Compass

That's how you do it- congrats!!! The first of many I bet!

Is that a big opal on that gold ring? If so, that is pretty sweet and kind of a bucket lister for me. Congrats!

I have had people doubt some of my finds before and I actually feel sorry for them. If they don't believe that something is possible it is unlikely that they will ever have that kind of success. I don't even mention that there are many hunters out there that do better than me.

"One I felt like a braggart since only two at first were posting finds," Even though I don't have the AQ yet I have felt this way at times. This summer I was on a hot streak finding gold 4 days in a row with the best find on that 4th day. I never posted that ring, in part, because it just seemed too much to believe. It was even hard for me to believe my luck that week. As far as the AQ goes, I had the chance to get one but decided to wait. It was a tough decision and I even wonder from time to time as to whether or not I made a mistake. I mean, I wanted one of these for years. I still do, but to be honest, I wonder if the AQ Limited would really be that much better than what I am using now, the TDI Beachhunter with which I am having a great year with. On top of that, it does seem like there have been a few problems that warranted people having to send their machines back for repair. Granted, it does sound like the response from Fisher has been prompt and thorough but perhaps the next generation of AQ will be even more reliable.

"I don't think I miss much until I see what you post ... " That's funny Mitchel...I felt that way when you posted all those rings a few weeks ago. 😉

Thanks VL, I wanted to stay at least until low tide and also avoid rush hour traffic!

Thanks o.g., Yes, that happens but gold early in the hunt sure makes the rest of the hunt more enjoyable.

Thanks cuniagau, I don't remember what I was thinking when I got the signal but I know I was not thinking gold ring.

Thanks MSC, Luck always plays a part but especially on this one.

Thanks ht, Yes, it's been a fun year- detecting-wise and it would be great to close the year out strong.

I know- gold is always a surprise but when I'm not finding many targets it is even more so. On my last hunt targets were few and far between- even junk was hard to come by. However, I stuck with the plan and at my 4th beach I had what I would call a fluke find in a patch of wet sand where I really wasn't expecting much. The ring has been re-sized and the markings were distorted in the process. When I first found it the back was clogged with sand and the stone looked black so I thought it was an onyx. When I rinsed the sand away I was pleasantly surprised to see the beautiful green color. Other than that I only found 2 quarters, a nickel, some zinc pennies and a little trash in about 3 hours of detecting. Hopefully, there will be a couple more golden surprises before the year ends. GL&HH!

Pretty sure I found one identical to that in the eastern California desert where the US Army trained during WWII. I'll see if I can find it and post a picture.

Welcome Glasswalker! Those of us who have read about Phrunt's (Simon's) incredible hunts are envious of you. New Zealand sounds like an amazing place to detect. As far as pinpointers go, I never considered them a necessity and, actually, gave mine away. They might be more useful for "dirt" hunting but for the beach they just slow me down. HH&GL! (Happy Hunting and Good Luck!)

Joe, It would be interesting to see where people hang out in that lake. One of my best producing lakes has near zero visibility throughout.

Joe, Congrats on finding a productive site! Did I understand correctly that you only went as far as 2 feet deep in the water? !s that because of the headphones? The reason I ask is that most of my jewelry is found in a little deeper water- perhaps 3-4 feet.

Thanks Joe, After taking a little break from the canoe I started back on it about a month ago. I'm getting close to closing up the bottom which I hope to do on Thanksgiving. At that point I will be about 1/3 of the way done according to my plans. Hoping to put her in the water around springtime. Even though there are a lot more alternatives to gold and silver jewelry than there used to be I agree with you about people still wearing and losing some good stuff. I've been fortunate in finding some of that good stuff this year. However, a Spanish coin from a sunken galleon would be the ultimate treasure find in my opinion. Good luck in your quest!

I agree that certain detectors are much better on chains than others. Prior to this year I really hadn't found that many.

Thanks Mitchel, With that much silver I would have thought that the gold might have made an appearance but maybe next time.

Thanks kac, Maybe I've just been luckier this year and luck does play a part but I think that other factors are also at play. This year I hunted more because I am fully retired now, I'm getting more used to my Equinox (lakes) and TDI BeachHunter (beaches), slowing down my swing speed when I get into promising areas, digging more of the small and questionable signals and getting a better feel of where and when to hunt. I'm guessing that I have found 20-30 chains or pieces of chains this year but many, if not most, have been junk.

Thanks GBA, Yes, I don't usually get too excited about silver but I do like big silver, designer silver and silver chains. When I used to focus on coinshooting it took me forever to find my first silver half- a Franklin and I still haven't found a silver dollar.

Thanks Geoff, The beach didn't look too promising yesterday so I had the time to do some documentation of the finds- mostly to give perspective on the size of the big silver chain. 😉

Thanks VL, In the past, chains have always been few and far between but this has been the "year of the chains" for me. Perhaps my chain "run" is rubbing off on others! 🙂

...hits a big silver chain in his first beach hunt! In baseball a batter has hit for the cycle when they get a single, double, triple and home-run all in one game. I sort of hit for the cycle on a recent hunt by finding an earring, ring, bracelet and neck chain (all sterling silver).However, on the previous day I took a friend along for his first real beach hunt and set him up with my old Whites Pro PI. That day I found 5 rings, all junk save one small silver but my friend scooped out a 26 gram, badly tarnished, sterling silver chain which I took home to clean for him. He hasn't seen it yet but I think he will be pleasantly surprised.My friend's chain is the one on the outer perimeter. My "cycle" finds are inside of it. As much as I would have loved to have found that big silver I was honestly thrilled for him and think that he may now be hooked on the hobby.GL&HH!

Thanks OBN, After much consideration I actually decided to wait a bit on the AQ. No doubt there are places where I could put it to good use but for the type of hunting that I do my current detectors are doing fine for now. I'll reassess things when the production model is available. The gator is not gold- maybe brass?

Thanks GBA, You are spot on. I actually found the other part of the rosary a couple weeks ago. It is stamped Italy but it looks like tungsten carbide. Ironically, I found both parts of the rosary where I have been searching for the matching half of the Cartier bracelet I found last month so I think that it's a good sign! I think that the copper bracelet was lost in the surf like most of my recent finds. I've been focusing on hunting farther out during the lower tides.