Compass

Chains are usually challenging to find even with high end detectors in the hands of experienced hunters. If you have a specific idea where it was lost you might consider trying to snatch it with a specialty rake made for finding chains. I have found chains with mine but it is very hard, physical work and I have found that using my Equinox with a 6" coil in "gold" mode to be more effective.

Some of you may remember a post from me about a ring return earlier this year. The ring was a massive class ring from Texas A&M - by far the biggest gold ring I have ever found at 28.8 grams! I found the ring during low tide on a cold, wet and dark morning with my TDI Beachhunter in "ground balance" mode and I recall the tone being "low" in pitch indicating a high conductor. Most high conductor targets during this target-rich hunt were clad quarters, dimes and copper pennies and I was skipping most of them to increase my chances of finding gold targets up to about 10 grams. However, low on the slope I usually dig it all hoping to find silver rings and larger gold items. Recently, I received a small box in the mail and I thought that maybe it was a new control box for my water damaged Equinox 800 (wishful thinking!). However, I was pleasantly surprised to find a bottle of fine wine from a grateful Aggie with a nice message inside. The sentiment was much appreciated but the experience of making such an awesome find was priceless and will remain one my best detecting memories.

Thanks Abenson, Most of the jewelry I find nowadays is costume, of course, and finding 2 - 18k's in one hunt might be a first for me.

I didn't know this either so I just tested some stainless steel and it did well on the acid test. However, the stainless steel seemed much harder than the white gold Cartier ring when scratching the test stone.

Thanks for the picture cuniagau, The weight and serial number seem consistent with other genuine Cartier pieces but I will eventually try to get it authenticated. How were you able to verify that the one you found was real?

Matt, I believe that you are right about the Benchmark brand since I have seen others found. This one seems to be of good quality and I would assume that others are as well.

Thank you VL, I was using the White's TDI Beach Hunter that member Cobill graciously offered me through the classifieds here earlier this year. My previous one was recently repaired by Centreville Electronics so I am thrilled to have 2 of these harder-to-find beach detectors now.

Thanks KOB, Back in January you found that gold coin in the area that I was hunting the previous day. Karma is a fickle mistress. 😉

Thanks Rick, Luck was with me on this hunt.

Thanks GhostLight, I had forgotten how great it feels to find something special, especially, when expectations were low.

Thank you! I am pretty sure that this is an authentic Cartier since it passed the 18k acid test, has crisp edges and markings and was found at a beach where I have found other high-end jewelry including the Cartier bracelet in my avatar. 🙂

It had been nearly 5 months since I found my last piece of gold jewelry but I had only hunted a few times due to trips, volunteer work and being sick. My life finally returned to normal and I was able to start detecting again around the 4th of July. On one hunt, the targets were few and far between in the wet sand and after about 3 hours of detecting I had only found 4 coins. However, the second target I recovered was a ring and 4 more rings followed during the rest of the hunt along with about 20 pieces of trash. Most of the hunt was in the early morning darkness so I didn't know if any of the rings I found were any good. More often than not the rings that I find at night are not nearly as good as my imagination expects them to be and this was the case for 3 out of the 5 rings. The last ring of the morning felt heavy and smooth and I was optimistic that it was a gold comfort band even though tungsten carbide had broken my heart more than a few times. In my car, after the hunt, the warm glow of 18k yellow gold confirmed that my gold drought was over! As I looked over my finds, one other ring caught my eye as I recognized the familiar pattern of the Cartier Love Ring "circles". Over the years I have found many fake Cartier rings and at first I thought that this could be another. This one did seem different and it also had a small diamond that all my fake Cartiers were missing. An 18k acid test at home was positive so confidence is pretty high that this is the real deal - another bucket-lister find for the year! GL&HH!

Compass, White's and Fisher are responsible for 99% of all my finds over the last 50 years and my only Minelab got waterlogged this past week. Fortunately, the White's and Fishers were well built and are still serving me well to this day. If I buy another detector I may finally consider Nokta or Garrett.

Unfortunately, you are probably right but another option may be for me to say, "No thanks, I'll will buy a brand-new, waterproof Nokta for that price."

I don't think I will trust the 800 in over 3ft of water anymore. That old Fisher 1280-x Aquanaut is over 30 years old and has been submerged dozens of times with no problems. On a more positive note, Minelab Repair responded right away with instructions on how to send in my control box. They reminded me that my detector is no longer under warranty so we will see what my options will be. The US post office gave me a hard time about sending a lithium ion battery in the mail so I just went to another branch and they accepted it. Their web site states that it is okay to send a LI battery in the mail if it is part of a piece of equipment.

A few days every year I take a break from beach hunting and hit the fresh water lakes in my area. Yesterday, a friend and I were hunting in the shallow water of one such lake when my Nox 800 started acting funny. I then noticed water behind the detector's display window. 😮 Fortunately, we had an old reliable Fisher 1280-x backup detector in the car and I was able to continue the hunt and even find a couple of nice silver bracelets. The small chain in the picture was an eyeball find. My Nox warranty expired a while ago but I will send my detector (control box only) in to the repair facility in Pennsylvania to see what my options are. I will report back on the process and results when complete.

I have corresponded with Paul and Todd of Centreville Electronics and was very impressed with their professionalism and attention to detail. Both were apologetic that it was taking so long to get my TDI Beachhunter repaired even though I stressed that there was no urgency on my part since I have several other detectors to use. The spring is also, typically, a slower time of the year for beach finds in my area. I'm just grateful that Centreville Electronics even exists otherwise I think that this machine would only be good for spare parts. Todd contacted me yesterday to say that my detector had been repaired and verified that it was working properly again. My detector was no longer under warranty but the cost for parts, labor and shipping was surprisingly reasonable. My TDIBH is on its way back to me as I write this. Kudos to Todd, Paul and their associates for the important services that they provide.

This subject came up on another thread recently and, coincidentally, member King of Bling told me of this YouTube video which just posted today: Pirate Mike finds a gold dental crown at 19:54 and acid tests it at 22:45.

Here is one of many interesting articles about cremation metals: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/crematoriums-recovering-precious-metals-dead-bodies-1.4623039 Before 1970 less than 10% of Americans opted for cremation. Since about 2016 that percentage rose to over 50% and now several states are in the 70% - 80% range. Metal recovery after cremation has become a big business and it is surprising that any dental gold makes its way to cremation urns and to beaches where it is found with metal detectors. I believe that many of the gold crowns that I have found may have been from earlier cremations when the price of gold was much lower. Even though cremations are on the rise it may be more difficult to find the resulting dental gold in the future.

Gold fillings can definitely survive a cremation. It depends on the cremation temperature (1400 to 2000 degrees F) and the alloy makeup of the gold. 10K gold melts at 1665 degrees F and 24K gold melts at 1945 degrees F. I have found many gold dental crowns over the years and most show some signs of charring or partial melting. I found 3 on one hunt and often find cremation tags nearby.

In January the storms that tore up our So. Cal. beaches left huge fields of thick, jet-black, sand during the low tides. A handful of us hunters enjoyed some of the best hunting we've ever experienced for about a month. The most popular detectors I saw during this time were the White's PI machines. I saw PI Pros, Dual Fields and a TDI Beachhunter(mine). It was impressive to see how relevant these older detectors still were with so many newer detectors available today.

True, the TDI Beachhunter's coil is hardwired in. I, generally, don't hunt in more than a foot of surf but the surf spray would probably ruin a TDI SL pretty quickly. I also hunt in the rain so the waterproof BH is perfect for that. I don't know anything about the MX Sport but the TDI SL and BH work very well in black sand conditions. Perhaps the number one reason that I love these detectors is their ability to separate high and low conductors using the "Ground Balance" switch. Last year I started utilizing this feature in target-rich conditions and felt that it was the right approach for me. It certainly gives me more options depending on the situation.

Congrats!!! I've got the love bracelet (avatar) but the ring is on my bucket list. Found many fake ones though!

I'm pretty sure that the TDI BeachHunter and TDI SL are, essentially, the same detectors but the TDIBH is the waterproof version. I believe that the main control boards are identical. You are right about the TDI and TDI Pro being hard to find and I think it is partly because they are more powerful detectors.

You beat me to it! Pretty cool story and very nice reward for somebody.