March 25, 2017 - I think first gold of year, and couple silvers
pcgs69
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Got out on Sunday to Silver Beach. Knew it'd be slow going, but had hopes of at least one silver (never gone silver-less there!). Started on the slower side and quickly found a buffalo nickel and a few wheat cents. Then it slowed down quite a bit. Got a small part of an ID bracelet that's sterling. Can't quite read the name yet. While working to the more junky side got a high tone...looked down and saw a few brass-colored coins...thought, "could it be?" and it was... there were 7 dollar coins just sitting there on the surface. Wish every hunt had spills like that. Wonder how they got there?
Moved to the other side and kept hoping for a silver coin (didn't know the ID part was sterling). It was raining, I'm out of shape, and digging is rough so it was getting a bit frustrating. Got a lower tone and out popped a ring... it looked gold-ish and thought it could be 10k. Put it away (no video because I didn't bring my detecting phone for video, and I was overloaded with mud - not breaking out the IPhone 7 for a video!). While wandering around, finally got a silver dime. Haven't even broken it out of the cookie material yet but what's showing I think is a merc.
Got home and looked at the ring. saw an inscription inside dated 1975. Also saw a couple of stamps. The first stamp looked like H.LO. Ok, the next stamp has to be the karat marking... took a look and see H.LO again? Ok, where's the karat stamp? So it looks gold, but there's no stamp. what do you guys think?
Comments
Great find on the dollar coin spill and hopefully gold. I've never found more than 2 dollar coins in one spill. How cold was it there? Do you get a pretty cold wind coming off the ocean?
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I'm curious. How many people do you ever see at silver beach, cuz the amount if stuff you find is suggestive of a bunch of people there! Yet all the pictures you have shown it looks barren.....just curious.
Great day at the beach again
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Is the inscription in a foreign language? If so, you could then research the gold marking rules for countries speaking that language.
There appears to be more marking there ... I see an N and a C or O..... is that intials or a name?? Cheers, RickO
Nice finds! I have never found any dollar coins. That pocket spill must have come from a very large pocket!
Not sure on the ring, but it sure is hefty and nice-looking.
Thanks guys!
@ricko - It's the person's name - Norm! The only other inscription is the full date. So, nothing else regarding karat marking.
PPC - It was around the mid 40s, so not horrible. I was bundled up, and moving around so it was just right. This spot has some land between it and the full ocean, so a lot of the time the wind is blocked! Wasn't too windy at all, which is nice. I can't recall finding more than one dollar coin in a hunt, ever! Maybe one time there were two, but never more than that. Never expected that. Usually it's a spill of stinkin' Lincolns.
@Bayard1908 - The date appears to be American (Month day, year), but then again, it could easily be day, month, year. Norm is a pretty NORMal name, har har, so that's no indication of country. Looking online, there was a H.Lo out of Copenhagen - Harry Lorange from 1962-1978. It does fit the date range.
@SurfinxHI - the beach is pretty barren these days. All the times I've been there, it's mostly a few people walking dogs, or a small group of people enjoying a stroll. The "cleaner" side has only ever had a few sunbathers during the summer. The "junky" side does have a few more sunbathers and dog walkers, but it's used very little now. Swimmers? I've only seen one, and only a few people walking into the water. A lot of the stuff dates to the 40s and 50s. So I believe after World War II, people came out in large crowds and the area has since lost interest - could be the muddy area for the low tide line...who knows. The farther you walk out, the worse it gets - you could literally get stuck. I suppose lack of modern people is good because it reduces the amount of junk like bottle caps and stinkin' Zincolns.
It's still spitting out a little, but it's harder and harder to get keepers. Still a bunch of wheat cents though!
@WhiteTornado - it weighs 4.0 grams. It's a pretty small finger size too - fits my pinky pretty well. Those close-up pics make it look bigger than it is for some reason. I'm going to a jeweler tomorrow to have it tested. Fingers crossed!
Thanks. Any luck out in deeper waters?
@SurfinxHI - on really low tides I always think it's a good idea to start venturing out into the mud... there's a lot of junk out there, and a lot of mud. Digging is miserable! I dig a few pieces of junk, start sinking and flinging mud everywhere, and then I go back to firmer ground. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy to detect deeper in the water there! I know there's good stuff out there, but it may never be found
Got to the jeweler today. He was a bit skeptical at first, but after testing, he was certain the ring was solid gold. Now, the question of karat... there's a chance it's 10k, but it said with the mix, it's more likely 9k as it didn't fully hold up to the 10k solution. He said it's standard to cheat on karat... for example, a 10k ring, may really only be 9.5k. So they may have attempted 10k but skimmed a little too much off the top. But Alright, we'll take that over another lipstick tube any day!
Cool! Thx for the update! Maybe you need a snowshoe type footgear....!
Glad to hear it is gold.... Certainly a 'different' type of ring.... Cheers, RickO
Mmmm... Gold.. (Homer Simpson voice)
Dang. That didn't take long! I haven't even gotten started yet.
Given how good that beach has been to you, I'd definitely explore ways to deal with the mud in deeper waters without sinking. Some homemade snowshoe-like contraptions sound like a real possibility. Choice of materials should probably exclude metals.
Good idea Zot...never thought of using snowshoes for mud... but that would work... Oh, second thought... not if it is the type of mud that clings....dang... they would weigh a ton in a very short time... Third thought...you said i the deeper waters... OK... that would wash the mud off.... Don't mind me... mind is a little foggy this morning...
Cheers, RickO