Daniel Cutino rides a wave of social media success posting metal detecting videos.

In a social media world where content creators can earn money focused on unlikely fan favorites such as lawn care, rug cleaning and the unboxing of everyday objects, Daniel Cutino has carved out a successful niche online as “Monterey Magnet Man,” exploring beaches up and down the coast with a metal detector and posting his finds on YouTube and other platforms.

A YouTube short posted in January, in which Cutino finds his oldest object, an 1897 Queen Victoria 1-cent coin uncovered in Santa Cruz, has attracted over 90,000 views. “Someone let me know. Am I rich?” he asks viewers. At the end of the video he reveals the coin is valued at 1 cent, adding, “Nope, I’m not rich!”

He may not be getting rich, but after about three years of posting the videos, Cutino was able to quit his job at Costco last year to work full time as a content creator.

Born and raised in Monterey, he left after high school for San Francisco City College to study film and other subjects and stayed for 12 years. He returned to Monterey in 2020 during the pandemic, wondering what he would do next.

That’s when he discovered magnet fishing on YouTube, featuring people “fishing” for metal objects in canals and other bodies of water, using a strong, circular magnet on a rope. Cutino gave it a try, starting in El Estero Lake in Monterey, pulling out skateboards, bikes and scooters, even cash registers, eventually cleaning it out. At the urging of a friend he switched to metal detecting, which operates using an electromagnetic field to detect metal objects buried in the earth. His first foray into metal detecting was at Lovers Point.

“I found a bunch of coins. It planted a seed,” Cutino says.

Weekly: What’s the craziest thing you found magnet fishing?

Cutino: A 22 bolt-action long rifle from Roberts Lake. Then I did it in Oakland too and I got part of an AR-15.

Do you turn guns over to the police?

Yeah, I don’t want to hang on to those. They’re pretty far gone at the point you take them out of the lakes. But even at that point, if it’s any use to them in an investigation I’d want to get it to them.

What’s the craziest thing you found metal detecting?

The craziest thing I have found in terms of value, probably a huge gold chain down at Laguna Beach, and a big old Cuban link chain with a big old crucifix pendant, relatively heavy, a 14-karat gold chain. And then I found some very big diamond rings, with 3-carat stones.

What do you do with the jewelry?

It’s hard to get stuff back to people unless it has an engraved name or some kind of identifiable thing on it. And you get a lot of scammer people who are like, “That’s my ring,” and they send you an AI photo of it on their hand. I like to do recoveries. I actually like returning items to people better than keeping them, because I don’t sell anything.

That surprises me you wouldn’t sell the gold you can’t return to owners. You could probably get a pretty penny.

Maybe someday, like when I’m older and I want to buy a sportscar or something.

I notice watching your videos that you’re calling out numbers as you’re using the metal detector. What are you doing?

It’s a scale of conductivity. Lower numbers are a lower conductive metal, like stainless steel or aluminum foil. Gold will all be low. High conductive stuff is silver or copper. It gives you an idea of what’s under the soil or sand before you dig. I like to dig everything just in case, because some of my best stuff that I found sounded horrible. Like gold chains, they just sound like a pile of tin foil.

I know things started slowly on YouTube before it took off.

It’s definitely a grind. It’s not a get-rich-quick kind of thing. It took about two years to see meaningful revenue.

You find your audience and optimize for that – my audience is 55 and up – so you’ve got to find your niche and just stick with it and stay consistent.

That’s so interesting to me that your audience is 55 and up, because how old are you?

I’m 36. I think I might be the youngest metal detector on YouTube, or at least when I started. Most of the other guys are in their 50s.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Always fill in your holes when digging on the beach. Never leave a trace. Leave the place better than how you found it.