In a compact, highly precise position detecting apparatus which can perform automatic detection of a hand position, which is required to add a function such as automatic time correction to a time-measuring apparatus, an identification pattern (20) in which identification marks are discretely disposed on a surface of a center wheel (17) moving together with a minute hand (12), which serves as an encoder surface, is formed by hard-magnetic thin film, and sampling is performed by a magnetic sensor (21b) at a plurality of sampling points to determine whether identification marks are provided. The detection signal of the magnetic sensor at each sampling point is classified into three data, "1" and "0" indicating whether identification marks are provided or not, and "*" indicating that identification marks are indefinite. A sampling code obtained by data sampled at the plurality of sampling points is compared with reference identification codes to determine the position. The identification pattern is disposed under a rule concerning sampling points to allow indefinite data to be error-corrected.