Metal Detecting Guides & Reviews

Key dates, silver, war nickels, the 1943 copper cent and gold: here is what makes a detected coin valuable and what to do when you find one.

Cleaning the wrong coin the wrong way can wipe out its collector value. Learn how to sort your finds, gentle methods by metal type and what to avoid.

Old maps, land records, newspapers and lidar can lead you to forgotten homesteads. Here is a step-by-step research workflow and the field signs that confirm a site.

Old coins turn up where people gathered and handled money for decades. Here are 15 proven site types, how to evaluate them, and which places are off-limits.

Silver is the most conductive metal, so detectors find it easily. Here is how silver reads, what limits depth and the settings that help you recover more of it.