5 Best Metal Detecting Finds in California

Ever wondered what treasures lie beneath California’s diverse landscapes? Discover the thrill of metal detecting in the Golden State, uncovering relics from the Gold Rush, hidden gems on bustling beaches, and forgotten pieces of history!

This article is perfect for you if you are from California or planning to visit California. Being the second largest state in the United States of America, it offers so much to the metal-detecting community, and let us talk about those.

I have visited California countless times since 2012. In all these visits, I found even one very important piece of finding by metal detecting. 

As someone who has been visiting California constantly for over a dozen years, I know California is a state of gold, literally and figuratively, for the metal-detecting community. 

Every time I visit California, I always find something new. Like finding new items, I also encountered some common finds abundant in the Californian soil. 

If you are someone who is waiting to start your metal detecting career in California, keep a note of this item because it will be helpful for you. 

If you find these items, you can sense that you are going in the right direction. 

After having much experience in almost every place in California, from beaches and state parks to streets to the countryside, I thought of compiling the knowledge I have to create a guide for California’s young and upcoming metal detectors.

When writing this article, I received assistance from my friendly local metal detectorists in California, who provided additional information. 

Their extensive knowledge is partly due to their Californian background.

So, here are the best metal detecting finds in California,

1. Coins
2. Jewelry
3. Gold Rush Era Artifacts 
4. Military Artifacts 
5. Historical Artifacts 

But that’s just a quick snapshot of the findings!

In this article, I will explore the best metal detecting finds in California one by one with the locations you can find them.

I will be teaching you how to metal detect for each of these items in California. 

Furthermore, I’ll answer some frequently asked questions.

Let’s jump in!  

Best Metal Detecting Finds in California 

To have success in any metal detecting activity, there are two things that every metal detector should master. 

These cannot be taught or learned overnight, but constant practice can achieve perfection. 

Those two things are experience and skill. You need those two things to be another person with a metal detector. 

If you are already an owner of a metal detector, you know to an extent what the metal detector is used for and what you can achieve from your metal detector. But knowing these will only help if you practice them. 

That is where skill comes into play. Skill is something you develop over time. Skill can only be taught or learned after some time. 

Having a metal detector will be the first step towards mastering your skill, but it is okay if you don’t have a metal detector. 

Now, some metal detecting clubs in California offer you metal detectors for a specific time to practice and master your skills. 

Mastering skills mainly include adjusting settings and the other adjustments in the metal detector to better suit the environment in which you detect metal. 

All the environments have different components and factors, which will determine the settings you must use in the metal detector. 

A salty, highly mineralized soil setting will not suit regular land areas with neutral mineralization and salt activity. 

Identifying these differences and using the settings accordingly is the skill. If not, you will waste your time and money on various metal-detecting sessions without real progress. 

The other essential thing is the experience. Experience will help you to identify and recognize what type of environment you are in, and it will determine your choices in the field. 

An experienced metal detectorist makes far fewer mistakes than a rookie. So, it is better to master these two essential things before investing much money in colossal metal detecting sessions. 

So, to be a master in metal detecting, you have to have these two essential skills. Practice these, and one day, you will be a great metal detectorist, too. 

Let’s see what the common metal detecting finds in California, 

1. Coins

Coins are one of the most common things you can find anywhere in the state. This is one of the more common things that any metal detector, regardless of the experience, is bound to find in their days. 

Like any other state, coins in California are also categorized according to the era they belong to. 

From the metal slats used by native American people to pennies and quarters used by modern-day humans, coins can be categorized. 

Coins belonging to much older eras, like coins belonging to eras over a hundred years, are considered historical artifacts and are prohibited from being claimed by any means. 

They are not prohibited from being detected and uncovered, but once you uncover them, you might not be able to claim ownership of them, as they belong to the federal government. 

If you want to claim ownership, you may have to consult the officers in charge of the place or the Bureau of Land Management officers.

Places You Can Find Coins 

Here are some of the hotspots that you will be able to find coins around the California state, 

• San Francisco Financial District in San Francisco County
• Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles County
• Old Sacramento State Historic Park in Sacramento County
• Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks in Tulare County
• Huntington Beach in Orange County 

Out of these locations, the beach and the pier areas were the most successful for me. 

So, if you are someone new to California or metal detecting and interested in coins, you should start from Huntington Beach which is one of the best places in California to metal detect.

2. Jewellery

Jewelers are another common item found during the metal detecting process in the whole United States of America. 

This jewelry might be lost by the people who visit some area or the historical jewelry lost in early times. 

This jewelry might have a much higher value than other findings because most lost and found jewelry contains either gold or silver. 

Even though these might not have a particular historical or antique value, this will be a good opportunity for you to have some money.

The shape and sizes of these jewellery might differ. If you find more recent ones, which are somewhat easy to find, they might be quite small. 

But if you somehow encounter an old piece of jewelry, it might be large and of higher value. 

As per the government rule, it is easier to claim ownership over recently lost jewelry than older ones. 

Older ones will have a higher historical value inevitably regarded as United States Government property. 

Usually, when searching for lost items or jewelry in California, it is better to go with new ones. 

These are easy to claim and can be traced back to the owner. That is another fun part of the metal-detecting process. 

If you find something valuable and when you return it to the rightful owner, that joy is in their eyes. 

It is a sight that is to die for.  

Places You Can Find Jewelry Items

Here are some of the places in California where you can potentially find lost jewelry items, 

• Venice Beach in Los Angeles County
• Lake Tahoe Beaches in El Dorado County
• Malibu Beaches in Los Angeles County
• Monterey Bay in Monterey County
• Pacific Beach in San Diego County 

3. Gold Rush Era Artifacts 

California has a rich history in the gold rush times. California sits at the top of the list of states particularly known for gold mining during the late 1800s and early 1900s. 

These Gold Rush era artifacts could include small uncovered gold nuggets, gold flakes, gold dust, and equipment used for mining gold and separating gold. 

These are the common items and items with the highest value potential among the findings. 

The authorities do not prohibit detecting these, but you might need a permit or license to use metal detectors in federally conserved land areas.

 But if you are looking for gold nuggets and such artifacts, I suggest you try out the ghost towns and abandoned mining towns scattered around California. 

As these are ghost towns, no one currently resides in the area. You have all the time in the world to carry on your metal-detecting activities without interference. 

Detecting gold and gold rush-era artifacts in ghost towns is much more beneficial as you can claim anything from the area. 

California is a great state to start if you want to find some gold and historical items related to gold mining. 

Places You Can Find Gold Rush Era Artifacts

Here are some of the locations where I recommend you start your detecting procedure to find gold rush-era artifacts,

• Historic mining towns like Placerville in El Dorado County
• Area around old mines in the Sierra Nevada
• Ghost towns like Bodie and Calico
• Gold Rush State Historic Park in Coloma, El Dorado County
• Auburn State Park in Placer County 

4. Military Artifacts 

California has seen some wars and brawls in its history over the past two hundred-year periods. 

From the civil war to being engaged in the two world wars, there are some remains of the past to be uncovered in the soil of California. 

The American Civil War artifacts might include bullets, musket balls, weapon parts, buttons, and other relics from battles in that period. 

These are the perfect opportunities if you are an enthusiast in metal detecting and uncovering the state’s history. 

These items will indicate the rich military history of the state. Unfortunately, these cannot be claimed under personal property unless discovered from private land near one of these areas. 

But most of these relics are on state-owned land, so you cannot claim these items without consulting the authorities or the officials. 

These items are almost spread all around the state. 

Places You Can Find Military Artifacts

Here are some of the locations where you might be able to find some relics and artifacts relating to the Civil War eras, 

• Fort Tejon Historic Park in Kern County 
• Drum Barracks Civil War Museum and its surroundings in Los Angeles County 
• Camp Drum, Indio and its surroundings in River Side County 
• Fort Humboldt State Park in Humboldt County 
• Benecia Arsenal State Park in Solano County  

5. Historical Artifacts

Historical artifacts are other artifacts and relics belonging to the periods of Native American Civilizations in the State. 

In the lands used by these indigenous people, you could find some items like arrowheads, metal equipment, cutlery, cooking utensils, and other day-to-day items. 

These might not have a higher economic value than other items. Still, these provide great insights into the earlier civilizations of the United States of America. 

If you are keen on discovering history and metal detecting like me, detecting in the location mentioned below will give you so much pleasure.  

As these are older than a hundred years, you cannot claim ownership of these items. 

But detecting items like these also gives me pleasure rather than owning them. If you insist and ask the authorities, you can claim ownership of these items. 

Native American civilizations were spread across various sites in California. 

Places You Can Find Historical Artifacts

Here are some of the locations you can detect for these items in California, 

• Indian Grinding Rock State Park in Amador County
• Tule River Indian Reservation in Tulare County 
• Kumeyaay-Ipaai Interpretive Center and its surroundings in San Diego County
• Chaw’se Indian Grinding Rock in Calaveras County 
• Santa Ysabel Indian Mission area in San Diego County  

That’s it folks! Now you know all the best metal detecting finds in California with their historical values and the locations you can hunt them.

Now I’m going to share with you several tips that I’ve learned since 2012 while metal detecting in California state parks, beaches, and other areas to get promising results.

The below tips will help you find cool treasures without any issues and they’ll share your metal-detecting knowledge about California so well.

Some of the below tips were gathered from my fellow Californians who are also expert detectorists for quite long time.

Just keep reading!

Tips For Metal Detecting in California

Here are some of the tips and tricks that I used in finding these items in California, 

Research 

It would be best if you had great research for a great metal-detecting session. By researching, you can identify the hotspots you need attention to. 

By identifying these emotions, you can concentrate all your effort on that area and have the maximum out of the emotional detecting session.

Check out the Best Beaches in California to Metal Detect!

Metal Detector 

The type of metal detector you have also decides how much success you have in the field. It doesn’t always have to be the highest-end, most expensive metal detector. 

Any metal detector that you know the settings in and out will be the best metal detector for you. 

Technique

When detecting in the field, I always try to have a map in my head. I divide the area into quadrants and then cover each quadrant before moving to the next one. 

Following this step will surely not miss any spot in the area. 

The famous Saddle Ridge Hoard, discovered in 2013 in California, consisted of over 1,400 gold coins from the 19th century, valued at approximately $10 million.

time.com

So, let’s answer some frequently asked questions.

FAQs

Did I cover all you wanted to know about: Best Metal Detecting Finds in California

In this article, I deeply discussed the best metal detecting finds in California with the areas you can find them, how to get permission to claim ownership of them, and techniques.

The best metal detecting finds in California include Gold Rush era artifacts, military relics, coins, and jewelry, commonly found in locations such as beaches, historic parks, and ghost towns. Notable spots include the San Francisco Financial District, Santa Monica Pier, and Old Sacramento State Historic Park.

Furthermore, I’ve answered some frequently asked questions as well.

I hope I covered all you wanted to know about the best metal detecting finds in California including experts’ tips.

So, until next time, take your metal detectors and have a nice metal detecting session in California. Happy treasure hunting!