Hi Joseph here from the Philippines. Got my first metal detector last September, a budget unit from Minelab Philippines. It's a GO-FIND 60, I got no probe just a trowel and a bolo in digging. It’s quite hard for me having no probe because first, it is time consuming, second, I am a newbie in this hobby but I can still manage to find, locate and dug up finds thanks to its ability to pinpoint. I am the only detectorist in my area and I hunt alone anytime anywhere. Actually, this was my first time in metal detecting and treasure hunting. It is a great hobby for me and try to find my luck as life is hard. During my first month of hunting I was so excited to try the unit though I had a little knowledge on detecting. Later on, I managed to get some Ideas from users with the same unit on YouTube. I got a lot of rusty iron, bottle caps, aluminum, copper, some old and modern coins.
I dug all metals detected by the unit that is why I got a lot of rusty iron and bottle caps hahah. The funny thing on my first month of hunting was, I got suspected as a terrorist planting IED's by local residents. They said they saw a man with a hoodie carrying "rifle" and digging something on the ground. I told them that there is nothing to worry about the "terrorist" thing as it was just me hunting for coins/relics/treasures. Every time I remember what had happened on my first month I got a laugh out loud in my mind.
As the month of September ends, here comes my natal month October.
October 1, 2016 was my luckiest day. I was metal detecting near a stream 1 kilometer from home and after a couple of minutes of detecting the area I got a strong signal which I thought it was a bottle cap or a coin but as if dug it up I got a dirty metal thing and when I clean it with my finger it turns to be GOLD! Yes, it was an antique pendant buried in the ground a long time ago. My heart started to beat faster and my hand was shaking that time so I put it in my pouch for safety and decided to go home as it was started getting darker. It was already 5pm Philippine time. Few meters away from where I got the gold signal, I swung the detector for the last time and again got that strong signal same as that of gold signal but turns to be a Philippine-American 1 cent bronze coin (1900-1941)!
October 8, 2016, I was metal detecting the wide rice field near my house after a couple of minutes of sweeping around the area I got a good signal so I dug it up and it’s a Philippine-American 1 cent Bronze coin (1900-1941). My third good hit was found under an old mango tree 50 meters away from an elementary school where I was graduated. This time I got a strong signal I dug it up and again a 1 cent Philippine-American Bronze coin which dated 1926 just an inch deep.
October 15, 2016 I decided to metal detect a hill and at the end of the day I got a lot of bottle caps, rusty nails, cigar foils, copper wire and the last but not the least an old Great Seal button of the United States army (1902-present).
Rainy season started a couple of days so it’s time to relax and wait for timing :) All in all I had P111.50 worth of modern coins, got a lot of old coins and junks to be sold for money.
Minelab really change people’s fortunes!
Joseph - Southern Leyte, Philippines.