Anyone out there into metal detecting? Always been interested but I just can't afford a good metal detector. Has anyone found anything around the Northern Virginia area?

Metal Detectors are illegal in Va. Unless they changed the law.

IfIRecallCorrectly Wrote:
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> Metal Detectors are illegal in Va. Unless they
> changed the law.


You don't. That's wrong.

What is illegal is using them where prohibited - national parks, battlegrounds, private property without permission, etc.

I don't think they are allowed in Fairfax County Parks. You are pretty much restricted to private land where you have permission. I don't know about medians, sidewalk cuts, etc.

Metal Detectors are allowed in Va, Radar detectors are not. I use my Metal Detector at the beach about once every few years. Most people wont let you use a metal detector on their land.

My kid found this in Centreville in 2003. A 3.5" solid shot cannonball. It was in the drainage basin in our neighborhood.
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Caulky White Wrote:
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> My kid found this in Centreville in 2003. A 3.5"
> solid shot cannonball. It was in the drainage
> basin in our neighborhood.


um, sorry to break this to you but you are holding a gay man's anal fetish ball. yep, that has actually been deep inside some gay man's ass!

Very cool find, thanks for sharing!

> um, sorry to break this to you but you are holding a gay man's anal fetish ball.
> yep, that has actually been deep inside some gay man's ass!

And you're probably holding ass pennies (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DO1Q7F23DxM).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2014 01:38PM by and by.

@oopsy

We've got an anal bead for you too.
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You can find GerryManderer2 - change the setting to aluminum and find the loser with the tinfoil hat.

So I have been doing some research and I think I came across a pretty neat forum, here is the link

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/virginia/65185-virginia-metal-detecting-laws.html

I don't understand what the big deal is with metal detecting...
I recently read about the "Battle of Dranesville" and it just irks me to come and find out that nothing about the battle that happened was preserved. Where the Union Army had set up their battery ground, new housing is being built. They don't want us searching for our history but they're comfortable building over it and erasing it from our future. It might just be me, but this has really bothered me.

They would rather you didn't find "something" and stop them from building on the site.

Most places have been banned (made illegal for anyone) to go metal detecting where you would find anything of value. Signs are posted at most places. It's the law now. So just get a job, slave. Quit weaseling around having to work for a living.
Punk.

We have a forum troll on our hands people.

xenodispo Wrote:
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> I recently read about the "Battle of Dranesville"
> and it just irks me to come and find out that
> nothing about the battle that happened was
> preserved. Where the Union Army had set up their
> battery ground,

Ever hear of the battle of Chantilly/Ox Hill? Many haven't, yet it was the biggest battle that occurred in Fairfax County during the Civil War. Over 20,000 troops involved resulting in 1,500 casualties including two dead Union Generals. Yet there is only an extremely small amount of it preserved. The rest of it fell to development in the 1980s. Near Baileys Crossroads there was a Confederate fort that faced down Union troops for months in 1861. No trace of it today. Centreville was the site of extensive fortifications initially erected by the Confederates after Bull Run and later used by Union forces. Portions of them were still visible south of Route 29 in the 1960s, but they are gone today. Fairfax County has done a lousy job of maintaining its Civil War Heritage.

There is one site that is still somewhat preserved. Near downtown Vienna on the W&OD bike path is the site of an action where Confederates ambushed Union troops in 1861.

Everyone talks about battlefields. Most are off limits because they are National Park Service land. Where you do find the stuff is where the troops camped. Over the years I have accumulated boxes of stuff that I have not even sorted through.

There is a ton of stuff still out there. You just have to know where to look.

Do your research first. Then find out who owns the property, and get permission before you venture out. I offer the land owner a even split of the items found, so if you find 3 bullets, 1 button, and a silver dime you will need to work out the final details after the detecting.

Think of what would make you feel comfortable about a stranger on your land. Offer a copy of your drivers license. or your professional business card. Show up at the time agreed to, and leave the same way. Fill in your holes, and pick up your trash. I take a couple empty plastic bags for trash, and if it isn't too big, I pick up stray litter.

You can butter up the land owner with the little things, and you might want to come back. Ask for names and numbers of anyone the might know. This requires follow up, but if you are respectful, and say please and thank you, you will have plenty of places to go.

I really enjoyed this response. Thank you for the small but influential piece of history. I grew up in Fairfax and I have taken what i'm surrounded by for granted. I can't wait for the weather to clear up so I can go exploring.

I was thinking about buying a Garrett AT Pro for an overall everything type of metal detector. Any suggestions out there?

xenodispo Wrote:
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> I really enjoyed this response. Thank you for the
> small but influential piece of history. I grew up
> in Fairfax and I have taken what i'm surrounded by
> for granted. I can't wait for the weather to clear
> up so I can go exploring.


Clear up? This is the best time for metal detecting., The ground is soft, no poison ivy or underbrush, no snakes, and the items in the ground give good signals when it is moist.

Or you can get lucky and eyeball stuff l like me, found a few bullets and a button sans machine over the years...

That's me on the beachside combing the sand, metal meter in my hand, sporting a pocket full of change.

Jack45 Wrote:
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> Everyone talks about battlefields. Most are off
> limits because they are National Park Service
> land. Where you do find the stuff is where the
> troops camped. Over the years I have accumulated
> boxes of stuff that I have not even sorted
> through.
>
> There is a ton of stuff still out there. You just
> have to know where to look.


teach us how to

Another lousy preservation by FFX County was the Battle of Dranesville off of Rt. 7. It was a small battle but significant nonetheless. The county built a bunch of high end homes and now an expansion to Rt. 7 all over this area. Again, "no don't use your metal detectors because we don't care and will build". smh



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2015 02:08AM by xenodispo.

A great place to metal detect would be a house that's slated to be torn down for development. We found a bunch of coins and bullets 20 years ago in what was then the cowfield across the street from the Fairfax city po po station.

First started this forum Feb. 2014 and saved up a bit and finally got myself a cheapo MD to go hunting. A bit too late in the year but I've been able to go out two times so far. I found a spoon, eraser pen, modern coins and a couple of late 1800's shotgun shell caps. (I will post later) Any good pointers out there for a newbie? Been raining a lot lately but anyone have any recent finds??

I found a couple gun shellls in nourthern virginia

I know a guy named Scott D. and he goes on paid hunts. He's been known to purchase Civil War relics from metal detector shops and off of eBay, then he displays them at the hunts, like he just found them there. He also thinks that every guy in the world is after his 3/10 wife (BARF!) I wouldn't let her blow my dog! She's a 3/10 and he married up, so what's that tell you about him?

I'm a coin collector. my collection has no more than 500 old coins, and the collection is gradually increasing with new and old coins. My friends bring me different coins from different countries. Now I would like to buy a metal detector for myself to discover. It seems very interesting that is why I want to buy the best metal detector for beginners. I have found many articles on this topic and I think I will make the right choice.

In 2014 Bill N said this "Fairfax County has done a lousy job of maintaining its Civil War Heritage"

In 5 short years Bill started saying take the confederate names off schools take the flags and statues down, Democrat hypocrite who no history is safe from

A good detector is virtually all of the Whites line of machines. I used the 5900 coin master for years(it's an oldie but a goodie). It works quite well in the mineralized soil you encounter in northern Virginia that gets progressively worse the farther west you go from I-95. It got me a lot of good relics even in the really hot ground down in Orange and around Culpepper over the years.

Bill N Your A Hypocrite Dem Wrote:
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> In 2014 Bill N said this "Fairfax County has done
> a lousy job of maintaining its Civil War
> Heritage"
>
> In 5 short years Bill started saying take the
> confederate names off schools take the flags and
> statues down, Democrat hypocrite who no history is
> safe from


Wow. I should feel honored that someone would track my older posts.

To clarify I never advocated removing the names of Confederates from Fairfax schools. What I have said is if in 1960 the citizens of Fairfax County thought it was appropriate to name a school after a Confederate leader, that doesn't mean that in 2020 the citizens of Fairfax County should be forced to keep it. BTW it isn't limited to Confederates. I feel the same way about Reagan National, W. T. Woodson High School, Rachel Carson Middle School, the Jennings Courthouse and about the Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail.

Now the part you completely ignored is after saying I have no problem in theory about changing the name of Stuart, I went on to say it was little more than a feel good effort that would do nothing to improve the quality of education there. What I care about is improving the quality of students our schools are producing.

Bill N Your A Hypocrite Dem Wrote:
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> In 5 short years Bill started saying take the
> confederate names off schools take the flags and
> statues down, Democrat hypocrite who no history is
> safe from


Those school have nothing to do with confederate history or heritage, dude. They were named after rebel officers because a bunch of goofy white people were pissed about the growing civil rights movement desegregation.

one of those trump losers Wrote:
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> Bill N Your A Hypocrite Dem Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In 5 short years Bill started saying take the
> > confederate names off schools take the flags
> and
> > statues down, Democrat hypocrite who no history
> is
> > safe from
>
>
> Those school have nothing to do with confederate
> history or heritage, dude. They were named after
> rebel officers because a bunch of goofy white
> people were pissed about the growing civil rights
> movement desegregation.

Niggers had more business ownership during Jim Crow than any other period in history.

The whole racist thing was a product of liberal Jews in the media that had an agenda.

Wait until the fbi’s file on MLK gets released in 2027.

Just wait