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LukeJMG1986

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  1. Thanks, An interesting read. It's hard to hammer down a specific answer on temperature, but what seemed to be universal from the various websites I looked at, was that any metal found in the cremated remains is removed, and usually recycled according to state guidelines. What I found intriguing was your idea of family member retiring remains in a body of water. This gold tooth was found by a decent size lake, and I wonder if some old miner was disposed of that way. It's really a shame the tooth can't talk. I should write a short story, and detail a skirmish between two lifelong buddies who leave their homes to go prospect during the gold rush, only to have their friendship severed by a large gold nugget they find by the lake. It will ultimately culminate in one prevailing over the other, killing him, and hiding the body, only for a metal detectorist to find a gold crown (which I'll have to reference in the earlier parts of the story) by that very lake over 100 years later.
  2. Oh no, Tim is a club member, and has rights to the claims. The guest pass he extended me was therefore legit. I apologize if that wasn't clear. I should also clarify that the gold crown I found was not on a claim. I was invited onto the claims as a guest, but it was awkward for various reasons, and I pretty much avoided it. I will hit the claims in search of relics, and gold jewelry more thoroughly when I've paid the membership fee, and I'm back in town next year.
  3. I actually looked into that to be sure. As it turns out, gold crowns don't survive cremation. Hypothetically a 24k gold crown could possibly survive the process, but gold crowns are alloyed with other metals due to the softness of gold. In this case I don't think it came from the ashes of a cremated person. It is definitely a mystery to me how it ended up there. Maybe a gold miner got robbed back in the day 🤷
  4. Honestly, and people may think it's crazy, but if I found a 1 oz piece of gold on their claim I'd donate it to their organization, since they own the claim. I was under the guest pass though, so I suppose that would make me entitled to the find, while remaining in good conscience. In that case I'd probably get a membership. Truly, I would have already gotten a membership, but the process is a bit dated. You have to use actual paper, like the stuff they make out of trees, and send it in the actual physical mail, with this thing called a "check"
  5. I actually do have a small digital scale. I haven't weighed it yet, but if I had to guess, I'd say 6-8 grams. Like the toy soldier, it's a weighty little tooth crown when you bounce it in the palm of your hand. Maybe I'll make a cool necklace out of it. I found a 14k chain at a tot-lot not too long ago. It would definitely make for a good talking piece 😁
  6. I believe so. From the research my wife's grandfather did, he said that back in the late 1800s, to early 1900s there were these molds you could buy, and pour your own lead soldier toy, and then paint it. It has a lot of weight to it for the size, almost like a bullet, which leads me to believe it could be lead, possibly one of the "make it yourself" toys grandpa was talking about.
  7. I was with my family on vacation in the Sierras in a town called Downieville. I brought my detector, but quickly found out almost every bit of the Yuba River is a claim. I met a guy in town they called "Too Tall Tim", and he told me to go ahead and tell the guys I was his guest. The local area was claimed by a group called Comstock. I didn't really want to detect the river, as I could see that the guest pass didn't fly with everyone. I tried to communicate that I was actually looking for dropped jewelry, or coins, and relics, but swinging an Equinox 800 with a small coil, had people doubting that truth. We took a day trip up to a place with two lakes, and plenty of swimming. I detected around the swimming area for a while, and besides clad change, came up with a small lead toy soldier. I decided to try around the edge of the second lake, and found this gold crown for a tooth. I was in Gold 1, Recovery Speed 7, Iron Bias 0, and manually ground balanced. It came up like an older pulltab between 16-18 on the VDI, and was only about an inch down. So I did find some gold, but it wasn't what I expected by a long shot. I showed Tim, and the other fellas in town, who were greatly amused that the guy who wasn't a prospector, came up with a bit of gold. I'll definitely be joining the club so I can do a little more searching around the river, and hopefully recover some more cool finds. I'd love to get into prospecting at some point, so a membership with them, as well as the GPAA may be a good start! I wonder how that crown ended up there without the tooth. It looks old, but I'm no expert on dental history.
  8. I'm honestly not all concerned about more power. I'm in mineralized soil, and end up running the Equinox pretty low in terms of gain. I look for coins, rings, and jewelry usually, so I am excited about that 2D target ID system. I would like to see what people say about it when it goes out to the public. Ill have to see if it makes enough improvement over the Equinox to justify forking over 1600$. I need a back up machine, and I'd like to stick with Minelab, but as of right now, it is big-time marketing, and hype IMO. I pre-ordered a video game once, and the marketing, and hype had me convinced it would be the greatest game ever; I should have waited for it to come out, and read the consumer reviews.
  9. I would assume wired headphones would be a must for underwater detecting. Bluetooth dosent work we'll underwater (if at all), so a wired option would make sense. I'm hoping I can use the same waterproof headphones I use for the equinox 🤞
  10. Hey, thanks guys. It was definitely one of the deepest items I've found, and has me curious about what else might be waiting to be found in the deeper part of the river. I need a good dry suit because unfortunately I get real cold real fast.
  11. I wish I'd have filmed it. I went to the river with my family this afternoon. I specifically picked a beach that I knew would be heavily populated, so I could do a little jewelry hunting, while the family enjoyed the water. The river was indeed VERY busy. I was making my way around the shoreline when a gentleman spoke up, and said he had lost a wedding band the week before. He said this mostly in jest. I asked him where exactly he lost it, and he pointed to the opposite end of the river (A deeper area, probably 6-8ft). I told him if I came across it I'd return it to him. I didn't really feal like being fully submerged; I get real cold, real fast. The knowledge that a ring was possibly just sitting there was too much to bear. I knew, what I was looking for (A large black tungsten ring), and I knew where to look. I made my way over to the deep end. The water was up to my neck, with a slow current. I put my equinox into Field 1. Im usually looking for gold jewelry, and run in Park 2. I figured Field 1 would sound off better on tungsten, but honestly wasn't completely sure. My first couple targets were trash (pulltabs, and metal flakes) My third, or fourth target came threw loud, with a 10-11 on the VDI. I knew 10-11 was exactly the number I was looking for (My previous tungsten rings have all came threw in that range). I took a deep breath, and went under. I had no goggles, but I had my pinpointer. I released all my breath underwater so I'd sink, and with my pinpointer under my right thumb, I began to grab handfuls of river bottom, waiting for the vibration to follow the pinpointer into my hand. This lets me know I have the target. The ring was only an inch or so, and it only took one attempt to get a handful of river bottom with the target inside. I surfaced, and stared at my hand, waiting for the ability to see what I had. There it was, a large black tungsten ring. I made my way back to the family, and asked the man's wife where her husband had gone "he went to the bathroom", she said. I told her, I found her husband's ring, and, victoriously held it up. The wife, and various onlookers were astonished. I was so excited, not only to get the target, but to be able to return it. I ran into the husband on the way to tell my wife, and let him know. It took a little bit to convince him, but I assured him I was serious. He told me it was a 700$ ring that he used in place of his nicer band while at work. He offered to pay, but I couldn't accept. I finally know the feeling of retrieving, and returning a wedding band, and it was just as good as finding a keeper.
  12. Update: I did a little testing, and found that when I hook up the 6in coil, it will signal if it bumps anything. If I shake the coil side to side, or up and down, it signals. I hooked up the default 11 in coil, and nothing. This leads me to believe that there must be some kind of malfunction with the 6in coil.
  13. I was just out at the river today, and this was happening with my 6 inch coil. It's would false on everything. It was even giving signals if I stopped, and pumped the coil like when you ground balance. It was especially pronounced in the water. I've had this detector 2 1/2 years or more, and it has never done this to this extent 🤷
  14. I'm up in Northern California as well. While still a novice, this has also been my experience. It's tough ground to learn on!
  15. I would have to agree on the 6 in. I like it in trashy parks, but the river is just too big of an area. I was thinking of picking up the coiltek 14"×9" to cover even more ground. For now, the equinox is what Ill be using. Honestly, I've only been detecting since 2020. I've been reading books, as well as these forums. I have found a decent amount of gold, but I'm never sure whether or not there is something I could be doing better. I have been going with a Park 2, custom 5 tone program, that I switched to 4 tones (all metal). One tone for ferrous -9 threw 0, one tone for lows 1-10, one for mids, and one for highs. I put the F2 at 0 and usually use 6 or 7 for a recovery speed. Today I ran those settings with a gain setting of no more than 5 out of 25 (25 being the max setting) I will have to look into the coil you mentioned, along with other detectors, once I've truly mastered the equinox, and have a firm understanding of exactly how everything works, when to adjust settings, and what settings to adjust in any given situation. I have enough rings and a bracelet from the last two years to probably afford the deus 2, but I'm hesitant to pull the trigger being as how I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of the the equinox, and the hobby itself. I appreciate you reply! This has been the only forum I bookmarked in my browser because of the guys on here, that are willing to answer questions, and provide a welcoming atmosphere for newcomers!
  16. Hey folks, I was reading this before my next shift, and was wondering, having only an equinox 800, and being solely focused on finding gold jewelry, or jewelry in general; What can I do to fine tune the equinox for the task? I primally hunt the river when it's toasty out, and parks if its cool out. I'm in Northern California where the soil can be moderate to hot. I have a 6in coil, and a standard 11in coil. I have played around with the settings, read books, and took advice from other detectorists. One man told me to run my sensitivity low, as to focus on the fresh drops. Any advice, especially with regards to what will cause that gold jewelry to stand out more, would be greatly appreciated. I love the forum, and hearing from you guys! - Luke
  17. I noticed something one day, while metal detecting the river here in Northern California. I was getting a reading of 11-12, and in-between it would drop to -1 or lower. I decided to dig it anyways, and it was a orange nickel. I was curious as to why it gave a ferrous response that made me question whether to dig it or not. I buried the nickel again, and started investigating which setting, if any, was causing the nickel to give a ferrous response, and I found that I had been running the F2 iron bias at 4. When I reduced it to 2, it gave ALMOST no ferrous response, and when I cut it to 0 the nickel read clean 11-12. I honestly haven't hunted with it on since. I don't think this would effect gold jewelry, which is what I'm after. I think the corrosion on the nickel was causing the iron bias to help it give the ferrous response. I'm still pretty new at this, and so I could be way off. The ground I hunt in is also very mineralized, and I wonder how much that can also contribute to a good item, giving an occasional ferrous response coupled in with the non-ferrous.
  18. I gotta get some waterproof headphones so I can bring the equinox down. I actually found all four of those in the water! I want to hit the spots the canoes flip
  19. Hahaha, I like that, I had roasted meat tonight 😕. It helped a hole lot with my lack of gold for the day. I have a great time wading through the water anyhow!
  20. I had never even heard of it! I thought PD950 was some type of European Hallmark for gold or silver. It's a neat metal, and beautiful to boot.
  21. My boys are 4 and 5. I tried letting them use my old Bounty Hunter Tracker VI but they a still a tad short lol. They will definitely be coming with me when they get a little taller. They already want to. Im trying to get my wife on board. Fingers crossed
  22. I will definitely post anything else I find. I just purchased a digital scale online to get an idea of the weight. The pallidium ring was definitely for a large man. It did give a little confidence boost, but even more so, unbridled joy.
  23. It was thrilling! I'm glad you liked the story, I enjoyed writing it. Now to remind myself that's not the norm lol
  24. Ya, lol shes itching for a nice lady ring. I was surprised they were all men's rings.
  25. I took my wife, and two young boys to the river for a couple hours this morning. I figured I'd bring my Detector, and get a couple hours of hunting in while the kids played. I have been hunting the rivers all week long. I possibly put in close to 30 hours, with very little success. I am learning the machine with each swing though. I was hunting in Park 2, knee deep in the water, a spillway at my back, and open river in front of me, with a strong current. My settings were default, except the Iron Bias was switched to F2 giving it a value of 6 automatically. I went with 50 tones, and periodically did a ground balance, increasing the number it settled on by 2 or 3. (I had heard this was a trick) My first target was an all to familiar aluminum piece, followed by a metal flake. I thought to myself, "That's ok, one of this holes will eventually surprise me. I only have two hours so I'll just dig away, and enjoy myself" I was right, my third dig was about 2 inches down, I saw the glimmer. I knew this was no beaver tail. I pulled the ring, and lifting it thought "wow, looks like silver" I scanned the inside, seing a hallmark my eyes immediately caught 14k. I stood up, and started walking towards my wife grinning ear to ear, almost deviously. It took her a minute to notice I looked odd with a smile like that, and asked what? I showed her, and she promptly made me stow it away, convinced I'd lose it I went on to pull three more rings, my next one being a MASSIVE Palladium wedding band (I had never heard of Palladium when I dug it) Each time I would approach my wife proclaiming yet another victory, and each time she would say "no, I don't believe you" and then I would show her. The next two were one Sterling Silver, and one Stainless Steel. I also found a total of 8 fishing lures, and a commemorative medallion for a 1988 space flight. This was by far the best day I've had medal detecting, and was a reminder of why the hobby was love at first dig for me. I know a 4 ring day is not gonna be a regular thing, so I'm chewing it slowly. I couldn't be happier with my first gold experience, and wanted to thank all of you on Detector Prospector for being so kind, and answering any questions I've had. I know I'll have many more, and the experience you guys bring to the table is quintessential to my learning this fine hobby. I wish you all the best of luck in your upcoming hunts. As always HH - Luke
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