SLIPPERY ROCK — On Saturday morning, May 30, Butler County Treasure Hunters gathered at Camp Bucoco to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary.

Starting at 9:30 a.m., 25 teams of two were paired together for five competitive hunts in flagged areas where targets — coins —were planted.

The event went on until around 3 p.m., and it included a potluck lunch.

In addition to Butler County Treasure Hunters, the 50 participants also came from two other clubs: Laurel Highlands Searchers, from Greensburg, Westmoreland County; and Beaver County Metal Detecting, Beaver County. Several entrants are members of multiple clubs.

As a hobby, metal detecting took off in the 1970s, and reached its peak a decade later in the 1980s, said Greg Miller, the club’s treasurer and former president.

When he started detecting, treasure magazines that covered the hobby were not uncommon.

Much has changed since.

For one, metal detecting equipment back then used to be basic.

“Now you have meters that tell you — most likely — what you find, whether it be a quarter or a dime or a nickel,” Miller said. “They are all digital now; they were analog back then.”

Back in the day, enthusiasts could only obtain equipment from dealers. Now, much of those purchases are easily available online, said Miller.

Tesoro and White's Electronics were the popular suppliers of the equipment. Now, Miller said the main American companies are First Texas and Garrett, which are both struggling to compete with the trend of foreign companies taking over the market.

One of the key changes have been the ‘treasures’ employed for hunts.

“Since the price of silver has gone through the roof over the years, we no longer put any valuables like silver coins in the ground,” said Miller. Instead, the club now uses plaque dollar coins with numbered tags. Each number matches up to a prize.

There is also some tension between archaeologists and hunters, according to Miller. Archaeologists believe detecting hurts the historical value of treasures. Miller said they consider detectors “grave robbers.”

But he disagreed. Miller said that items found by detectors is researched and properly displayed, while archaeological findings get boxed up and stored away in warehouses.

“Nobody ever sees it,” said Miller. “The public doesn’t benefit.”

Saturday’s competitive hunt stands out for the club in many ways. It was, for one, a ‘seeded’ hunt, in which targets are planted.

Usually, the club plans two hunts each year, one in spring and one in fall. Those hunts are planned differently.

Miller said the hunts take place at old areas like campgrounds, churches or picnic areas, or “anywhere people congregated and lost lots of jewelry, coins and things like that.”

“When you’re not competition hunting, you go slow [and] cover the ground methodically,” Miller added. Otherwise, detectors can miss coins.

Coins and jewelry are not the extent of the club’s interests; metal detecting may also involve hunting relics in old farmhouses or woods. Members have come across campaign pins from centuries ago, or even antique buttons. Or at Camp Bucoco, there have previously been Boy Scout items, like neckerchief slides, found.

Some even engage in three to four day hunts in the American south, hunting for Civil War relics. The cost of entry for that is $250, Miller said.

Competitive hunts, which was Saturday’s event, cover smaller areas. “You’re just trying to go as fast as you can,” said Miller.

The first round, which was a partner hunt, had a pair of members’ legs tied together, for a 20-minute long hunt. One of the participants uses detectors to draw signal. When there is a signal received, their partner uses a pinpointer — Miller called it a ‘Garrett carrot’ — to spot where exactly the small coin is, which is then pulled out with fingers.

Bigger hunts last as long as an hour, Miller said, though targets start to thin out by 15 to 20 minutes.

Prizes are given out based on most coins found by a team.

The club also adheres to a code of ethics established by the Federation of Metal Detecting and Archaeological Clubs which includes ensuring they have proper permission.

For public land, that is situational. In western Pennsylvania, Allegheny County requires written permissions, Westmoreland County only allows individuals and has a $50 fee and Butler County has no restrictions that Miller knows of.

The club also makes it a point to try not to dig. When someone has to dig, the rule is fill it back in, Miller said.

He said that many who are new to the hobby go solo and “run wild,” not cleaning up after themselves.

“They’re getting us all banned and kicked out of everywhere because of the bad behavior,” said Miller.

Butler County Treasure Hunters is one of the oldest metal detecting clubs in the U.S., according to Miller.

Miller became involved in detecting in 1976 at the age of nine, after getting introduced to the hobby from a neighbor who would walk around with his sons, and a detector.

Miller received an old school Jetco Mustang treasure finder as a Christmas gift and around 14 years later, became the 337th member of the Butler County Treasure Hunters.

Before Miller joined, there were points the club had more than 100 members at a time.

In 1990, the year Miller joined, he said there were disagreements between members that led to a split, and some members quit and joined another club in North Hills.

With the club depleted, members turned to Miller, who became the president at age 23 in his very first year.

“I kind of got a damaged club,” said Miller. Since then, the club has gone up to 70 members, and currently stands at around 50.

In 1990, all the hunts used to be at Camp Bucoco. From that time, the hunts have moved to a few locations, including public fields and many of the members’ houses.

The Butler County Treasure Hunters meet regularly at the Sons and Daughters of Italy location in Butler, the third Wednesday of every month.

All the money raised at club meetings and raffles goes back out to the field, said Miller.

“We put it all back out there for the members to find,” said Miller. “At the end of every year, we try to break even.”

Most members join from contacts or word of mouth, though the club does have a public Facebook account.

“There’s a lot of new people in the hobby, and we invite them to come to any meetings they want,” said Miller.

The club’s regular spring hunt is scheduled on June 20 in Emlenton.

Miller said that newcomers to the hobby often don’t understand how much work goes into metal detecting.

Sure, Miller has raised $1,300 worth of treasures, but it took the last 20 years to get there, he said.

“Everyone joins us thinking it’s a get rich quick thing,” said Miller. “It’s not.”