Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Metal Detectors

I live in a part of Essex where bits of the Detectorists was filmed. Walking the dog i met a real detectorist lurking in my pals field recently I can assure you that the characters and settings are quiet accurate, the (pleasant) guyI met who asked me who owned the field and how they could pay up to £1000 and share the profits of any finds, was taking the p*ss as he could have passed for one of the cast.
Mackenzie Crook clearly has some inside information of the hobby the characters and the area. Love the series, good well written and clever comedy script.

I built one myself years ago when people started using them to hunt for gold. Later I bought one but all I ever found were bits of rusty old iron. I had more luck fossiking with a pan and later I built a sluice and also had a small dredge. Most of the areas I went to only had fine gold dust and flakes and the areas famous for nuggets were too far from where I lived. I still have some of the gold somewhere in a sample box and a jar. It was a hobby that got us out and camping in some nice places but cost far, far more than the value of gold found.

At about the time I was fooling around with metal detectors a guy in Victoria went out to the gold fields area with a few mates and a brand new metal detector. At a certain point they stopped at a roadside layby to stretch their legs and he announced that he would try it there as he had not used one before and had no idea how it worked. After a bit he got a big squeal and dug down expecting to find a bit of old car or rubbish and turned up a huge nugget that was worth a fortune. Talk about beginner's luck.

Dave,
What about a long weekend to the British Museum !!!!

Dave, like Gajet, I too am a detectorist, you would be surprised how many of us are out there!

My suggestion too would be that she looks to join a local club where they can give advice. Some members might even have used machines they can loan/sell her to get her started. They will also have land and farm permissions at their disposal.

Try www.symdc.co.uk

There’s no point spending a lot of money if it is just a passing whim. In my opinion it’s better to buy a good used machine than a bottom end new one. Avoid Maplins, their machines are toy-like.

It is luck of the draw to an extent as the item needs to be under your coil to be found. However, if you have a better machine it increases the chances of you finding the item once it is there.

Main dealers have new and used machines and will happily give advice, try:

www.joanallen.co.uk
www.crawfordsmd.com
www.regton.com

Good luck!

Work colleague has an 'agreement' with the organiser of the local weekly car boot sale to go over the grass field after the event has finished with his detector. He usually finds anything up to 100 quid in dropped change!

Arwyn

Apparently the best places are in old latrines - if you dropped something in there whist fresh it is unlikely you would try too hard to retrieve it! Many gems have been found interred (not sure I spelled that last word correctly!). Where there`s muck......

It maybe series 3 i watched, the ending was where the Magpie threw the coins out of the nest and the Guys got there final Gold rush.

Yes, that's series 3.

Dave,

Having advised against Maplins I have been told by a friend that they now stock a few of the better machines along with the usual very basic detectors (but online only).


If she is looking for a new machine she could do worse than look at the Minelab GO-Find series. Minelab are a leading manufacturer and these should be good "point and shoot" machines for the beginner.

I have no experience with them but I have a couple of Minelab machines and they are excellent.

https://www.joanallen.co.uk/Minelab-Go-Find-Series-s/304.htm

Review

http://md-hunter.com/minelab-go-find-20-40-60-new-2015/

Once again a main dealer will give advice.


Cheers.

Update. Excellent guidance from Gajet, and for future reference, a specialist company 'Regton' is owned by a Morgan enthusiast.

Excellent service from Regton, and the detector arrived this week.
MissW will be very pleased I suspect.

Now to find a crock of gold.