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I went to the park today with the intent to dig pull tabs in hopes of finding some gold jewelry. I’ve found a gold ring at this park before and felt I have already gridded this area pretty well for coin targets. So pull tabs and aluminum range it was. I chose to use Park 2 this time but I have all the settings setup exactly the same as Park 1. So I dug all the consistent signals above 6ish. Found a few nickels, a couple deep wheats that I think were on their side and deep, but I felt reassured I had been pretty thorough gridding off this area for other coins. No other pennies, dimes, or quarters. So I get a 19-21 hit. I’m thinking, probably a zinc penny, maybe a bottle cap. I dig my hole, see something shinny, thinking it is some large round piece of aluminum out comes this silver quarter! My first silver quarter! I’ve found no other silver at this park. It is borderline time period where we transitioned out of silver coins. I stuff the pinpointer in the hole again and an inch or two deeper I found the rusty nail. I think this is what made what should have been a 29-31 or so vdi come in at that 19-21. Anyway, I found no gold, dug tons of pull tabs, but did find this nice silver quarter.

Several of us on this forum are former Marines or Marine "brats." Today marks the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the 17 day Battle of Chosin Reservoir. My dad, a sergeant in the First Marine Division at Chosin, later co-founded the Sea Angels scuba diving club with Mel Fisher. Their treasure hunting experience, along with that of the Depression Era "survival" gold prospecting experiences of my grandfather and great grandfather, influenced me greatly. Off topic, and reminiscing.

I had about an hour before we were going fishing for fish this morning, so what better to do than to dirt fish? I was trying out a new set of aptX LL BT earbuds that were ordered for when the other ones start to fail. They paired fine, but they certainly were not fast. If I'm running 7 recovery, I don't want them to sound like a 3 recovery. I disconnected them and continued to hunt. About 5 minutes into no earbuds, I got a strong 11 ID. Not knowing what it really sounds like, having taken the earbuds out, I decided to dig as it seemed like a robust signal. The Carrot was able to hit the object from the surface, so it wasn't too far down. There are no markings, but from the looks of it, it appears to be about 18K based on my wedding band at 14K. I believe this makes 10 gold rings/necklaces for the year. To my recollection, all found with the 15" coil with 7 recovery. I remember the first few years of detecting when I found no gold. I really appreciate this machine! Florida weather doesn't hurt either, as it is far easier digging in non-frozen soil year-round! Almost forgot...fished for fish for 4 hours and didn't catch a thing. 🤪

Our ground requires Difficult 99% of the time. In Normal things are a bit different signal wise over Difficult, so HY will give more ground signal and more conductive signal but the difference on big gold deep is less profound, whereas in Difficult there is a distinct difference between the two with the cross over being around the 9 to 20 gram range if the nugget is solid and deep, this is most obvious when the depth gets past 14+ inches. As an example I always detect in HY Difficult and get the bulk of the gold in that mode, if the size is up there and there is depth I’ll go over the same ground again in General in the hopes of a chunk. Nuggets found first pass in HY Difficult on a Virgin patch this year Pieces picked up at depth on 2nd pass using General Difficult (note some are small, this is because General runs at the same delay as HY so still has good sensitivity)

Got a desert trip planned in a couple of weeks and was wondering if anyone (Steve especially) has had a chance to test out the AQ for nuggets? I got mine at the end of September and it has already paid for itself in beach finds, including my first platinum ring ever, a 25.2 gram monster. I know it's not designed for prospecting, but was thinking about taking along it to play around. I did air test a 2.0 gram gold/quartz nugget with Pulse Delay of 7, max sensitivity and minimum ATS and it was a solid hit at 5" and broke the threshold at 7". For each 1/2 increase of Pulse Delay, I lost about an inch or so. If anyone has field experience, I would like to know your results. I will relay actual findings (if any) after I get back. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! John

This just shows all the Detectors’s that has been over the years.

Hitting the area that has been picked through by just about everyone with a detector and managed to find a v-nickel nicely hidden with a chunk of iron bar about 7" down. Got a fairly short signal in one direction and long iron signal in another, the short had a spot on nickel ID but thought it might have been a piece of aluminum. As you notice in my mix of trash there is a bunch of small aluminum. You can blame Chase for that as it forces me to look for gold $1 coins in the area :( Bunch of memorial nickels were in one hole with a penny about 4" away from a can on the surface. The brass bits look like its from a hurricane lamp? Found a few of those in the area. Anyways the Gold Racer does really well in trashy areas and surprisingly has descent depth for such a small coil. Finding that I needed to drop the iSat down to 3 from default 6 as the ground didn't vary too much and the gb would drift too much. Ground averaged 40's-mid 60's which is mild for most the area.

Just got back from a 45 minute deposit tonight. Two peanut containers down, two to go! The manager had to come and open the machine a couple times to clear crusty pennies and bent coins. The two times she did that, it printed out receipts for cash with the fee deducted. At the end, she credited back the $24.68 in fees. So, I got $115 in Amazon and the rest in cash! Total was $322.53. It was a fun time with my son who has had the experience before.😀 The last two pics show the rejected pile, likely about $4 in pennies and other mutilated coins.

I had to add some jokes that was in the magazine.

We all have different styles of gold nugget shooting and across this globe are so many varying terrains to chase nuggets. Our skills and years at it vary and on this fine forum, it could just as easily be the eager beaver newer member who's grateful for their 1 and only nugget, as it could be a salty savvy veteran with a lifetime of Thankful gold finds. And yet many of us have a certain detector that meant so much to our pursuit of heavy metal. What model of gold detector are you most thankful for and why? For me, it's the Fisher Gold Bug-2 as it was the 1st gold detector we (detector & I) became 1. It was the machine that kept gold coming in and eventually lead me to the Pulse Induction powers/depths beyond. It's not my favorite to swing today (not even top 3), but I have to give credit when due and the GB-2 is the gold detector I am most thankful for. I look forward to hearing your Thankful gold detector comments.

Simon: the glory days are only ever as far away as the next patch of new ground. You make your own glory days. The important thing is to keep looking for new ground. The safe old familiar flogged areas are, sadly, never going to be the stuff that dreams are made of. 😞

A 1985 Gem and Treasure Hunter (later Gold Gem and Treasure) from Australia. The magazine had just been purchased by a new Australian detector company called Minelab Electronic industries. The Goldseeker 15000 was being tested at the time by a young bearded bloke called Reg Wilson, yet not a single Minelab product appears anywhere. There is an advertorial for the new Whites GM6100D and others for Bounty Hunter, Tesoro and the Garrett A2B Groundhog. These were also the days when your first colour could well be too heavy to comfortably carry around 🙂

I think you may have sent me a few of those older magazines at one time Chuck. Just think how many boxes of magazines you have stashed away, as I seen your name on the shipping label going all the way back to 1971/2, so I suspect you have 40+ yrs, maybe 45 of being a dedicated TH'er and magazine reader. Heck, I imagine these are more rare than the Playboy of the time. Great post and pics.

I also started a magnificent quest for a different kind of gold in Dayton NV at age 18...... namely the Kit Kat ranch, Starlight & Moonlight Ranch....lol😇

Yes this happened to me a few times in the early 70's. Mama found my porn stash under the bed and it was what set up my career. After all, I tell many I'm in the Adult Entertainment business selling high end toys. These early magazines had me squeamish in bed a many sleepless nights. A boy my age was quite naive, so seeing such raw and natural images sent my brain into overload. I had no clue what the future would hold, but I feel it came out quite right. View these 2 early magazines and you'll notice some of the articles and headlines. 1st is GOLD by True West, 1969 Vol. 1, #1 and looking at the inside page of the articles are authors mostly long gone. But I give credit to them for allowing me to dream. If anyone knows of these names, it would be neat to get updates. 2nd magazine porn I used to drool over, Old West 1971 and just as incredible is an article about "Elk City Idaho" and just below that....perfect timing. "One Thanksgiving Day". Folks, I can't make this up any better. I go to my old stash and grab a couple and these are absolute on. The inside cover (I forgot to check the centerfold) is a full page ad from Jetco and their top detectors 50 yrs ago. The models of the detectors are catchy like many muscle cars of the day, GTO, Mustang, GTX, Treasure Hawk...didn't Minelab have a Treasure Hawk? So I ask you folks, show the rest of us your Treasure Porn that kept you dreamin, drooling and -master swinging.

Who do you know that has ever considered mining in Korea or a 'Korean Gold Rush' of a sort? The thought had never occurred to me until I read this brief article and then did a bit of research to find more links. I doubt there are any articles on nugget shooting in Korea. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2020/11/721_300053.html https://nanopdf.com/download/a-glimpse-of-life-at-the-gold-mines-royal-asiatic-society_pdf https://steemit.com/korea1960/@coped/gold-mining-in-south-korea-koryo-mines-part-1

The Impulse AQ has the sensitivity to hit fairly small gold nuggets. Unfortunately the lack of ground balance controls means you are at the mercy of the ground and hot rocks. I found I could get the AQ to run in most any mode if I slowed to a crawl, as any coil speed at all introduced too many false signals. The only mode I could cover ground in effectively was volcanic mode. If the AQ was the only detector I had I would not discourage anyone from giving it a go gold prospecting, but I would not recommend anyone buy one thinking that will be a viable use of the machine. It really is highly optimized as a beach detector, and when looking at other possible uses of the machine like coin or relic hunting, I would put gold prospecting dead last on the list of things the AQ is very good at. Put another way, I was halfway determined to find a gold nugget with the AQ, but gave it up very soon as just not worth the effort.

Yeah, that makes sense about the larger silver coins. I just always wonder if more experience detectorists or those that hunt by sound can really tell. Or certain detectors separate the two by VDI or tone better than others.... But I really do think I am finding the tough ones that were on side or signal was blended to a lower VDI by another nearby item. Lots of patience, lots of trash digging, but rewarding. I’m starting to find that a good strategy for working sites that I have repeat access to is to work them in buckets. 1. Cherry pick the obvious coins and higher tones in Park 1. 2.Then work those high single digits and teens as another layer in Park 2. 3. Maybe then go back in Field modes with lower iron bias, maybe the 6” and try to wiggle out some more goodies.

I use 8" Reebok Rapid Response boots, 100% no metal, got mine with composite toe. The side zipper model, which I own, has a metal zipper tab, which I remove. The boots last on average 2-3 years, but are used a lot. They are light weight, and in summer when its 115 degrees they do pretty good keeping feet cool... If you hunt in desert environment, waterproof, or snake proof boots I would not recommend, at least for me, as my feet would not breathe in them, sweat big time, get athletes feet, ect. I also put an impenetrable insert in them, as the cactus still come through bottoms sometimes on any boot, especially the chollo. Make sure to get non metallic, a lot out there with metal in them, such as https://www.lacrossefootwear.com/flex-shield-insole.html https://www.amazon.com/Non-Metallic-SoleGUARDZ-Puncture-Resistant-Flexible/dp/B089J59XDT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=steel+flex+nonmetallic+puncture+resistant&qid=1606576738&sr=8-1

I and my wife started out with White's Goldmaster II and we've had every version ending with the GMT. For the area we hunt for gold specimens these detectors have worked really well. Unfortunately a PI detector will not detect some of the gold specimens. Here are the gold specimens we found first year detecting with the Goldmaster II:

Thanks, JP! Amazing gold and amazing operator! Every GPZ owner on this forum should be greatful for your detailed explanations and advice!

GB2. Reasons: My 1st nugget, most nuggets, analog tuning, few false signals and light weight. Still a viable afternoon machine on shallow ground when I am tired from swinging my GPZ and great for searching under bushes.

Good looking finds, and great looking quarter! I think there are few qualifying parks, if any, that haven't been cherry picked for their silver! But no matter how hard hit, there will always be those that were missed, or out of range to detect! That makes you appreciate the one's you do find, that much more! Keep at it!👍👍

One of the worst weather Wars of the time with 17,000+ American casualties. Just think what it would be like trying to fight outdoors with 1950 clothing in -35 degree weather. It is said that more casualties were from weather (non battle) than actual deaths fighting. From one Marine to the next...Semper Fidelis = Always Faithful.

So I went ahead to try the Coinstar for the first time in my life and also to see how the crusty pennies would fare... Some things I learned: 1. Walmart Machine had a very limited selection on gift card choices and no Amazon! Kroger (grocery store in midwest) machine however had a much better selection including Amazon, Lowes and Home Depot. 2. I decided to load the pennies first, in case the machine jammed up and wait on the other denominations. It did jam up... with the nickels. But it stopped short of $5, the minimum for the gift cards. So the lady came, printed out a receipt for 4.33, minus 59 cents fee! Oh well. I cashed in my 4.33 and got the rest on another ticket with a code to use at Amazon. Lesson learned, load in the Quarters, dimes, and nickels first! Then the zinc pennies! It rejected so many zinc pennies😆 Although, I’m pretty sure it was a bent nickel that jammed it... I think it did a good job at rejecting the bad pennies. No dimes rejected. The one bent nickel and a few others had nicks from shovel probably, one of the quarters. Some no damage, not sure why rejected. It was on the low end of what I guessed but that is okay. I made a lot of other cool finds this year, had a lot of fun, and learning. I kept my coppers and wheats for now. Probably eventually toss the crusty zincs, make a cache of some kind.

Always detect back to your vehicle or start point, I am often amazed by the amount of good nuggets I find within 50 feet of where I park my 4x4. This 26 gram chunk was a good solid broad hit in HY Difficult yet when I checked it in General the signal was more subdued suggesting it was going to be less than 1/2 ounce, got the shock of my life when I threw it on the scales. I’d say the rough exterior made it more of a Fast Time constant target than the weight implied. So a 14 gram morning bonus’d out on a lucky find because I kept the motor running after a long hot session. 😎 Always a nice feeling when they won’t fit in your container. A 40 gram session is always greatly appreciated by the bookkeeper

If you want the best that fit your hearing needs you have to make them yourself. These are wired, waterproof headphones for the Minelab Excalibur. Everyone knows how bad the ML waterproof headphones are....So after several years of experimenting and testing I was able to find a combo that allowed me to hear deep targets no one else could. I ended up using Unlimited audio 50mm piezo's that gave me the higher pitch, 2400HZ that fit my hearing then add a unique horn design to amplify the audio for all metal hunting only. Being they work great for me on the excalibur I tried them on the Fisher "AQ" Limited and no doubt they are pushing the limits of unheard deep targets of the "AQ". I did test several speakers / earphone elements and these were the more popular used in Aftermarket metal detecting Head phones. Audiosears higher tone..used in several of the bigger name HP's..Sunrays Pro, Black Widows, then a few of the GG models and if I remember correct there is one set that is made in the UK that uses them also. Then the bass sound of the old Rat Phones...using Kobitones...Many swore by the Rat Phones years ago but now no longer available. I was able to make all of the speakers I tested water proof using a proven method. .

I started with the A2B back in '83. That first chunk of auriferous quartz from an ore dump in Dayton NV began my own Magnificent Quest.

Alexander Enterprise was the guy I got my White’s 66 TR before I came a dealer myself. Has name was Jim Alexander . Later Jim moved out to Az. having something to do with mining and that’s the last I know. This all took place around 72 and it’s been a lot of water has run under the bridge. Chuck

For me, it used to be the X-terra 705. That detector continually impresses me. And at times it has frustrated me. But now it is the Gpx5000.It offers me so many settings and ways to mix and match how I want to set it up to hunt a particular area that it easily wins. My Gpx4000 was quiet but never quite like the Gpx5000. A detector that continually amazes me is a detector that I seek to unlock all it's capabilities. For me the 5000 paired with the Evo coils, covers most all of me needs. Versatility is what I need in Montana. The 5000 provides it.

You're really showing your age, Paul. My wife and I got lectured by our niece maybe 10 years ago using that old lingo, and that was after she put her eyes back in the socket. Those are 'flips' among younger generations. I'll let you Google Image 'thong' if you're not up on 21st Century terminology (and all the more reason to if you are 😏). OTOH, having read many of your posts, maybe this was part of your typical subtle, clever methods.... You've spent too much time hanging around with those feisty Meganesians.

Ditto for me, Gerry!

Garret A2B without a doubt for me. Mainly small gold sub grammers in my backyard, Bounty Hunter RB7, Whites 6000D, Garret Deepseekers were OK but the Groundhog/A2B with its high frequency 15Khz (for that time). It was the " prelude" for the Fisher Gold Bug 1 & 2 and the Whites GM 1 & 2.

I finished my 2020 Field Training of customers a couple weeks ago at Rye Patch and was able to run the 7000 without interruption for 6 days. My best day was 12 nuggets but I also have to admit that on 2 days, I was skunked (the 2 days I was swinging new ground looking for a patch. ). Almost all the gold were whisper signals most folks are not good at and in a particular wash near the burn barrel, I pulled 7 in a day. I even called over some customers who were hanging around to let them listen, watch and learn. It just amazes me this detector can pick up nuggets at 14 to 18" deep and they are less than 2 grams. Now I would never expect these kind of results in the Spring though so make sure you know your ground and timings. I was able to also watch Lunk dig his 1 ouncer and it blew me silly how it had been missed by the older machines. Anyway, we had a great trip, fabulous customers/camaraderie, some delicious meals (Thanks Chef Rusty) and good gold. I'm starting to see a pattern when training though. The lady customers seem to pay more attention and their proper coil control gets them more gold.

Anyone who spends much time comparing targets with a Equinox and a Vanquish knows that a Vanquish will hit most targets an Equinox will hit. The performance is closer than people may want to imagine for most normal metal detecting, making Vanquish a genuine value. Vanquish came out with a different set of coils than the Equinox, to the chagrin of many Equinox owners, since they are not compatible. What is interesting is that the Vanquish coils are quite a bit less expensive, even in cases where they are physically larger than the Equinox coils. Part of this may be the windings and tolerances possibly being different. Vanquish coils seem thinner and lighter, and being able to keep the price down on them is critical to keeping the price of the detector down also. However, it is a mistake to think retail price has anything more than a loose connection to manufacturing cost. The rule is charge what the market will bear. And true story for anyone that wants to bother with the research - accessory items for expensive detectors often cost a lot more than the same accessories for lower price detectors. This is because most people who spend a lot on a detector are willing to spend more on accessories. Just ask any car dealer who sells both inexpensive and expensive cars. So while I do not know the exact details, the fact is Vanquish coils sell for les because they have to. Nobody is going to buy an accessory coil if it sells for as much as the detector itself. This adds to the value proposition however. Not only does a Vanquish get very close to Equinox performance for a lot lower price, but the accessory coils can be had for quite a bit less. I kind of get now why Minelab did not make a set of these coils for Equinox. Would Equinox owners be willing to pay about $100 more for the same coils across the board (even though they would be different coils)? People will say, no, just sell me the coils for the Equinox at the same price. But Minelab can't do that - it undermines the Equinox detector and accessory price structure. If that seems unfair, let me remind people the 11" round coil for the CTX 3030 sells for $349, a good $120 more than the 11" coil for Equinox! Minelab may have decided to simply avoid that can of worms by keeping the lines completely separate and distinct as far as the coils go.

Taskmaster has blown up the thread with the date format.... I can see him laughing now with tears rolling out his eyes!!!

Gerry When I bought my first White’s I seen the ad in a Treasure Magazine and had a local dealer. I’ve given away so many and a guy at church unloaded Lots on me . I did have some I think went back to 66 and one of the last is 68. You the nugget hunter and I was always the coin hunter for years. Chuck

Nice finds even though you had to dig a lot of trash to get them. Remember that in the past the detectors did not go as deep as the Nox on coins. I am learning this in a park that has been gone over by a lot of people. I have even had the parks ground keeper tell me that there is nothing old left, and that is when I show him a dime I found. They just look at the detector and shake their head on what they missed. Good luck on your next hunt!

Well if you wear those with an SD, GP, GPX or GPZ, I don't think you'll find much, as there is enough metal in those boots... But at least they'll last for years as they are quality built.

I'm soooo happy to see this post! I can show my wife... that I'm not the only one who has old gold/treasure magazines/articles saved from decades ago!

Here’s some more.

Here’s two of the later ones. Chuck

Not that I have a chance to nugget hunt here in New England, but the GPX 5000 has been my favorite for many years now, because it seems timeless to me. I'm sure there are better machines out there (and in the future for sure) but it will always remain in my lineup, even if it takes second place sometimes.

I personally had no luck with the Bates. Poor quality and cracked after 2 months. Perhaps it was a lemon. But it really all depends what you do with them. On flat terrain they are a acceptable, but when you hike into steep rocky canyons you need something more solid

Agreed. Mike does a great job running the Meadview park, I wouldn't hesitate to stay there. The Sheriff also patrols in Meadview. Just to give a bit of an orientation - most of what is happening is going on on the other side of the Lost Basin range and beyond towards White Hills/Dolan. The sheriff refuses to patrol down here. The criminal element aren't the sort that generally want their names and phones #'s on an RV park registry book. I'm told that at least one of the two arrested for this murder had been camping over the last year or so at the GSSN club claim area. While not prospectors or in the common detecting area, there was a double murder in Chloride a few months ago too, one of the victims was the local Deputy's grandmother and frankly the news story is too horrific for me to link here. And then another one in Dolan Springs shortly before or after that one. The per capita crime in the area is off the charts since there is only maybe 3000 people in the whole area. I have a commercial gold exploration project there which is part of my income and my future, and I have my savings invested in land there, so I can't walk away. But for recreational detecting, I'll be starting fresh somewhere else next time I head down to AZ. Be safe and alert out there.

If all they were doing was joking then I'm fine with it. But often a joke or 'kid' has some truth to or intent to it. A friend of mine thought she was doing me a favor by tossing pennies in the park where I detect. Honest mistake by someone who doesn't understand where the fun (for me) comes from. I let her know..., in a nice way, of course. Someone here told about a person who didn't like people metal detecting an historic (but public) site so that person strewed nails everwhere. Real nice...

I've found the Fisher AQ weak on silver so I'm not sure how the Terra version would do on land on silver. I have spots (in the water) there are some old coins...... it seems every time I take the AQ I may get a piece of silver, but does good on the Nickels..Then I go thru with the excalibur and it cleans up on all silver (several pieces) and nickels....same spot. The bad about the AQ not hitting hard on the coins ..old deep coins are a sure sign there is deeper gold near. So I need to find the correct area first with the excalibur then come back with the "AQ"..

I suspect I`ll join you Trent and get a 6000 too, I`ve never had a disappointing Minelab detector touch wood.😉 come to think of it any brand detector. Got something out of all.

Things a person can't have........ Minelab Equinox 800 with V8, V10, and V12 Vanquish coils (no, they won't work) Equinox on left is my gold prospecting detector, on a telescoping rod for packability. It is normally rigged with the stock or 6" coil. The one in the middle is a late prototype, a little rough for wear at this point in time. I keep it outfitted with a stock rod and coil for park detecting. And the one on right is rigged with a steveg rod. I normally use this with the large coil for field hunting, or a stock coil for wading and/or mask & snorkel use. Anyway, the Vanquish coils are just on the Equinox for mockup purposes only. And some people may even want this..... Minelab Vanquish 540 with Equinox 11" round coil (no, it won't work)