Erik Oostra

Just do it Mr. Legacy.. You'll never have to wonder no more.. Might turn out good, might turn out bad.. But at least you'll know.. You won't be laying on your death bed wondering if you could've made your fortune from detecting all those gold coins buried along the coast of the Mexican Gulf.. You'll truly 'rest in peace'.. 😁

Yes, swimming holes are often overlooked.. I try to work out where the locals swim when I'm in the Tablelands or the hills behind Cairns.. Some of these holes are really popular and overtime a huge amount of coins and jewellery gets dropped.. I've never seen any other detectorists at these spots.. Trick is to get in there before the wet season starts because most get flooded and the good stuff gets washed away.. Magnetic Island has a few little holes, one of which is really productive.. I think it's because it has a water fall and when people stand underneath their rings wash off.. There's two spots on the island where I find a lot of pre-decimal coins.. One I've called the 'Silver Mine' (although it's fast turning into a copper mine) and the other is along a beach where an old ice cream van used to stand in the 1940-50s.. The silver mine is at a spot where the island's first guest house was build during the early 1870s.. At this spot the coins date from the 1870s to the 1930s, which was around the time when other bays on the island build their own jetties.. Like you say Gerry, a bit of research can make a lot of difference in how successful you'll be..

Spot on Geoff, they scare the crap out of me too.. At school they used to teach us to 'look up and stay alive'.. I've included some pictures of a Drop Bear for our Yankee mates..

A feel good story about Pommy detectorists on a Ozzy beach.. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/jan/02/a-day-at-the-beach-a-haul-like-this-is-insanely-rare-it-does-feel-like-fate-i-suppose

Please let us know how you got on.. It'll be good if your headphones also have the voodoo..

During early mornings hunts I usually have the beach to myself, but during the school holidays people turn up well before sunrise.. I hate being a performing monkey and only a few people watching is enough for me to call it a day or find a more isolated beach.. The main thing I dread about being observed is people's curiosity, as inevitably someone will come over to ask if I've found any treasure.. It's not that I don't like people.. In fact I love them, their dropped coins are my bread and butter.. It's just that I can't stand people hovering over me expecting a treasure chest to be hauled out of the sand at any moment.. And what if I did? In these days of instant video my find would be all over the internet in seconds.. Yesterday morning I was wearing my headphones as the sea was up at the island's most popular bays.. It was then I discovered my headphones have magic powers.. Even though there were quite a few people on the beach already, they all gave me a very wide berth.. There was something about my headphones that prevented them from coming close.. The headphones were somehow activating the politeness part of people's brains causing them to respectfully stay out of my way, even when I found something.. It was only when I took them off at the end of the hunt that a lady came over to ask if I found any treasure.. Windy or not, for the rest of the school holidays I'll be wearing my magic headphones.. It's actually quite enjoyable to have people wait patiently until I'm done, especially to watch their faces drop when I show them a handful of rusty bottle tops.. 'Nah, no treasure today'.. 😮

You can also get good second hand VLF detectors on Ebay.. I've bought 3 Equinoxes from their 'used' section and they were all in good working order.. I know it's not the same as buying a PI, although I also bought a GPX 5000 on Ebay (but the seller only lived a 3 hour drive away so I was able to check it out}.. But what all these detectors had in common is that they'd only been used a couple of times.. The sellers had quickly lost enthusiasm for digging rubbish.. In every case the added extras like headphones were still wrapped in their original packaging.. It can sometimes also be a better way to go than buying a new detector online.. I bought a new Goldbug and it turned out to be a Chinese fake..

For those of you thinking about buying yourself a bigger coil for your Equinox, here's how big they are compared to a size 10 foot (see table below).. I find that measurements on paper (like 15x12'' or 15'' round) are hard to picture in my head without something to compare them to.. Hope this helps.. 🤪

The sea-kayak hire dude must have dropped his cash box on the beach yesterday.. The Nox was screaming away on 21/22 whilst every 17 was a 50 cents and 16 was 20 cents.. They're also rarely anything else.. But I love the sound of the goldies best.. This is not the first time he's dropped his cash box.. I asked him if the coins were his last time and he let me keep about $30 worth of change.. Fair enough too I reckon, his cash business roars along during the school holidays.. It's the season to spread the joy (and goldies).. 🙂

The Minelab 15x12 coil will always be my favourite, we just get on well.. This workhorse is nearly always attached to a Nox 600.. This is not to say the Coiltek 15 isn't any good, it punches just as deep and gets used on a Nox 800 when hunting our longer beaches.. Even though it's the same size lengthwise my brain thinks I'm covering more ground.. Maybe that's because I find it easier to swing for longer periods..

Thanks for the pardon Geoff.. by my reckoning I'm on my last one.. But in my defence can I get you to have another look at the picture of your bay.. You'll notice there's no one on the beach.. That's because I've warned all islanders off it and only let on tourist who are likely to drop their coins.. I'm only going for the low-hanging fruit.. The rest of the old silver coin hoard is yours.. 🙂

This map shows where these bays are located on the island.. XBase beach is at Rocky Bay..

Ours lose their gold shiny look really fast and become dull and tarnished looking.. once they get into the sea you've got to be real quick, they'll get a greeny corroded look within days..

It gets a lot of use alongside the ML 15x12.. As the photos show, I need large coils to cover a lot of ground.. And you're spot on: They'll be great attached to a Nox 900.. Hoover Time! 😁

Both our dollar coins are made of 92% copper, 6% aluminium and 2% nickel..

Unlike its real gold, Magnetic Island's gold coins are a replenishable resource.. They seem to sprout best during school holidays and tend to favour sunny beaches, particularly in the shade of palm trees.. Amazingly they also grow underwater, favouring the cooler deeper water at the back of bays.. I've got a hunch that gold coins are spread by feral animals, mainly humans.. These gold coins (Ozzy $1 and $2) were found during the week at my favourite hunting grounds ($65).. I've included some pictures of what these beaches look like.. Whilst they're never crowded, since the Corona virus has been eradicated they've been getting a steady stream of visitors again, even from overseas.. The beach in front of a backpackers called XBase and along Horseshoe Bay are the most productive as far as gold coins are concerned.. Both have pubs right on the beach.. Inside the shark nets at Horseshoe and Picnic Bays are also worth an early morning hunt at low tide.. Picnic Bay.. If your eyes make it that far, you'll see the corner of the shark net on the right.. XBase Beach.. Geoffrey Bay.. About halfway along this bay is the 'Silver Mine'.. A good spot amongst the trees for old silver coins and the odd bit of gold jewellery.. Alma Bay.. My home bay.. Arthur Bay.. Horseshoe Bay.. Radical Bay..

These are the best deals on the range of Equinoxes in Australia at the moment.. Since the release of the new bloods, the prices of the old bloods are still the same as they've always been.. I'm hoping that dealers will soon clear out their 600 and 800s to make room for the 700 and 900s.. Even if it takes a few more months, if I can pick up another Nox 800 for around $500 I'd jump on it..

I'm one of those thinking about upgrading from a Nox 800 to a Nox 900.. I know there are cheaper makes which also include features that I like (vibrating handle, waterproof to 5 metres, flashlight and extended target ID) but if I went that route I'd have to build up another coil collection.. I've got a whole range of Equinox and Coiltek coils to cover all my detecting needs.. I'm glad my old coils can be used on the new Equinoxes.. Another reason for an upgrade is that the Mongrel sits well outside what I can afford right now, and I'd be left with the same problem of having only one coil to start off with..

That's a great fix Bklein..

Maybe try this? 😁

Do you like it just as a pinpointer?

Here's a great interview with Minelab boss Peter Charlesworth.. He doesn't come across as a 'finance guru' but more as a clever electronics engineer with good business sense..

The ears on my 15x12'' coil for the Equinox have finally broken off.. I knew they were a weak point but I'm surprised at how long they lasted, nearly 3 years of daily grind on the beach and in the sea.. I'm really impressed with the old workhorse rather than disappointed.. I'll chalk it up to wear and tear.. 😕

I wouldn't up the ante too much too soon.. KISS for now (keep it simple stupid).. As has been suggested, take a good look around first.. Where would you bury gold bars? Are there any obvious markers like trees or stones? If the whole lot has been covered with topsoil it's still best to start with a metal detector first before bringing out the big guns, like sonar etc.. As mentioned above, I'd also recommend you get a hold of a GPX 4500 / 5000 with as large a coil as possible.. Then grid the whole show.. Take your time walking the grid and dig everything.. It'll take some doing but by the sounds of the tale so far it's well worth having a go.. I wish I was hunting for gold bars, it'd beat digging never-ending crap for very elusive gold rings.. 😗

My hunch is that he ended up at a place called XBase, a backpacker 'resort and bar' which often hosts live bands.. They had a DOOF DOOF party there on Friday night.. Maybe he had insider knowledge about all the revellers who drop their coins or lose their jewellery on the beach in front of the place.. I'll have a looksee early Monday morning to see if he missed anything.. 🙂