Gerry in Idaho

MinerJosh, 1st of all welcome to DP. I can't give a Thumbs up as I ran out of them this morning, but you deserve one. That is a fantastic 1st nugget of 2021 and I hope it is just the indicator of the remaining months to come. If you mind me asking, what state is it from and your preferred weapon on this trip? Thanks again for sharing/contributing and sure hope to see you on here more often my friend.

Part of being a detector dealer full time, it's hard to walk away from the shop, as it's usually not profitable. But after Christmas, my sales sometimes slow down, so South I try to go. As soon as I made plans, then everyone gets a $600 stimulus check and of course I missed out on a few sales. Heck, I can't win a break. Anyway, the trip was a go and the flight down was easy (other than wearing a mask the entire time). Well it isn't a monster, but when you go to a site Lunk has detected, you usually get the Big-O. I'm quite pleased with this little .6 gram gold for my 1st of 2021. Great weather (so much better than Idaho), fantastic friends/food and of course a few treasures were brought home. What has been your 1st gold find from 2021. Would enjoy seeing some shiny stuff in the sun while I'm back in the shop in Idaho.

I actually love those kind of finds more than a 1/4 oz nugget. Nice history save and thanks for sharing.

Solid nuggets like that will give a higher digital reading on the Nox than the rough, small or specimen ones. Very nice find and thanks for sharing. The EQ-800 has found me more gold in the last 3 years than my GPZ-7000 and SDC-2300 combined. Well done and hope to see/read more posts.

Heck I probably sold a 1000 GB-2's and still have customers wanting them. That compact rake idea is nice. How have you been able to do so far this year, I figured the ground is frozen and covered in white stuff. GB-2 with a small 6" Ellip will go down in history...well deserved too.

I don't see anything when I click on the link, what did it say?

Well put.

Well there is a pic of me on their site and I didn't even get a free cooli for me beer. My only connection to Dubai is that years ago before Minelab had their own distributors, I made some good sales to them. Most are very smart and savvy businessmen. Now Minelab has that under control so I don't get to drink wine with my rib eye.

Some great comments everyone and thanks for sharing your ideas. Celeste Sandbank is the winner of the "Name that nugget" and she named it "Lady in the Golden Robe". She wins a Minelab ProFind-35 Pointer. That was the name Travis thinks matches his find most and I like it.

This is how I would answer your question in fishing terms. If you want to fish for sunfish (Bluegill and Crappie), go to well known areas they are being caught and fish...then that is usually what you'll catch. If you prefer to fish for 2 pound rainbow trout, do research and fish that area. Chances are you'll catch some nice trout. If you want to catch 5 pound brown trout, you need to go there. In gold hunting areas. All well known sites (such as Rye Patch, NV) the majority of detectable gold has already been found, but the tiny pickers are still there. Even in 2021 I can find 20+ a day, but their sub grainers. If I want to hit a 10 grammer, I'll pass up at Rye Patch and go to areas that have not been hunted as hard. If I want 1+ oz'er, I prefer tailing piles in gold areas that had good size placer nuggets. Research is the key to success of bigger gold. At my stage of gold detecting career, I'll pass on 20/30 dinks = 1.5 to 2 grams just to find a couple bigger solid nuggets in the same day. Now I have customers that are tickled pink with any gold no matter the size...and I am just as happy for them. Hope this helps.

1.3 ozt

Glenn in CO - Your find is an amazing incredible piece as well. Yes this one is thicker and longer than any I have seen. Thanks for sharing your pic. Phrunt - I've been a dealer of Minelab for 20+ yrs and giving 3 days Field Training classes on gold detectors with some of the best of the best on my Staff. Our goal is to make sure the customers have the best knowledge of their detector as possible, hence the 3 days which gives time for the brain to actually remember a few things (repetition). We also enjoy going in the field and using our detectors and love chasing Big Gold. Finding dinks is fun and I have won many bets of who can find the most pieces. But I would rather hunt days for nothing, just for the chance to find a Lunker. Your collection is amazing for the short career you have had and nothing to spoof about. After all, not all areas produce big gold. Matt- Your find is the biggest I've seen other than this one...and it is a real treat to see. Loved your story with it as well. Thanks for sharing.

I have found a few folded over leaf type gold pieces myself in NV, but the biggest might be an inch long. Here is one of my better folded type specimens from Oregon. Those links show some amazing collectors pieces. Thanks for sharing Steve.

Thanks for the comments/wisdom JP as we don't find the kind of gold your folks are used to seeing over there. Yes the color just came to life with a little water and the pics at the end were after a little soaking to get some of the caliche off. So dark and rich. My bad for not having my GoPro with me, so all we had was his cell phone and of course I had it turned the wrong way. But it was caught and that is what counts.

He has already had offers in the $10K+ range, but I would expect him to hold out for 2X or 3X that. Was informed by a buyer/seller of higher end gold pieces to do Auction with a Reserve.

At 1st glance that is what I thought too, but realized there is no way a manmade object could get below the caliche line he broke through earlier in the dig. After he watered it down and got closer look, I could tell it is all natural. I've seen some crazy stuff come out of fields in England, but those are ploughed fields of 2000 yrs old.

It reminded me of those ancient gold bracelets they plow up in the fields of England. My brother Travis was the lucky finder. Well earned for him as I usually take the cake.

I like.

Texas Tea and Strick beat me to it.

Gold is one of natures most interesting and inspiring metals on this earth. I've been fortunate to see, handle and or even find my share of unique pieces but this one takes tops honors. I know there are some legends of gold hunters on here and would ask your help. If anyone has ever found one similar, please let us see. As it stands now, this is a 1 of a kind and I was the lucky one who realized to grab a cell phone and put it on video mode....just in case we found a nice nugget. But what was actually dug up just blew us away. Oh my gosh is all I could manage to stutter from my lips. Now we need to name this beauty and we'll all ears. Please give some suggestions for a name.

Good video. I immediately caught the 11" round DD coil and thought...this guy is missing plenty of gold, but your updated comments shows your knowledge of coils. Also nice to allow a friend to get better odds at finding the elusive Au metal. Your area in quite interesting and the gold is beautiful. Thanks for sharing your end of year and hope to see more from you this 2021 season.

Glad to see you on the board for 2021 and I must admit quite soon (Jan. 1st). Well earned my friend. I'm going to set my sites high....really high...so flippin high, it is out of this world. I'm going to try and find a Meteorite before I find a nugget in 2021. Hope to see you soon and nice nuggies/pics.

Interesting article of the Competition Hunt in TX. Heck they gave away a brand new Chevy Truck. I've done my share of those style of Speed Hunts and actually was really good in the top 10 most of the time. But these hunts were of only a few hundred people. Betty Weeks and Lucile Bowen were out of the NW and the hunt was at Farragut State Park in North Idaho. I won a few detectors back then, but no trucks.

Glad you all were able to find some yellow metal. Kind of sucks when only 1 guy finds it, so great for you all. GPZ-7000 is hard to beat in many situations.

Very nice varieties of lead with some colorful ones too. I have always said, these lead detectors do quite well but on occasion they mess up and you dig something odd, like a gold nugget. Hats off to you for your persistence.