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What's The Largest Item You Have Dug????


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Ā  Ā  I have no proof of my "find", but i think i found the location of a "known" (wasn't known to me, till later) cannon under a few feet of beach sand, close to the water! Never could see it due to the wet quicksand effect, but i had a hand on it;Ā and it felt rounded, and about ten feet long!

Ā  Or it's a large piece of cast iron pipe, and I'm not ashamed to speculate!šŸ¤£šŸ‘šŸ‘

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Hi dogodogā€¦ an interestingĀ topic, with some unusual recoveries described below. For several decades now, our autumns have been occupied with prospecting for native silver and other commonplace minerals throughout northeastern Ontario. A few years ago, I found a specimen grade 101-lb native silver-calcite ore while metal detecting with a Fisher F75 metal detector equipped with a standard 11-inch DD coil.

I almost ignored the shallow, blaring signal, initially thinking it would probably be shallow rusted ferrous sheeting or a very large pipe or implement. Ā However the target ID and fastgrab readouts did not indicate ferrous material, so the signal was dug. The result provided me a few exciting moments as can be imagined. I was never so pleased when finally I got it out of the bush and into my truck.Ā 

I donā€™t have a decent photo of it, mainly because it is about two feet in length, and nearly impossible to get close enough to properly identify what is silver and what is calcite. But Iā€™ll post what I have, and include a ā€œgroupā€ photo that includes a few other larger finds, plus a close-up shot depicted further below that allows the reader to see the silver in good detail.

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The ā€˜close-upā€™ photo below provides a better look at the silver by using my older cameraā€™s optical zoom feature. The rock is inundated with thick coarse silver that protrudes from about an inch on down to the tiniest veinlets and horns. The vein material travels completely through and around the rock. Other than one narrow section on the reverse side, there is nowhere to place your finger without it resting on silver. Checking it with a multimeter, there are no pair of silver contacts on this rock that are not electrically connected. Thanks again for an interesting topicā€¦. Jim.

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WowšŸ˜³šŸ˜³

Ā  That is a "lifetime" find Jim!! Nice that it had friends!! Thanks for sharing it!šŸ‘šŸ‘

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1 hour ago, Joe D. said:

I have no proof of my "find", but i think i found the location of a "known" cannon under a few feet of beach sand, close to the water! Never could see it due to the wet quicksand effect, but i had a hand on it;Ā and it felt rounded, and about ten feet long!

Was it iron or bronze? Guy was telling me he and his dad found a ship signal cannon diving off the shore where I was detecting. Not very big but was bronze and weight over 200 lbs. They had a hell of a time bringing it back. Think it sits in a museum now.

Came across some sea cables last time water hunting in the river. Wondered if I hit it with my scoop if the lights would go out on the other side of town šŸ™‚

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As i recall; big iron signal! Near other past fleet finds of salvagers! Bronze would be way cooler!! But i imagine that they would have taken that one!!

Happy that you didn't fry yourself! BIG voltage=very bad day!!āš”āš”

šŸ‘šŸ‘

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Jim,

I'm going with you as the best large target dug, unless someone comes up with a huge gold nugget. Thanks for showing that tremendous find. Glad you joined in on this post!!! I find it fun to look at the big stuff we dig that end up to be crap. Your's had a better result.Ā 

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On 8/22/2020 at 7:28 AM, dogodog said:

Jim,

I'm going with you as the best large target dug, unless someone comes up with a huge gold nugget. Thanks for showing that tremendous find. Glad you joined in on this post!!! I find it fun to look at the big stuff we dig that end up to be crap. Your's had a better result.Ā 

I don't contest Jim find he "WINS". Since you mention huge nugget, the large specimen in the photo I had to get the Bathroom scales to weight it. The weight was 3.2+ kilo over 7 lb. I smash it and put in the dolly pot and got 16 plus ounces from it alone.

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Standing at 38 1/4ā€ and weighing in at 95.6 pounds, Iā€™d have to say this Simplex Pole isĀ the heaviest artifact Iā€™ve brought home.

Ā 

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The "origional" Simplex?? They must have had a hell of an arm to swing that thing!!šŸ¤£šŸ˜‚

šŸ‘šŸ‘

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18 minutes ago, Arctic Digger Daniel said:

Standing at 38 1/4ā€ and weighing in at 95.6 pounds, Iā€™d have to say this Simplex Pole isĀ the heaviest artifact Iā€™ve brought home.

What a great (or should I say LARGE) find.

A .....LINK.....to its history.

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