Tom_in_CA

Nice !

The trick to finding gold rings is not to "dig pulltabs till your arms fall off". It is ALREADY A GIVEN that tabs & gold rings read in the similar TID range. So instead, the trick to finding more gold rings & less aluminum is : Location location location. Why oh why oh why does any md'rs go to blighted junky parks (where the ratios are punishing) looking for gold rings ? Instead you ought to be going to where the ratios aren't as bad. Namely : Swim beaches. Heck, I've been on ocean erosion (where mother nature takes away all the light stuff) where there is ZERO aluminum. And she leaves only coins, fishing sinkers, keys, jewelry, etc.... And have found multiple gold rings without a single tab or aluminum item. And if you have utterly no choice other than to hunt land sites, there are better types land sites/turf : Sports usage, as opposed to picnic usage. Because the moment you add "picnics" and "eating", is the moment you're adding foil and tabs. And the moment you add BBQ & bonfires, is the moment you add molten aluminum nuggets. Another land site that's better ratios is if you're near snow ski lift lines (in the spring & summer thaw). Because of people taking off their mittens while waiting in the ski lift lines (tugs at rings on fingers).

If you ask me, I'd find better place to hunt. That's just too junky for my blood. The sites that are much more fun, are the sites where a stage stop (or fort, or picnic site, or whatever) closed down/vacated by 1900, and no human has set foot there since. Yeah Yeah, I'm spoiled rotten. Doh ! But if I were hunting that , seeing as how it only date to the 1910s, I'd crank the discrimination and cherry pick for only high conductors. Yup, kiss nickels and gold rings goodbye. But .... that's just me.

Awesome !! How many gold coins total does this make for your career now ?

deathray is right : What is often called "Chinese cash coin". They came over with the Chinese coolies by the barrel full during the Gold Rush, and RR building days. Heck, they even came over before all that, during west coast colonial times since they were simply foreign coins that passing ships had. We've found them in CA coastal mission-era sites where there was no more human influence after 1840 -ish.

I never argue with IH's

Great pictures. Those type bayonets can be bought in military surplus stores.

Good pictures. Thanx for sharing.

Yup. When I read the O.P.'s post, I thought : "Hey ! Cal_Cobra and I did that too !". But you beat me to the draw. 😜 Yes, it has come in handy on some sites. And a few nice coins can be attributed to it. I used it a week ago as matter of fact, where a lady thought she might have lost her ring in some deep grassy iceplant. 10 minutes with that thing allowed me to get my coil closer to the ground (but her ring wasn't there durnit ).

Try the device on a myriad of locations where you are relatively certain that no "fabulous treasures" are. And see if you simply get similar blotches elsewhere, that mean nothing.

Good write-up

Fun little story. Thanx for bringing us along.

The good news is, that you are now ~ $3.50 richer, and that you are loved ! 😍

Great story. I love crawling around under the crawl-spaces of old buildings. It's amazing what could slip through drip grates and vents and so forth in-the-old-days.

I dunno, but I like it !

Good pictures. Nice history.

Yes, there are a few dates where the Philly is actually the better numismatic choice. Granted. But all in all, S and CC tends to be the better ones. Hey, you gotta allow us some consolation. You guys east of the Mississippi have Large cents in every sand box, so ... this is our one consolation 😂

Ah, it took you a little while to chime in Brian. Glad we can all see your buckle. Dated to 1875-1885, via our subsequent research. And : The late 1870s fits nicely with our known history of the site (when it went vacant). My wrap-up was in this post : https://metaldetectingforum.com/index.php?threads/rare-az-token-found-half-dime-buckle-etc.302407/

I see others beat me to the punch. Yes, it's the highly coveted N.Y.L. button. And as caprock points out, one of their bivwac assignment locations was Monterey, CA (where I live) I've found 2 so far. And I've seen 3 or 4 others found by buddies in this coastal CA area. And they get found in G.R. sites , and are highly prized. They were only here in Monterey for a short time , before the gold rush broke out, and they all headed to the gold rush 🙂 Not sure of a value, but way-back-when, when I had found one, was offered something on the order of $300 for it, if I recall. Others have been found since then, so I'm not sure of what current collector demand ($$) would be. But just that : They are a niche-unto themselves to find, amongst button enthusiasts and CA history buffs. Congratz !

Thanx Doc. How many Phoenix buttons total have you found in your career ? And : Are you at liberty to say what type site you found that in ? And was that in CA or OR ? Near the Columbia River perhaps ??

Wow, a Phoenix button ! And a very rare one at that. Here's a rarity chart I wrote. Yours is a Type 1 Style 2 And although you don't have anything in your picture for size, yet it appears to be a large. Right ? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rX9XFCFw-SKRiUFZfdtzFg7GIjUwzoJJ/view?ts=6182e46f As you can see, yours is amongst the rarest. An easy $300 to $500 to the right buyer (although there's not a lot of collector / buyers out there these days, last I looked). Are you at liberty to say what type of site this came out of ? And : How many total P.B.'s in your career so far ?

You are now a member of the exclusive & elite "wheatie" club. Next month it will be a merc. Then a few more months till a barber. Then a seated, etc... Bucket listers will fly past ! Within 2 yrs : Any gold coin newer than 1850 will bore you to tears ! 😉

great pix. Welcome.

That is an amazing find. I've never got larger than a 4 reale. An 8 reale is still on my wish-list. Green with envy !!

Good show ! Love those key date S mints that show up on our west coast 🙂