With its rich history dating back eons, South Carolina is fertile ground for a special group of hobbyists called metal detectorists, who look for buried valuables.
Among the treasures they’ve found, well-known Palmetto detectorists Joe Denton of Little River and Clyde and Kandi Cochran Chilson of Saluda say they equally value the friendships and adventures they’ve gained while out looking for artifacts like buckles, bullets, and badges.
Even outings that end with empty pouches can be as memorable as the trip that results in a valuable item. Denton is the founder of Palmetto Metal Detecting Club and the Chilsons are leaders in SC Dirt Diggers, among many such groups active in the state and region.
Both Palmetto and SC Dirt Diggers provide excursions regularly. Colonial, military, and Native American remnants are among the objects detectorists display on their active social media sites to generate discussion and build knowledge. The growth of social media has been a great boon to the hobby since people can display items and get feedback.
Since his youth in Ohio, Joe has been searching the countryside for artifacts from another time. He used his wages from the part-time gigs of his boyhood to buy his first metal detector. The purchase inspired a lifetime hobby along with the metal detector business he owns in Little River on the South Carolina Coast.
His proudest discovery is a belt buckle from the Civil War area that belonged to a Union marine officer, now pictured on his company’s website, Denton’s Detectors. He doesn’t specify exactly where he found the buckle. That’s because he is a strong advocate of the ethics code for detectorists. Getting permission to search property is the mainstay of that code, which can be found on the website Metal Detecting Life.
Joe is widely respected in metal-detecting circles for his expertise and integrity. He opened his business after he and his wife, Marsha, left hectic careers behind in Ohio and chose the coast as home for the second chapter of their lives. As soon as they spotted the Little River site, they knew they had found the ideal location.
Establishing a business focused on his boyhood hobby was the fulfillment of a dream – getting to spend the day focusing on what you most enjoy doing, treasure hunting on a grown-up scale, both personally and professionally.
South Carolina coast is an ideal location for metal detectorists because of its rich history, he says, from the Revolutionary and Civil War and from Indigenous tribes and European explorers.
Saluda’s Kandi, who has been detecting for about ten years, says of her avocation, “I’ve always been interested in history, so detecting was a way I could help preserve artifacts.” Her interest is in the Civil War.
“I like finding old buttons, bullets, and coins and wondering about the person who lost them, thinking I’m the first person in 150-plus years to see them again.”
She especially values items that display links to individuals like a Civil War badge with a soldier’s name engraved on it or old monogrammed spoons. “I like to be able to trace a person back, if possible,” she says.
Kandi and her husband, Clyde, enjoy going on frequent trips for detecting adventures. “You never know what you will find. In different parts of the country, you will find stuff you wouldn’t in another part. It’s all about the adventure.”
Back in 2015, she and others developed the South Carolina Dirt Diggers page on Facebook. It began as a way for a few local diggers to share their finds, but today there are over 5,400 members both statewide and across the country. Before the pandemic, the group met monthly at the Flight Deck Restaurant in Lexington. Now their sessions are announced when scheduled on their Facebook page.
Unlike many hobbies, metal detecting is not just an individual pursuit, but one that can be enjoyed by the entire family and for all ages. As a woman in groups traditionally consisting of men, Kandi is pleased to see that the number of women has more than tripled recently. Beginners can also learn a lot about the hobby from online research and other reading before ever venturing out.
Many other groups also have their own Facebook pages or websites and there are numerous resources available online. The SC Dirt Diggers provides free presentations at schools and other events, including historic programs and technical demonstrations. Different discoveries are displayed for discussion and direct experience.
Metal Detecting Hobby Talk is a comprehensive doorway into the metal-detecting internet community, providing a depository of information from national and state resources, local clubs and requirements, events, and reference material. The Palmetto, Metal Detecting SC, and SC Dirt Diggers are just a few of the regional groups you will see listed.
Conscientious metal detectorists embrace a code of ethics with the following guidelines: learn which legal jurisdiction an area falls under and what permissions you will need to discover and recover items; research the rules regarding digging tools and respect any restrictions in your area; fill in any holes dug due to danger to people and livestock; leave the area as undisturbed as you found it; report any significant historical artifacts to local authorities and do not damage them if found.
State, federal, and local governments have rules and regulations for metal detectorists to protect sensitive archaeological sites and public lands.
The National Historic Preservation Act protects historical and archaeological sites. It also covers rural areas with historical significance. The 1997 Archaeological Resources Protection Act further governs any excavation on federal and Native American lands and controls the removal of archaeological artifacts from those sites.
In South Carolina, metal detecting in South Carolina is regulated by the Archeological Resources Protection Act to preserve items of historical and cultural significance, thus prohibiting the removal of man-made objects more than 100 years of age from public ground. It does not apply to metal detecting done on private property. However, anyone planning to use a metal detector on private property should obtain the written permission of the landowner beforehand.
Metal detecting is not permitted at any of South Carolina State Park’s State Historic Sites. For all other park properties, individuals must contact park managers directly to request approval. If approved, the manager will specify exactly where on park property metal detection is allowed and will provide site-specific information and rules.
The individual must carry a signed permit from the manager while they are metal detecting in approved areas on park property. The state’s full metal detecting policy is linked on the “Frequently Asked Questions” page of the South Carolina State Parks website.
The internet is a fertile landscape for metal detectorists from across the country for all levels of skill. For beginners, a great place to start on the web is Metal Detecting Life.
You will get your questions answered, learn to enjoy the hobby, find out about a wide variety of equipment, different research methods, and ways to find success. Most of all, savor the hunt in the search for hidden treasure. Even if you do come home empty-handed, the outing itself will be satisfying. There is always a new unexplored field over the horizon.