Does anyone else have experience with metal detectors? I’m curious to hear some thoughts on common pratices vs. ethical practices when it comes to their use.

This weekend, I ran across someone who recently became enthralled with the idea of treasure hunting for coins. The questionable practices come into play when this individual explained that all public property has already been “tapped out” back in the 80′s by metal detecting enthusiasts. To overcome this, the idea is to go into private property, namely the yards of homes in historic neighborhoods. Then, the recommended practice is to politely suggest to the home owner that you could share whatever objects you find, hoping that they will decline and give you the go-ahead to pilage their lawn.

The main complaint this individual had is based on the scenario where the treasure hunter has found numerous objects, and the property owner comes outside saying actually they would appreciate taking him up on that 50% offer. What is a treasure hunter to do? In this idividual’s opinion, the answer is to deny that anything was found, and flee the property as quickly as possible, pockets-a-jangling. Then, find another lawn where the property owner will let him keep all of his relics.

The logic behind this argument is that the property owner doesn’t have access to metal-detecting technology, so therefore, they have little to know ownership of the metal objects that they previously didn’t know existed.

Something about this just doesn’t seem right. Thoughts?