Ghost Hunter Discovers Treasure Hunting

As many of you who read this blog or listen to my show know by now, I am a ghost hunter.

Not quite like what we saw in GHOSTBUSTERS. But I’ve got a pretty decent arsenal of digital and analog voice recorders, EMF detectors, video cameras, night vision, etc.

It’s funny, I think, that my ghost hunting partner, co-lead investigator, and best friend got me into my newest and cherished hobby–treasure hunting.

He sent me an e-mail about how he was thinking it might be fun to take his metal detectors out on an outing. Who know what we might find.

Well, we DO know what we might find. Because others have long before us.

We could go coin shooting on ball fields and playgrounds. We could look for rings and jewelry on local beaches. We could really make it an outing and head up further into the Gold Country and hit some old ghost towns and combine ghost hunting with treasure hunting!

People have even found METEORITES worth countless hundreds of thousands of dollars. Turns out collectors and scientists will pay a pretty penny for even the tiniest of space rocks.

As I researched this, I began to realize why this hobby and pastime had intrigued me since I was a little kid. Unlike radio, I put it on the back burner until I was almost 40 years old.

Wish I had gotten into it sooner!

It is SO much fun and that conclusion is only after my first trial outing (found .60 cents and made a kid at the park thrilled that I gave him an old jeans button that had fallen off of some kid’s pants probably not that long ago).

If we strike it rich, that would of course be awesome. But that’s not why we are doing it.

We are doing it for the sense of adventure and wonder. For the exercise (my arms got a good work out just holding the detector and swinging it back and forth, let alone all the calories burned walking and hiking) and being outdoors doing something you love. I am quickly learning geology, weather conditions and their affects on treasure hunting, even how to read and make the most of topo maps and Google Earth.

Compared to other hobbies, it is relatively inexpensive. You can invest anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to thousands, depending on the amount and capabilities of your metal detecting gear and accessories. But I know people who have plunked down $150 and had LOADS of fun and found tons of cool coins and jewelry and relics.

So lots of bang for your buck. And you can do it virtually anywhere except where it is prohibited and, of course, on private property. But I have learned that many property owners can be very cordial about a request to scan their property. Especially if they have lost something meaningful to them that you can help them recover. Or if you strike a deal to split the finds with them. Or maybe they keep any jewelry and you keep any coins that are unearthed. So beaches. Trails. Parks. Ballfields. Historical towns (just watch out for regulations and laws, obviously). Places from old maps that might be buried by modern times.

I have a feeling–like with my ghost hunting blogs–this will just be the first of many to come. The more I get out there…the more things I find…the more adventures I have…the more I will have to share with all of you.

Well, I have to run. Need to keep show prepping…getting kids ready for school…and I have to get it all done so I can hit a park or trail for an hour or so today, our 3-year-old by my side.

“You’re finding treasure, Daddy?!?!” she asks.

Yes, that’s the plan. HAHA. So far I found two quarters and a dime.

Maybe next time it will be a long forgotten bracelet. Or a collectible coin.

Or maybe even a rock from far, far away.