matt

I was hoping that the new Fisher AQ Gold would be out soon to create some competition. Unlikely that it would really be comparable, but having another choice would be nice.

Thanks for posting that picture Steve. I just ordered waterproof headphones for my Equinox and will also get a mesh bag. Picked up some weight (4 pounds which was not enough to stay down diving without a wetsuit) and used the Nemo system for checking out the underwater creatures at a local dive spot. Thinking about using the Nemo system for detecting next trip also. When beach hunting at Thanksgiving, I hit a beach with no surf that's less than 4 feet deep for quite a ways out and lots of family activity. Just off the water line I detected and used my sand scoop and glad I did because most of the targets seemed to be really deep. Found several dollars in change but no jewelry. At Christmas I hit a beach with surf and snorkelers and found the silver chain and ring. Maybe that would be better suited for the type of hunting using fanning since the surf moves the sand around. Hundreds of people going in and out of the water all day every day. I recall a post from you quite some time ago that you prefer to work in chest deep water? That was a great post about your trip to Hawaii and you found quite a few rings.

I like the video. Being a beginner beach hunter it gives me a good idea of how to hunt in the shallow surf with my equinox. Anybody have a favorite finds bag for this type of detecting?

Now if only the price point were similar compared to the Equinox and started at $3,000 US...It would sell like the Equinox.

Fantastic! Congrats and hope you find more!

Great find! Especially for taking a break from relic hunting.

What a fantastic find! Congrats to the finder. I might have missed the weight of it? Brings back memories of my find. Not quite as big I don't think, but still over an ounce (just under 2 ounces actually!) of folded up leaf gold. I found several ounces of smaller pieces over the years. This find was actually on the cover of the ICMJ around 10 years ago (July 2011 issue). It was very deep as well. As soon as I hit a layer of undisturbed cobble, I figured I was onto a nugget. I'm pretty sure it was around 20" deep. The overload of the coil had me thinking it was a multi pounder as many had been found in the area. Found with a GPX5000 and (If I remember correctly) Nuggetfinder 9x13 coil.

I hope you are correct. If so, I'll buy one. If not I'll keep the GPX5000 until I can find more time to get out and prospect.

Hope you get well soon.

Congrats on finding some hard to find old coins!

Thanks for the comment! Sun is coming up and I think it's time to try for more. Good luck out there!

Thanks! Finding a chain dangling from my scoop was unexpected! I'll always remember that feeling and hope it happens again. Good luck out there!

Great finds! Since you didn't post a picture of the marbles, what are they made out of? I found a few on a burned down school site a couple years ago and they look like ceramic.

Incredible find! Congrats on figuring out what it is.

My wife really wanted to go to snorkeling at the beach today, but I have a landscape project to get started so I didn't want to go. She convinced the kids and I to go so off we went to a very popular spot in Maui. We went a little later in the morning so there were quite a lot of people already out there. I'm not one to care what other people think so I started detecting. There was a spot where the tide had washed out the sand a foot or so and that's where I focused on. Several curious people asked me if I found anything and only 30 minutes into the hunt I had a few coins. A father and son were very interested as I dug up a cent coin and I said I knew it probably was because it was a 20 on the target ID on the Nox 600. Sure enough it was. Now I am just learning to beach detect after being an avid nugget hunter for over 20 years. The father and son watched for a few minutes and I had another target. It was an 8 and I said probably not a coin, but a hair pin because I had dug one up a few minutes prior to them watching me and it was an 8. To my surprise hanging half out of my scoop was a balled up necklace! It was silver in color and turned out to be 925 Italy! It measure 26 inches long! A few targets later I got a tiny little silver ring, also 925 and has a couple tiny stones. Turned out the ring has cz also stamped in it so probably cubic zarconia. For an hour and a half hunt I ended up with the necklace, ring, fake gold ear ring, 7 cents, 3 nickels, 1 dime, and 1 quarter, 2 hair pins and 1 pull tab. I found another quarter but must have dropped it. I would have hunted a little longer but there were just too many people by 11:00 and I was almost getting hit by people on boogie boards since the tide was coming in. Going to try and get back out at sun up to another popular beach tomorrow! The beach next to my house doesn't get waves and surf so I probably won't go there. I hunted it at Thanksgiving and only got a few dollars in change from the dry sand area where people put there towels out.

Fantastic pieces Norm! +1 for Steve being a stand up honest guy. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him for several years and would like to get out and prospect with him. What a great reminder to touch base with him.

Bad A$$!!!

What a fantastic year of incredible finds. Your post is motivation for a nugget hunter turned beach hunter! Thanks for the post. I'll be hunting the beaches in Maui in a week with the Nox. Last trip at Thanksgiving only gave up clad, but this time I hope for gold!

Keene Engineering that makes prospecting equipment makes a nice hookah system hydro air for around $1500.

It's too bad so many don't follow this advice or seem to forget it when the gold is good...

Great find! My daughter would love it!

Fantastic finds! Thanks for sharing! The big gold nugget is an epic find!

Nice!

Things like this happen all the time. It hurts, but try to remember that it's only a hobby. At least for most of us. People have different values. You find those values out pretty quickly. I once took a prospector (he is an active member of this forum) to a spot that was "open" ground, but this spot was new to him and he had never been shown the ropes or been there before. I showed him some places (exact spots) that I had found nuggets before and let him hunt that area. We hunted all day. I spent my time hunting a nearby area and found several nuggets. Showed him my finds and the holes they came from never expecting him to go back without me since he had never been to this spot before. He emailed me a few days later to show me all the nuggets he had found when he went back...Just goes to show that people have different values. I assumed that he wouldn't do that because I would never do that. He didn't even think that he had done anything wrong and probably still doesn't. Life is short, don't stress about material things. Have fun and always remember karma. Next trip out you will probably find your best find of the year! If not, you spent a great day at the beach or gold field. There's always tomorrow.

At least you can get out and hunt! Hope the next one is the real deal.