Spent $300 on a metal detector for my yard and found nothing but old nails

Everyone says you need good gear to find anything, but honestly it was a total waste for a beginner like me. I spent three weekends digging up junk and got zero actual artifacts. Has anyone else had better luck with cheaper models or should I just give up?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_piper2mo ago

Same here, bought a decent one and just got pull tabs and a rusty spoon. It's all junk until you find that one spot.

brianreed2mo ago

My buddy's dad found a civil war button in his own backyard, but he had to dig like fifty holes of trash first. The machine just tells you metal is there, it can't tell time.

the_terry2mo ago

Remember the machine can sort of tell time, just not very well. A modern pull tab rings up the same as a gold coin, but a big iron horse shoe sounds way different than a thin brass button. You learn the tones and numbers to guess if it's worth digging. That civil war button probably gave a quiet, high signal, while most of the trash was loud and low. It's still a guess, but you get better at guessing.