Author Archives: David

Should You Stay… or Should You Go?

Posted on August 11, 2026 by David

Every detectorist eventually faces the same question: should you keep searching the same field or move on? The answer isn’t about luck—it’s about learning to read the evidence.

Categories: Research | Tags: Detecting Strategy, History, metal detecting, Permissions, Site Research

Where Treasure Really Begins

Posted on July 28, 2026 by David

The most important discoveries are made long before you start searching. People often ask me where the best places are to search for buried treasure. They expect me to name an ancient field, a deserted village, a forgotten footpath or perhaps a stretch of coastline. My answer usually surprises them. Treasure doesn’t begin in a […]

Categories: Research, Uncategorized | Tags: Detecting Tips, Historic Maps, Landscape History, metal detecting, Productive Sites, Research, Search Strategy, Site Research, treasure hunting

The Day I Stopped Looking for Treasure

Posted on July 21, 2026 by David

The best sites don’t always look special; it’s the history beneath them that matters. People often ask me what changed after more than fifty years of metal detecting. They usually expect me to talk about technology. Perhaps a better detector, a new search technique, or some secret that transformed my results. But the biggest change […]

Categories: Detecting Skills, Metal Detecting, TIPS | Tags: Archaeology, Detecting Strategy, Landscape History, metal detecting, Metal Detecting Tips, Productive Sites, Site Research

Why the Best Detectorists Walk Past Most Fields

Posted on July 14, 2026 by David

Imagine you’re standing on a hill looking out across a landscape of fields. Somewhere below lies a Roman coin. Somewhere else, a medieval brooch. One field may even conceal a hoard of gold. Most contain very little. From that hill, every field looks much the same. Back at your desk, they don’t. The secret isn’t […]

Categories: Research | Tags: Beginners, Historic Maps, Landscape History, Productive Sites, Research Methods, Site Profiling, Site Research, Site Selection

Why Some Detectorists Always Seem to Find More

Posted on July 7, 2026 by David

Every successful search begins long before the detector is switched on. Every detectorist knows someone who always seems to make good finds. Over the years I’ve often been asked what their secret is. Is it luck? Is it the latest detector? Or is there something else? Looking back over more than fifty years, I think […]

Categories: Detecting Skills | Tags: Equipment, Research, Site Selection

What Fifty Years of Detecting Has Taught Me

Posted on May 26, 2026 by David

When I first started metal detecting in the early 1970s, the hobby was very different from what it is today. Detectors were crude by modern standards. Most required constant adjustment, depth was limited, and discrimination was basic or non-existent. There were no online videos, no forums, no downloadable maps, and very few books dedicated to […]

Categories: Metal Detecting, Treasure Hunting, Uncategorized | Tags: metal detecting, treasure hunting

Unexpected Gold Discoveries

Posted on April 15, 2026 by David

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/9-unexpected-gold-discoveries-made-in-the-most-unlikely-locations/ss-AA20RoPm?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=69df71ce918641029d66861f7e9ede62&ei=20#image=1

Categories: Finds | Tags: coins, finds, gold

The First Signals: What Your Finds Are Telling You in the First Hour

Posted on April 8, 2026 by David

You’ve chosen your starting point.You’ve read the ground.You’ve committed to a line. Now comes the moment most detectorists focus on—the first signal. Then another.And another. For many, these are simply finds to be recovered and pocketed. A coin here, a fragment there, perhaps a piece of scrap. Each one taken in isolation. But that isn’t […]

Categories: TIPS | Tags: finds, metal detecting, treasure hunting

The First 15 Minutes: How I Decide Where to Detect (Before the Machine Is Even On)

Posted on April 1, 2026 by David

There is always a moment when you arrive on a new permission—or even an old one—that matters more than most people realise. It comes before the headphones go on. Before the detector is switched on. Before the first step into the field. You stand at the gate, or by the track, and you look. In […]

Categories: TIPS | Tags: metal detecting, treasure hunting

The First Hour on a New Site: What I Actually Do

Posted on March 24, 2026 by David

Most detectorists think success comes down to finding the right field. In my experience, it often comes down to something else entirely—the decisions made in the first hour. The Hour That Matters Most Most finds aren’t lost because they aren’t there.They’re lost in the first hour—when we make the wrong decisions. I’ve learned this the […]