Tom_in_CA

Oh the memories. And while they might have had iron-see-through ability, yet .... let's be honest : Their depth was super wimpy in those days. Especially once you started using the disc. to knock out tabs, for example, you were doing good to get 3" or 4", eh ?

Regarding this ^ ^ link Notice that it reveals, THE VERY PSYCHOLOGY THAT I AM REFERRING TO, when it says this revealing statement : ".... DHR commonly receives calls and emails asking about permits for metal detecting in Virginia...." Yup ! Now you know the reason for the ORIGINS of any such dire wording exists. All the stuff that follows is essentially telling us "grovel", "grovel" and "grovel". Notice that they JUST finish dispelling the myth that there is a "permit" that we must have . When they said the following : "Contrary to what some websites for hobby detectorists have posted, there is no general permitting process for metal detecting in Virginia. ..." But then notice what the REST of it is : Stuff that tell us THERE MAY BE PERMITS NEEDED @ *SOME* places. And : Grovel, grovel, grovel. Don't you see the evolution RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES ?? ^ ^ If there IS any place that did indeed "require a permit for md'ing", then in this wonderful day & age of the internet, that can be looked up on muni or county websites (for the rules regarding their parks). And if no permit for md'ing is talked about (and is silent on the subject) THEN PRESTO : No permit. PRESTO : Not prohibited. No need to grovel at each kiosk and perpetually show up asking "Can I ?" questions at each kiosk. Can you tell me of any incident, at a single innocuous park, school, beach, forest, sand box, etc... in VA (assuming not an obvious historic sensitive monument), where anyone was "handcuffed" by LEO's in SUV's, for md'ing, at any place where it could not have simply been looked up (to see online if any such "permit" existed). And then you link to a purist archie website . But what did you expect to come from a purist archie website ? OF COURSE they hate md'rs. But this is a little like asking the president of P.E.T.A. (an animal rights wacko group) if it's ok to leave your bunny in the car while you run into 7-11 to get a soda. The PETA wacko will scream : "NNOOoooo. The bunny will suffer in the hot sun. You will be arrested for animal cruelty. Your car will be confiscated", blah blah. But seriously now: What did you expect to come from an animal right extremist ? So too do I put little stock in what a few ivory castle desk-bound purist archies have to say about us. OF COURSE they're going to try to insinuate that it's illegal everywhere (and that we must all grovel, blah blah) You say : ".... Isn't it putting the cart before the horse to assert that it's because people ask, when the laws and regulations came because people did it in the first place?..." Your own links leading introduction does indeed hint at the reason they must "address this pressing question" at this location. But sure, I have more specific examples I can cite, where the "which came first, the chicken or the egg", is clearly seen. I can cite you case examples where you can see that everything was hunky dory, until md'rs started showing up in the 1980s & 90s swatting hornets' nests. I was there when all this began (started this hobby in about 1976 -ish, as a young teenager). And was a club member and eventual president through the 1980s and into 1990s when our city had a club. So I saw the entire evolution unfold. And as I saw micro-examples unfold locally (here in CA), I began to ask myself if the SAME psychology isn't going on elsewhere. And found many such examples elsewhere (even on a national scale) as well. If you'd like some examples, I can give them.

You say : ".... had to ask for a permit (VA State law) ...." I think I know where you're going with this ^ ^ You must have seen something that says "With permission" or "ask at each kiosk", blah blah. So the md'r assumes that there is a law or rule saying : "You must ask wherever you go". But there's a little psychology and evolution behind how those nifty answers came to be in the compendium listings you're referring to : In order to answer that, I take you back to the early 1980s, when a first attempt was made, by a fellow Named R.W. Doc Grim. He attempted to make a book where users could look up all 50 states, in alphabetic form, to know what the laws/rules were, for each of the states' state parks dept's. (Naturally it didn't do "county" parks or each "city" parks, but ; Only state level parks). And in order to get the answers for his nifty book (since this was pre internet days), guess how he went about gathering his information ?? Yup, you guessed it : He xeroxed off 50 form letters, and sent them to the top-most official (in each state's park's dept. in state capitols) asking "What are the laws regarding the usage of metal detectors in your state parks ?" And explained that he was writing a book, and that their answer would appear in the book. And enclosed an SASE. Then Doc simply sat back, and waited for 50 replies to flood his mail box. And then , using their OWN LETTERHEAD letter reply, had those in-his-book. So that in theory, if someone hassled you in-the-field, you could simply show them the letterhead reply saying that there's no issues. And shucks, I guess they "leave you alone". Or conversely, if the answer was "no", then shucks, you know that those states's state parks are a no-no, eh ? Genius idea, eh ? And shucks, who better to ask, than the top-most officials in-each-state themselves, RIGHT ? BUT THE DEVIL WAS IN THE DETAILS !! : Some, yes, might have said "come have a ball ! No rules forbidding." Others, sure, might have indeed had something specific that truly said : "No md'ing". But the vast majority had odd-ball answers. Like "no", and then cite some ancillary verbiage about not bothering nesting bird eggs. Or "harvest and remove" verbiage. Or "lost and found" issues. Or sure, the dreaded "cultural heritage" obligatory fine print. Yet were not citing anything that specifically said "no md'ing". And here's what a lot of them answered back with (which I think is what's befuddling you about VA) : Is that they'd say : "with permission from each individual park" Or "Ask at each kiosk you come to" or "At the discretion of the sector supervisor over each individual district", etc..... Giving the md'r the impression that he was supposed to ask everywhere he goes. BUT NO WHERE DID IT EVER SAY THAT MD'RS were required to be asking "Can I ?" Instead, here's what's going on : Some parks in each state, yes, are sensitive historically themed monuments. While others are just benign innocuous beaches, forests, sand boxes, etc... So there is simply no way that the person answering that is going to say "No at these 11 parks, but go ahead at all the others". Or "Yes in this forest, except not at the single historic cabin on the far NW end." Or "yes, but not in the middle of active ball games , nor inside the tents of other people sleeping", etc... So instead, the person answering simply says "ask wherever you go". And as far as the "with permission" or "ask at each kiosk" , I am not disputing that the powers that be DO INDEED have the latitude to interpret grey area verbiage as-they-see-fit. Ie.: Yes, they can come scram you or I (because they think we're harming earthworms), but this does NOT therefore mean that : We were required to get their say-so ahead of time. It is simply saying that they have authority over their park. Sure. Just as they can ask you to lower the volume on your boom box radio, or to stop flying frisbees in the middle of other people's active ball games, etc.... But notice we do not have to ask "Can I fly frisbees" or "can I play my radio" Nonetheless, the answers Doc got were sometimes of the type I think you're citing for VA. And now, 40+ yrs. later, we can never "put it to bed". These things got picked up, and repeated over and over. And pretty soon it can never be put to rest. If anyone ever asks "says who ?", guess how someone else will "clarify it" ? Yup : Go ask a bored official. See the vicious circle ? And I will add this : When Doc's book came out (I saw it circulating in the mid to late 1980s), a lot of the states with .... uh .... dire sounding answers had the following effect : MD'rs, in those states, often looked at the answers saying : Since when ? And Says who ? In other words : The odd-ball answers were often coming from states WHERE IT HAD NEVER BEEN AN ISSUE prior to Doc Grim's "pressing question", that got bandied about, desk-to-desk. Do you see the self-fulfilling vicious loop going on ?

You say : "..... Have not Tomb Raiders and other nefarious critters always existed?...." With this ^ ^ , I'm beginning to see the disconnect: To liken md'ing to destruction, tomb-robbing, damage, evil, etc.... : Seems to be a default definition of md'ing, eh ? Ie.: That We should assume our hobby is harmful, reviled, dangerous, hated, etc.... So that : "silent on the subject" isn't good enough. We need express allowance, eh ? But why do we start with that implied definition ? Since when ? I happen to consider md'ing to be : Harmless, benign, wise, innocuous, etc... Why this starting implication that "everyone hates us" ? And that we must therefore grovel ? In fact, when I'm out md'ing it is JUST THE OPPOSITE : People come up and ask "what's the best thing you've ever found" and "where can I get one of those" and "how deep does it go", etc... So why this implication that everyone is "waiting to bust our chops" ? So wherever someone was thinking of doing tomb robbing, would have been able to look up laws and rules for the place where he was thinking of "raiding tombs". And would have seen the law/rule that forbids tomb robbing. Right ? And therefore again : No need to have asked any desk jockey "can I ?". He can have looked up rules, for himself, and seen the answer. So again : All laws are available for the public to look up and avail himself of. And if there is no rule or law forbidding something, then : Not disallowed. Eh ? You say : "...... I'm a little leery of encouraging people to do stuff until they get thrown out, that's bad press too, isn't it?..." "Thrown out" ? If someone can be "thrown out" of a place, then : That means there's a law or rule that forbade what he was doing, right ? Ok, fine then : They look up laws/rules, for themselves, for where they're going. And if there were a law or rule, then by all means don't detect. But if there's no law forbidding, then presto, they're not going to get "thrown out", right ? You say : ".... I'm just a little confused about your stance that the majority of people who cause new laws and other hindrances are those that ask permission, is that right? 🤔...." Yes. And I've collected many many point-blank examples of this ^ ^ That, yes, when you trace back to the origins (which might be decadeS ago, yes), this is the exact evolution of it. MD'rs who, in the past, went swatting hornet's nests. If You'd like to see a few such examples, yes I can cite them. Thus I say : If someone is skittish, they/we need to look up for ourselves. If there's nothing that says "no md'ing", then presto : Not disallowed. You say : "... there appear to be more people that "just do it", and leave holes and damage...." Uh, what does this ^ ^ have to do with our conversation ? By all means, cover & stomp & fluff up your holes . And leave no damage. So what did this have to do with the topic ? You say : "You have to be aware of customs and laws no matter where you go...." Fine. And we can look those up for ourselves. Right ?

Hi F350Plat : Please be aware, this is strictly an intellectual pro/con hobbyist discussion. This is no way "personal" or meant to be ornery. I am only studying what you say, point by point, for the topic at hand. So please do not take any of this wrong. It is a necessary subject that, yes, deserves discussion : You say : ".... when I stopped into the Tybee Island Police department to ask about metal detecting on the beaches. I had "heard" it was ok, but was so new to detecting I wanted to make sure of all the locations it was acceptable. They were very kind and told me it was any beach as the beaches are island property...." Maybe I'm not interpreting this ^ ^ right, but I think that when someone offers up a personal anecdote story like this (of them-having sought express permission somewhere else is : Meant to suggest that : Since we got a "yes", that : We can conclude that it was necessary and good to have asked. Since, after all, they had a good experience. Therefore we can conclude that : " It was necessary & good to be asking 'Can I ?' ". And notice that the SAME EXACT TAKEAWAY would have ALSO been deduced if they told you "No". Because the person receiving the "no" would likewise say : "See, it was a good thing I asked, because now I know I can't detect". So whether it's a "no" or a "yes", the implication seems to be : Therefore asking everywhere I go is needed . Instead of looking up for ourselves in muni codes and park rules, eh ? But the problem is that : 1) No one in authority is ever going to say "shucks, why are you asking me ? That's a silly question. Because If it's not prohibited, then presto, you don't need my yes or no". No, they never answer like that . And will instead bestow on you their princely yes or no . Depending on their mood and mental connotation of what your question entails. And here's why: Because the mere fact that we are standing their asking, MERELY INFERS that their say-so was needed. ( Lest why else would we be asking ? ) And implies that something must be amiss about your hobby (ie.: risky, dangerous, harmful, etc...). Because if it were benign and harmless, you and I would not be asking, eh ? Eg.: No one asks if they can fly frisbees, for instance. This implication is picked up on, subconsciously by the recipient, and influences & drives their answer 😪 2) The exact opposite of your story can also happen, where a "no" gets passed out. At places where, quite frankly, it was never problem before. And now the risk is that : The same desk-jockey (who perhaps never gave it a moments thought before), will now maybe see another md'r in the park or beach and think : "Aha ! There's one of *them*". And start booting others. I've seen this play out before 🙄 You say : "...just about anything can happen to you, from getting arrested for trespassing, to a butt full of buckshot, or worse ...." If you have any examples of these ^ ^ type dire imminent outcomes , then I bet that it was someone snooping on obvious historic sensitive monument type stuff. Or was hopping fences. Or private property. I bet that it was NOT a mundane park, beach, forest, etc.... And if it WAS a routine park, beach, forest, then I bet that with a bit of common sense and google, could have looked up park rules, muni codes , and HAVE SEEN if had said "no md'ing". I see these "imminent doom" suggestions on forums, yet whenever I ask "Got any examples", there never is any. And any time arrest, or buckshot CAN be shown, it is invariably for trespassing private property, or, if public, the person could have known via looking-up-for-himself. Or someone being obnoxious who can't take warning, etc... But I never see such ramifications for benign innocuous parks, schools, beach, forest, or farmer-bob with his permission, etc..., where there is no law or rule forbidding. You say : "There are towns in Virginia..." A couple of responses to this ^ ^ : A) And in each case, I bet that whatever code violation those "arrests" would fall under, can be looked up by md'rs. So again, still no need to ask "permission" wherever we go. Any such Virginia location can-be-looked up for ourselves. Presto, don't detect, if something codified truly said : No md'ing, B) I have a sneaking suspicion WHY such a status exists in those Virginia towns you speak of. Care to take a guess ? You say : "... Consider also that if vast hordes of detectorists adopt your stance, it would also be cause for detecting to be banned. ..." This isn't making sense to me ^ ^ I am talking about places where there is no rule or law forbidding md'ing. So if "vast hordes" detect where it's not forbidden, how does that cause md'ing to be "banned" ? I don't get it 🤔 You say : ".... I think every detectorist should at least know some of the ground rules...." Ok, sure. And the ground rules are : Look up laws and rules for ourselves. Eh ? And if there's truly a law or rule that said "no md'ing", then sure : Don't detect. But let's not become victims of "no one cared UNTIL we asked" .

I can give case-examples of this psychology at various levels of govt. Where, when we trace back to origins, it is EXACTLY this. So I have no doubt that the same psychology happens on larger country wide scales.

If you were to ask some legislative personnel NOW : "Why did this & such law come about ?", they will give you pat canned answers like that ^ ^ Eg.: That "people went where they shouldn't have". And then you and I curse those md's under our breath that must have went where they shouldn't have. Or you'll be told " No d/t cultural heritage concerns" . And you and I will mutter under our breath : "Durned them archaeologists !!". Or they'll say : "No because of holes". And you and I will mutter : " Durned those md'rs who must have left holes". And so forth and so on. But I am convinced that none of those "go-to-reasons" are the real reasons for why there's new & added rules in the last 20 yrs. The real reasons are that md'rs over the decades (bless their little hearts) have spent decades "swatting hornets nests" . Showing up at desk-bound bureaucrats offices (and border consulates, and lawyers, and kiosks, etc...) grovelling for express sanctions. As if silence on the subject wasn't good enough. They seem to think it required red-carpets to be rolled out for them. Asking "Can I ?" questions. Like when they went to make those wonderful compendiums that circulate , how do you think they made those ? Yup : By asking bored pencil jockeys. 🙄 And then these "pressing questions" got passed up the chain to various desks. Until it finally lands on the desk of a purist archie. Who perhaps never gave the matter a moments thought ! Nor would ever have happen chanced bumped into md'rs in-the-field. So He addresses this "pressing issue" with a whimsical "no". Then presto : Another law or rule is born. 🙄 Do you see ? And decades later, when we go NOW to ask anyone "But why ?", they will never say : "Because someone years ago was swatting hornets nests". Instead they'll allude "holes" or "removing" or "cultural heritage" or "guys went where they shouldn't have", etc... When in fact, those are only the "go-to" reasons to justify the rule they ALREADY made. And the REAL reason is that : We md'rs simply became victims of the psychology of : NO ONE CARED UNTIL WE ASKED 😡

And I have a sneaking suspicion of why things became-the-way-you describe, in Spain, after my chat with the Spain guy ~20 yrs. ago (described in my post). Care to take a guess why it got to what you're describing now ? I bet I know.

Back in the early 2000s, an elderly md'r friend of mine in my town, had a Fisher 1265 for sale. He asked me if I would use my Ebay handle to list it for sale. I agreed and floated the for-sale ad. When the bid deadline came and went, I was dismayed to see that an md'r from SPAIN (yes Spain) had been the winning bidder. I had failed to stipulate that it would only be available for sale in the USA (or "lower 48" or whatever). Ugghh. But lo & behold, the winning bidder quickly sent me the $$ via paypal. Including handsome overseas shipping costs paid up front. So I figured : "Ok , then I guess this won't be a hassle after all" As the buyer and I exchanged communication, he explained to me that the Fisher 1265 (which Fisher had stopped producing/manufacturing by then) was very popular among md'rs in Spain. And since American goods were hard to come by in Spain, they had no choice but to scout for them on Ebay. Then, my curiosity got the better of me : I linked him to some of the wonderful compendium lists . Where persons had tried to make one-stop-shopping for all the European country laws, pertaining to md'ing. To show him that Spain was amongst those, on the list, with .... uh .... very dire sounding. Ie.: As if it wasn't allowed there. And .... being the devils' advocate asked him "So how can you guys metal detect ?" He explained to me that you have to .... uh ... "read between the lines" on those compendiums. For example : Whatever you might be reading might pertain to PUBLIC land. Yet have no bearing on private land. Eg.: Farmer Bob, with permission, can do WHATEVER THE HECK HE WANTS on his own land. Yet the way those compendiums can be incorrectly read, is as if it applies to all land, border to border. When in fact it means all PUBLIC land (not all land), border to border. Yet since the compendium doesn't specify, people just assume "all land". Or assume "the entire country". Or that while it might *sound* dire yet truth be told, it's meant to apply to obvious historic sensitive monuments. Not run of the mill parks, beaches, or farmer bob's field. Now is that to say that a purist archie might disagree ? And might not have given his "whimsical answer" to whomever was compiling the dandy compendium ?? Do you see the psychology going on here ? And lastly he told me that ...... uh ... quite frankly ... he and his buddies are so far out in the woods and boonies that , quite frankly .... there's no one around to care or notice IN THE FIRST PLACE. 🙄 So it occurs to me that the psychology of those compendiums might be like this : If a European md'r were to ask various USA bureaucrat desk jockies or purist archies here in the USA : "Is md'ing allowed in the USA ?" you might get odd ball answers like being referred to ARPA. Yet, as we know, only applies to federal land. And even then-so, only-ever applied to sensitive monuments. Or you might get directed to Lost & Found laws. Or harvest & remove laws. Or alter and deface laws, etc..... And by the time you're done you might come away thinking "Oh my gosh, md'ing in the USA is illegal". Yet we all know you can detect here till you're blue in the face. And to add to the misery, guess what any skittish person will do after reading a post like this in order to "clarify" the matter in any particular European country ? Yup , you guessed it : Go ask a bored purist archie desk jockey. Can anyone here see the self-fulfilling vicious loop ?

Bingo. This is what I was aiming at in my post above yours. Yes: If you ask enough people if you can pick your own nose, or jaywalk, someone's going to tell you "no". The real question is : Did anyone ever give 2 sh#ts until you and I asked ? Are we merely swatting hornets nests ? By all means, sure, avoid obvious off-limits sensitive monuments (the same thing that can be said of the USA and the UK), but.... seriously now. I will post a story about this in the next post .....

I have a suspicion that the only reason it is complicated, in all the European countries, is because we md'rs have spent decades running around to bureaucracies there, asking "Can I ?". As if it needs permission. And then presto : This "Pressing question" gets bandied about, desk to desk. Till it finally lands on the desk of a purist archie. 🙄 And presto : Another law or rule is born. 😡 And meanwhile, the old timers md'rs in those very countries, WHO HAD NEVER HAD A PROBLEM BEFORE, hear of supposed "no's". And are left scratching their heads, saying "Since when ?" and "Says who ?". Or they say "Nonsense ! No one cares !". But the skittish folk show them the wonderful answers they received when they had gone to make their wonderful compendiums. And when the long-timers insist that it's a non-issue and no one cares, guess what someone else is *sure to do* to "get to the bottom of this" ? Yup, you guessed it : Go ask a bored desk-bound official. 🤢 Can anyone else see the self-fulfilling vicious circle that is going on ?? Can we see that all we have done for decades now is "swat hornets nests" ? Thinking "everyone hates us" . And "we need to grovel". When in fact the ONLY reason it ever got like this, is because we became our own worst enemies. 🙄 I can tell you this : If it were me going to Europe, I would "read between the lines" on the dire sounding stuff that these compendiums assert. Because when you look at how they got their information, it's exactly the evolution that I speak of. And I can tell you for a fact that there are md'rs in those countries. OH SURE you/they don't go tromping on obvious historic sensitive monuments while wearing bright orange. SURE ! 🙄 But the same can be said of the USA too. 🤪 Just go help farmer Bob, in those countries, to look for the wedding ring his wife lost in the field. Presto, problem solved.

Thanx for the update Ron.

Great sleuthing work !

Just plain excellent !

Great play-by-play description. I love beach-erosion-chasing. So I've seen days like you describe. My peak record in one day was : 466 coins, of which 46 were silver, and over 100 wheaties. Also a 1914 $2.50 gold coin that day. And this was a beach riddled with nuisance lead to have to wade through. So I easily had 1000 targets. Literally multiple beeps per sweep of the coil. Often times multiple coins per each basket. Doh ! Trouble is though, that these days are few and far between . Mother nature doesn't cooperate that often 🙂

Curious, when you say "very difficult ...", were you expecting to find some law or rule that says "metal detecting allowed here" ? Ie.: An express ALLOWANCE ? Why isn't "silent on the subject" (ie.: no law forbidding) good enough ? In other words, if you're not finding laws that forbid, then presto : Not forbidden. Right ? Naturally, like anywhere in the world, avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments. But to answer your question about Italy , here's one thread I saw years ago on an md'ing forum : Some dude from England was getting ready to vacation to a Beach resort town in Italy. He looked into the laws, and couldn't find anything specific (other than boiler plate cultural heritage stuff). But nothing that dealt with modern coins/jewelry , on modern beaches. So he inquired to the hotel when he arrived. The hotel person shrugged their shoulders and said they'd seen others in the past on the beach, so it must be ok. Therefore the fellow spent several days of his vacation md'ing. And during that time, even saw another md'r or two. No problem whatsoever. Once back in England, he posted his show & tell of several gold rings, various coins, etc... And the post even said "In Italy". After the usual "atteboys", a few others posted stuff like "I thought it was illegal in Italy ?". And would post links of "dire sounding verbiage". So the thread turned into a giant debate on whether or not it's allowed in Italy. Here's the psychology that is no doubt going on : It would be NO DIFFERENT than if someone in Europe were getting ready to vacation in the USA : They might find "dire sounding language" in ARPA. Or find some dire-sounding Lost & found laws. Or read some link of an md'r being "scrammed". Heck, they could ask a purist archie : "Can I ?", and be read the riot act in return (go figure, purist archies hate md'rs). BUT THE REALITY IS : You can md here to your hearts content. And all such dire stuff is for obvious historic landmarks, or very particular singular off-limits spots. But here's what has no doubt happened in little countries where md'ing is a new phenomenon : Is skittish people (bless their little hearts) have spent years swatting hornets nests asking "Can I ?" questions. Their "pressing question" gets bandied about, desk-to-desk, till someone gives it the "easy answer". Now did anyone really ever care less ?? OF COURSE NOT ! And now, presto: Another law or rule or "no" or policy is born. Meanwhile, the md'rs who have always been there, and never bothered, are left scratching their heads saying : "Since when ?". Do you see the self-fulfilling vicious circle going on ? It's as if we md'rs can be our own worst enemies.

Despite that these coins , found in CA (and elsewhere in the USA) can date to as old as the 1600 and 1700s, yet : Those dates have utterly no bearing on the date they were brought here or lost. Apparently they were stored in barrels, over in China, for hundreds of years. And taken out to prepare for long-distance voyage / moving. So when they were lost here, they could already be 100 to 200 + yrs. old.

Good show. Great pix.

Your wife has good tastes, d/t that is a pretty looking design ring.

Well, as far as the punishing amounts of light-weight aluminum from beach-detecting, there's a way to avoid that : Hunt ocean beaches after storm erosion. Because then mother nature takes out all the light weight stuff. Leaving ONLY the heavier targets. Eg.: Coins, sinkers, keys, rings, etc.... I've even seen erosion so effective that EVEN ZINC PENNIES are gone (d/t they're lighter weight coins). Also, if you are on a beach that is typically used for fishing, then yes : This tactic can simply leave you with the sinker dilemma punishment. So the trick there is to go to touristy beaches. AND NOT the beaches that are typically fishing all-the-time. Eg.: Tourist swim beaches where you don't typically see surf-fishermen. Then the fishing sinker ratio goes way down. Same for lake hunting : We should not be md'ing at popular fishing lakes. We should be hunting at popular SWIM lakes. And at some of the swim lakes there are zones set aside where fishing isn't allowed (lest sharp fish hooks get introduced, that poke people's feet). And you hunt those set-aside zones, where there will be far less fishing sinker issues. So the trick to finding gold rings is NOT "dig junk till your arms fall off". Instead the trick is : Location location location , and : Timing timing timing.

Love that pose on the scale. That is the "cha-ching" moment. 😜 Good to see some CA action. Thanx for bringing us along !

Good to see some CA action. Congratz.

If you look closely at the picture, you can see that there's no "erosion" going on. The tell-tale sign is seaweed sticks sticking half-way up out of the sand. This shows that sand was coming IN before that picture. Not OUT. So I guess that means it was pushed "up". I have no idea.

Uh, there's a lot of ... uh .... "dire sounding" stuff on there where you have to .... uh ... read between the lines. When you study the evolution of all such nifty list compendium attempts like that, you begin to see a self-fulfilling vicious circle. A bunch of what you read on attempts like that were nothing more than a giant case of "no one cared UNTIL you asked" routine going on. What I mean is, that in order to assemble lists like that IN THE FIRST PLACE, guess how they went about it ? They simply went to the powers-that-be, AND ASKED. Right ? Ie.: Sent letters, or picked up the phone, or showed up at kiosks, or sent emails, asking "Hi, can we metal detect ?" Or "what are the rules/laws regarding the use of metal detectors". And whomever is fielding these "pressing questions", gets bandied desk to desk, till it finally lands on the desk of a purist archie. Who morphs some understanding of cultural heritage, or Lost & found laws, or "alter and disturb" language, or "harvest and remove" verbiages, and returns with a "no". That makes its way into these compendium attempts. AND PRESTO ! Another policy or rule or law or "no" is born. And these were often places that, quite frankly NEVER HAD BEEN AN ISSUE BEFORE . So old-timers were left scratching their heads saying : "Since when ?", or "That's nonsense". So if ever anyone challenges a supposed rule, guess what is sure to happen next ? Yup, you guessed it : Go ask a bored desk-jockey. Do you see the vicious circle ?? Sure, avoid obvious historic sensitive monuments. Sure. But just sayin' that you have to read between the lines when trying to use lists/links like that. I wrote a commentary (upon their request), that you can read there, where it says "alternative view...." at the top.

It was a big nothing-burger in my part of CA (central coast, Monterey Bay). Most every beach simply got flattened. That's where the beach is overpowered . So instead of mother nature picking a parallel and eroding DOWNWARDS, the waves/water simply go up-&-over the dunes, and make a mess and puddles and lagoons inland. And make a mess of parking lots. And only draw down dry fluffy sand and spread it over the inter-tidal zone. And not truly take it out. That's what I saw @ all my area beaches. A few lone exceptions happened on 12/28 and 12/29 (on the heels of the big event). And if you knew where to go, there was some straggler pockets . I got perhaps 150 coins, a few silver coins, and a gold band, by sampling multiple beaches. And found a few exceptions. But all in all : A big nothing burger. Very disappointing. And the forecast continues to tease of incoming swells, that drop in strength by the time they reach our area. Not sure how southern CA did. But based on Compass' report, sounds like it wasn't an epic event there either.