Erik Oostra

35 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

within 6 months from the time of such advertisement

6 months.. Wow!

36 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

within one year after the advertisement

1 year.. Even bigger Wow! 

Thank you very much for that research Valens Legacy, is that the same for other U.S states as well? I'm pretty sure it's 3 months in Oz but you've got me thinking now.. I'll have to find out.. 

5 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

So go ahead and post away !   😅

Phew! I've seen the flip side of this at my local metal detecting club, where owners post on the club's facebook page hoping to recover their jewellery.. and sometimes offering huge rewards.. one woman offered a AU$ 1000 reward to find her lost wedding ring, plenty of punters took up the challenge but none ever found it 😬.. In this case the ring had a lot of sentimental value as her husband had passed away.. 

Has there ever been a case of cops or owners monitoring forums such as this to find lost property? If so, were they successful? Could this lead to prosecution for the unfortunate detectorist for not handing it in (or even accusations of theft)? Or perhaps the detectorist was lucky and got a reward for her/his hard work?  

3 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

I've often thought about testing the theory, by taking my own wedding ring down to the police, and then coming back 30 days later to see if they still have it.  

What would you do if they didn't still have it? You'd have to prove ownership of that exact ring.. And the cops probably wouldn't love you too much for trying to test their honesty.. My guess would be that this would come back to bite you on the arse, maybe in the form of unwarranted speeding tickets.. 😬 

18 minutes ago, kac said:

if I turned a ring into the local PD, I would almost guarantee after 30 days they would tell me they found the owner and it would instead find a new home on their wife's or GF's finger

Crikey! That puts a different spin on the dilemma.. 😬 

54 minutes ago, Hard Prospector said:

Not sure what else can be done so won't loose any sleep over it.

If Kac is right I probably would loose sleep over it.. 

1 hour ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Ok, how many of them do  you think "ran to the police station to turn them in " ? 

Thanks for that in-depth reply Tom, it looks like you've really studied this dilemma.. It seems to me it's a case of both 'Finders Keepers' and 'Losers Weepers'.. Although I usually check with the local cops if anyone has lost the jewellery I've found, especially if it has names or initials on it..  

58 minutes ago, kac said:

If it has initials or a name on it I'll try to find the owner.

28 minutes ago, Hard Prospector said:

If present with obvious markings, I'll make an attempt to find the owner.

Thanks Kac and Hard Prospector, this has also been my policy..  

I've already posed this question on Jim from Idaho's post in relation to gold bars, but I'm curious about the general consensus among detectorists..

Is there a time period after which the 'finders keepers' rule applies?

I'm asking because I face this dilemma every time I find valuable jewellery (especially wedding rings) on the beach, whether to turn them in at the police station in case someone has reported them lost or to hang on to them and keeping quiet.. Value could not just be monetary but also sentimental..

Thanks for your feedback to a question I'm sure plagues the conscience of other detectorists as well.. 

Edit: just realised I've posted this on the wrong forum, it should be on the 'Metal detecting for jewellery' forum.. Not sure how to change it..  

5 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

According to legend, in a creek not too far from home, there are two gold bars from a stage robbery.

What happens when/if you recover the gold bars? Do you get to keep them? Or do you have to hand them back to the original owners? Is there a time period after which the 'finders keepers' rule applies? Just asking because I face this dilemma every time I find valuable jewellery or rings on the beach, whether to turn them in at the police station in case someone has reported them lost or to hang on to them and keeping quiet..  

This article caught my attention as I've also been on the receiving end.. 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/environmentalists-versus-bush-user-groups-veac-proposal/100096256 

3 hours ago, Tiftaaft said:

I spent a few hours yesterday with some Mano a Mano testing on the ML15 and the CT15

Thanks a million for the excellent feedback Tim.. I really appreciate it.. As I said I've been hesitating on buying the CT but from what you and others are reporting I get the feeling that it could provide a depth advantage, especially on the beach.. This is ultimately what I'm after on a patch I've called the 'Silver Mine' where the ML is getting as deep as it can possibly go and there could be more silver coins lurking below.. Again, thank you for your help in making up my mind..   

1 hour ago, oldmancoyote1 said:

Fire brick

not a meteorite? 😬

Sorry Steve, after your brilliant reaction to a similar post I just couldn't resist.. I fully agree with what you told the other punter.. 

This unusual specimen was once part of an ancient rock formation.. Any ideas what it could be? I'm guessing a meteorite.. 😬 

Thanks a lot Dances with Wolves and GB_Amateur.. Gerry's video is exactly what i was looking for, it answers my questions in great depth.. Thank you Gerry! 

4 hours ago, Tiftaaft said:

I will post my findings when I have some direct comparison results. 

Thanks a lot Tiftaaft.. I've been hesitating in buying one, they're expensive and I don't want to rush into it like I normally do.. 

Since the 15'' Coiltek coil for Equinox detectors has been out for a while, I'm wondering if there have been any meaningful comparisons? Especially regarding sensitivity and depth.. Any feedback would be much appreciated.. 😁

18 minutes ago, Valens Legacy said:

So why isn't the 800 on that list?

Good point! It would be interesting to see how it matches up with the other detectors on the chart seeing it's also a VLF detector like the Gold Monster.. Maybe Minelab doesn't consider it a true 'gold' detector but rather an all rounder.. 

1 hour ago, Jeff McClendon said:

The GPX 5000 got the short straw on that chart in my opinion since it is so versatile coil wise and settings wise.

I'm glad you said that Jeff, I bought a GPX 5000 just before the GPX 6000 was released and had come to believe that Minelab was breaking my heart on purpose! 

Why don't most of these detectors perform too great on 10 and 100 gram nuggets? This doesn't make much sense to me, I thought that on nuggets this size they'd be real screamers.. 

Just wondering if anyone has ever used this app and if it's any good (or just another gimmick).. The blurb says all you need to do is take a picture of the coin with your phone and the app will identify it and tell you all about it.. It would be very handy if it worked..  

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/coinoscope-visual-coin-search/id1329237590

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/apr/01/arabian-coins-found-in-us-may-unlock-17th-century-pirate-mystery 

1 hour ago, Stu said:

The British silver coins dropped to .500 in 1920 then no silver in 1947

We're lucky that Australian silver coins minted between 1910 and 1945 contain 92.5% pure silver (sterling silver), later dates until decimal coinage was introduced in 1966 contain 50% silver.. There are some parallels to British silver coins after WWII with Australian silver coins dropping to 50% just as yours did in 1920.. Who says history doesn't repeat itself? Most of my pre-decimal coins were found at a spot I've called the 'Silver Mine'.. It's on the edge of where a grassy embankment meets the beach.. every time there is a heavy downpour or a really high tide, a huge amount of water runs down from inland creeks as well as up from the sea, continually exposing silver coins.. 

3 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

What dTID's do these two read when separated? 

The coin was 25/26 and the little butterfly was 13.. normally i tend to avoid 13s as it's nearly always a aluminium pull tap..  

13 hours ago, AussieMatt said:

Easy to see how we could find ourselves in the wrong place without thorough research.

Thanks a lot for this AussieMatt..

The map I've shown is still used by Google and is on most tourist brochures.. even though my map showed old gold diggings outside of National Park borders, most of them are in some other sort of protected area.. for example 'The Dot' is within the Bolger Bay Conservation Area and the unnamed mine on the beach (bottom right on the map) is within a Marine Park.. Whilst the most obvious old digging outside National Park borders is in Horseshoe Bay, it is in the middle of a Skate Board Park (I'm joking).. 😁.. All this means there's very little wriggle room for prospecting on the island.. 

16 hours ago, Valens Legacy said:

I think I would be in the creeks and at the base of those ridges.

Good advice Valence Legacy! Some of the creeks from the old diggings flow into people's backyards or onto public beaches.. I've thought about beach panning/sluicing but am unsure about what can of worms I'd be opening in regards to regulations.. It's probably a hanging offence here in North Queensland (I'm joking).. 😁..