South Carolina

Yes, on private land with the landowner’s written permission. That is the clearest legal route in South Carolina, and it is the only thing we do.

Federal land is closed. Access to state land is decided by South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism and the rules are not the same at every property. Private ground, with the owner’s written agreement, avoids all of it.

On federal land, the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 makes it an offence to disturb or remove archaeological resources over 100 years old without a permit. The National Park Service prohibits metal detecting outright in national parks.

The department sets the position for South Carolina state parks and it differs by property, with historic sites treated separately again. Confirm the specific park before travelling, because the answer at one is no guide at all to the answer at the next.

We do not publish a summary of individual park rules, because they change and they differ site by site. The authority above is the one that decides, and they will answer directly.

Public land is complicated. Private land with written permission is not.

Ask the landowner and get it in writing, or book ground where the permission already exists. Knowing where to look is only half of it. The right to be standing there is the half that decides whether the day is detecting or trespass.

1. Identify the ground. Old maps, cellar holes, vanished settlements and terrain will all point you at likely land in South Carolina. None of that grants access to it.
2. Find who owns it. County parcel records name the owner. Knocking on the door still works, and still fails most of the time.
3. Get the agreement in writing. Who may search, which fields, on what dates, what happens to anything found, and who carries the liability.
4. Or skip to the end. Every FieldFinders listing in South Carolina is land whose owner has already agreed, set their own rate, and approves each request by name. The written search agreement comes with the booking.

More Revolutionary War engagements were fought in South Carolina than in any other colony. After Charleston fell in 1780 the war became a long and bitter partisan campaign through the backcountry, with Cowpens and Kings Mountain among dozens of smaller actions that never got a monument. Before that the Lowcountry had grown enormously wealthy on rice and indigo, which built Charleston and left plantation ground along every tidal river. The next war then began at Charleston in 1861 and ended with Sherman crossing the state in 1865.

1. 1670Charles Town founded, and the Lowcountry rice economy begins
2. 1700sIndigo and plantations along the tidal rivers
3. 1780 to 1782Partisan war through the backcountry
4. 1861 to 1865Fort Sumter, the blockade, and Sherman’s march north

Lowcountry soil is sandy, quick to dig and generally kind to silver and gold, though salt near the tidal rivers is punishing on iron. The Piedmont carries the same red clay as North Carolina and asks the same patience. Old rice fields and plantation ground are frequently protected and need checking before anything else.

Colonial and Spanish silver, plantation era buttons, buckles and domestic brass through the Lowcountry, and Revolutionary and Civil War material across the backcountry and along the coast.