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Lots of beaches around here.
Ilikecolor
Posts: 95 ✭✭✭
I live on the Monterey Peninsula and I’m surrounded by beaches. Decided to purchase a Minelab 800 and start doing some detecting. The Minelab is due to arrive in a few days and I’m hoping to share some finds with this community. I’m new here, name is Mike, and I wish you all happy hunting.
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Enjoy the hunt!!!
Coin collecting interests: Latin America
Sports: NFL & NHL
Sounds like fun! Don't forget to post pictures of your finds
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Is the 800 your first detector? Hope you do well and welcome from Conshohocken PA
You have chosen a detector that is well suited for salt water beaches.
best of everything and please, keep us posted
I’ve dabbled with machines of lesser quality and decided to take on the learning curve that most certainly will come with this purchase. After doing some research I think this will be a good fit for the local beaches as well as some of the mountain terrain and rivers that I frequent with my sluice box and pans. Hope to have some good finds but honestly, I enjoy being out there on the hunt.
Thanks for the Welcome!
I recall that years ago, after heavy winter storms that hit the Monterey coastline removed substantial amount of sand from the beaches a metal detectorist went to work. During his hunt he found a Liberty Head Double Eagle.
Keep that in mind as you hunt the beaches in in Monterey County.
That would be an incredible find. 🤩 They’re saying this winter is supposed to be an El Niño - Bring on the winter storms!
So I finally got a chance to hit the beach with the new Minelab today. Pleasantly surprised with what my first day brought. Sterling silver ring with what appears to be a small diamond. Not sure what the other angled cut pieces are? A Quart bow tie?
Also found this heavy little gold colored piece. Maybe brass that’s been tumbling around in the surf for a minute?
I’d be interested to hear any thoughts.
Took these two pieces to the jeweler today, The Sterling ring is costume jewelry, so I'll clean it up and gift my oldest granddaughter. She'll love it. The little nugget on the other hand is GOLD! Just a tiny little nug weighing in at 2.5 grams but hey, I'll take it for my first time out!!!
Gold nug is awesome. Is that common for that area
Love the nugget as well here 👍
Jeweler said it’s likely old jewelry or possibly dental work. Not a pure nug but I was pretty stoked to find it.
Had an interesting day on a very coarse sand/small rock beach today.
These coins have taken a beating in that environment.
The first picture shows one regular size cent and 4 that have no details remaining and are much smaller in diameter.
The coin between my fingers is a penny worn so far down it looks like a fine wire.
Not sure what the chocolate colored coin is. Large Cent??
Interesting day.
Wow… and I thought mid-Atlantic soil was tough on copper. That West-coast surf grinds it right down!
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This beach in particular really does grind them down. It's not sand but instead small rocks and the beach is very steep so the waves just pound on it - the coins as well. I'm just getting started so I'm digging EVERYTHING!!!
The beaches around here are proving to be great hunting grounds! Here’s about 14 hours of hunting.
I highly recommend the Equinox Minelab 800. I’ve only scratched the surface of the advanced settings and she’s doing a fine job already.
Happy Hunting! 😎
I see Buff there… nice pull! Any silver to the total?
Some of the coins are worn down to a fraction of their regular size and are heavily corroded so it’s hard to determine if they’re silver.
Here’s a regular size quarter and one that the ocean has ground down. I believe the one on the left is silver, it has that sound to it when bounced on the table and check out the chip on the bottom right. The corrosion came off when I bounced it and it appears to be silver under there. They both register a 29 on the Equinox which indicates clad silver quarters but I’ve noticed that when a coin has less mass it registers a bit lower. The coin on the left is substantially smaller but still comes in as a 29. 🤔
Check out these two nickels.
Found my 2nd Sterling silver ring this afternoon. It’s a dog that’s missing its center stone but it’s a 92.5% silver dog! 😂
Long post but I’m just throwing thoughts as a beginner - any comments are welcome.
Happy Hunting!
Found this little beauty today. 950 Platinum with one stone missing. Looks like diamonds and emeralds
Your thoughts?
Nice finds! Keep hunting and posting!
I think you’re hooked 😇. You can always sell junk silver rings for scrap or gold too
Lafayette Grading Set
I would expect the stones in a platinum ring to be real. Conversely, I would not be confident about the stones in a silver ring or a 10K gold ring.
If you found that platinum ring below the high tide line, there may have been more high density items nearby. The surf sorts metal objects by density, depositing them in troughs or cuts. If you start finding a bunch of lead fishing sinkers, you're in a potentially good spot for gold. If you're finding aluminum, don't expect any gold to be mixed in with it. There are some good videos and books that explain this topic.
You are correct - I’m definitely hooked! Fortunately there are many beaches to hunt here and I’m less than a minute drive to Carmel beach. I’m just now looking into the secondary market to sell some of these items. Is there any place in particular that you sell your scrap rings? Perhaps an honest jeweler?
I tested all of the rings and found your observation to be dead on. Platinum ring
Diamonds are real and the stones in the silver are not. Having fun with my new hobby, gets me out walking the beach, seeing beautiful sunsets and finding a little treasure along the way.
I did find the platinum ring in a cut in the sand at the high tide level along with a couple of quarters.
I’ll have to go back to a beach where I was getting frustrated with all of the lead sinkers I was finding. Those sinkers were chiming in with numbers all over the board depending on size. Many of them
In the gold range.
The learning continues- Thanks for the tips!
I went back to the beach that ground down all of those coins to a fraction of their original size. Found about a dozen more coins and dug this grunting iron - tire iron.
Question is -
Did the ocean grind this into its current condition or did it have some human help? 🤔
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A night detecting adventure on Carmel beach. This looked amazing in the hole with my headlamp shining on it! Not so much when I got it home….😂
I sell my scrap to a local coin dealer that I have done business with for 20 plus years. He's always been fair to me.
Lafayette Grading Set
Christmas Eve hunt on the local beach. In addition to some change and fishing gear, I found this little piece of jewelry. Ag925 is Tiffany Sterling correct? Any thoughts on the type of stone??
under t5 white light
Under incandescent light
Edit - turns out it’s from a jeweler named Thomas Sabo. Dig and learn….
I was visiting the grandkids in Omaha when the big waves hit the coast here in Carmel. Didn’t recognize the local beach when I got back as it was mostly swept away. Knew I had to get out as soon as possible and glad I did. Lots of targets made for a fun day.
Everything pictured here is normally completely buried. Including the giant rock formations on the left and right.
Found more coinage that has been ground to almost nothing - Did I find the worlds smallest Cent???
Here’s the find of the day.
I missed some epic hunting days right after the storms but I’ll be back out there tomorrow. There’s a lot of new beach to explore!
Happy Hunting! 😎
Wow… that’s a lot of sand excavation, courtesy of Mother Nature. Nice find with the 14k gold… good luck on today’s hunt!
Fun at the Carmel beach last night. This couple is here on their honeymoon. He lost his wedding ring and they were frantically searching the sand for it. Lucky for them I was doing a little early evening hunt. Made my day to find it for them. She was happy, he was relieved. He said “she would have killed me if we hadn’t found it!” 🤪
Look at those smiles!
Gotta love that!
Great job.