Blake Smith talks metal detecting around his hometown

Now 15 years old, Blake was just seven when his dad first introduced him to what they refer to as 'detecting' and he never looked back.

"Dad had the interest in it first and I thought I would get involved with it as well. I never thought I'd have too much interest in it, but ever since I started I think I've become more interested in it than dad," Blake said.

"When I first started, you don't really think you'll find too much. You ask anyone who has a little interest in it, if they go out and not find anything then they lose interest straight away.

"It's one of those things that you have to persist with. Finding all the old coins and history is what I like more about it."

IN OTHER NEWS:

The hobby has taken him all over the NSW Central West as well.

Within the region they've detected as far away as Lithgow, Blayney and Parkes, but added that beaches are always a good place to go.

"It also depends what you're out there looking for. I don't really do it to earn money. I'll go out there and look for old coins and that's just as fun as earning money," Blake said.

"If you're after gold coins then you try and go to sport ovals, but old coins, you can Google places that have a bit of history with it.

"The place that we go to, where we have detected for seven years, we still pull coins out of there. I think we pulled about five the last hunt, but we've probably easily pulled over 200 coins from this one park over the years."

Although Blake says he does it more for the history than any potential profit, that doesn't mean he won't benefit financially from time to time.

"The month of March, I only looked for one and two dollar coins and I ended up finding around $290," he said.

"I added all the hours and money and it worked out to be $21 an hour."

Although he chose to keep some of his best locations a secret, he encouraged anyone interested in trying out detecting to give it a go.

"I remember thinking me and my dad might not find anything during one day out, and then we ended up both pulling out about 25 old coins each," Blake said.

"I can detect all day, not find anything and still enjoy doing it. I just like being outside and enjoying the fresh air and if you get a few coins that's a bonus."