detectorist

plural detectorists

1. A person whose hobby is the use of a metal detector to search for buried coins, etc.

   Detectorists may also carry headphones, a metal detecting shovel, hand tools such as a hori-hori (a serrated, steel hand shovel), a “finds pouch,” and a hand-held precision detector called a pinpointer.

   2021 May 31, Alexandra Marvar, “The New Detectorists”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   1 more example

   When Kevin Minto, a lorry driver, former soldier and keen metal detectorist, came upon something glinting in a Somerset field, he thought at first it was a coin – potentially quite interesting, probably not amazing.

   2026 June 2, Steven Morris, “Somerset detectorist strikes gold with ‘spectacular’ Roman ring find”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: metal detectorist