Television that Harms the Hobby
Savage Family Diggers reinforces negative perceptions about metal detecting.

I don't watch much television, but I recently had an opportunity to sit down and really watch a few episodes of one of these shows about detecting, American Digger, also known as Savage Family Diggers. I had read quite a bit on the online forums, almost universally negative. I was horrified by what I saw, as Savage is truly creating problems in perception that will affect every responsible detectorist. Not to mention the hornets' nest they are stirring up in the archaeological community. 

In an article in the Chicago Sun Times, Savage is quoted as saying, "The archaeologists don’t like us because they don’t like anybody else digging, they feel like we loot history. The metal detectorists hate us because we put a spotlight on the hobby, and they’re afraid if they go to a property, [the owner] will want to get paid before they go digging...I’m not trying to please archaeologists or other metal detectorists, I’m trying to take somebody who may not have any interest in history whatsover and make them find a way to get into it.” So, at least Savage is clear. He doesn't care about the harm he is doing to anyone or anything else as long as his tremendous ego is inflated and he is making a profit. What difference does it make if he does manage to ultimately interest new people in history when after he is done there are no opportunities left for them to make their own humble discoveries?

I watched Savage on the show convincing people that there were untold riches to be discovered on their property and inflating the historical significance of their homes. Buried riches are rarely the case, at the vast majority of sites the coins and relics many detectorists find are worth less than a total of $20, often much less. Now, when I ask a property owner for permission, their perception may be that they will have many very valuable items that I am going to try to find and take for free. This leads to the second issue, payments.

Savage is right that he and his program set the expectation that finds are sold and money is paid to the property owner. I don't sell my finds, they go into my collection. I've worked hard to build that collection, it's part of the joy and pleasure I derive from the hobby. So, this show has set the expection that we as detectorists need to "pay to play." This is exactly the opposite of how most detectorists enjoy the hobby. Once one has purchased the detector and tools and a rechargeable battery, the costs associated with metal detecting are nearly nothing except for an investment in time. As a coin collector, detecting has given me a low cost way to build my collection, with coins that also have a special meaning to me.

The point Savage misses is that he is truly obliterating the availability and accessibility of "history" which he supposedly values and wants others to be interested in. He is ruining the experience for me and others who are already interested in history. The rape and pillage philosophy of the television show, and possibly his wholesale relic recovery business, only benefits him, at the expense of so many. If others follow in his footsteps we lose much more of our history than could ever be gained and property is needlessly destroyed. History is not all about valuable relics. I'm often just as interested in the valueless glass shards, broken spoons and the finding the outline of an old foundation than anything that can have a price tag put on it. History isn't a marketable commodity to which a price tag can be affixed.

My searches have caused me to do countless hours of research about my city. I know what was where and when. Friends are often amazed when I can tell them the history of a particular site or area. Savage's program shows none of the work and fascination that goes into researching potential sites. There can be a lot of work in tracking down an old picnic grove, and you may learn of many events held at that site (more history), but when you actually set foot on the site and see or find a relic that tells you you found it, that's an incredible feeling! Even if I only discover traces of what was once there, the pieces of broken bricks, pottery or a few coins I can add to my collection are immensely gratifying. Those coins have even more meaning to me because unlike a "generic" coin purchased from a dealer, I know something about that corroded cent and where it was last held, even if that item is only worth pennies.

In the Chicago Sun Times article, Savage talks about searching Navy Pier, "I bet there was old stuff around here. I was told there were World War I and World War II training camps here. There were a lot of artifacts, but they’ve all been covered over or moved out. If you could lift up the stones, you could probably find personal items from soldiers; buttons, buckles, pocket knives, coins." Well, how about if you did some real research, Mr. "History Buff" Savage? I know where the Civil War camps and the World War I camps were in and around my city. I also know where to go to find relics from those camps but also much more history. Sometimes the most well known are also the most redeveloped. Research led me to a small section of part of one World War I camp here that offered

You don't have too look far for bad news. This image from the show on the Spike TV website shows the mess this detectorist is making while digging in someone's backyard.

Savage "detecting" in cowboy boots! Photo from the Chicago Sun Times.

Production stills like this one published in the New York Times exemplify the image of destruction portrayed in the series.

Backhoes may make for exciting TV, but generally not a good way to convince someone to let you metal detect their property. Photo from Spike TV.

In this Spike TV image published on the Huffington Post, I'm not sure if Savage is about to let loose the sneeze of the century or is presenting one of his now trademark yells.

me a handful of relics, more than enough to satisfy that connection between all the research and knowledge I had gained about the site, it's use and location. The relics would be worth about $25 if sold, and it took me many hours of research and detecting to find them, but it was much easier because I knew the history and was tuned into the site. I've never been to Navy Pier, but it may have some small areas like that, with a few interesting relics for someone patient and more interested in history rather that making a buck.

I'm an observant person. I've been detecting and been around detectorists and diggers long enough to know what "looks right." I am 99.9% sure that the "finds" shown on this program are fake or planted. Those that possibly aren't are generally garbage that is talked up with nonsense about provenance. (Not that provenance is nonsense, but if this guy found an early pulltab in Dallas, he'd say it was from a can of beer that Lee Harvey Oswald "could have" consumed the day he shot JFK.) Why am I so sure? Because not every treasure hunt finds treasure every time. How much work did Mel Fisher have to do before he discovered the Atocha? How much history do you think he learned and accumulated and passed along during his search? Often Mel Fisher and I would both come home empty handed from an expedition, his more costly than my failures. Camera crews and travel are expensive. The amount of filming and the many sites covered - with no "fantastic" finds would be massive, if this were all above board. You don't hit a home run every time, but these guys do, and on a limited budget in a narrow timeframe. That's just not reality. For as much as Savage goes on about exposing fake militaria on his website, you'd think he'd be against being such a fraud himself.

And then there's the issue of the value of the finds represented on the show. I've been around antiques all my life. The over inflated payments these guys supposedly get for their piles of garbage and planted relics is astronomical. Dealers buy low. You want a reality check on this? I'd love to see these guys try to sell their finds to the fellows on Pawn Stars and convince them of their bogus claims of provenance. Now THAT would really straighten things out!

Boom Baby! I assure you too that bad manners don't take you very far. If I bellowed like a wild animal when I made a good find, I'd quickly get booted off of someone's property or have the cops called if I were in a public place. Modeling this behavior is damaging to the hobby because people perceive that detectorists are going to behave like this, when actually most of us are exactly the opposite.

Speaking of having the cops called, one episode showed the group getting rousted by police. Great. Now people may think I'm going to bring the police and unwanted attention to their property. This episode also pretty clearly showed a digging tool as a knife or potentially threatening weapon. My digging tool is so dull and harmless I can keep it unobtrusively and safely in the back pocket of my jeans. What a wonderful representation of detecting they portrayed, and to top it off they instantly lost the hard to get permission to detect that they had just been granted.

I watched Savage's team rip out a deck, remove sidewalks and smash through walls. In another episode they inadvertently damage a water pipe and don’t fix it properly. No property owner welcomes that sort of thing. Again, when I ask for permission to detect, what will come to people's mind is that I am going to destroy their property. Whether it is "fixed" or repaired afterwards or not, (the restorations are never shown on the program) most people do not want their property destroyed or altered for any reason. Responsible detectorists try to make any site look exactly like they found it and not to do any damage.

So this show, primarily a work of fiction, which to the unknowing looks like reality, will make it harder for people like me to enjoy our hobby and pursue our interest in history. Public perception is powerful and perhaps the hobby's biggest enemy. That this show is directly impacting that perception in a negative way makes me sad and angry. The general public does not always understand that Savage is an actor, a clown, a performer for pay - certainly his wrestling career exemplifies all that. He may have a genuine interest in history and relic collecting, but this show has bastardized that interest into a circus. Savage lives up to his surname. He is truly the worst type of egotistical blackguard.

Maybe it's a good thing I don't watch much television. This certainly doesn't inspire me. Hopefully Savage's show has finally ended or he will be called out for what he truly is. For me, I'll stick to the YouTube videos made by real detectorists, making real finds. The video quality may be iffy, and the finds solid but unsensational, but I appreciate those that share their discoveries with honesty, a lack of theatrics and the true love of history and detecting.