Photo by .BalaI think metal detecting is getting more and more popular nowadays, probably because people are looking for a hobby that is enjoyable, but one that doesn’t take a lot of effort to get started with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying metal detecting is easy to master, what I’m saying is that almost anyone can pick up a book and cheap metal detector and get out there to enjoy this hobby in just a few hours time, but anyone who wants to go deeper can spend years mastering an expensive metal detector and learning about the items they find.

There have been some high profile finds recently which is definitely helping to get people involved in this hobby, and as more and more people get involved then hopefully land owners will be more amenable to letting people search on their land, because without land to search on then this hobby can’t continue. Getting permission to detect on someone’s land is one of the hardest parts of this hobby, but fortunately you can join a club (if there is one near you) and they take care of that for you so you can just go out with them and enjoy yourself.

Don’t be entranced by the high profile finds people have reported though, don’t go out there expecting to find hordes of gold all the time, often only very basic items are dug up by people out detecting, valuable items are much rarer. Often the fun is in finding out what an item was used for, who used it, and who in the local area would have lost it, even if it isn’t made of gold and inlaid with precious stones. Once you find out the history of the item then it can sometimes turn up some really interesting facts, like it could have belonged to the lord of the local area, or it could be thousands of years old and you could be holding in your hand something which someone took the time and effort to make all those years ago.

The best places to detect are places where lots of people have lived for thousands of years, because then lots of metal items will have been dropped over the years and you never know what you are going to find. Europe is probably the best place for this and all the major hordes I know about have been found there.

So to get started with metal detecting then you would be best off getting some books on the subject and then joining a club and asking them for their opinion on which detector you should buy to start with. With their help then you can get a metal detector which gives you clear signals so you don’t get confused by all the readings it gives you, but is still powerful enough to make some really good finds – good luck!

Have a search online for some books on metal detecting and you will find some really interesting ones.