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I am saddened by the demise of the local detector dealer.  The cheery faces shown beaming behind fully stocked multi-line counters in the old detecting books are gone.  Some now retired, some deceased, and for those left it's been harder and harder for them to make ends meet. 

All of us in the metal detecting community bear some of the blame for the end of the local shop. Manufacturers have squeezed the little guys, requiring larger minimums and greater sales volumes - offering greater discounts to mass merchandisers.  Consumers have been driven to the internet looking for the lowest price, and relying on online forums for information.

Let's take stock of what the local dealer offers us:
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A Code of Honor 06/24/2009
 

The Federation of Metal Detecting and Archaeological Club (FMDAC) Code of Ethics can be found here: http://www.fmdac.org/about/codeofethics.htm

But beyond this, I feel there is a Code of Honor.  Honor is trustworthiness, one's character, and how one reflects honesty, respect, integrity and fairness.  This is more than a Code of Ethics.

I try to be an honorable metal detectorist.  I'm not perfect, but this is what honor means to me.  I always try to know the law.  I do not knowingly trespass or hunt sites without permission.  I respect locked gates and fences.

I honor my metal detecting friends by not hunting sites they have discovered or shared with me (public or private) without their knowledge or consent.  I try to teach and help others learn the hobby and pass along what I have learned.

I use the best retrieval techniques I can.  I try to dig neatly and leave little evidence I have metal detected a place.  I take my trash with me and fill my holes, even on the beach.  If I can do something simple to make it better than when I arrived, I will.

I am polite and courteous.  If I am asked to leave a site, I will do so without quarrel, even if I know I am doing no wrong.  If I have inadvertently trespassed, I apologize and do what I can to make things right.

Public perception is powerful.  If we are seen as looters, thieves, liars, grave robbers and trespassers we will lose access to the sites we depend on for our hobby.   Negative stereotypes, once formed are difficult to overcome.

Honorable detecting and good etiquette is what will make it possible for us to continue to enjoy our hobby.  Dishonorable detecting will close sites to all of us.  I urge you to do the best you can, be an honorable detectorist and a credit to the hobby.

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YES!  If you are serious about finding old coins in hunted out sites the Minelab Explorer or E-Trac are what you need.  I've been detecting for 19 years, so I'm old school (though not as old as some) and new school.  My first machine was a White's Classic II.  I was swinging Fisher CZs for years and finding a few silver coins - maybe 10-20 per year.  Last year with the Explorer, I got 51 silver.  This year I have 127 silver coins in about 3 months of digging.  The majority of these are from the same sites I have been hitting for years.  

If you look at the people who are serious about silver and finding 100+ silver coins in hunted out
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Cleaning modern coins to make them "spendable" again is best done with a rock tumbler.  Water, soap, gravel and coins go in for a few hours and come out presentable enough to be acceptable.  Harbor Freight offers an inexpensive and effective rock tumbler that works well, provided you take some common-sense care in using it.  The weak point in the design of this tumbler is the belt, but following these tips below will help your tumbler run better and your motor and belt last longer.

The original belt should last quite a while if it is adjusted properly and you are not overloading the tumbler.  In a pinch "standard" size 1/4" wide rubber bands work as belts too, but long term use of them can damage the plastic pulleys.

Make sure you adjust the spacing of the two pulleys (yes, this is adjustable) to be just enough that the belt is not too loose (i.e. it just catches).  This keeps the belt at the right tension and not too tight.  If it is too tight it will work, but it will stress the belt.

Don't overload the tumbler.  It is rated for 3#.  If you are filling it to the brim with coins, rocks and water it is too full and too heavy.  This stresses the motor and the belt.  Ideally the tumbler should be no more than 1/2 full of rocks and coins and no more than 3/4 full when you add water.  Besides saving the motor and the belt life, a properly loaded (not overloaded) tumbler works better and faster at cleaning your coins as the material has room to move around in the drum.

Replacement belts can be located cheaply on eBay and are typically as good or better than the original belt.  Many rock shops and lapidary stores sell them in retail stores and online too.

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Secret #1 - Minelab Explorer or E-Trac.  I have never found as much silver as I have with Minelab machines.  It's unreal what I've literally walked over for years with other machines.  If you look at the serious hunters who find tons of old coins in hunted out parks 9 times out of 10 they have Explorers.  In my first 15 or so years of detecting I found 200 silver coins.  In the past two years with Minelab machines I have found 150, from the SAME sites I was hitting years ago.

Secret #2 - Go slow, be patient, take a deep breath, keep your overlap tight and listen for every beep.

Secret #3 - Dig anything non-iron that registers deep on the depth meter.  Around here a pulltab

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