First Hunt Of 2024 - Tale Of (g)old

[CPT_GhostLight]

Well there you go, F350, congrats on the gold ring and well done indeed! 😎

[F350Platinum]

2 hours ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Well there you go, F350, congrats on the gold ring and well done indeed! 😎

Thanks Cap,

Looks like we both did well on our first hunts of the year! I sure wasn't expecting it.

[rvpopeye]

🤯 What the Oh Yeah !👍

 

 

[ColonelDan]

As we talked and to just sum it up….”Ya’  done real good soldier!!!”  👍🏻😀

[okara gold]

What an absolutely awesome find. You say you're fairly new to this but certainly are making some stellar finds. Virginia is gold country too, so I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a nugget someday. Years ago, I had permission to camp and dredge for gold in Goldvein, VA. Stayed there for one month and left with 1/4 oz. Best to you and your future hunts!

[F350Platinum]

10 minutes ago, okara gold said:

What an absolutely awesome find. You say you're fairly new to this but certainly are making some stellar finds. Virginia is gold country too, so I wouldn't be surprised if you come across a nugget someday. Years ago, I had permission to camp and dredge for gold in Goldvein, VA. Stayed there for one month and left with 1/4 oz. Best to you and your future hunts!

Thanks, Okara. 🙂

Yep only 3 years, but I've found more than I ever thought I would, and it seems to get better all the time probably because I'm getting better at it. 😅 I'm also getting great places to look.

I mentioned in my original post I thought I'd never top a 1607 hammered silver, but I did. 🤯 Wish I could show the detail but out of respect for the family and caution, I can't. It is really unbelievable. If you look at 18th and 17th century cast mourning rings you will get an idea anyway.

There is a band of land through the state that has gold, but I'm not anywhere near it. I'm on the Eastern side near the Chesapeake Bay, one of the first areas in the country that was settled by the English. This peninsula has many endowments to prevent development, so it's still mostly farms.

This is the second gold ring I've found in a farm, the first was over 150 years old and looks like it was made yesterday. Gold jewelry does very well in the ground here but some silver and lesser metals like bronze and copper do not. Almost 400 years of farming will do that. 🙂

[okara gold]

That's a beauty for sure. I used to live in upstate NY and there are plenty of old areas to hunt. Open fields, woods, etc. Really miss that now that I'm full time in Florida but do several trips a year to visit family up north and return to the old areas.

I always cringe and shake my head when I hear someone say, "That's the find of a lifetime or you'll never top that". Don't believe it! 

Around 1990 I found a 5 oz nugget in AZ. A lot of people said that's the find of a lifetime! It actually depressed me a little thinking... Wow... That's it? I've reached the pinnacle already?  Nothing better for me?? About 6 years later I found a 15 oz nugget containing 12 troy oz of gold.

So don't ever think that something you have found no matter how spectacular it is can't possibly be topped by you again...someday. I think it keeps the lure of the hunt strong.

[Sinclair]

Congrats, what a nice find and piece of history!
Hope you get to know more about it and the original owner.