Glenn in CO

This year has been a lot of ups and downs in getting some detecting in for coins, relics and gold nuggets. With the pandemic, restrictions placed by the pandemic, fires, detector coils issues and finally my father passing at the end of July made it hard to get some serious detecting outings in. Luckily the local parks are still giving up a few old coins. We made a trip to the mountains before my father passed and did some relic hunting at an old mining camp and found a few tokens and relics. At least it rain a little bit every day to make the smoke from the fires more bearable. Finally we were able to get a trip in to do some nugget hunting. I and my wife arrived at our camping spot on a late Monday afternoon. We decided to have an early dinner and then do some scouting around the area that we hunt deciding on which areas we wanted to hunt first the following day. Finishing up dinner, I went out to get the UTV ready and a young woman drives up on a ATV to our camping area requesting help with her father-in-law who just rolled an ATV. It was about a five minute ride from where we were camped where the accident occurred. Her father-in-law had been unconscious for couple of minutes but was now sitting up in the middle of the road asking the same questions over and over every thirty seconds. He had some cuts to his forehead and road rash on his back and legs. I looked over to where the ATV was parked and it looked like it faired pretty well. Then I looked down beside the ATV and there was his helmet in three different pieces. He was in a lot of pain and didn’t want to get up or move around. I suggested that we not to try and move him and contact search and rescue to help. Unfortunately there is no cell service for miles in that area, so the daughter-in-law and I take off to try to find some help. There is a sand and gravel operation near where we were camped and thought there might be someone around that could help. It was early evening and several vehicles and equipment were scattered around, but no one working out in the equipment yard. We drove up to one of the cabins and luckily someone was home and had a landline to make a call. The whole ordeal took search and rescue about two and half hours to get in and get him out, but they felt he was going to be ok. The strangest thing to come out of this accident was he was driving the ATV at a high rate of speed over washouts across the road and catching air for thrills and they video it on their camera for all to see and remember. Well 2020 mark thirty years of metal detecting for gold specimens in this area, adding a few years more before that using sluices, high-bankers and gold pans. Every year we have come away with some gold. On this trip our first day both I and my wife got skunked. Second day my wife decided to stay back at camp and recoup from hiking and detecting at 11,000 ft. I was lucky and found one within forty-five minutes and glad as I didn’t want to go home skunked. That was the only nugget I found that day. Third day I hunted three hours before the smoke from the fires was expected to roll in and I ended up not find any. It’s a small one and happy to have found it as the odds were stacking up against me of getting any gold this year. Here are pictures of the gold before cleaning with a little limonite on the front and back side of the specimen and then I used a little acid to remove the limonite.

Yes I've been in that same situation. Not only losing stuff while prospecting, but forgetting something while gearing up and realizing I don't have and just accept it's going to be a long hike back to the truck or UTV. I guess the upside is all the great exercise you get for doing something dumb!😁 Nice chunky gold you got there!

Very nice haul!. Thanks for sharing and saving some history.

Very nice haul, I love that northern Nevada gold. Thanks for sharing!👍

In this video this lawyer claims that this person who found a 9 cwt diamond in Arkansas is responsible for paying taxes whether he sells it or not. Then he goes on and claims anything a person would find, they would pay tax on it if they sell or not. My understanding when it comes to gold (nuggets, specimens, coins, etc.) it is not taxable until you sell it. I'm not sure about other items one might find that are valuable. What's you opinion?

One of our metal detecting club member has a Aliner trailer and loves it. He has solar panels to keep his battery charged and has a generator if he needs to run his air conditioner. I think this type of setup is better than sleeping in a tent or in your vehicle. I and my wife have stayed at the Meadview RV Park and jasong is right about meeting prospectors from all over the country. The rates seems reasonable too. When we are out in boonies and not sure about theft will occur I have vinyl coated cables with padlocks that I run through the trailer wheels, axles and leaf springs, plus have a ball hitch lock. Also I setup a trail camera if someone is coming around while we are gone. Good to see you getting out again. Good Luck!

Enjoyed the articles and books Karl Von Mueller and H.Glenn Carson had published that inspired me to metal detect, prospect and search for treasure. I was fortunate to meet them both in the 1980's.

Here is a view on the Forrest Fenn treasure from a lawyer who also metal detects. His name is Steve Lehto and has some entertaining and informative views and opinions on just about everything https://youtu.be/5LxipSblIjo

I'm sure you will have many stories to tell. Is it a five year NDA?

I would say your 10" coil is bad based on your other two coils are working fine.

For the deep coins (silver, Indian Head, wheats, etc.) I use the White's TDI and only dig the deep signals. XP Deus, Makro-Nokta Kruzer for the shallower coins, jewelry and relics. Sometimes White's V3i for coins and jewelry.

Thanks for information, this is what the backside looks like. It looks like it was solder to something or maybe a pin.

I believe crucibles are made of ceramic or some type of porcelain so they withstand high temperatures. This time I was using a Nokta-Makro Kruzer with a 5" coil and XP Deus with a 9" HF coil. Very heavy iron laden site. Quarter for scale. No that is part of an oil lamp where you can adjust the wick. Thimbles are very common out here, in fact a detecting buddy found a sterling one yesterday at a local park that had cherubs on it. Here is a closeup of one the items in the main picture and I'm not sure what it is or what it was use for.

A few finds from a recent detecting trip to a Colorado ghost town/mining camp. Found a token, brooch with a stone, numbered tag, ring, thimble, brass lock, crucible, marbles, buttons and the regular ghost town finds, some you can identify, others still trying to figure what they are. Some of the items the ground was not to kind to. The Joseph Golob "Good For a 5 Cent Drink" token was one of the items that didn't fair to well in the ground. According to the Leadville City Business Directory, Golob had a saloon in 1889-1892 and in 1895 at 101 Harrison Street. The last information I could find on another token like this was on ebay and sold for $72.50, but it was in a lot nicer shape. The item I found interesting was a assay crucible that was manufactured in England. It was manufactured by the Morgan Crucible Company in Battersea, England. I also believe I found a lead button that was from assaying not far from where I found the crucible.

Reg Sniff passed away yesterday, Reg was involved with the development of the White's TDI. RIP Reg and prayers for his family.

I and my wife have been metal detecting and prospecting since the mid-1970's. During that time we have experienced frustration with the hobby especially when first starting out. I believe everyone in this hobby has experienced this one time or another. You begin to question do I have the best or right detector? Why do my friends, club members or other people always find better coins, relics, etc. than I do. You can make the mistake sometimes by not giving enough time with the current detector you have and learning what the functions do and what the best settings to use. This hobby takes time to learn how to get the right settings for your detector and how to use it, research for better productive sites and eventually your confidence level will increase to where you are enjoying metal detecting. Listen to podcasts, read forums or other sources of information on metal detecting and you better finds will increase. If you are a newbie or seasoned detectorist there is always something new to learn about this hobby and that's just one of the many things I enjoy about this hobby. I hope you stick with it.

https://buckrail.com/forrest-fenn-i-hid-my-treasure-in-wyoming/?fbclid=IwAR0uGH0OIPXAXfDrOhnAZO_4Wrz1AETWFnEUfWk_ue6-qQrOgveK0UEJfIY

Steve, it was great to see some of of your great finds both big and small and reflect on how you found them. In my opinion you continually inspire people on this forum and give them the knowledge to achieve great results whatever they may be searching for with a metal detector. Thanks again for a great forum and allowing the new and experienced a place to share adventures, ideas, finds and the latest technology. If And has more interviews coming up it would be great to have a separate category for them.

Great finds! Amazing the different type of finds in the water. Keep the videos coming and thanks for sharing!

Some of my best nugget hunting adventures have turned out that way! Can't complain about the results. Very nice specimen.👍

You don't, just use a glove and pull as much trash off as you can. I always have some amount of iron filings stuck to the magnet. Sorry to hear what happen to your 800.

Very nice specimens and a great way to celebrate the fourth! Didn't get to do any nugget hunting over the fourth, still waiting for a couple coils to be repaired, hopefully I get them back before the season is over.

I didn't know the made different varieties. When you find something like that or a relic, I always wonder who that person was, what were they doing, thinking at that time. That's what makes this hobby so great.

Nice relic finds, especially the 1863 CW Patriotic token with "Army and Navy". Found one here in Colorado at a Civil War era fort and the back reads " The Federal Union It Must and Shall Be Preserved".

This doesn't look good. I'm glad I'm not a dealer anymore because the existing dealers and distributors are going to take the brunt of this and be dealing with angry customers wanting answers. Hopefully they will get this all ironed out and keep what's left of there good name intact.