Compass

Great recovery and kudos for making a real impact in someone's life! She will never forget this.

Having found several gold crowns over the years, I think that most, if not all, were from cremation urns. I became convinced of this when I found 3 on one hunt and all looked similar. I'm pretty sure that the melting point of most gold crown alloys is higher than the typical cremation temperature. My local beaches have also produced a few cremation tags so it must be a popular place to spread cremation ashes.

Beautiful! Congrats on a find that is a bucket-lister for many (most) of us! 😮

I agree. Also, a couple of years ago I found half of a Carrier Love Bracelet in the wet sand at low tide. I went back to the same spot maybe 10-12 times looking for the other half before finding it 2 months later. It was always there but maybe too deep most of the time? It is the bracelet pictured in my avatar.

Based on my conversation with the gentleman and the fact that the ring didn't show signs of wear after being in the intertidal zone for 14 years I would think that the ring didn't move much from where it was lost. My guess is that it sank down deep into the wet sand pretty quickly because of its weight and was only findable when the sand above it was stripped away. However, I must say that I and others have hunted the area where the ring was found many times within the past 14 years and often after major sand movement.

Thanks SwiftSword, The reason I said that is because I read somewhere that Aggies have recognized other Aggies around the world because of their rings. However, I think I know what you mean and have often wondered about us (Americans) claiming to be world champions in baseball or basketball or anything when the rest of the world is not considered.

Wow Joe, that is awesome to hear and I am honored to be part of this very exclusive club! Thanks for sharing and kudos to you as well. George.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about finding a large college class ring. Now that the ring is on its way back to the owner I can share a few more details about it. The ring is from Texas A&M University and the gentleman lost it in the southern California surf in 2009. He returned the next day with a metal detector but was unable to locate it. 14 years later, on a cold, dark, wet and windy morning I was holding the ring in my hand admiring its golden sheen in the glow of my headlamp. The owner was very surprised and grateful to hear that I would be returning his ring. After speaking with the ring's owner I found out more about the rich tradition of the "Aggie ring". The Aggie class ring just might be one of the most cherished, celebrated and recognizable college class rings in the world. The rings are made by the well known Balfour company and, I believe that, Texas A&M is one of their biggest, if not their biggest, clients. The Association of Former Students oversees a lost and found program and maintains a registry to help reunite rings with their owners. Their website states that there are about 60 Aggie rings reported lost or missing each month! That should give you an idea of how many thousands of Aggie rings are out there. There is even a large bronze statue of an Aggie ring on campus! Now that I understand more about the history and significance of the Aggie ring I am really glad that I am able to return this one. https://www.tamu.edu/traditions/aggie-culture/aggie-ring/index.html https://www.aggienetwork.com/news/tagged/?tag=294

Finding gold in the dirt seems so much harder than in the sand. Well done!

Great finds! Liberty nickels and IH pennies only 3" deep sounds like my kind of hunting. When I hunt the dirt the older stuff is usually much much deeper.

Congrats on the silver and nice bit of research on the the cool key fob!

Certainly a very unique beach find. Nice job on the restoration!

Finding gold never gets old - congrats!!!

Awesome gold chain - congrats! That's like finding 33 one gram gold rings. If that 1 piece of gold ring weighs 3 grams it must have been a pretty hefty ring.

Thanks KOB, The ring is from a well-known college and has the graduate's full name and year on it. We have already identified him on Facebook and Linked-in so it's just a matter of time now. My wife did all the research so it makes it a fun adventure for her too. I had to clean the ring in order to read the name and I was pretty nervous but after a couple of 30 minute soaks in white vinegar, all the verdigris loosened up.

Thanks Strick, Yes, 10k.

Thanks Seeker, I'm very happy with the big ring but that 250 gram, 14K, gold chain that Felix found is insane.

Thanks RR, I may have heard about that ring in Japan. I think it was thought to be a "Yakuza" or "mob" ring. 😮 Thanks RVP, In my detecting career I've been lucky to have many surreal, magical moments. This one was in my "Top 5" for sure! I am still in awe when I look at it and feel its weight in my hand.

Thanks Dave, It 's been a while since I recovered a gold ring over 10 grams so it definitely was a thrilling moment. My wife found the owner on Facebook and reached out but we have yet to hear back. I wouldn't say no to any reward but the experience of finding it was priceless to me!

Thanks Matt, The sailboat was also found low on the slope. It is stamped 14K and weighs 1.4 grams or 1/20th the weight of the ring. 🙂 Thanks Cris, It did feel like work when the cold rain was blowing in my face and my hands were numb. However, around 4am, I ran into another hunter who was in shorts and sandals! 😮 Thanks F350, It's been a year of firsts, so far. My first Seated was a fluke but the 20+ gram ring was, IMO, partly due to my hunting strategy. I'm paying the price today though with cold-like symptoms. 😞

Congrats on the sweet 18K band! It looks like there was better sand movement farther south but even here it was hit and miss.

Thanks GBA, They were fun but difficult hunts with the wind and the rain. Those 6 pieces of gold together weigh 1/3 of the class ring! 😅 Thank you Joe, After cleaning off the verdigris I was able to read a name on the inside of the ring so making progress. Thanks Mitchell, Many times, I have spent too much time at one beach just because I was finding a few targets. This time, it looks like I made the right decision in moving to another location.

Thanks Rick, It is definitely a first for me. My previous biggest gold ring was about half the weight of this one. Thank you kac, Sometimes I only dig "low conductor" signals to improve my chances of finding gold but low on the slope I dig it all.

And there's not even a close 2nd. The recent high wind driven surf and decent tides had me thinking that all the local beaches were going to produce a lot of treasure from beach erosion. However, it seems that some of that sand that got stripped away was "fill" sand and some promising looking cuts didn't yield as many targets as expected. Fortunately, I did find a beach that had a big cut (6' high in places") with enough targets to keep me digging during 2 - 5 hour hunts. Around 3 hours into the second hunt my TDIBH indicated a "high conductor" target low on the slope. I scooped the target out of the hole and started to feel around for it in the mound of sand. When I located it I realized that I had found a large heavy ring and when I turned on my headlight I saw the unmistakable gleam of yellow gold in my hand. It is a major university class ring and I am already taking steps to return it.

IMO I would leave it as it is now. It is beautiful and really shows a lot of detail as it has been in a drier California(?) environment. I recently found my first seated coin and debated whether or not to try and clean it but, so far, have left it as is. So many times in the past I have tried to clean coins that I have found and most of the results have been disappointing.