Churchyards and cemeteries are good places to find coins, jewelry, and other items that people have lost over the years. But do you have permission to search for them? be sure to ask before you take your metal detector out of its carrying case and start hunting in those locations.

Metal detector enthusiasts in the British Empire have been making remarkable discoveries lately. In Kent, England, a pair of treasure hunters found a horde of gold coins dating from the 14th century that are worth about $20,000. And just last week in Suffolk, England a butcher with a metal detector discovered about 750 Roman-age coins buried in a field. Their value? Priceless.

“I am about to build a new mixed-use building in a suburb of a major city,” a real estate developer asked us recently. “But before I build, I have to knock down an older wooden Victorian house on the site. Should I knock the house down and then sift through the rubble looking for hidden treasure and valuables, or would it be better to look through the house while it is still standing? Which approach makes it easier to find any treasures that previous owners might have hidden or left behind?”

What Will You Find Closer to Home?

Metal detector enthusiasts have recently found astonishing treasures buried in the British Isles. Last December, a retired police officer who was exploring on the Isle of Man found a cache of Viking-era jewelry that contained a gold arm ring, a silver brooch and other items that were apparently hidden 1,000 years ago.

What’s in Your Toolbox?

We have written blog posts in the past about metal detectors, drones, and other equipment that can help you locate gold, silver, and other precious metals outdoors. But what tools and equipment should you have on hand when you go looking for precious metals indoors? Let’s say, for example, that you are going to comb through an old jewelry factory, welding shop, or other building that is soon to be demolished or sold?

“I recently bought a three-story mixed-use commercial building in my home town. The building is about 50 years old. There had been a coffee bar on the ground floor. A CPA and a title company had occupied the two upper floors. I’m about to renovate and I’m wondering if you can tell me someplace I might not know about where I should look for gold scrap, platinum scrap and silver. Thanks for opening my eyes to possibilities I might not know about.”

A lot of people buy metal detectors, take them out to the beach once or twice, then stick them in a closet or a garage because they didn’t find anything. In our informed opinion, that is a mistake.

Here are some common misunderstandings about metal detectors that could actually be robbing you of the dollars you and your detector could be making every day you head outdoors to do some hunting.

In today’s post, let’s explore a question that is a bit more complicated than it seems . . .

If you find something, does it belong to you?

It’s a question that comes up more often than you might think, because people lose personal items every day and presumably, the things they lose are found by other people. If you don’t think people lose and find things frequently, just visit the Lost & Found section on the Craigslist in your area. You’ll quickly see that people lose keys, rings, dogs, cats, parrots, cellphones, and all sorts of personal items. You’ll also see that lots of honest people post “found” notices on Craigslist. They found your key or your parrot, and they would like to return it to you.

If you live in most parts of the country, you’re not supposed to leave your house, except to go to the food store or pharmacy. If that’s been your situation for more than a few days, chances are that you are itching to do something productive and energizing.

So we have a suggestion for you – and one that could be not only interesting but profitable . . .

We haven’t written about drones on this blog for several years. In the time since, some things have stayed the same in the world of drones, and some things haven’t.

There are many legends about people who decided to hide their treasures in wells. One of the most common tales is that at the end of the Civil War, wealthy southern families tossed their silverware down their wells to prevent roaming Yankees from finding it.

If you want to spend a day hunting for precious metal discoveries, you could visit antique stores, dumpsters, your town dump, or an abandoned factory.

Findings are small, pre-manufactured metal items that are used in jewelry production. Chances are pretty good that as you read this post, some of them are right there in the room with you. If you bought a nice silver chain to give your niece for a present, for example, open the box and take a look at it. You’ll see that there is a small ring attached to one end, and some kind of clasp to the other. Those add-on pieces are findings.