Gerry in Idaho

My good friend RJ was scouting an area to detect and his eye catches something not so normal. Very cool video and heck of a history save.

Tom, You certainly have the upper hand on GC's than most of us. Just for info to know their denominations, could you tell us how many of what? I found an 1852 $2.50 with Explorer and an 1903 $5 found with Explorer-II detectors. Wondering if most folks finds the smaller or larger ones? Also, if you don't mind mentioning what detector did you find this one with? You are correct, as in the amount of them found. Most of my clients have only found 1 and a few scored 2. The daddy/daughter duo found over 10 at one site, but I count that as a Cache since they were all found same day in about a 20 foot area. Detail on your Eagle is Stunning, so hats off to you.

Mitchel, I have to agree with some of the comments mentioned too. I also feel you have tuned the beach hunt (so much closer to you and 10X times more hunting than gold hunts) to your main focus. As said by a few, the beach hunting style is so much different than swinging a 7000. I have not hunted a beach with you yet, but know ground coverage is a big part of beach hunting. I say it in reverse when chasing a nugget for most sites. It is not how much ground you cover, but finding an old patch and covering that same ground (much smaller area too) very methodically, and slow. Why is it that I can take a dink nugget and toss it in front of a new customer in a 10 foot square and they see it hit the ground, but can not hear it with their detector? If I took a ring and tossed it 50 feet down the side of a beach, I know you would find it. Your ear, mind and thoughts have been trained to listen for beach type targets on a pretty smooth (for the most part) surface. In order for someone to find that little dink in a 10 foot area, they need to keep the coil scraping the ground (making more unwanted noise), overlap at least 20 to 30%, have perfect coil control, swing really slow and be willing to investigate any slight change of threshold. So you think you did in fact find the target??? Now try to pinpoint and then get that dang little bugger in the plastic scoop. I've watched customers spend 15 minutes on 1 BB signal. I've even found a target, gotten it in the scoop and then tossed it back down, as I did not think it was in the scoop? Ears my friend and then some luck. I travel quite a bit and detect most everywhere and have been for many years. Ancient Coins/Artifacts in England, Civil War sites back East, beaches all over the world, old coin and relics out west and gold nugget hunts where-ever there is gold. Gold Nugget Hunting is by far much harder and takes the most patience of all, in my opinion. Good post BTW.

JP, I am so impressed with the time you take to not only teach yourself the GPZ, but actually do photos to catch the moment, surface ground type, approx depth, soil condition the gold is in...and of course the yellow stuff we all dream of. Then to top it off, you again take more time and share your field experiences. You are 1 in million my friend and a great asset to Minelab and DP. So many people think a certain timing is the golden ticket, but even the ones my Field Staff and I share with customers, are really just starters. I have my Rye Patch favorite timings, but when I arrive and if the soil moisture content is different, then I'm trying to compromise and need to make adjustments. I let my ears tell me when it is right, or as close to it. Learning the GPZ - Oh my..what a session that will be for some time. Heck, Lunk and I are still finding ways to get more ( either depth, cleaner signal response, smoother threshold, or sensitivity) out of certain conditions and or for size/density of gold. There are just so many variables and or unknowns. I remember when 7000 came out, there were a few folks (good GPX hunters) who jumped ship of the 7000 because they did some testing/comparing and got spooked of their results on a certain density and size of nugget, not realizing in reality there are timings for those few pieces. I think a couple of those folks have also come to the conclusion, there is more to the Zed and its abilities than just a couple tests at a site with a few pieces of gold. Even with my own staff, our desired settings and how we run the 7000 is different than when it first came out. I do wish other Training would offer the hands on you mentioned. My staff and I also like to plug 2 people into 1 machine and we'll run it at first so they see/hear what slows us down, what we ignore and or investigate. We don't worry about loud targets often, as anyone can find those. Teaching customers to hear the faint signals most others miss, is usually what will put Au in the scrotum pouch. Self-confidence in one's ability with their detector is half the battle. Your psychology mention is spot on and even if a beginner goes home with 1 bit, that person is slowly learning from each piece of gold recovered. I sure don't know how you manage it all, but do enjoy reading your nuggets of info. Sorry if I don't get on here enough and tell you more often. On a side note. Hopefully some day Minelab will get you back USA and I am most certain we could put something together at Rye Patch area. Heck, even if Minelab would not flip the bill, there are enough DP readers who would pitch in, we'd certainly get the airfare taken care of. Now that would be a fun 3 day event. Thanks again Mr. 1 in a million...and hats off to continuing thread of said ZED Nugget Knowledge.

Nice variety of Au digs Dew. The 14K white gold band must be a common design as I've scooped a few and yes..most are 10+ grams. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pics.

Beautiful cross. Looks to be white gold and yellow gold....what tone was it or ID#? I've saved a couple gold rings with white and yellow, a white/yellow money clip and my hunting partner was with me in MX and dug a white gold wristband with yellow gold as well. The diamonds are way cool too.

Oh my...I need to check the Jewelry forum more often. Hats off to the S & G saves.

Wowers save. Big name too. Probably only 10 platinum in all my years.

I'm not opening my foot and inserting mouth. I'm a viewer this round.

Congratulations on the Flowing Hair LG Cent. I've only found one (1798 Cracked Die Reverse) in my 40+ yrs of detecting. It was found over 20 yrs ago in NC. Now that you have that one checked off the list, what is your next target coin? Great dig.

I have one of the blue SD-2200V2's and a hardly used smooth running GP-3000 that I am in no hurry to sell. Yes I have the 2300, 5000 and 7000. I do feel the newer flat winding coils are better. One of my all time favorites was the orange CT 14" round MONO, then another gold getter for me was the NF 16" round SL MONO. Yes I still use a DD coil in some of Idaho and Oregon as the iron trash just wears this old man out and DD is a must. Another one of my favorite coils on the Minelabs is the Commander Semi Ellip 15" MONO. Talk about a solid built coil that just performs. As for the boosters...I pretty much stick with factory. Mods to a detector. If you are happy with the mods and feel it is working for you, then I'm happy for you. I don't get any of my machines modded, but I am also still selling Minelabs, so it might not be wise for me to sell a Minelab and then tell the customer to get it modded.

We were expanding from the gold camp and he just happened to go down hill and I went up. Yes, anything is possible.

Michel, Those ones fool the best of us (right Lunk) and our heads are still scratching, as we try to figure out how it got down that deep. Same thing happened to Lunk and I in MX a few weeks ago. He was so far off the beaten path and was evening finding gold. Then that unusual soft reverse signal. He hikes over to me so I can video tape it as he was already over a feet deep. We hike back and he's telling me how he found some nuggets on the backside of a ridge. I get there and boy does this place look exciting. I listen to the signal while viewing the natural undisturbed ground and whooper is going through my mind. My video camera is on and rolling as we're about to get this clunker on video. Lunk is carefully digging, using more of the scoop than the pick so he does not damage the sold yellow metal. 5 minutes later and another 6" deeper... he checks it out and this thing is screaming bloody all the way down to Aussie land. It is totally reversed and we're like kids seeing a playboy magazine for the 1st time...just eyes wide open waiting for the centerfold. Then it happens and he has it out of the scoop. A tilt of the coil for some pinpointing and it is such an overload, I am expecting to see it with me bare eyes. Boy would I like to feel it... I can't wait any longer, so almost I jump in to help speed up the recover. Just as I start to get in the hole, for some reason he gets it in the scoop. We're both ready for a gold dance as he is separating the material and then...there it is.., the most disgusting brass bullet casing we've ever video taped. Holy crap, why is it there and how? We both scratched our heads as we filled the hole and I heard him mumble something to the effect...about "next time I'll get you". Sorry your nugget was not so golden, but that is what keeps us going.

You are correct for most hunting. He started out with the stock 11" and found a few coins in the area a couple days before. Nothing was over 3 to 4" deep, so when we went back I realized a slower sweep in the area with a small coin might pull something else. Well these 3 coins were not in the exact same spot, but still very close. Also, the small coil gets in the bushes easier too.

Most of you do not know the history of metal detecting and my family. We go back to the early 1970's, my dad, uncle, 1 cousin and I all were pretty avid TH'ers back then. In the 80's and 90's we took it to a new level and started concentrating more on older sites and doing research. Our old coin finds were better with a few Barbers and Seated Liberty silvers. The gold coin had still eluded us for all those yrs. We knew it was just a matter of time. Anyway about 20 yrs ago, my little brother started getting serious with detectors and making some nice finds. It was about 20 years ago when the McMullen clan broke the gold coin barrier (it was me) with an 1852 $2.50 piece found in OR. Then about 10 years ago on 4th of July I was greedy and hit another (my 2nd) GC of the clan. My relatives and family started getting a little jealous and well deserving. Especially my little brother who happened to be on that trip with me when I hit #2, It was a 1902 $5 found here in Idaho. Well last week I was with my brother in OR and his Equinox put a smile on his face in more ways than 1. Not only did he find a gold coin, but also a Barber and Seated Liberty Half. Me, I managed to find a clad dime, which is the 1st modern coin that I know of to come from this site. He does not do much with forums, but did say I could mention them and share the pics. I wanted to let him have his glory and then after a few days I'd share. Here is his 1839 $5, 1907 Barber Half and 1877 Seated Half. And you know what? I honestly was a little jealous for about a minute and then I realize his tears were real. I then became the proud big brother of another gold coin find for the McMullen clan. I'm so proud of this guy for continuing to go and just keeps on swinging. Now that I think back, it was meant to be and I was able to be there and share the precious moment with him.

Brian, Sorry I am late to the show, but was in MX digging gold nuggets. Then when I returned, I had to get caught up with customers orders and get their detectors shipped out. My hats off to you as one of the few folks who takes a detector and becomes one with it, as one of your arms. Those finds are hearth throbs even without the low mintage. But to dig like that for a day and then get done and open up the coin value guide and see $$$$ is even more incredible, but well deserved. I'll say this for sure. The Equinox has produced more gold coin finds than any other detector I have sold in such a short amount of time. I probably have 15 gold coins found by my own customers using the NOX. In fact I have not posted yet, but another was recently found. I'll get to it later, but your video, finds and story are certainly EPIC.

Nice token finds. I like saving a token more than a barber dime or Indian Head cent.

Chris, Your such a calm, cool and collect kind of guy.....2019 I went past the post a couple times and then notices a little traffic, so thought I'd check it out. My my you certainly hit a heck of a pocket and as a long time nugget hunter, I know it is extremely rare. Not only did you find really good gold, but was able to capture it on camera and story with it. So glad your year ended GOLDEN and hopefully 2020 is just as good. Most importantly, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I also enjoy getting recommendations form a few of you as Lunk and I will try our luck in Aussie Land. I've had success in the Kalgoorlie/Leonora areas years back, but it was still hard hunting. Has the beaches (gold jewelry) been exposed or do you folks even try for such finds? Either way, Thanks again. PS. The photo of some of my gold from last OZ trip

Lunk will be with me for part of the trip as well, so those who invite us, will certainly have some tall tales to listen over. Was it not Paul's magic that had some ups/downs during the trip? Sometimes those minor issues just make us a better person. In reality, being across the US, I'm most certain their will be issues. Thanks for the recommendation,,, and is his magic charm juice very expensive?

To me it is all about Adventure to new sites. It's much more rewarding and educational for me to see how people live in the area, what terrain and landscape is all about. I enjoy seeing with my own eyes what makes up a site and why people would go visit or even live there. Finding the gold is just an added bonus. My list of "Just go do it" places is longer than most, but at the same time I feel I have been able to do more than the average Joe. Maybe it is because I never had kids, maybe the wife enjoys me being away for a while, maybe just how I am wired, but I like to travel, absorb new things and dream. Having the detector in hand also allows for a great many business write offs. I have pretty good gold areas in ID, MT, OR, NV. that will always give a little. Heck, If I spent the same amount of time at one of these sites, as I did in MX, I most certainly would have recovered more gold, but those sites I know well and in the back of my mind, new fresh ground in another region could be golden? We've learned most of the time, those dreams really don't have loads more of gold, but just seeing new country is rewarding. Now I do plan on heading back to Australia this fall and hopefully someone will invite me along for a couple or few days swinging. I'd like to do a little nugget hunting as well as dip into the water for some beach/water detecting with an Equinox (one of my other passions - water hunting). I figure someone over there might want to get some free tips/tricks and detector knowledge. Heck, I might even sell my detectors after the trip to them for a really good price. I've spent time around the Leonora/Kalgoorlie area with some GP's years back, so somewhere new would be most ideal. Thanks for the comments.

Chuck, You are correct as I never go on a trip with one detector. Yes I did take the Equinox with me as I was not totally sure what we would be encountering, plus if a machine goes down, I have the NOX. As for the ground soil conditions. Most of the gold came in really red soil layers (like those who hunt Sawtooth) or have in some areas of Australia. I could have easily found gold with the NOX on that trip as 2 of my bigger pieces were only a couple " deep. Some of the small ones were also near the surface and in fact I spotted 2 nuggets on the surface. I did like having the extra depth of the GPZ as it was very beneficial when hunting the old patches. I dug some really deep gold on the trip, but nothing of larger size. I don't know what kind of depths other folks get with their 7000's on 2 and 3 gram nuggets, but I can hear them 16 - 18". My all time favorite was with Lunk in NV last year and it was a 1.9 gram at 18". Both of us thought there had to be more in the hole, but not the case.

Your abilities with the 7000 and X coil are very good my friend. Thanks for sharing the story and pics.

Rusty, You are 100% correct. We had to eat out of cans and eat stuff raw (uncooked). The other party with us did cook a really nice meal 1 time, but nothing like Chef Rusty can do. It was so rough Rusty, we both lost weight. When we hunt with you, it is such a pleasure. I actually enjoy using up a whole roll of TP paper and gaining weight when hunting gold with you. I still think you do this to us so you can try and take advantage....🤣

We were invited down on private ground. I detected 10 days, so averaged 4 grams a day.