I started metal detecting several years ago because of my interest in history. Sure I love finding clad coins and Jewelry but it is the thought of old coins and relics that drives me to do more research and work hard for those objects that haven’t seen the light of day in a hundred plus years. To me there is nothing like the feeling of finding an old button or buckle and holding a freshly dug large cent in my hand, no matter what condition it really gets me excited.

 Since I first began metal detecting I have contacted a few archeologists and offered my time to help them locate sites and help in any way I can with my detector and experience.  So fare I have not been taken up on my offer but I haven’t given up even though you often hear in the metal detecting world that most archeologists despise us.

 Although I hear this often I have yet to figure out why they dislike us, especially here in Ohio where most of us are looking for coins and jewelry. Sure we find stuff now and then that might be of historical value but most of these finds are found in the middle of a farm field at a old home site and as far as I know, most Archeologists are not interested in a single house site in a field.

 It does appear that archeologists are starting to appreciate and take advantage of our kindness and willingness to donate our time and expertise in helping them on sites but I think we have a long way to go. I recently read an article online where an archeologist was talking about sites that have been compromised by metal detecting and how it has affected the site and their ability to “read” the site and try to figure out how things happened on a battle field when part of the equation is missing. Not that this really pertains to Ohio but I can see how civil war sites have been compromised from years of metal detecting but then again how many of those artifacts would have really been recovered with the usual archeological dig? How many relic hunters have saved hundreds and even thousands of relics before the land is built on? From my understanding it is significant. So maybe we do effect sites in some ways but how much good has come out of metal detecting? There are a lot of finds sitting in museums that would have never been found without someone with a metal detector and the understanding it belonged in a museum rather than a personal collection. The article mentions us in a negative way but it also talks about how he uses people to metal detect and you can tell from the article although he obviously sees how we can contribute and work together he has no trust or faith in us.

I was recently reading an article where an archeologist, with the help of a detectorist found several relics at a site they had test dug before and determined was not a good site to do any further digging. He also said that 3 people in 4 days had recovered more and higher quality relics than 20 people in 10 days at a cost of 11,000 dollars! I think that more than speaks of the capabilities of how a qualified person with a good metal detector can do their part and work with archeologists.

 If you enjoy metal detecting and enjoy history like I do I highly recommend volunteering time when able to help archeologists. I think we have a long way to go and it might be a long time before you are actually taken up on your offer, it seems to me archeologists look upon us all as villains and worse but every time one of us helps out it makes us all look better and help gain more respect for our hobby.

 I would also recommend in donating things to your local historical society if you do find relics that are important and have historical value. I am currently working on a ghost town site and in a short time I have found several early buttons and relics including the Spanish ½ reale and 1807 large cent, all of these finds and hopefully more will be later donated to the local historical society. In my opinion some things are better to be seen by everyone and I think it would be great for people to be able to see finds from a significant site in a museum.