Metal detecting is one of the most rewarding outdoor hobbies—part history, part exploration, and part treasure hunt. Whether your goal is to uncover old coins, find lost jewelry, locate relics, or discover gold nuggets, getting started with the right tools and knowledge can dramatically increase your success. This updated, combined guide brings together everything a beginner needs to know: choosing the right detector, researching the best locations, understanding soil conditions, using proper gear, and following responsible metal detecting practices.
With the right preparation, metal detecting can become a lifelong hobby filled with adventure, learning, and incredible finds. Let’s get you ready for your first discoveries.
What You Can Find With a Metal Detector
Modern metal detectors—especially multi-frequency models—can find an impressive range of targets, including:
- Everyday coins and valuable collectible coins
- Historic relics (buttons, buckles, tools, musket balls, military items)
- Lost jewelry (gold rings, chains, pendants, earrings)
- Gold nuggets in mineralized or historic mining areas
- Buried caches, tokens, trade pieces, and oddities
Your detector's performance depends on where you search, how you research, and the type of detector and coil you use. If you’re still choosing your machine, explore our guide to the Best Metal Detectors for beginners, advanced users, gold hunters, and beach explorers.
The Power of Research: Finding Productive Detecting Sites
The best detectorists are usually great researchers. A little history goes a long way—and often leads directly to the best finds.
Where to Research
- Local libraries and museums
- Historical societies and genealogy groups
- State and federal mining departments
- Old maps, topographic charts, land ownership records
- Newspaper archives and vintage photographs
- Longtime residents who remember past events and gathering places
- Metal detecting clubs, forums, and local online groups
Conversations with locals can be surprisingly valuable—many still remember where fairs, dances, markets, and sporting events took place decades earlier. These are often prime areas for coins and relics.
Important: Always get permission for private land and follow all local metal detecting laws. For more guidance, see our Metal Detecting Code of Ethics & Laws.
Gear You Need (Besides the Detector)
A few essential accessories will dramatically improve your efficiency and enjoyment:
- Digging Tools: A trowel, shovel, or sand scoop. Serrated edges help with tough roots or compact soil.
- Headphones: Hear faint signals clearly—critical for deep coins and small gold.
- Finds Bag / Pouch: Keeps good finds separate from trash items.
- Gloves: Essential for safety and comfort.
- Pinpointer: Speeds up recovery and reduces the size of your plugs.
Browse our full range of metal detecting accessories to build your complete field kit.
Choosing the Right Metal Detector
Your ideal detector depends on your goals, soil conditions, and experience. Here are trusted beginner and intermediate options:
Top Beginner-Friendly Detectors
- Nokta Simplex - Fast, fully waterproof detector that delivers impressive performance for beginners. With clear target ID, fast recovery speed, and multiple search modes, it’s perfect for parks, fields, and beaches. Affordable, durable, and feature-packed
- Minelab X-TERRA ELITE – Advanced Multi-IQ performance to an easy-to-use, affordable platform. Lightweight, waterproof, and packed with smart features, it offers excellent depth, clear target ID, and reliable stability in parks, fields, and beaches. It’s an ideal choice for beginners and seasoned detectorists who want powerful multi-frequency performance without the high price tag.
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Garrett Vortex - The Garrett Vortex series brings powerful multi-frequency performance to a tough, intuitive platform built for all skill levels. With fast target response, excellent depth, and strong stability in challenging soil, Vortex detectors are ideal for coins, relics, jewelry, and beach hunting. Rugged, weatherproof, and easy to use—Vortex delivers serious Garrett performance at a great value.
Best for Challenging Ground (Mineralized Soil)
- XP DEUS II - Ultra-fast, fully waterproof multi-frequency detector built for serious performance in any environment. With exceptional target separation, deep detection, and advanced audio options, it excels in iron-rich sites, beaches, relic fields, and underwater hunting. Lightweight and wireless, it delivers pro-level power with unmatched speed and versatility.
- The Legend 2 – Delivers fast, powerful multi-frequency performance in a rugged, fully waterproof design. With improved depth, sharper target ID, and outstanding stability in mineralized soil and saltwater, it’s built for detectorists who want serious capability at an unbeatable value. Perfect for coins, relics, jewelry, and beach hunting alike.
- Manticore – Next-generation multi-frequency detector delivering unmatched depth, speed, and target separation. Its powerful Multi-IQ+ engine, 2D Target ID Map, and ultra-precise audio make it exceptional in trashy sites, mineralized soil, and saltwater environments. Lightweight, rugged, and fully waterproof, MANTICORE is built for detectorists who demand top-tier performance.
Best for Gold Prospecting
- Minelab GPZ 7000 – One of the world’s most powerful gold detectors, delivering extreme depth and sensitivity thanks to its advanced ZVT (Zero Voltage Transmission) technology. Capable of finding gold nuggets beyond the reach of traditional PI and VLF detectors, it offers exceptional performance in heavily mineralized ground. Rugged, precise, and built for serious prospectors, the GPZ 7000 is the ultimate tool for locating deep, large, and previously untouchable gold.
- XP ORX – Lightweight, fast, and exceptionally sensitive detector designed for gold prospecting and coin/relic hunting. With its wireless design, precise audio, and selectable operating frequencies, it excels at finding small gold and fine targets in mineralized ground. Easy to use yet highly capable, the ORX is a great choice for prospectors and detectorists who want speed, sensitivity, and portability in one powerful package.
- Minelab GOLD MONSTER 2000 – Ultra-sensitive, fully automatic VLF gold detector designed to find the smallest nuggets in mineralized ground. With lightning-fast processing, automatic ground tracking, and simple one-button operation, it’s perfect for beginners and seasoned prospectors alike. Lightweight, accurate, and highly capable, the GOLD MONSTER 2000 excels at locating fine gold in creeks, diggings, and shallow goldfields.
- XP DEUS 2 w/ HF2 coil – The XP DEUS II paired with the HF2 coil delivers exceptional sensitivity to small and mid-conductive targets, making it ideal for goldfield hunting, relic sites, and iron-rich ground. With ultra-fast recovery speed, full waterproof capability, and XP’s advanced FMF technology, this setup provides outstanding target separation and precision in challenging environments. Lightweight, wireless, and highly responsive, the DEUS II + HF2 coil combo is a powerful choice for detecting fine targets others often miss.
Best for Underwater Detecting
- Minelab Excalibur II – A diving-grade underwater detector that performs exceptionally well in saltwater. Using BBS multi-frequency technology, it maintains stability and depth while cutting through mineralized beaches and ocean surf. Perfect for scuba, snorkeling, and deep surf detecting.
- XP DEUS II – Fully waterproof to 20m (66 ft) with unmatched speed, reactivity, and audio clarity underwater. Its multi-frequency Fast Multi Wave (FMF) technology delivers powerful depth and accuracy in both fresh and saltwater environments. Ideal for divers and serious beach hunters.
- Nokta The Legend 2 – Waterproof, powerful, and highly stable in saltwater thanks to enhanced multi-frequency processing. With improved target ID and strong separation underwater, it’s an excellent choice for waders, snorkelers, and surf hunters looking for a high-performance yet affordable option.
Best for Deep Cache & Buried Hoard Hunting
- XP XTREM Hunter – A powerful deep-seeking system built for locating large, deeply buried metal targets such as caches, hoards, and historical relics. Using advanced XP FMF technology and a large frame coil, the XTREM Hunter provides impressive depth penetration and excellent ground stability, even in mineralized soils. Ideal for serious treasure hunters searching old homesteads, farms, foundation sites, and open fields where deep targets are likely to be found.
- OKM EXP Series – Professional 3D ground scanners capable of detecting underground structures, voids, tunnels, and large metallic objects far deeper than traditional detectors. Their advanced visualization software makes them perfect for archaeological work, cache hunting, and historical exploration.
- Fisher Gemini-3 – A proven two-box detection system designed for finding large, deep metal targets well beyond the reach of standard VLF or multi-frequency detectors. Excellent for searching old estates, barns, cellars, and wide-open terrain where buried caches or sizable relics may lie several feet down.
Browse all treasure detectors or our gold detectors depending on what you want to find.
Best Soil Types & Ground Conditions
Your success often depends on understanding the soil beneath your feet.
Great Places to Start
- Soft, sandy soil
- Freshly plowed farm fields
- Beaches and lake shores
- Parks with mild soil
- Old home sites where the ground is relatively settled
More Challenging Areas
- Highly mineralized soil (red dirt, black sand)
- Ground loaded with iron debris
- Old industrial sites
The EQUINOX 900 and MANTICORE are standout performers in difficult ground thanks to advanced multi-frequency processing.
The Best Places to Detect for Coins, Relics & Jewelry
Think about where people have gathered, lost items, or traveled over decades. Productive areas include:
- Showgrounds, fairs, and racetracks
- Parks, schoolyards (with permission), and playgrounds
- Picnic spots and campgrounds
- Sports fields and sidelines
- Beaches, rivers, lakes, and swimming holes
- Abandoned towns and ghost towns
- Old barns, homesteads, and cellar holes
- Forest trails, pastures, and plowed fields
- Jetties, piers, and riverbanks
Shop treasure metal detectors optimized for these environments.
Finding Gold: Where to Detect for Nuggets
Gold detecting is its own branch of the hobby with unique techniques. The best places to find gold include:
- Old mining tailings and diggings
- Dry creek beds, wash zones, and erosion channels
- Outcrops, exposed bedrock, cracks, and crevices
- Historic 1800s–1900s goldfields
- Slopes, ridges, and gullies surrounding old mining areas
Research geological maps, mining records, and gold reports before heading out. For best results, explore our range of gold metal detectors.
Building Skill & Confidence
To accelerate your learning:
- Start close to home—your yard or local park is perfect for practice.
- Dig most signals at first to learn the behavior of tones and Target IDs.
- Use slow, consistent swings and keep your coil level with the ground.
- Practice recovery techniques to dig clean plugs and protect the land.
- Join a club to meet experienced detectorists who can share tips and site ideas.
Metal detecting is a skill-based hobby—the more hours you spend, the better your results.
Start Your Adventure
There is still an incredible amount of treasure—and gold—waiting to be found. With the right gear, research, and mindset, your next great discovery may be just one swing away. If you're ready to begin, explore our full guide to the best metal detectors to find the perfect match for your needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need permission to metal detect?
Yes. Private land requires permission, and many public areas have specific rules. Always check local regulations and follow the Metal Detecting Code of Ethics.
What is the easiest detector for beginners?
The Minelab VANQUISH 340 and GO-FIND Series are excellent beginner machines. They offer strong performance without complex settings.
Where can I find gold nuggets?
Historic mining regions, dry creek beds, erosion zones, and exposed bedrock are the best places for gold detecting. Use a detector from our gold detector lineup.
What tools do I need besides a detector?
A pinpointer, digging tool, headphones, gloves, and a finds pouch will significantly improve your experience.
What time of day is best for metal detecting?
Early morning and late afternoon offer cooler temperatures and less crowding at parks and beaches.
How deep can detectors find targets?
Most detectors reach 6–12 inches on coins, deeper for relics, and specialty gold detectors can locate nuggets several inches deep in mineralized soil.