Last year our family, which included 5 grand-kids, rented a house on the Outer banks of NC. I took them out hunting with my metal detector on the beach along with 5 1800's dated cents, which I "salted" the sand with. My intent was to make a memorial vacation and maybe to get them interested in coin collecting. My question is, do you think this was ethical to do? To find something that really was not there.
Well, they still talk about their find (It was actually 2 years ago) and 2 wanted to look up the value. So I guess it did work.
Good and bad alike. The good part- you got them started. The bad part- they may expect to keep finding cents from the 1800's metal detecting, which is almost imposibble.
It was a nice thing to do. Are they still interested in metal detecting?.. and finally don't ever let them go on CoinTalk and let them read this thread!
Yes, they are still interested in both coins and MD. Maybe I'll get $200 in dimes and see if we can fill some holes after a Packer win this Sunday!
OP After doing that did you speculate on how much of the world's "history" (that we profess to love so much) was established using choreography and/ or "parlor tricks?" IMO, a coin collector at heart will find their way on their own. And maybe they should get used to that.
When we were in cub scouts, we were taken on a "snipe hunt" with special sticks (exactly 14.5 inches long - forget the significance but we all had to measure them to make sure) and plastic garbage bags to catch them in. The closest we came was cornering a family of raccoons against a log.
