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Today the temperature climbed to a balmy 53 degrees F with sunshine, so when my daughter asked me what I wanted to do today, you know the answer was to go metal detecting!
My daughter then asked me if we could go to the park to metal detect.
I would have loved to take her to the park near us that allows metal detecting. but I reminded her that we had a different kind of park today. I pointed over to my sixteen-year-old car up on blocks.
Yup, we weren’t going anywhere. We were definitely parked, all right!
My husband is getting the car ready for inspection, which means all new brakes, rotors, calipers and tires all around.
He’s getting pretty darn good at fixing cars, but it’s also not much fun when you want to be out metal detecting and you can’t leave the house!
Fortunately, I know metal detecting can be fun no matter where you go. You don’t have to go somewhere exotic all the time. So, today we went metal detecting in our own backyard.
I figured if nothing else, it would be some good practice for my daughter. As I wrote in my guide to metal detecting with kids, kids tend to not have a very long attention span.
It was so nice just to be outside today after all of the winter weather. Hello sunshine!
Metal Detecting Finds for March 2019
Since we were metal detecting around the backyard, I didn’t expect to find a lot of stuff…but I was actually pleasantly surprised. I guess we are good at making a mess as a family.
The first thing I found was a nice 1986 penny. I love collecting pennies, so this was a surprise. Naturally a 1986 penny this corroded is worth exactly 1 cent, if even that lol…but I still was very excited to find it.
Can you see the penny in the photo of my daughter with the detector above? It was right on the surface, no digging was required. It definitely blended right in!
Know a kid who might like metal detecting? Check out my post on the best metal detectors for kids – lots of good options for entry-level beginner detectorists!
After we searched a bit more around the front yard, we headed to the back yard. I mostly found only rusty junk there, but that was actually sort of on purpose.
My husband was cleaning out some scrap metal from that particular area earlier in the week. Naturally, he missed a few things!
This is actually a great reason to get a metal detector though, even if you are not necessarily searching for treasure.
If you are worried about metal in your yard where you might run a lawnmower or have kids playing, a metal detector is a great way to identify any potentially sharp and dangerous hazards that you need to remove.
{And yes, if you read my blog post on metal detecting safety, you know I’m a mom and believe in safety first!}
Here’s everything we found for the day:
We also found some very cool things that aren’t metal. I recognize it as a piece of a broken knick-knack that was formerly a boy standing by a wishing well, but it looks kinda cool the way that it broke.
Oh, and a crocus!
This is one of my favorite things about metal detecting because maybe even if you don’t find things like valuable coins or relics, it does give you a reason to slow down to notice and appreciate the smaller beautiful details in life!
What I Learned on My First Hunt of The Metal Detecting Season This Year
The last time I was really out metal detecting, for real, was all the way back in August. That’s way too long for me! However, when the chaos of back to school starts up and the weather starts to get wet and cold, there’s not a whole lot of cooperative weather to metal detect.
I did learn a couple of things today though, and I think I’m going to have to remember to do them before next time I go out.
#1. Remind Yourself How Your Metal Detector Works
I had a hard time finding much at first, mostly because I couldn’t remember how to switch between the screens for the settings and pinpoint mode. Whoops.
It’s actually very easy and simple to do on my Minelab X-TERRA 505, but when you go more than a couple of months using it regularly you can forget these things.
Sometime between today and my next hunt I’m definitely going to have to read through the manual a little bit more. When I bought my detector, the dealer I talked to said he reads it every time before he goes out. I think I understand now why!
If you are a forgetful person like myself, remembering anything is tricky!
#2. Search Well Traveled Areas First
My best find from this first search in our own backyard was a penny I had no idea was even there.
The penny must have been recent, because it was right on the surface. I wouldn’t have even seen it if I didn’t have the metal detector because it really blended in with the grass and dirt, though was a very easy find when the machine picked it up.
The spot where I found it makes sense because it’s an area where everybody in the family walks a good bit between the house and where we park and the road. It very likely fell out of someone’s pocket just in regular everyday stuff we do.
Searching an area that is well traveled will definitely increase your odds for finding stuff in places you have searched before. It’s just the way we as people are – we tend to drop stuff without realizing it!
In contrast, where I searched in the other areas of the yard where we rarely go, I didn’t find much. That wasn’t surprising!
#3. Write it Down!
I am in the process of making a binder for my metal detecting activities and keeping track of my coin collection. Keeping a metal detecting log is easy – and you can use my free printable metal detecting log sheet to help you!
Writing down where I hunted & some notes on what I found is so helpful for me. I’ll know in a few months to check back in the areas frequently traveled by the kids and visitors to our house, and I’ll also be able to remember where I searched for various scrap metal.
Remember how i said I forgot how to actually use my machine after 6-8 months just a few paragraphs ago? Really, we can’t rely on our memory as much as we would like to! Life can get crazy and be stressful sometimes, and our brain has to keep essential and vital information in the “storage”.
Metal detecting is always fun, especially when we get a nice spring day like this after a long and dreary winter. I can’t wait to get out again {hopefully VERY soon!}.
Have you made it outside yet to enjoy metal detecting yet? What sorts of things did you find? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!