Whether a gold detector is legal in the USA will actually depend on the state that you are in and the specific area that you are in. Overall, the USA doesn’t have a yes or no answer to whether a gold detector is legal because in some parts it may be legal and other parts illegal. This is why it is important to check the area that you are in and what laws are tied to any metal or gold detectors.
If you are in a specific state, you may want to do a quick search about whether gold detectors are legal in the state. Usually, if they are legal in a state, there are a few areas where it is safe to try your luck. Parks and beaches can be great places to try using your detector. If you have private property, you can always try finding anything buried there, but be very careful of not crossing over into private property that isn’t yours.
You should also be wary of government owned properly like state parks because gold detecting may not be legal. In some state parks it is legal, but you are not allowed to disturb any geological, archeological, plants, or animal remains to get the treasure underneath. Other laws may state that you are allowed to use a metal detector for gold and silver, but any holes that you create must be refilled. One area that is forbidden to search across all of the USA is National Parks. In our National Parks it is illegal to use any type of gold, metal, or deep searching detectors.