This book, on Treasure Hunting, is about doing just that, on or within a budget. It is about finding treasure seen and unseen, valuables hidden or lost, goodies easily accessible and those harder to get to. It is about doing a complete examination of a property with an electronic metal detector and using your eyes and imagination. It is about making money from a hobby and doing so in areas that other people overlook.

Few adventures stimulate mens minds more than the search for treasure. From the earliest inkling of mans history, men have sought that which was lost or collected by others before them. Ancient man craved finding what great treasures were collected before him, on down the line. The Greeks, Romans, Europeans, and Spanish, all in their turn, conquered and took the riches they desired. Vast wealth has been buried and hidden to prevent it from falling into the hands of the conquerors. This has gone on for thousands of years, in the civilized world and uncivilized alike. North America has had its fair share of discovery and conflict as well, thousands of years of it. We only recognize the past seven hundred years or so, but, there are those who believe the Americas were visited by Phoenician and Carthaginian sailors three thousand years before Columbus. Historic evidence supports this, as much as it does the known Spanish Conquest of South America and Mexico and south and southwest United States.

Where there is conflict, there is loss; loss of life, culture, art and the loss of wealth. No place is this more true than Mexico and the Americas. Greed motivated one culture to conquer another throughout history. Much of this was carried out by Jesuit and Franciscan Priests against the Indians of the Southwest. Old furnaces and slag dumps near mission ruins and caved-in shafts or tunnels are mute testimony to their cruel use of the indigenous population. These operations were carried out for many years, a fact well authenticated in the Archives of Spain and Mexico.

Still others prayed on coastal trade such as Pirates and buccaneers, who for centuries ventured to where the winds would take them. America is blessed with many miles of coast which offered refuge to these rebels of no Nation. As many legions of treasure exist so does coastal mile. During the Golden age of Piracy, little separated the legal taking of cargo by Privateers, or the looting by Pirates, and one often lead to the other. Regardless of deception, most favored the shallow inlets along the Carolina coast, Virginia, Georgia and Florida. Vast wealth still lays buried in the sands and shallow waters there.

The Civil War was the United States last conflict on its own soil, and accounts for Billions in value of gold and silver coinage and house wares lost. Most of this was lost forever when those who buried it were killed, whether killed in the conflict itself or the looting afterwards. Most of these types of caches are found today by accident than by any other way. Building and renovation in the Eastern Seaboard area can uncover unsuspected wealth as often as not.

All early American waterways were the super highway of its day. Commerce, trade and travel depended on them heavily. Wharfs and towns sprang-up at major crossings and experienced a rebirth with the coming of the Railroad. Every change created a chance for something of value to be lost. The great wanderers in American history transported something of value back and forth across this country constantly. Even the Great Depression created lost wealth somewhere. People have always lost things and always will.

If people lose things or hide them by nature, then others can find them by using knowledge, determination, and exploitation of technology. This type of individual is naturally drawn to seek that which is lost, and only lacks the knowledge of where to begin to search.

There is something exciting and romantic about seeking the noble metals. The search and hardships are somehow less hardened when the discovery is made. The breeze is cooler and the air smells fresher. Old men feel younger and young men feel vibrant. Its the small conquest with its tangible results which is the real reward. You may not find a treasure chest full of gold and silver coins, chains and rings but, over the life of this hobby and adventure, you can fill your own chest of treasures. Find just 5 or 6 pieces of silver and 1 or 2 pieces of gold per month and you can amass quite a collection. The rewards are still out there and just waiting to be found.

The majority of treasure hunters are independent, self-reliant and adventuresome souls, with much of the vigor and courage of our pioneering forefathers. They are individuals who have remained true to the basic concepts of human worth and self-respect. Butyou probably know that.