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I decided to give a go at nugget hunting with a detector here in Ireland. I equipped the TDI with a new 6" Miner John coil and off I went. Third signal in and up popped this nugget. Not a monster by other countries standards but here in Ireland it is a monster. I am still buzzing and cant actually believe I found a nugget with a detector, but one this size, well over the moon is an under statement.

Hey all, I have not had time to post for a long time so thought I would brag a bit about my GPZ finds. I have had the detector about a year now and these are my finds to date. I still run it flat out on Normal every chance I get and have been happy with it. I love this detector except for a while there I had tennis elbow from it. Had to start using the swing stick and that slowly got better and is now gone. I would like some opinions on what to do with the large one covered in what looks like ironstone. It is really solid right under the ironstone, not porous. I tried soaking it in CLR for a few days and toothbrushed it with absolutely no improvement. Should I leave it natural? Acid? other ideas? Thanks!

This is the best Chinese coin/charm?... I have ever found. I found it with the MGR in an old park near Redding on the trinity river. The obverse side is clear but the reverse is almost smooth. Any guesses, I looked online but couldn't find a coin that had all 4 markings on the same coin....maybe Wu-Shu dynasty...or a later copy? Help :-) Pictures are for Merton.....lol

Paul, I looked deeper and find it is Emperor Wen Hsuan. You can see a similar coin at Http://www.sportstune.com/chinese/coins You'll have to worm your way around that site to locate your coin, but it is there.

Paul, According to my book, the coin is from Emperor Ch'ang P'ing Wu Chu from the Northern Ch'i Dynasty (550-589 a. d.). The markings are very nearly identical to your coin. Gary

As much as I would like to see that it was defused and saved as the relic it was, it's very very dangerous to do even for the experts which are few and far between, modern Bomb Squads aren't up to the task, or I should say the risk involved in defusing them,that's why they explode these relics instead, IMHO 1000 old cannonballs aren't worth the life of even one person. The experts that know how to defused or risk defusing these relics aren't modern Bomb Squad personnel but are themselves historians and relic enthusiasts first and foremost, one such expert, Sam White was considered one of if not the best at defusing these old cannonballs, sadly he died in 2008 defusing a Civil War cannonball, this just goes to show how dangerous it is defusing one even for an expert. http://www.americandigger.com/SamWhiteAccident.htm http://www.foxnews.com/story/2008/05/02/virginia-man-killed-in-civil-war-cannonball-blast.html One other expert at defusing these cannonballs that Steve may very well know is Steve Phillips of Southern Skin Divers Supply in Alabama who has gone to Nome for many, many years to dredge for gold both in the ocean and inland, Steve has the best way IMHO to defuse these cannonballs without risking someone getting killed, the risk involved is when one is drilling a hole in the cannonball to remove the black powder, one little spark and BOOM , Steve has build a shed and rigged up a remote controlled drilling press to do the drilling while Steve is safely out of harms way, once the hole is drilled there's no more danger involved, one has to just empty the black powder from the cannonball. A link to Steve's website..(there's no mention of his cannonball defusing on the website, just diving, dredging, etc.) http://www.ssdsupply.com/

Either, Jackie Pan or Sluice Lee dropped it in a Kung Fu claim jumping death match.

Its a very unusual find,probably a 'Chinese' copy

Paul, when my wife gets home this afternoon I'll have her look, she can read it and will probably know...if not I'll send the pic to China and find out for sure.

didnt figure you would need one with your vast imagination....

Leave it natural. Nice gold. What settings are you using?

Indian head cent, highly corroded.

thats an indian head penny,good find

Nice haul! Leave it natural!!

Nice nuggets ,i vote leave it natural

I will bet they would be just the ticket for finding gold nuggets in Ireland!

Steve you have hit the nail on the head as the saying goes. You could count the anount of people that have done so on one hand. This nugget has to rate as one of my best finds ever. Its one to strike of my bucket list and better still it was done at home.

Wow, I think that is an extremely impressive find! People find gold all the time in some locations but the number of people finding a gold nugget in Ireland with a metal detector has got to be a very small and exclusive club. And some real size to it also - Congratulations!!!

All I know I'll have the 5.5 X 9 as soon as I can get my hands on one for my XP Deus. Just like I'll have the 6 inch concentric coil for my MX Sport when they make it. I can download the V. 4 if or when it too comes out. Chuck