5 Best Metal Detecting Finds in Texas 

Ever wondered what treasures lie hidden beneath the vast landscapes of Texas? Dive in to uncover the secrets of the Lone Star State’s buried past!

Are you someone from Texas? Or are you planning to visit Texas for metal detecting, wondering what treasures are waiting for you?

Texas is one of my favorite places to go for metal detecting. The state is so large that it offers different opportunities for us to metal detect in terms of beaches, ghost towns, state parks, and other settings. 

The items that can be detected will be based on factors like the historical background, civilization spread, significant wars happening in the area, and inhabitation by the conquerors.

Texas is one of the states where you can experience them all since it has a rich history. 

During my visits, I was able to collect lots of cool findings and treasures buried on Texas grounds with the help of local detectorists in Texas.

I thought of sharing this stuff with you so that I can help everyone who is planning on to metal detect in Texas.

Here are the, best metal detecting finds in texas,

1. Spanish Colonial Coins
2. Civil War Relics
3. Native American Artifacts
4. Jewelry
5. Camping Items

But there’s a lot more to know about those treasures you can find in Texas!

So, in the rest of the article, I will explore the best metal detecting finds in Texas and how to detect them.

Plus, I’ll tell you how to take care of items you find. Plus, I’ll share all of the locations in Texas where you can find the above items including from local expert detectorists.

So, let’s jump in!

Best Metal Detecting Finds in Texas 

Several factors will influence the success of metal-detecting sessions. One such aspect of metal detecting is the metal detector that you have. 

If you own a high-end, lower-priced detector, it doesn’t guarantee higher success in the field. In vice versa, if you have a low-end, low-price metal detector, that doesn’t also mean that you will have fewer finds. 

If you have yet to gain experience using even the best metal detector in the world, there will be no point in you having the best metal detector. 

So that means you must also have experience using the metal detector. 

Experience and the metal detector are the two most important factors for the success of any metal detecting session. 

Regarding Texas, the legal barriers are loose compared to other states. 

As most Texans are laid-back people, as long as you don’t hurt them, they will even allow you to metal detect in their backyard. But this doesn’t mean you should go around in Texas peeking at everyone’s backyard. 

If you are detecting in a place that is governmentally run or owned by the state offices, get the proper permission required because this will be a ticket way out if something goes wrong. 

I had a similar when I was metal detecting at a PA; this officer tried to arrest me for trespassing on state-owned land. 

But what came to my rescue was the permission from the local government office. Later, he apologized and went away. 

Situations like this could easily occur to you, too. It is wise to be prepared rather than act when the situation worsens. 

And if you will detect on privately owned land, get permission from the owners and let them know when you are entering and exiting the property. If not, there might be complications in these situations, too. 

These are the simple things every metal-detecting enthusiast needs to remember when going on metal-detecting trips.

And make sure that you develop your people skills very well because it will help you a lot along the way. 

1. Spanish Colonial Coins

Spanish Colonial coins are a frequent find in Texas. As the name suggests s, these belong to the era of Spanish colonialism, which spread in most parts of Texas. 

These coins are mostly made out of gold or sometimes silver. 

These are mostly of antique value rather than economic value. 

And if you uncover these in the federal land, you might have to return them as these belong to the central government. 

But there are large farmlands in Texas that private owners own. Sometimes, these, too, have colonial coins buried in them. 

If you make a deal out with the owners like I did, you can keep most of the findings with you. 

Here are the places where you can find Spanish Colonial Coins in Texas,

• San Antonia area near the Alamo and Spanish mission areas 
• Goliad area near the Presidio La Bahia and Nacogdoches.

Nacogdoches is one of the oldest towns in Texas, so that I could find some other stuff, too. 

Check out the Best Places to Metal Detect in Texas!

2. Civil War Relics

Civil war relics like Bullets, buttons, and buckles are common in Texas. These are mostly found in the battlefield areas. 

During the Civil War from 1861 to 1865, Texas was a state that was majorly affected by these wars. There are remnants of these battles even today. 

These items are over a hundred years old and belong to the federal government. So, you cannot keep these even if you uncover them. 

But if you insist from the departments, there are some procedures you can take to authorize these properly. 

These are mostly sentimental rather than economical; sometimes, antique collectors heavily value these items. 

Here are the places where you can find Civil War relics in Texas,

• Battle of Galveston area
• Sabine Pass
•  Palmito Ranch

Palmito Ranch is the site of the last civil war. 

3. Native American Artifacts

Native Indian people heavily inhabited the areas of Texas in early ages. Therefore, you can uncover some artifacts related to native Indian origins, too. 

But as these artifacts are over a hundred years old, you can’t acquire or claim authority. 

To have property over them, you must have special permission from the landowners, whether the federal government or the private owners. 

Most commonly found items are arrowheads and other tools crafted from native Indians, like blades and axes. 

As most of the native Indian civilization was based on river valleys, these items might be near rivers and river valley areas. 

Some areas I detected in Texas and found arrowheads belonging to native Indians are as follows,

• Fate Bell Shelter area in Seminole Canyon State Park
• Caddo Mounds Historic Sites near Alto

4. Jewelry

Jewelry is among the most common things to find anywhere in the United States or worldwide. Jewelry could include rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings. 

As these are not mostly old stuff, you can keep them and have authority over them if nobody claims them. but it is better to have some record of the stuff you collected.  

Sometimes, you might be able to uncover some historical jewelry, but you can’t claim them or have authority over them. 

It is better to return them to authorities if you find any. 

The most common places to find jewelry are beach areas. As the Atlantic Ocean surrounds Texas on one side, many beaches exist in the state. 

These beaches are very high-traffic areas, and many people in Texas go to beaches to relax. 

Some beaches don’t allow metal detecting, but almost all the beaches allow metal detecting as a recreational activity. 

Raed to know, the best beaches in Texas for metal detecting!

I was so lucky to find Galvestone Island, as there are several beaches to detect, beachfront parks, and Mustang Island Beach. 

Mustang Island has some privately owned sectors, so ensure you know the boundaries before you start to metal detect. Other areas where you can find jewelry are River beds and river valleys.  

5. Camping Items

Camping items are another frequent find that you can find in the state of Texas. 

There are abundant camping grounds scattered all over Texas, and some state parks also allow camping. 

Check out the Best State Parks in Texas to Metal Detect!

Camping items include various pegs, tin cans, and various everyday items. Among the midst, you might be able to find coins and jewelry left by the campers, too. 

If you are going into state parks, you need special permissions and licensing to meal detect in these areas. 

Even though you can mostly claim authority over these items, it is better to record what you have detected. 

Some of the areas that you can look out to find camping items are as follows,

• Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas
• Rio Grande area 
• Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas
• Padre National Island in South Texas
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area in central Texas

You can also look in the river valleys and beaches for items as some people also use these areas as camping places. 

That’s it folks! Now you know all the best metal detecting finds in Texas with the locations they can find.

Now I’m going to share with you some tips that I’ve learned during my metal detecting trips in Texas.

The below tips helped me to find awesome treasuries and probably they’ll help you as well.

Some of the below tips were gathered from my friendly local metal detecting experts in Texas who met during my journeys.

Just keep reading!

Tips For Metal Detecting in Texas

Here are some of my tips and tricks to have success in Texas in metal detecting,

Research

It would be best if you had good research to have a good metal detecting session. With research, we can identify what we are looking for and feel safe. 

Good research will help you to save time as well as money. So, conduct thorough research before heading out to the metal detector. 

You can research online or visit the area’s locals to acquire knowledge. And if you will visit a particular area for a long time or live there. 

You can try to join a metal detecting club in Texas to acquire more knowledge of the area. 

If you’re not interested in physical clubs, no worries! 

There are some excellent metal-detecting forums as well in Texas. You can join them and engage with the audience to sharpen your treasure-hunting knowledge.

Having Right Equipment

Having the right equipment, as mentioned earlier, is one of the key things determining your success in the field. The best metal detector is the one that is familiar to you and which you know the ins and outs of the metal detector. 

If you don’t know how to handle a metal detector, you might feel foreign in the area that you are going to metal detect. So, make sure you know how to handle the metal detector. 

Permission 

When obtaining permission, be as polite as possible because you are the one who is going to benefit either way. 

Be as polite as possible when talking to the officials, homeowners, and guards in the public areas. Having a good relationship with these people means you can return to the same place once again if needed, and sometimes, these people will recommend you to others, too. 

Targeting High-Traffic Area

Texas is a quite large state. It is the second-largest state in the United States of America. 

Choosing a place to metal detect could be hard in this kind of state. So make sure you target the high-traffic areas. High-traffic areas are usually beaches, state parks, camping grounds, and city streets-like places. 

Ghost towns are also a good source as there are untouched areas in these towns that you can thoroughly metal detect. 

During my time in Texas, I focused a lot on the beaches, ghost towns and state parks. 

If you’re interested in treasure hunting in Texas ghost towns, check out the Best Ghost Towns in Texas To Metal Detect.

So, if you are going to metal detect for the first time in Texas, choose a place like this, research about these thoroughly, and initiate your metal detecting activities. 

Seasons And Weather 

As I stated earlier, Texas is a large state. And it is also a very dry state in terms of weather conditions. 

So, if you are someone from a cooler state or can’t withstand higher temperatures, ensure you have backups or necessary things ready for high-temperature situations. 

Or else you can choose a time or a season with lower temperatures and visit Texas to conduct your metal detecting operations. 

Other tips that I can suggest are to make sure that you avoid the historically and archeologically important areas, dig responsibly when digging and close any dug holes in the ground, take the necessary equipment for digging and excavating, always document your findings, think about your safety and safety of people surrounding you while metal detecting, and have a realistic approach to metal detecting. 

If you approach the area intending to take a lot of stuff home, you might need help finding something.

So, keep your expectations realistic and enjoy the metal-detecting session.

The largest treasures found in Texas include the famed San Saba treasure, believed to be located near today’s Menard, Texas.

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So, let’s answer some frequently asked questions.

FAQs

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

In this article, I’ve deeply discussed the best metal detecting finds in Texas in detail with the locations they can find based on their historical values.

The best metal detecting finds in Texas include Spanish Colonial Coins, Civil War relics, Native American artifacts, various jewelry, and camping items. These treasures can be found in locations like San Antonio, Galveston Island, and historical sites, reflecting Texas’s rich and diverse history.

Furthermore, I’ve answered some frequently asked questions.

I hope I covered everything you wanted about Texas’s best metal-detecting finds with experts’ tips.

Now it’s time for you to go treasure hunting in the areas mentioned above and find valuables. 

Don’t forget to leave feedback about the things you found! Have a nice time detecting in Texas!