Good enough, Jack. as JOHN SAYS, IT'S BETTER THAN tv. But, can I add a little philosophy here? you can even call it apologtic, if you want - I
used to myself, until I saw the light.
It aint
always silver and jewels. Hope springs eternal, and those are the things that we measure success against, most of the time. But, the fact is, for most of us, those are not what we most often find. If that was the only thing we had to judge our success by, then most of us would be considered abject failures (You can't go by John's results, as he's the only detectorist in the entire history of the province of Alberta
).
I did a little number crunching once, some years ago, and found that I made more on the clad I found than I did on the silver coins, with the exception of one. But, unless you find a truly rare, excellent condition coin, both of which are required for any real worth...well, let's just say it aint good odds. It's better than face value clad, or course, and they aint making them anymore. But, I have a box full of silver coins, which I take out and look at now and then. But, that is about all I get from them and I couldnt retire on them, even at retail prices (provided I could get such prices, which is doubtful...)!
The really solid jewelry, is another story, as they still make it and it probably exists in greater numbers, nowadays, than silver, which has been cherry picked to death. But, lets have a a show of hands:
Who here has far more pulltabs, foil balls, screwcaps nickles and Vienna Sausage pull tops, when compared to really solid rings, worth scads of money?
You water hunters, put your hands down - this is for the dirt fishers! Honest answers only, please.
There are goodies to be found, for sure, including silver and rings. And the chance find of a lifetime does happen - to all of us. So, it behooves you to get out there and believe as Mel Fisher says,"Todays the Day..." Alas, for every day that is "The Day," most of our efforts result in such things as you have shown in your post.
One should never give up hope and with good research you can up your odds. But, the odds are also what keeps Las Vegas and lotteries in business. Your enjoyment of this pastime shouldn't be measured solely against such things as silver and gold alone. In truth, those things are fleeting as is our enjoyment of them.
There is far more good in this pastime than that alone....okay, I said my piece. I hope I didnt offend anyone.
You ought to get one of those compact chargers like I got. The batteries last four times longer than alkalines before needing charged. The whole thing with four batteries was onl $9.99.