Can you get rich by metal detecting

In these times of lockdown, how do I survive is a question many people have been asking, can I make money metal detecting?
This all sounds very exciting and straight forward, you simply buy a detector for a couple of hundred quid and you are on the road to a pay day….Right !
We all like to make a little extra cash, but take it from me, someone who has been in this hobbyfor many many years, your chances of making thousands if not millions is highly unlikely, very much like winning a lottery.

XP Deus one of the top metal detectors

Sure you can be rewarded by metal detecting but the rewards are more like small wins compared to the big pay out !

A professional metal detectorist at work

Did you know : Most professional metal detectorists do not like to use the term “Treasure Hunting”
If you are lucky enough to find something nice and want to tell the world, just remember there is a protocol you must follow first or you may just end up in jail.
Make sure you have an agreement with the land owner, if you are searching with a group or club, make sure they have an agreement in place and permission to search from the land owner, not the tenant farmer.
Then your find must be reported to your finds liaison officer who will record your find and take the find to the museum under the portable antiquity scheme. If your find is of no interest to them it will be returned with provenance so you can then do as you wish with it.

Make sure group dig organisers have permission

If you intend to go out metal detecting just to make money I am pretty sure you will be disappointed, if you talk with seasoned detectorists, very few will discuss monetary value of finds because this is not why they detect.
Detecting on the beach for spendable coinage is great sport, but please remember it really is a world away from saving history.
Check out the Metal Detecting Skill School video page for some excellent tutorials and metal detecting masterclasses

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