I was at my brother's out-of-town football game in the Fall of '74 and just happened to venture over near the playground where I saw a grandfatherly looking gentleman with with what I clearly remember to be on of those old White's Coinmaster beasts with the huge rectangular control box with a back aching . He was carrying a pail that had coins, a couple of toys at the bottom. I was one of those young kids that I now grumble about while out detecting. I asked him and I can still here him now. He quietly responded what he was doing and what he was trying to find. That's what kicked it off for me. I wish I could tell him how that single event changed my life. I always wonder if there is a chance he might still be alive today. I imagine he would be around 100 years old.

I would like to know what your earliest memory of what got you interested in metal detecting is.