Total New-Bee here from Illinois

[Tony Two-Cent]

Total newbie to this forum, but not to metal detecting. I started metal detecting with my dad in 1969 at age six. I got my own detector in 1981 and really did a lot of hunting up until 1998. I started out with a White's and bought a Fisher in about 1987. I had moderate success with the Fisher. I found a 1914-D cent in my own front yard when I lived in Champaign, IL. The oldest coin I've found is a Spanish One Real dated 1808. It's silver and about the size of a nickel.

My Fisher finally bought the farm in about 2000 and I haven't been detecting since then. Lately I have a strong urge to get back out there. I am currently looking to buy a new (or used) machine and have been researching what is available. There is a lot of information to process. Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, White's, they all seem to have well-respected machines. I am mostly interested in finding old coins. I have no problem purchasing a top of the line detector if it's really worth the extra money. I welcome any recommendations.

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be sharing my recent finds.

This looks like a great place and I look forward to hanging out here!

[Epi-hunter]

Hi, and welcome to the forum You are definitely not a newbie to the hobby!

I think that any recommendations you receive will be based on personal opinion, as the top of the line machines are all very good. I used a Fisher CZ3D for a couple of years but sold it and moved to the Minelab line. I really like my E-Trac now and wouldn't trade it for the world.

HH!

Angie

[RaZR]

Welcome Tony!

[SeabeeRon]

Welcome New-Bee from Seabee!! I am out in California and hunt mostly on the beaches in the Santa Cruz area.

[jkress]

Welcome to American Detectorist Tony. Glad to have you here.
I suppose metal detecting never really gets out of the blood. Sooner or later it pulls everyone back in. lol

How lucky you were to be able to hunt back in the 70's. Must have been really exciting back at the beginning years of the hobby. Would love to hear some of your stories from the golden days.

You are right... there are quite a few very nice machines out there. I certainly haven't tried them all, but I can tell you that going from an entry level to a more advanced machine is definitely worth the extra money.

Looking forward to your posts.

[Jeff (or)]

Welcome, glad you are here. happydance02

[del]

hello and welcome to the forum , what a great intro Tony congrats on getting back into the hobby it is an addictive one. lol yes you'll hear many opinions about different machines here as we talk about them all have a look around theres some great information to absorb .welcome again Tony.

Dan

[pulltabsteve]

Welcome Tony Detecting since 6 years old...WOW. I guess any detector will find the goods if you take time to learn the machine. Looking forward to your posts.

[Carver]

Great to have you here Tony!!!! Hope you find the right detector,,,looking forward to your finds

[Ill Digger]

Welcome to the forum from another Illinoisaner thumbsup01
Sounds like you've spent alot of time behind the coil in your days! I'd love to see some of the things that Illinois has given up in the way of finds for ya.
As for a good machine there are sub forums here in the The Metal Detectors, Gear & Accessories section.
We have many members with many different machines. There is a lot of great discussion in these threads. thumbsup01 These will help you in the search for the right machine for you. Of course there's nothing wrong with having a couple of detectors thumbsup01 lol
Good to have ya ! HH

[Tony Two-Cent]

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!

Of course at age six I was pretty much just watching my dad and trying to stay out of his way. I'll never forget that first Indian Head cent he found as I was watching intently. That very well may have been what gave me the bug that has lasted 40+ years.

I actually still have that Indian Head cent, as well as the old 1968 Garrett metal detector that my dad was using at the time. Like me, it is a real antique now! I even still have the paperwork for it somewhere. My dad told me that it was Garrett's top of the line machine at the time.

This is how we rolled back in the day. Don't spend too much time looking for the discriminator.

[Full Metal Digger]

Welcome! Are you still in the Champaign area? I was stationed in Rantoul a couple times and wanted to MD that entire town! I live down here by Belleville now. Dave.

[Tony Two-Cent]

Dave,

Yes, I am still in the Champaign area. I live in Monticello now. I have many potential hunting spots scoped out here, all I need is a metal detector. Ha ha!

I used to hang out in the Belleville area quite a bit from 1991-1995 when I was dating a girl who went to SIU-E.

I did the bulk of my metal detecting from 1986-1996 when I lived in Effingham, IL. I had great success at the parks and school yards in that area. There was an old city park in Stewardson, IL that yielded many Indian Head cents and Barber Dimes for me. It was my secret hot spot that I hunted many, many times with my old Fisher 1260-X.

Tony

[russellt]

welcome to the forum. doesnt sound like your a new bee to me .....you look to be a ringer

[Tony Two-Cent]

Here's the 1914-D I found in my own front yard in Champaign, IL in 1998. I've never made any attempt to clean it because I didn't really know the best way to go about it.

[russellt]

soak it in olive oil for about 3 weeks .. it will loosen up the grit a bit.. and its unobtrusive as far as being bad for the coin.....

[Tony Two-Cent]

I will try that!

Thanks, Russell! thumbsup01

[coinnut]

Welcome TTC. Is that a BFO unit I see lol I had an old Bounter Hunter Rebel that was a BFO unit. And yes, there wer no discriminators back in the day. Glad you found us and detecting again!! Detectors have come a long way. I can't speak for many brands as I was a White's guy since around '74 and ended that string of machines with the DFX, a fine machine. I now use a Minelab E trac and love that too. I hope you can find a multi dealer around your area so you can try out a couple of different ones. It's important to find one that suits your style and hunting conditions. Read up on everyone's adventures and see what sounds good. Beautiful '14D wheaty <:

[odave]

Welcome aboard Tony !! Nice to have You here thumbsup01 thumbsup01
Good luck with which ever Detector You get

[v3ikid]

Welcome Tony. Sounds like you have the experience you just need a machine now. You have been doing some hunting in my neck of the woods. I found an Indian head penny and a depression era token in Stewardson a few years ago. We don't live that far away from each other. I'm about a half hour south of Decatur. I have got an MXT and a V3i, let me know if you want to check either of these machines out. I'm just learning the V3i so my skills at this point are much better with the MXT. I read when i got into this hobby about 5 years ago about a club in Monticello but the website was never updated so i just figured it had fizzled out. Good luck getting a new machine. There are some nice ones out there but you don't have to spend a bundle to have fun with it.