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Very OT, but check out my nuggets!

gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
in U.S. Coin Forum
I got all of these from west/central Indiana, in a creek down that way. Used a 4" gold suction dredge. Total weight is about 4.5 grams.

image

Comments

  • guitarwesguitarwes Posts: 9,270 ✭✭✭

    Man, those are awesome. Nice pull!

    A semi-local dealer told me he just bought a claim in California, 55 acres, and can't wait to get out there!
    @ Elite CNC Routing & Woodworks on Facebook. Check out my work.
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  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    I'd love to be able to do some dredging in northern Cal, but with the kid, work, and all that, not likely to happen for awhile. This "pull" represents well over 20 individual day trips to the creek. Its about a 2 hour drive from where I am each way. Just a hobby that is most certainly "not-for-profit". Although I hear there are a few dozen full time dredges in Cal who actually make a tidy living doing this.
  • lasvegasteddylasvegasteddy Posts: 10,408 ✭✭✭
    sweet and time to watch your back as you're onto something pulling nugg's like that...keep tracing up till them corners get sharp on the nugg's and you're truly by something them...;-)
    as to dredgin in north cal...becarefull as some upthere really take that stuff serious as i've had a shotgun tucked up my nose for peerin around a corner to the sound of gas engines in the wild up by of all places a town called "COARSEGOLD"
    everything in life is but merely on loan to us by our appreciation....lose your appreciation and see


  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>sweet and time to watch your back as you're onto something pulling nugg's like that...keep tracing up till them corners get sharp on the nugg's and you're truly by something them...;-) >>



    Normally you are correct. Keep panning upstream until the nuggets get more coarse and finally dissapear, then head up the hills. However, all the gold in Indiana is simply glacial drift, meaning it all got pushed down here from Canada. There are no actual veins of gold in the state. And FYI, these nuggets are the cream of the crop. Very rare for Indiana indeed. 99% of the gold is found as tiny flakes, and even the consistancy of powder. Nuggets these size require special equipment (dredge) to recover. They are in the deepest crevices of the bedrock of the stream's bottom.
  • CarlWohlforthCarlWohlforth Posts: 11,074 ✭
    Neat! Those are very cool.

    One day while traveling alone along a river in Northern California up near the Oregon border it started getting dark. I pulled over and parked next to several people camping at a bend in the river. On closer inspection those camps looked very established. One fellow ambled over to chat with me. He had a handgun. We chatted. I was judged harmless.

    These people were all prospectors. They loved the life. They each had purchased a claim on a section of river. They all used dredges and wet suits. They found enough gold to buy food and gas but that was about all. I deduced they didn't have dental insurance. image
    Carl's Coins website w/ links to Carl's auctions
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    Along with the gold, I also recover lots of lead (bullets, shot, sinkers) as well as some of this stuff. Lets see who can guess what that is first!

    image
  • jmcu12jmcu12 Posts: 2,452 ✭✭✭
    Meteorites...
    Awarded latest "YOU SUCK!": June 11, 2014
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    At about $10/gram for some meteorites, I wish!!!
  • fcfc Posts: 12,793 ✭✭✭
    fun post!
  • options26options26 Posts: 1,431
    Meteors? Nice haul by the way. I just happen to live in one of only 2 states in the nation that gold is not found in. image
    Life member of the SSDC
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>Meteors? Nice haul by the way. I just happen to live in one of only 2 states in the nation that gold is not found in. image >>




    Im in Chicago, and gold is found in Illinois. It is not native gold, but glacial drift gold from Canada, brought down with the last ice age. I have actually found some tiny flakes in rock creek near Kankakkee.
  • cohodkcohodk Posts: 19,285 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Cool stuff. Sounds like alot of fun.
    Excuses are tools of the ignorant

    Knowledge is the enemy of fear

  • BearBear Posts: 18,953 ✭✭✭
    I thought chickens did not have nuggets?
    There once was a place called
    Camelotimage
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>I thought chickens did not have nuggets? >>



    Just roosters.image
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    No more guesses on what the second picture is???
  • SmallSizedGuySmallSizedGuy Posts: 503 ✭✭✭
    Copper from Michigan.
    Jim Hodgson



    Collector of US Small Size currency, Atlanta FRNs, and Georgia nationals since 1977. Researcher of small size US type - seeking serial number data for all FRN star notes, Series 1928 to 1934-D. Life member SPMC.



  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,491 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Along with the gold, I also recover lots of lead (bullets, shot, sinkers) as well as some of this stuff. Lets see who can guess what that is first!

    image >>



    Clockwise starting with the big one they look like:

    1. fossilized half eaten chocolate chip cookie
    2. fossilized raisin
    3. Bigger fossilized raisin
    4. Miner's tooth

    Heck, I don't have a clue.
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>Copper from Michigan. >>



    We have a winner! Along with the gold brought down by the glaciers from Canada, were also diamonds (have not found any yet). And these chunks of natural copper hitched a ride from somewhere in northern Michigan, and found a home at the bottom of the creek where the above pictured gold was found. In fact, my most proud find from dredging so far is a huge, palm sized piece of copper. If you take a wire wheel on a dremel to these chunks, they shine up real nice and look exactly the same as a new shiny cent.
  • SeattleSlammerSeattleSlammer Posts: 10,032 ✭✭✭✭✭
    great nuggets!
  • SmallSizedGuySmallSizedGuy Posts: 503 ✭✭✭
    I have some crystalline copper specimens that were found during road excavation work in Michigan. These specimens have sharp edges and could puncture your skin if not handled correctly.
    Jim Hodgson



    Collector of US Small Size currency, Atlanta FRNs, and Georgia nationals since 1977. Researcher of small size US type - seeking serial number data for all FRN star notes, Series 1928 to 1934-D. Life member SPMC.



  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>great nuggets! >>



    thanksimage
  • MadMartyMadMarty Posts: 16,697 ✭✭✭
    How about a pic of the equipment you use!!!
    It is not exactly cheating, I prefer to consider it creative problem solving!!!

  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    Wow Marty! You want me to go out into my ice box garage and lay out all the hoses and what not? OK...be back in 5 minutes.image
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    Here ya go Marty. The red one is the 4" , and the green is my "toy" its a 2". The green one is nice to load and go in my Jeep Wrangler. It doesnt have an air compressor, so I can only suck as deep as my arm allows, and it moves only about 1/6th the amount of material as the 4" does, but its great for prospecting new areas. If the results are promising, I'll trailor in the 4" later on. By the way, the 4" and 2" refers to the diameter of the suction hose. The 4" is a SERIOUS piece of equipment!


    image


    image

    image

    image

    image
  • STONESTONE Posts: 15,275 ✭
    Very cool stuff man. That would be lots of fun, but I take that you are taking a break now because of the snow and ice image

    Great Finds image
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    Yeah, im on break. Prime months to do this comfortably are late June through early to mid September. Outside those times, it can be done, just not as much fun. I do have a wetsuit hot water exchanger that works off the exhaust of the motor. Worked really well when I tried it for the first time one cold March day. But later in the day, the damn thing practically scalded me! The problem with those are that if the filter gets clogged for even a few seconds with sand, then the clog breaks loose, you get a VERY unpleasant rush of VERY hot water into the suit.
  • 66Tbird66Tbird Posts: 2,858 ✭✭✭
    Thank you for the flashback to older times. Heres a shot I took before giving one to each in the family.
    image
    Need something designed and 3D printed?
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭
    Were those dug using a metal detector? Very coarse pieces. Awesome! What was the weight of the largest? Judging by the size next to that dime, Im guessing at least 1.5 oz?
  • sneakysneaky Posts: 165
    ^^^Those nuggets are AWESOME! Looks like a lot of gold there. The only dredging I have done was at APMEX, but I did manage to find this Gold Nugget there. I think it originated in Australia, maybe got here on a glacier as wellimage
    image

    Mike C.
    Mike C.
    mclark202@insightbb.com

    Positive BST references: Weather11am, Mrmom, Metalsman, GAB, Mash, FishyOne, Cone10, Keepdachange, etc...
  • GoldenEyeNumismaticsGoldenEyeNumismatics Posts: 13,187 ✭✭✭
    I love gold nuggets.

    Way to go!
  • BBQnBLUESBBQnBLUES Posts: 1,803 ✭
    Now here's a thread I _REALLY LIKE_ image

    As a Gold nugget "accumulator" I wish I could metal detect the Aussie Outback / find some of those whoppers someday... But am reduced to buying my gold on GoldBay.com (a few grams at a time).

    Thanks for sharing the Fantastic pics !!!

    suffering from,
    (goldenvy)
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,342 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Can gold nuggets be counterfeited using scrap gold? The larger nuggets can bring significantly more than melt in the marketplace.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • JJMJJM Posts: 8,039 ✭✭✭✭✭
    image
    👍BST's erickso1,cone10,MICHAELDIXON,TennesseeDave,p8nt,jmdm1194,RWW,robkool,Ahrensdad,Timbuk3,Downtown1974,bigjpst,mustanggt,Yorkshireman,idratherbgardening,SurfinxHI,derryb,masscrew,Walkerguy21D,MJ1927,sniocsu,Coll3tor,doubleeagle07,luciobar1980,PerryHall,SNMAM,mbcoin,liefgold,keyman64,maprince230,TorinoCobra71,RB1026,Weiss,LukeMarshall,Wingsrule,Silveryfire, pointfivezero,IKE1964,AL410, Tdec1000, AnkurJ,guitarwes,Type2,Bp777,jfoot113,JWP,mattniss,dantheman984,jclovescoins,Collectorcoins,Weather11am,Namvet69,kansasman,Bruce7789,ADG,Larrob37,Waverly
  • gecko109gecko109 Posts: 8,231 ✭


    << <i>Can gold nuggets be counterfeited using scrap gold? The larger nuggets can bring significantly more than melt in the marketplace. >>




    They can, and routinely are. I've heard that pouring molten gold into a mold with some rock salt will give a "nuggety" appearance. I dont ever buy nuggets however, my passion lies in finding them while dredging.
  • rgl1345rgl1345 Posts: 674
    You should join us every summer on the north fork of the American River in California or in the river beds around Nevada City California.
  • rgl1345rgl1345 Posts: 674
    Middle Fork American River 2006image
  • KipKip Posts: 852


    << <i>Middle Fork American River 2006image >>



    Now that I like image
    UCSB Electrical Engineering....... USCG and NASA
  • DenverDaveDenverDave Posts: 2,164


    Alaskan Yukon, this 1/2 pounder clogged my 3" Dredge..."-)


    image

    My Ebay Auctions

    Currently Listed: Nothing

    Take Care, Dave
  • GoldenEyeNumismaticsGoldenEyeNumismatics Posts: 13,187 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Alaskan Yukon, this 1/2 pounder clogged my 3" Dredge..."-)


    image >>



    Did you just steal that image from google or are you telling the truth? image
  • VetVet Posts: 1,513
    This came from a two week trip to alaska at thunder creek just below Mt. Makinley. We were using a 6" dredge. Lots of fun and work.
    image
    image
    image
    image
    "Freedom of speech is a great thing.Just because you can say anything does not mean you should.
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nothing like the thrill of seeing a nugget in your pan..... or MD'ing one in the desert. Just something about finding gold... makes the adrenaline flow... Cheers, RickO
  • DenverDaveDenverDave Posts: 2,164


    << <i>

    << <i>Alaskan Yukon, this 1/2 pounder clogged my 3" Dredge..."-)


    image >>



    Did you just steal that image from google or are you telling the truth? image >>



    Check the fingerprints... image

    Want some more photos...?

    My Ebay Auctions

    Currently Listed: Nothing

    Take Care, Dave
  • MrSpudMrSpud Posts: 4,499 ✭✭✭
    image

    image

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