luck has something to do with it also, you have to put your coil over that silver or you will never find it. Don't look so hard let it come to you and you will find it. good luck, I wasn't trying to get on you or anything just putting in my two cents. It felt kind of good to tell other people about my problem, now I don't feel so bad about it, I am a drug addict that metal detects and hasn't found one silver coin yet. LOL thanks for listening. good luck on your next hunt.

 

[mwaynebennett]

BH 1972:

I think you have totally missed my point. Do you always detect in all metal and dig every single signal you get, even if you know it is junk?

Well, do you?

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[wasp]

Mark, I think that if the hyper-inflation you speak of actually happens and I were metal detecting to put food on the table then I would stop metal detecting, get a part time job, and use my "detecting time" to earn money instead of trying to find it.

Even though I mostly coin shoot with my detector I do it for the hobby aspect of the activity. You know; fun, challenge, learning something new, relaxation, socializing, exercising the legs and knees, meditation, etc. I suppose that is why I fish. Not to put food on the table but for the afore mentioned reasons. For me the reward is in the activity not in what I catch when fishing or find with my metal detector. That is not to say that catching a nice fish or finding that merc isn't rewarding. It just isn't a necessary result for me to enjoy my hobbies of metal detecting and fishing.

No, I don't always detect in All Metal. Usually I do not. I don't fish with a bare hook either. I search for coins and try to avoid digging junk. Therefore, I don't dig every signal, just the ones that I think may be something of value. Even so, I am haunted by the thought that I may have passed over countless gold rings thinking they were pulltabs and figure on sometime in the future going back over some areas to dig those signals even knowing they are most likely junk of some sort.

Thus far my year to date total is over 2000 coins of which only 9 were silver and a couple of dozen wheats. I have found watches, costume jewelry, a couple dozen Hot Wheel type cars, a few medallions, several rings, and lots of lost keys. I also have a couple of buckets of all kinds of junk metal of which I don't regret digging a single piece (except for one piece of aluminum can slaw that I cut my finger on). I continue to marvel at the items people drop on the ground. Each time I bring something out of the ground I can't help but wonder how long it has been there and how it came to be there.

Sometimes when all I find is junk it can be frustrating and a little disappointing but that does not discourage me from metal detecting. If anything, it makes me look forward to my next outing and encourages me to think of what I could do different to get a better result next time out. So, I will continue with metal detecting as long as I continue to find enjoyment in the hobby.

 

[bountyhunter1972]

Yes sometimes I do, it depends where I am at. Like the other day I was at the street tear out, I dug everything, I hunted in all metal mode all day, nothing to show for it but I did have fun. But I dont hunt in all metal when I'm at a house hunt thats just to much, but then again if I start finding good stuff I will for an hour or two.

 

[slingshot]

Awesome answers, you guys. I remember the months when my mother passed away and my wife left and my depression from trying to ask "Why?" all this at once. This caused loss of my job-at least my boss told me that I was a normally good worker but that they couldn't use me in this state any longer. I lived in the back of a van that I had furnished with all the basic necessities. I rode a bicycle to all my hunt sites and ate by coinshooting and picking up aluminum cans. Now it was only about 5-6 months and the 401K from my other job was there, but it was a grand time of recuperation. Hey, did you know you can make a solar hot water heater out of a darkened plastic bag or cook with a solar cooker and a blackened canning jar? Did you know that you can find MORE by hunting at a comfortably SLOWER swing pace than trying to find it as fast as you can-trying to increase your find rate? Hot weather? Just dowse your underwear, sheets and bedding in water and let your 12 volt fan blown on you and in the a.m. EVERYTHING will be dried out and you cool as a cucumber. Or how about the soda machines-looking for ones with the "out buttons" glowing red on the majority of the selections-someone always gets mad and leaves the money in and you get free drinks on the unpopular drinks left in the machine by just pushing the button. Oh, and don't forget to swipe a long ruler or stick underneath the machines for the quarters that roll underneath. OK, I could go on for pages-but this hobby LIVES within the person who loves it and only frustrates those who try to manufacture something out of it.

 

[mwaynebennett]

So Slingshot, you said "I rode a bicycle to all my hunt sites and ate by coinshooting and picking up aluminum cans."

So you admit that it was the value of the coins. What if the value of the coins went to Z E R O ? What if the coins were worth no more than the pull tabs? Would you still hunt them? If so, why? Do you intentionally hunt pull tabs now?

Mark
Elite 2200