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How Many Silver Dimes In A Gold Nugget?


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What excites different detectorists is as varying as the targets that a detector can find.  Part of this is opportunity.  It's difficult to detect a saltwater beach if you live 1000 miles from the ocean.  Natural gold that's large enough to sound off on a detector?  Not much of the earth's surface has that.  Civil War battle field relic detecting?  Millenia old hammered coins?  The list is as varied as the imagination allows.

There is a common measure that doesn't account for the thrill/excitement component but still gives a rough comparison for some types of detecting -- bullion value.  (Aesthetic value and collectible value are other qualities but those are more complicated.  Gold fever?  Yeh, that, too.  😁)  Finding a silver dime is an example of something that gives me a good feeling.  (Excitement -- that comes rarely, when a find turns out to be a scarce date+mm or possibly a very old design.)  I wonder how my modest silver recovery compares to gold nugget finds.  As of this morning the gold/silver (price) ratio is 68.  That varies, of course, but this value appears to be about typical/average over the last 35 years.  (BTW, the record high occurred about a year ago, I think it topped at around 115.  I don't know the record low, but around 15, although maybe lower.  See this graph if interested.)

A 90% USA silver dime weighs 2.5 g and is 90% pure.  Gold nugget purity varies greatly.  I recall reading that during the California Gold Rush the gold purity varied between 80% and 90% in most cases.  But a lot of nuggets have been found which are outside both ends of that range.  Let's assume 90% purity to simplify the calculation.

Dividing 2.5 g by 68 gives ~37 mg (0.037 g) which is a bit over 1/2 grain.  That's pretty small, even for the 'dink' designation, but people here have reported finding smaller pieces than that.

Let's go the other direction.  1 ozt gold nugget is a pretty rare find and I suspect only a small fraction of people who have ever detected for natural gold have found one of this size or larger.  But many have.  How many silver dimes would it take to have the equivalent bullion value of a 1 ozt (90% pure) gold nugget?  Rounded to two significant figures, ~840 or $84 face value of 90% silver coins.

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It is a very interesting thread GBA, and as you said different to each detectorist.  I know some turf hunters are dedicated to the silver count - or relics.  Beach hunters tally in terms of "rings" and some by only "gold rings" as the silver ones are "bling" haha.  Value, as you mentioned, is another measure.  To each their own.   

The comparison between silver dimes and gold by weight definitely puts things into perspective.  I have some work to do before matching a gold ozt in silver coins.

 

 

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Interesting perspectives on gold/silver value ratios.  It was never about how much dollar value I could find while detecting....for me, it was truly about the challenge of finding older/deeper targets from previously heavily detected parks/beaches that no one else has been able to find (including the targets that have eluded me in previous hunts).  This goal (mission statement) drove me to finding over 6000 silver coins and over 30,000 wheat pennies since 2007 (beach/turf combined).  Most likely, this mission statement evolved because of my location to countless older, silver coin era sites, coupled with the fact that I always wanted to better/challenge  myself at whatever I thoroughly enjoyed doing!


My gold jewelry finds, for the most part, were all incidentals in the turf (at the beach I dig mostly smooth sounding targets), but my gold finds (a little over 1.5 lbs of mixed karat values) far surpassed the value of my silver finds (including my sterling jewelry finds).  I had more satisfaction, though, in finding the elusive silver coinage, but I’d also admit that all of my gold ring finds that I found in ultra deep wet/dry sand (at the fringe of detection with a PI machine) were just as satisfying (and more physically demanding).

It was always more priceless to me to meet up with my local hunt buddies (I enjoy solo hunting also) and share in the camaraderie of the day in search of those elusive, deep, partially masked old coins/artifacts from heavily hunted sites...however, I never turned down a shallow gift from the gophers 🤣.

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Quote........Historic ratios for comparison
The average gold/silver price ratio during the 20th century, however, was 47:1. Over the past 20 years, the ratio has averaged right around 60:1. Thus, the current ratio of 85 is very high historically and nearly 60% above the 20-year average.
10 Sept 2018

 

Quote........What will gold be worth in 2030?
In the next 10 years, the gold price is expected to decrease to $1,400/oz by 2030. In 2020, the high level of uncertainty observed in the global economy due to the outbreak of Coronavirus fueled demand for the yellow metal.
 
As you can see the ratio and the predictions vary a lot and can be way out.
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11 hours ago, geof_junk said:

As you can see the ratio and the predictions vary a lot and can be way out.

Geof, I'm curious as to the source of your two quotes.

Because USA gold price was locked until the early 1970's I think the ratio for the full 20th Century isn't particularly meaningful.  But tracking the ratio in other currencies (or indeces) might be meaningful before gold price was derugulated here.  I recall reading in a book about an investment strategy involving buying gold (and selling silver) when the ratio was low and doing the opposite when the ratio was high.  This particular kind of spread investing means once you made your initial investments you are leveraging that without needing to pump in more money.  (Of course you can put in more.)  One problem with that strategy is that either you're on the sidelines most of the time awaiting extreme values of the ratio or you need to try and figure out what the 'natural' or equilibrium value is to know when to make a trade.  The equilibrium value likely changes with time so you need to figure out that moving target.

As far as predicting gold prices even in the short term, let alone 10 years in the future??  Call me skeptical; it won't be the first time.  😁

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Excellent thread, GB. 🙂

As a noob I'm still in the romantic phase where finding anything is a pleasure. I wonder when it will end, or if it ever does. Haven't had a total "skunk" day yet, but I fear them in my future. I am hoping my research skills and ability to "read" a place sharpen in proportion to the lesser amount of finds.

Thus far I haven't found much silver, but it really makes my day when I do. A silver coin ended my last hunt.

I'm trying it all, farm, field, random, beach, and soon parks or county owned properties. Gold might be out of the question where I am other than coins, but I'm not expecting them. I'll be thrilled If I find one! Didn't expect to get a gold ring first time at the beach, but my wife loves it. I have no problem giving away my finds.

I'm glad people post thoughts on this site, it makes it unique among the choices.

 

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GB_Amateur can't name the source but it was major gold information site but could of been Australian dollars. USA gold price was locked until the early 1970's that is correct and after that silver followed gold up till the Hunt brothers

"Silver manipulation
In the last nine months of 1979, the brothers profited by an estimated US$2-4 billion in silver speculation, with estimated silver holdings of 100 million troy ounces (3,100 t). "

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GB-amateur , as the others have said:  Excellent post !

 

It is a common observation that gold-nugget hunting is more profitable.  From a daily "melt value" perspective (given a skilled hunter, in each venue, that knows what he's doing).  And let's be honest :  Even if you factor in key-date old coins, that the odds are:  It's rare that any old seated coin (even the key date S and CC mints !) will merit you $1k.    And a cool collectible buckle or button might net you $1k.  And so forth.

 

Contrast to the guys who have strictly drifted to gold nugget md'ing:  It can have much higher dollar values for their accumulative value.  Than ANY coin/relic guy could have had in the same period.  This is why many Sacramento area hunters, back when the nugget-specialty niche of the hobby first took off,  tended to "leave coins/relics behind", and focused STRICTLY on nuggets forever more thereafter.   It became an addiction unto itself. 

 

I know we can debate:  "What about the coins that were found, that were worth $10k ?"  Well , gee, so too :  "What about the nuggets that were found that were worth $10k ?"  But at the end of the day, we all can't deny that if money were the only driving factor, and skill-levels-were-accounted for, then:  Nuggets seem to be more profitable. 

 

HOWEVER, as Raphis-Dan and others point out, there is NO substitution for the thrill of the history (strategy, skill, story, etc...) that the old coin or relic presents.   A nugget is strictly a monetary object.  But a coin or relic holds a story.  Not sure if that's making any sense.

 

This is all-so-timely for me. Since:  My wife and I are looking at taking our central coast insane real estate market nest egg, (since I'm not on the ugly side of 60), and thinking of G.R. area real estate living.  And as such, I'm pondering learning the nugget hunting aspect/side of our  hobby.   Great post GB-amateur !

 

 

 

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Interesting read GB-A,

I'm one of the few who has many (thousands) of hours hunting both silver coins and gold nuggets.  My 1st 25 yrs was pretty much chasing silver coins and the last almost 25 chasing more gold nuggets.  I have to agree with Oneguy as my experiences have been the same and it's much easier to o the mind when hunting gold nuggets away from the everyday hustle and hassle of people.

As for excitement and what it takes...I'm quite easy to please as the task changes 2 weekends ago I was at a close RR to town RR site and towards the end of the day, I finally scored an IH cent and let out a nice whoop of joy.  This last weekend I was in NV trying my darnedest to find a nugget with the EQ-800 and the large 15" NOX coil.  After about 2 hrs, I hit a 4.2 gram speci and again let out the same "whoop" of joy, as I accomplished my goal that day.  As you know a few weeks back my goal was to show off the capabilities of the NOX 15" round coil and with proper detector knowledge, the right size/depth coil and knowing certain locations, I too accomplished the task with an 8 silver day, which I have not done in a few years.  Yes that day was a "whoop" but it took most of the day to get there.

It's never been a value thing to me either, as value comes in many ways to me.

Thanks for taking the time to give us some perspective.

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