The strongest lessons in life tend to be the simplest ones dunked deep in experience and tangible memory. That's the case with some of the most basic lessons I've learned as a beginner metal detector. It's not the weight of the equipment, or actual coin or metal item discovered. Instead, the most exhilerating feeling of this hobby is in fact, literally, digging in the dirt, feeling the resistance of the clay, breaking clods apart to find the elusive treasure. 

And the treasure can often be very elusive. For example, no surprise but really surprising, coins don't stay the same spending years in the earth. For a variety of reasons, they change, both in color and constitution. Pennies go black, dimes lose their silver and turn copper and quarters follow suit as well. I haven't been fortunate enough to find silver coins yet, but I do expect to find a glob of green corroded metal versus a plain shiny grey currency piece. 

I've also gained a new appreciation for sound. Metal detecting doesn't happen with sight until maybe for a few last seconds. Instead, it's a song of beeps, beeeeeps, womps, wonks and chirps. The smaller, briefer the sounds, the smaller, thinner the target. The deeper, richer the sound in depth and time length, the more likely a solid target. That said, sound doesn't gaurantee a nice find. It just means a sizable target. This is where sensitivity and discrimination come in. No, we're not talking about social issues; sensivity settings control how easy the detector finds metal, and discrimination controls the type of metal the equipment picks up or "ignores." 

Will I be lucky enough to find a real treasure? I've realized very quickly that's not really the point. It's instead the experience of the chase. The sounds, pings and movement, the removal of earth and sand and then, turning over the right bit, there is the treasure and it's over. In some respects, metal detecting is like sex; the workup to the find is actually more interesting over time than the end itself. The end just tells you to get up and go again.