What a great and thought provoking question
Firstly though I'll just say that it's great to see you and Ace back
I feel sure you'll get a few contradictory answers as all are going to be based on personal recollections which have a nasty habit of being seen either through rose tinted glasses or with a "Eee Bha Gum lad it were tough in my day" aspect to it
Would you say that it was better back then or has the advance in detectors made finding hammered easier?What advancements were these then...did I miss something?
Seriously though, yes there has been advancements in processors which has improved discrimination to a finer level as well as handling ground balancing far better, advancements in coil design has, in my view, been the biggest aid over the years rather than the machines themselves. Small, on-edge and on the limit of range ie dodgy signals have become slightly easier to discern but overall depth hasn't and can't be improved as we are still using the same circa 1974 system.
"Was it easier to get permission back then ?"I personally don't think there has been much change though the reasons for the objections may have changed ie.
"I'm not having one of you weirdos wandering about my land digging holes....now bugger off!"
Too
"I had one of you weirdos wandering about my land digging holes and they didn't fill um in....now bugger off!"
"Did you find more hammered coins then or is it the same now ?"That's a bit of a site specific question, yes there was far more chance of finding a virgin site which could turn out to be an eldorado on the hammy front but taking in to account the "advancements" mentioned above, on average, I think they balance out to about the same.
"Has the internet had any influence on the hobby in your opinion?"I think it's had a massive effect, even 15 years ago there wasn't the internet we have today and unless you belonged to a club then your only reference to the hobby came by way of the two (there were 3) magazines, this made the hobby even more transient than it is today. This has also made detecting seem more popular than it really is, back then you got contact by way of the magazines and your piers were in distant areas or so it seemed, now you just log on and voila! there they all are, the reality is that the peak in popularity came in the late 70's-early 80's.
Its improved the ability to research everything historic to an extent that I couldn't of even dreamt of 30 years ago, It has also affected the ethics of detecting, those that don't record or understand the arguments against detecting are frankly either thick or insulting my intelligence with their excuses.
It has opened up areas of finds and site research that wouldn't have been possible.
