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How many crabs have you dug up using your Nox? I've dug up 4 of those toe pinching speckled crabs so far. lol

Well I made it to the coast on Friday on the last day of the storms in my area. Winds were 22 MPH and the waves were huge. How those guys could para surf is beyond me. I found a fair amount of very green clad and wheat pennies. Got one Buffalo nickel too. I was not able to get to the low part of the beach since the low tide was not very low, and the surges were very unpredictable. I used the Equinox exclusively and got hammer many times by those rouge waves 😄 The GPX stayed dry in the car! Even though I know the gold was out of range, I still got a decent amount of silver and an earring that may have a gold post, if you can count that as gold 🤔 Was a fun day out and I made sure I had glasses on all day. I did not need my eyeballs dried out and sand blasted.

After finding a decent amount of silver on my favorite beach the other day, I had to get out there again. A storm had just passed and I wanted to see if the silver continued in my new area. I had a lot of competition, with 8 other detectorists. But they were all hitting an exposed area like piranhas 😄. I was alone in my area. I used the GPX for this section because I needed the extra depth. I wasn't expecting this good of a day. A total of 34 silver coins, a silver chain, a silver religious medal and a nice 14K gold and ice? cross. I can never seem to get a good shot of anything that sparkles with my waterproof camera. 137 coins for the day. My copper to zinc penny ratio was threw the roof at 62 copper to 2 zinc. That is what a good storm does for you 😊 I won't be able to get back until next week, but I'm hoping I can start where I left off. Fingers crossed.

Hey guys, I have never beach hunted or hunted for coins/relics/jewelry. I have only hunted for gold nuggets. We are heading to Maui and my son wants to metal detect the beach where we are staying. I have a new in the box Equinox 800. I don't have anything other than my nugget hunting gear. It looks like I should pick up one of those beach scoop things with a long handle. Is there anything else I should get? Any tips on beach hunting? Thanks for any advise and yes I will start searching the forum and youtube for other threads on beach hunting basics. Can't remember if the Nox is waterproof?

I am an avid metal detector user and I like always being at it. Just because there is no gold prospecting for me in a given time frame is no reason to not go metal detecting for gold. There are a lot more ways to find gold than prospecting, and so jewelry detecting is very high on my list. If you like finding a gold nugget, I do not see how you could not also be excited about digging up a gold ring. Jewelry detecting and nugget detecting share many common traits, not least being the hunt for gold. Both also require a high tolerance for digging trash items, and both are best done with detectors made for the purpose. It just so happens that the detectors best used for nugget detecting are often the best to use for jewelry detecting. In other words, a lot of you guys are already outfitted for this! There are two general ways to hunt for jewelry - on dry land, or in and around water. Let's leave the dry land for another article and focus on the water detecting for now, since I am gearing up for a water hunt myself right now. Almost any detector, with the remarkable exception of the most expensive one you can buy, comes with waterproof coils and can be submerged to the control box. Minelab PI stock coils are not warranted waterproof but only water resistant so it takes aftermarket coils to get them up to speed. But they are a poor choice for wading as there is probably no machine I would like dropping in the water less than a Minelab GPX 5000 with high amp battery attached. Detectors that can be hip or chest mounted offer even more flexibility for wading applications. Few nugget detectors are fully submersible, but there are some, most notably the Garrett AT Gold, Infinium and ATX, all waterproof models. Jan 2019 note: see also Makro Gold Kruzer and Equinox 800. Water detecting can be broken down into fresh water and salt water detecting. Fresh water detecting is pretty straight forward since fresh water is invisible to your detector. The tuning and operation of the detector is similar to what you do on dry land. All you have to worry about is keeping the electronics dry, and recovering targets underwater. Fresh water swimming holes are great for jewelry detecting, and there are many fresh water stream and river opportunities for gold prospectors. Any good gold prospecting detector also works well for freshwater beach hunting. The Garrett AT Gold has an obvious edge for being waterproof. The Tesoro Lobo gets special mention for being convertible to hip or chest mount. In fresh water VLF detectors usually have an edge due to large amounts of trash often being present but PI detectors do have their place in fresh water detecting. The only way to know is to just give it a go and see how much trash there is. The nice thing about beaches though is the digging is easy compared to what nugget hunters often face. Salt water adds a whole new dimension. Salt water is conductive, and therefore a hot metal detector can actually get a signal from salt water or wet salt sand. Many prospectors already know the issues surrounding salt and alkali flats. Detectors that are used in salt water need some way to tune out the salt signal. The problem is even worse on beaches that have mineral content, classic black sand beaches. A white beach composed of broken down coral and shells is no problem at all, but add volcanic material and the issues compound. Most prospectors would not be surprised to hear that pulse induction (PI) detectors have an edge in dealing with salt water scenarios. There is an unsolvable conundrum however. The signal for salt water and small gold items, like post earrings or thin gold chains, actually overlaps. When you tune out the salt water, you tune out these items also. There is no solution to this problem with existing metal detectors because of the way they work. It is possible to find these items at the beach using a hot detector, like a White’s Goldmaster or Fisher Gold Bug 2, but you must be on bone dry sand. Any attempt to get near wet salt sand with these units will result in the sand acting like one giant target. Most mid-frequency gold machines handle salt water beaches to varying degrees. They will generally have no problem until you get on sand currently seeing wave action or actually in the water. The higher the frequency, the less able to handle wet salt sand. The Fisher Gold Bug Pro at 19 kHz and Garrett AT Gold at 18 kHz are not happy on wet salt sand. They can be made to function but only by losing a lot of depth. The Tesoro Lobo has an alkali setting and White’s MX Sport a salt setting specifically designed to handle wet salt sand. In general though these detectors will all work better higher on the beach and have an edge on small rings, earrings, and chains that other beach hunting machines tend to miss. The Minelab Eureka Gold and X-Terra 705 have low frequency options that make them well suited for beach hunting. The Eureka can be hip or chest mounted, but be aware the stock coil is another that Minelab does not warranty as waterproof. The PI detectors fare better, the Garrett Infinium and new ATX having an edge again for being waterproof designs. The White’s TDI and Minelab series do well but must be kept dry. The TDI models except the TDI SL have an advantage in being convertible to hip or chest mount. Be aware that turning off or not using a ground balance system can often add extra depth with a PI on white sand beaches. The TDI and GPX 5000 can turn off the ground balance setting, and the factory default on the ATX before ground balancing offer possibilities on low mineral beaches. For 2019 see the new White's TDI BeachHunter. For serious salt water beach detecting hunters turn to detectors not normally used for prospecting. Ironically, this is because the general lack of sensitivity that makes prospectors eschew these models makes them ideal for salt water. Multi-frequency VLF detectors are not very good prospecting machines but they excel in salt water. Two detectors that vie neck and neck in the salt water VLF market are the Fisher CZ-21 and Minelab Excalibur. On the PI side the Garrett Sea Hunter, Tesoro Sand Shark and White’s Surf PI are the three popular models. Minelab Excalibur II waterproof metal detector There are lots of options but if you ever want a specialized waterproof detector for both fresh and salt water and want to make a safe choice, get a Minelab Excalibur. It is probably the most popular water detector made and for good reason. It gets the job done with minimum fuss and will work well anywhere. I am a PI guy myself however. I have used the Garrett Infinium extensively trying to deal with salt water and volcanic sand and hot rock conditions in Hawaii. I have had success with the model but it is difficult to deal with, suffering from an inability to ground balance into the salt range and susceptibility to EMI interference. Huge numbers of posts exist on how to try and get an Infinium to behave in salt water. The new ATX has taken steps to address these issues but the jury is out there yet. I will be giving the ATX a good go in Hawaii soon. My latest water detector is a White's Surf PI Dual Field to back up the ATX. I have had good luck in the past with the White's Surf PI models and recommend them for people interested in a waterproof beach PI. Again, a simple unit that gets the job done, and at a bargain price. Where to hunt can fill a book, but really boils down to two things. The first is that the best finds will be made where people who wear quality jewelry congregate and engage in some kind of physical activity. On fresh water beaches where items get dropped is generally where they stay. The second item comes into play more often on salt water beaches. The waves and seasons concentrate items on layers, much like placer deposits. They sometimes bury the items too deep to find, and at other times expose them for easy recovery. Beach watching can teach you a lot. There is the towel line, where people set up shop for the day. Lots of items get lost here. Then there are the places where people tend to play beach sports, like Frisbee or volleyball. Best of all, are areas in the water where people congregate, with areas where people can actually stand on the bottom being best. Items dropped in sand obviously sink over time, but hard sand will resist this longest and keep the targets close to the surface longer. Extremely soft sand swallows items quickly and is not a good place to hunt. Areas where the sand tapers into a hard rock or coral bottom can be very good when the overlying sand is shallow enough to reach that hard layer with a detector. Beach detecting is very popular, but beach hunters have on tremendous advantage over prospectors. The finds are being constantly replenished. There is no beach, no matter how heavily hunted, that does not have the potential for finds. The more activity there is the more items are lost in a given period of time. The finds made by beach hunters can rival the best made by prospectors, as not many gold nuggets come with diamonds attached. I know for many prospectors it is about getting out into the middle of nowhere and away from the crowds. Beach hunting is not for everyone. But you can hunt early in the morning or even on rainy days, when people are few and far between. As more and more areas accessible to prospectors get hunted out, it is possible other places are near to you where gold may be easier to find. If you have a detector already you certainly have nothing to lose by giving it a go. Hopefully this post has at least made you consider the possibility. As always, volumes more information can be found just by Googling “beach detecting forum”. Here is an example of a hunt at White's Surf PI Pro and Platinum Rings in Hawaii I got four platinum and three gold rings over a couple week period. One of the gold rings is white gold so it looks like only two gold. All fairly plain men's bands reflecting the rough surf area I was hunting. There is a picture of everything I dug at the link including the junk. All the platinum I have ever found was rings, and when platinum peaked at over $2000 an ounce I cashed in over two ounces of platinum. Another very successful hunt was Detecting Gold in Hawaii with the Garrett Infinium Please note that unlike my prospecting outings I do not spend every hour of every day in Hawaii detecting. These finds are being made hunting on an average of two or three hours a day. I am not one to just sit around so detecting keeps me busy. And a good vacation can be paid for in finds or at least subsidized with some hard work and a little bit of luck. Waterproof VLF Detector Comparison Guide Some gold and platinum finds made by Steve in Hawaii

In my signature, I wrote that our challenge is : Big Beach, Little Coil, Tiny Targets. Just as an amusing exercise, I thought I'd see what that looks like in terms of square inches. 1 square mile of beach = 4,014,490,000 square inches Standard 11 inch coil = 95 square inches a good target = 1 square inch...maybe Given that reality, I think it's amazing we find what we do! Of course you can reduce that beach area with careful beach reading skills but you get the point! Big Beach, Little Coil, Tiny Targets.😁

I spent the afternoon at a beach that likes a NW swell. It kinda pushes everything up and out if the waves are under 10 second intervals. I found 10 'hoops' for the afternoon but I worked a bit over 4 hours to get them. One set of hoops is a pair. In addition to the hoops I dug 108 coins and 4 rings. One ring is a 6g .925 that looks a bit like a nail made into a ring. Some of the targets were in the tops of the 3-5 ft waves I was walking in. It was getting near sunset so I had to cut the trip a little short and cherry pick to get my car before it got a ticket.

On Monday morning i went to my best beaches early in the morning , the tide was in but going out and the tides are short at the moment . I didn't expect much . I started to detect and found a few coins here and there , it was enough just to wet my appetite so i kept going . I got to a groin and entered the next beach which i knew would be a lot quieter , i found a few coins and then with my ET i got a target reading 12 19 . I am always suspicious of that number and this time proved why . I dug down and out popped a nice 18 k 5.9 g Gold Signet ring , by this time the tide was showing that the beaches had scuffed out quite a bit . So i searched below the cut and down to the waters edge , i carried on till i reached 2 wooden groins and after that turned round and started back . At that point i found a Silver ring and after talking to a person who saw me and talking about detecting i carried on . Then i saw another Detectorist and we talked for a while . When we parted i found another thin Silver ring and not long after that a bit of Silver from what might be a Chain . Further along i found another Silver Signet ring then a heart shaped locket which broke when i tried to open it . When i reached the area i started i stopped and went to the Bank to pay in my last Months finds then got the Bus home . I stayed on the beach for 4 and a half hours and found the Gold ring , 3 Silver rings , the bit of chain pendent , the Locket and 95 Euro Cents , 2 small other foreign coins and £35.17 p in change which i have cleaned and will Bank next Month. My next hunt will be next Tuesday morning or Friday next week . I might take the Nox but that depends on the conditions and the weather . I get so much more from the target info on the ET and it is easier . But if the beach in the right state i will take the Nox and give V 2 a go .

This morning I woke up with a start of a cold and nearly didn't get up . I had updated my Nox to the 1.7.5 and wanted to give it a try . I was going to take my ET but as it was raining I thought better not . So at around 7.45 am I got a Bus to the beach and when I got there the tide was in and it was rough . I had other things to do so I did them and at about 11 am I got to the beach and started to detect. I immediately got my feet wet . So my cold will be double Man Flu by morning tomorrow LOL. I started to find a slow but steady trail of coins below a cut and I covered about a mile then turned around and went back in case . I found on the way back 3 rings together . I think its a Russian design . Found a Gold one a few years ago . This one I think is Silver but I need to get it checked. After finishing the beaches where I searched , I went to another beach to the East and a few more coins came up , but not many . I found a US Dime and another large coin of some sort with a hole in it . And a 50 Euro Cent . After walking another mile and feeling knackered I went to a shop and bought some food and headed home . My total was £32.77p , the ring and the 3 foreign coins . I found out about the version 2 update so that's been done now for next time. Most of the time I use my ET , its easier for the beach . I just know the targets better . But the Nox has its place and did well today. I wont be out till the end of next week now . Its going to be wet most of the time and I am working anyway . Also today I reached a target I was aiming for the year £1400 so I will pay a donation of £200 to Cancer research at the end of next week . Total coinage for the year so far is £1425 and Pence. Way down on years gone by but its now getting pretty cashless out there and in a few years it will be baron for coinage unless a storm opens up the beach . So far I have had 12 Gold rings (1 return) 1 Platinum (return) , 1 Gold Pendent (too be checked) and 36 Silver rings this year . Plus a few other Silvers ranging from chains to ear rings and things .

Was debating on taking my AT Pro or try my luck with the Sea Hunter at local pond I have hit before where there is a sandy beach with little trash. Ended up with the Pro and snagged this bracelet 14k 1.42grams, rest of the jewelry is gold plated but still gets your blood moving when you see it in the water. Very tricky fishing the earings out through my scoop and lost a few others as they were just too small for me to see in the water. For those that still use the AT Pro just set it to zero mode and turn off the iron audio. I fly by audio mostly anyways and occasionally look at the vid.

I detect at the beach often because that is where I live. (Lately I've also been doing some surf fishing. The yellowfin croakers taste pretty good.) When detecting at a beach you don't know if you are going to find coins, relics or jewelry. That leaves me to post my finds here. The first picture is of my finds for early (2:30 - 5:30) this morning. We have a negative tide on a practically flat ocean. There is very little energy so I decided to go out to the edge of the water which now has about 9 feet of change. That exposes 75-100 yards of sand that is often times under water. This is where people swim. When there are waves most things will wash up but for now I went to search the flats. I was not the first one there. When I arrived two others were coming from the direction I wanted to go. One searches high and the other low. I don't know them so we just headed our own ways. My first find was the earlobe ring/insert that looks like mother of pearl. It is stainless. As you can see there is not much out in this area right now and I worked it for over 3 hours. About 2 hours into it I got a light signal. I have my shovel type of scoop now because of a bad back. When I went to dig the target I could feel resistance so I pulled back quickly and I could see something in my light. It was the clasp to a chain so I reached down to grab it. The clasp is the only metal part. I kept going and going and going until I had this long necklace in my hand. It was very stiff at first as sand was lodged in all the puka holes. I noticed there was a figure on it but in my headlight I couldn't get too excited about it. I've since looked and looked at it and I'm impressed with the design and workmanship. We can't figure out who (in a general sense) may have made it because it has coral birds, turquoise, puka and the carved bear as part of its features. Has anyone seen anything similar? The other pictures are from my hunt a couple of nights ago where there was then normal assortment of finds including 2.2 grams of gold chain. It's always good to get gold! I hope I can determine where the 'northwest looking' puka necklace came from. Mitchel

I was at the Treasure Coast on Wednesday 4 September...right after Dorian left our area. All along A1A many, if not most of the small access points were locked and some actually had police cars blocking entry. Surfers were parking along the road side and making their way to the beach through heavy thicket! We were able to get to Bonsteel and it was a bust. Mushy sand throughout. The expected erosion was just not there. Numerous detectors were there however. Comparing results, only one that I met found anything of note. A small silver Reale about thumbnail size and paper thin. Obviously, I couldn’t see the entire Treasure Coast but Dorian did us no great favors where we were and we covered a pretty extensive distance. Other areas may have been better suited for hunting but again, the areas we saw were covered with soft mushy sand and no notable targets other than a few modern coins. 😨 The most important favor Dorian did for us Florida coast dwellers however was staying so far off our coast and sparing us the damage it could have done. Having gone through my share of hurricanes, I am eternally grateful for such favors! Thank God!

Been getting into the water more then I have in past years...I'm enjoying this type of hunting. Been hitting two spots...One is just a secluded swimming hole not effected by big currents and waves...easy peaceful detecting with no competition that I know of...little bit of trash here and there...the spot is maybe 40 yards wide by 40 yards deep...you can get up to your chest here if you like. The other spot is the opposite...A lot of people visit this spot as it's an actual beach on the delta....it can have a fast moving tide, gets lots of wind, big currents and waves...chest deep is too dangerous at times...theres no competition here as well but the the kicker is there are 12 bazillion bottle caps and pennies in all states of decay. It's tough hunting with the Nox at this spot...The small swimming hole I've officially declared hunted out and most likely wont be going back...No great finds to report...the small earring is 14k..the rings in the second Pic are junk (but gets the ole heart pumping anyways) the women's solitaire ring ..got me all excited till I got home and could see that it was 10K and the rock is a CZ... The wife even turned it down Beats working any day...Happy hunting to you all.. strick

Or maybe gold? I don't mean to be insensitive to the plight of those in the path of Hurricane Dorian, but none of us can do anything about the weather (in the short term, anyway). I'm wondering what the expectation is for beach hunting after the hurricane hits the shore in the coming days. I realize its path and strength are uncertain, but the chances of it missing Florida completely seems to be small, and we all know there are many targets (modern and ancient) along the Atlantic coast.

Over the last Month I have been doing quite a lot of detecting on my local beaches . I found not as much coinage as I used to as cashless society has well and truly kicked in . But the Gold and Silver less society is way off. My total for the last Month other than a few Euro's and other coins was £384.76p , 1 Platinum ring which I found for someone and returned to him . The picture of a ring on its own is the Platinum . 3 Gold rings 15 Silver rings 2 Tungsten rings 1 other that looks like a Tungsten but doesn't say so and a Gold looking Stainless Still ring and a junk ring . I searched for 13 times for around 5 hours . The last picture is of the finds I had today.3 August. That search was during Pride. It shows how the cashless society has ruined coin hunting . There were a lot of people about but in the gaps where people had been it was quiet mostly apart from lots of rubbish. I had £13.57p and 2 Silver rings and a 9.3g 9k Gold Signet ring . The 2 notes , the £10 note I found on the way back to the Bus stop and the £20 was from a man that paid me that for trying to find his Gold Wedding ring that I failed to find that day and still haven't found. But will try again when the beaches open up . Machines used were the "ET" E.Trac or the "EQ" or Nox.

I went out detecting this morning at a couple of local beaches I had not been at for a few months. I ended up with just a few coins and a couple of silver rings which I have not pictured yet. It was an enjoyable hunt for 3 hours or so. It was a leisurely hunt and not an aerobic one for several reasons. One reason was lack of targets. You can hunt fast and cover lots of area to a shallow depth or you can slow down and let the coil speed catch some deeper targets. During the swinging I was remembering my research for the day about the high tide and the low tide and the wave size and the time of these waves relative to the tides. I also looked at the black sand line and tried to imagine what stage of the tide/time had produced that and the thought occurred to me that my metal detector was going back in time a few hours. When you start to think about a few hours then you have to think back longer. (Maybe even to the last time I hunted that beach.) On a beach maybe you can think back to the last big energy event, let's say a storm or big surfing conditions. When you are a relic hunter on a beach then you look at old pictures to see where there may have been an old bath house. If you live in that town you start to look for old stores and gathering places like parks and you do research (look back in time) at what may have been lost or deposited there. When and how something got there becomes the story. Sometimes you can slow down and look farther back in time on these sites or locations and that will produce more. Other times on the beach you have to walk quickly to capture a time before it is washed away. Stick with me here ... haha When it comes to gold detecting time is still a key factor. An active wash will have recent gold. All placers are affected by the recent and distant past. A placer that has been worked or pushed 100 years ago will have other 'time of deposit' factors involved. Research and finds will determine how far back and which geological occurrences need to be targeted. Glacial deposits and all other types of gold deposits are related to time and energy. You get the idea. How far back we look in time depends on how slow we go as one great factor. It is not the only one but in many places a greater depth can mean a more distant time. Slowing down may also make smaller targets visible if that is what you want. (As Jasong has pointed out, small gold and going slow is not always beneficial in paying the bills.) Looking back at this it all seems rather 'obvious' and I feel like deleting all of it but maybe this will trigger something in someone out there and allow you to relate to the 'time machine' concept of metal detecting. Now it is time to take my son to the beach. I can see time when I look at him. Mitchel

No gold for me and it's not because I've not been trying...Been hitting some parks around my area and a couple beaches on the river. The ocean is only 1.5 hours away but still I find it hard to get to for some reason. It's nice to get into the water during the Summer...I was at a beach yesterday and dug about 20 sinkers with my excal.. low tide was around noon and Kids were following me around asking lots of questions...different type of detecting then nugget hunting but you got to work with what you have close to home sometimes. The crucifix is 925 the two rings are fake but look nice anyways

Hi all, I've been doing a bit of reading on strategies for detecting at the beach and some general advice I've found is to go where there are areas of erosion or where the sand is lower. At a local beach I go to, there is no tide. Does that mean the rings sink to the bottom only to remain inaccessible? Do you think its better to skip water detecting at these beaches in favor of ocean beaches with more current?

Hello all, as some of you may know, I’m a very keen water detectorist and the Equinox is my go to water hunting machine BUT, last year after about 40-50 hours of water detecting my Equinox did end up flooding from normal (not exceeding 3m) use. From what I have read, this doesn’t appear to be entirely unusual. My suggestion is a waterproof case for the machine that can still let you to do all the normal things with your Equinox whilst adding little weight. I understand this isn’t for everyone but can I get a show of hands for who would like something like this and what it would take for you to consider it? At this point the idea is purely just an idea but if there is enough perceived interest I may just make a handful ? Cheers, Ed

Well my Sand Shark is about finished so time to shop for a new dedicated (salt water ) beach detector. This machine will be dedicated to wet sand and/or surf only environment. Currently considering the ATX and TDIBH,, any suggestions / input would be appreciated.............Thanks! Rob

Hit a small local beach this morning around low tide. Had heavy thunder storms and decided to see what might have been deposited. Using an Equinox800. This side of the beach typically for the last year has been encumbered by seaweed. So not many bathers. But it being NE, I figured maybe something had been made detectable. All I found were a couple of rusted metal spots, which funny, did not sound like iron with no discrimination. In the pools, using Beach 2 had several targets that showed 12-11. but couldn't recover Also showed with handpointer. Weird day! For those that have had more experience beach hunting, I noticed that the beach a striations in the sand and a few pools of water which I attempted. Sand was some what firm, not black . I will try to attach a couple of photos to get your opinions I usually have been a ground type detectorist and started beach hunting last year. Not good yet at reading the beach

I know areas where rings have been lost and, to my knowledge, not found. I understand a strong storm will relocate a ring. I also wonder if a ring is lost in 3 foot of water during the low tide, will it eventually work it's way up the beach? I believe that a man's gold ring will sink in the sand to a harder layer of shells or clay (hard pan layer). It will remain there until a force of water pushes it either up or down. I also realize there are small lower pockets of these hard pan layers that cause lead weights and rings to gather as if they were in a concave bowl. My friend says that through time the rings will be moved higher up with the seasonal sand movements and eventually make it to the wet sand of the b I wish there was a way to test items in the surf for verification. Your thoughts?

I was having a relatively slow morning detecting at La Jolla Shores Beach in San Diego today, about $1 in clad and a euro coin when a young woman came up asking for help finding a ring. She was frantic and her husband was second guessing, saying it must be at home and asking when was the last time she saw it? She kept insisting it was here right here, next to the seawall. With just a couple swipes of my Equinox 800/15" coil I had it in the scoop. She was ecstatic and gave me a big hug. I've always dreamt of finding a big expensive engagement ring whilst detecting. I've gotten a few gold bands but nothing like this! I obviously didn't get to keep it, but it seemed to bring some good karma to the day and I found two large silver rings shortly afterward. She insisted on getting my info and address so I might be getting a reward or thank you letter later. Here's a couple pics of the expensive ring, the happy owner and the two silvers I got afterward.

Haven’t had a lot of free time to detect but did take yesterday off to hit a beach. I had to try out the new aluminum handle on the GPX. Works excellent and does not snap like the stock one does with a heavy coil on it. I found the usual junk, but surprisingly not too much. There were quite a few brass targets to get the heart pumping that looked like gold at first glance. The normal junk jewelry was there along with a spoon handle that may be nickel or silver. No sign of brass/copper. Not magnetic. I’m a little surprised at the number of nickels still to be found. A little bit of clad with some great toning on some of the copper pennies. For the good stuff: A Walking Liberty half, War nickel, silver Roosevelt, and a dated Buffalo. In the good jewelry category, I was again surprised to get a small signet ring that is unmarked gold, also having a nice toning. Must be 9k with the base metal toning. It buffs right out to look a solid gold color. Old lettering I’m only guessing early 1900’s to about 30’s?? Also got a class ring that hopefully makes the return a breeze, considering it has the person’s full name in cursive inside the band. Definitely before we considered identity theft LOL. And the final surprise of the day came from this gorgeous crucifix. Gold marked 10KN. The N part is new to me. Wondering if it means plum gold? Anyone know? Just a great day to be out and enjoy the good weather.

I couldn’t resist the good weather and one final beach hunt. First beach I hit was invaded by 3 bus loads of teenagers and a small pack of little kids. I think it’s one of those religious outings. One minute it’s quiet, the next minute it’s total chaos . So, I left to another beach and finished the hunt. This one is all GPX, as my metallic cuff for the Equinox was not in yet. I found a little bit of clad, with a decent amount of copper Wheats/Memorials and some nicely toned nickels. The good finds were limited to a Mercury, silver Roosevelt, silver wave ring, and a silver earring. No gold this time. Not a spectacular hunt, but a good way to end the season. Next week starts the archaeology detecting season that should go right into November. The last two pictures are from 2 seasons of CTX, Equinox and GPX hunting of beaches. I know a lot of people dread pull tabs, (especially park hunters) but on the beach Bobby pins and tent/canopy stakes kill me. Nothing like digging 16” looking for a stake that is really on the side of the hole at about 10” But I guess we all do our share of cleaning the trash from the beach.