New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

GOLD NUGGET Proud to announce my gold nugget statis.

Edited by user Thursday, 21 July 2011 10:07:17 AM(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

I have made a 2nd trip with the young ones back to the wharau rd beach area. This area is not a regular beach. We were into it this time. 2 sinkers and a silver spoon. 1 find each. Before the rain came. The ace loved finding sinkers with a neat "ding ding ding". And the same but a knotch up for the silver spoon. All in one spot. (the glory hole we called it. lol) Now the kids are hooked and they are up and down the driveway. I think that this is ok. I have pointed out to them about being very very careful when digging. And that they have an expensive sensitive machine in there hands so dont break it... Hopefully they might come in with something... Alround the ace worked fine in the wet sand today. High tide, bit of rain. Was surprised actually. Opito Bay beach next. Will be better. ( Note the rust on the tip of the spoon. indicating that its silver plated i guess. And the unusual solidified goo in the spoon near where its rusting).

Until you can get a pin pointer, use a scoop in the sand. For a couple of months when I started I just used a small black plastic scoop from the garden centre. Drilled as many 7.5mm diameter holes in it as I could and never looked back. These black scoops are made from a strong plastic and will last quite a while. To use: pin point with the detector as good as you can, use the scoop to dig and when you think you have it just shake the loose sand out of the holes in the scoop. Anything larger then an ear stud will stay in. For wet sand just wash in water.

Once you have a few finds under your belt, then get a good pin pointer. There is a lot of rubbish out there - inc one on Trademe at the moment for an horrendous price that comes as a free give away from Kellyco. The one and only pin pointer to get is the Garrett Pro-pointer. Expensive but worth every cent compared to the others. I would suggest just saving up for one of these.

By the way if the Ace loved sinkers then it will love gold. Both have similar conductivity and where there are sinkers on a beach there is a good chance of gold since they are both heavy objects and the waves sort targets into similar density's on the beach. Likewise if you are hitting pull tabs below the high tide mark, search in a different area.

Does anyone know a way to clean up those old coins that i have found at the beach. Some of the older/better ones have oxidization growth on them, salt and corrosion. Like to restore them as best as i can without damaging them any further. They are treasures. Out of 50 coins found only 2 were from another country. USA 1 cent piece (one side demolished) and an english 1930ish king george penny (one side demolished). And 12 dollars of usable money in 1 and 2 dollar coins. 4 trips.

The golden rule with coins is that if you think they have value over and above face value, you DON'T clean them at all. You leave that to the buyer.

1 tiny scratch can devalue some coins severely.

Electrolysis works wonders but recommend you don't use it on the pennies as this could cause them to be attacked by the "bronze disease". This type of corrosion is caused by acid's eating into the penny and will eventually turn them into green fluff (don't ask how I know!). Any copper, bronze or brass is effected but silver comes up very well with electrolysis and is safe to use so long as it is kept to the minimum needed (too long being zapped and it will pit the silver).

For pennies and tokens that I want to keep (not sell) and mean something to me, I soak in hot hydrogen peroxide for an hour or so, scrub with a soft tooth brush then after drying put on a very thin coating of wax or oil.

If it is a valuable find and you plan on selling then soaking in olive oil for a week or 2 and brushing with a soft brush will get rid of the worse of the corrosion but I wouldn't treat it further.

Gold I just soak in warm Cloudy Ammonia for a while then light scrub with a soft brush and detergent. All it ever needs.

Good stuff Shane,
keep up the posts, dont forget to check out the local parks,intermediate schools with the adventure play grounds,easy pickings in the bark.
cheers Steve

Me and Ace went out on a 8.30pm night mission last nite. A popular bark playground was the target. Good lighting, had a headlamp anyway and my headphones this time. $23 in 1 and 2 dollar coins, a badge, a cheap silver pendant without the chain, a 1978 foriegn coin, a couple of earlier nz coins and the usual ring pulls and stuff. Took 2 hours to dig it all. Had a ball. Anyhow 2 shady young doods pull up for a bit, asked the odd dumb question or 2, was 10.30pm by this stage, 15 mins later.. "want a ciggie break bro... '' ahh no thanks, i was just about to go thanks anyway.. This was my que to bail (i was a street kid 30 years ago, i no how it works). In the car quick, gone like a rat down a drane pipe... LOL Anyhow night time was real cool but dont go alone like i did if you can avoid it. Seriously. On a possitive note I was digging up like neally a foot of bark to find some targets. They were way down in the dirt. Some were triple hits but i was spending too much time digging around for them, so i moved on. You can only dig a hole so far before you start lookin like a nutcase... hmmm. There were alot of underground frame/bar/ladder etc mounts to decifer while searching. I found that if you go to the opposite side of the mount, it will buzz in the same spot, or in all 4 corners, or even a foot or too in front of a structure.
A pic of last nites effort.

Shane

Good stuff Shane,
spent many a night on the beach detecting and meeting the shady ones!,
keep up the posts
steve

Cheers guys.

Mav. Yes your right. The 350 buzzs big silver on the mat sometimes. Next time i look closer and mite even look under the mat...

Xterra. Definately not gonna hit them with me valuable dtector... Lol Safe Hunting.

Shilo. Gold. Well thats wot got me started here in the first place. Bro (Chrissyboy), said lets go fossicking for g and lately its been all on.. Goin everywhere. Mines, playgrounds, creeks, buying detectors... Aint found no g yet. Only been a month or 2. I would be happy to find some with my detector at this stage, it will be a buzz when if happens.. lol.. get it, a buzz...
Anyhow heres a pik of my 2 favorate finds so far. Hard to take a close up shot. These coins are very small.
An English new penny and a half 1971. (Found a spit and a half from our front door)
A Netherlands one cent piece 1978. (Worth now $0.20)

Shane