Bought a metal detector yesterday Found gold today.

So sitting around being board looking at Craigslist I see a local guy list a detector for $40.  After a quick google search seems this is a $300. Unit not great but a decent starter with good reviews. I contacted the guy and he stated he had just listed it and was entertaining offers so if no one else made a higher offer he would let me know. Well not 5 minutes later he called back and arranged a pickup.
As soon as I left the house my wife calls and tells me how happy carter (my 10yr old son) is and that he's watching YouTube videos on how to metal detect. I get home and he meets me at the door with a shovel ready to find something. I let him play around in the yard with it for a while but it was over 100 so he had to get out of the heat. This morning when I got up he was still watching videos so I loaded him up and headed to new melones set him up with a shovel and the metal detector and let him work. First find was a railroad spike he was hooked. Next was a new penny. But then was the GOLD. after he found his nugget we looked for a few more minutes but it was starting to heat up. So we will be back when it cools off.

I have been wanting a detector.  I had one as a kid.

Nice score been thinking of buying one myself...Still looking 

Way to get your son hooked on a hobby that could pay for its own...

Sounds like gold fever. That's awesome!

I took one to Baja several years ago thinking about some serious beach combing.  Never got around to that, fishing was too good.  I had it disassembled in my checked luggage.  When security opened my luggage for inspection, the inspector yelled  "BOMBA!"  I stood there frozen until closer inspection determined that it was not.  Good nervous laugh afterwards.  I'm not sure if she was serious or just want to scare the crap out of a crazy gringo.  I get nervous around teenagers with assault rifles. 

AWESOME!  looks like fun.  Gold fever for sure.

Outstanding find! Congrats to your son. Probably paid for the detector the first time out.

Detecting is a great sport. It's much like fishing in that you can spend unlimited amounts of money for the best equipment and then watch someone else with a cane pole and worm catch the fish of a lifetime   

Save that nugget to baseline the unit tone for the next time out. You're in the right area for nugget hunting.

Dirt fishing! My 8 year old son and I got one a few months back. We've found all kinds of good stuff.

Have him look for digger Dan on You tube. he in Europe and finds a lot of ww11 and ww1 stuff. I keep one in my 5th wheel. The kids may do that during the days I stay at Albion.

What should i look for in choosing a metal detector ?

What should i look for in choosing a metal detector ?

Ease of use and a junk discriminator. Also buy a plastic shovel and a small hand detector to pin point the item if your serious.

What should i look for in choosing a metal detector ?

Ease of use and a junk discriminator. Also buy a plastic shovel and a small hand detector to pin point the item if your serious.

I don't know as I just kinda fell into mine,but +1 on getting a pin pointer it will save you time. Also the ground grab feature has been really nice for me. The soil around me is full of minerals so with the ground balance(grab) it cancels out what minerals are in the soil your searching.