Got my first detector in 1979 .... Whites Coinmaster 5000D ... still got it now.. in its box ...LOL ... found my first pennies with it but no gold when I took it to Tibooburra, even found coins at the beach with ease.... a couple of months back just for memories I took it for a swing for about 30 minutes before my wrist began to complain about the terrible handle....Things have changed, once found pennies now I find mobile phones instead...LOL ..It works great of tidal beaches, I trained up on finding gold on those tidal beaches looking for fishing sinkers....don't think I have ever had to buy a sinker since.
The guy in the shop where I bought it claimed it was the best gold finding detector on the market ... I guess I didn't use it right or he sold me a dud .... LOL ... the silly part about all this is that I saw one at a flea market a few years back (not working) I couldn't resist .. I bought it for $50 ... fixed it and ever since then it has just sat in the corner of the shed. One day when Antique Roadshow comes to town ...I'm going to make my fortune.