goldpaninut
Senior Member
Well I promised I would post my results from my latest detecting escapade at my favorite lake. I arrived pretty early in the morning but got into my wet suit and splashed in with my Whites under water detector. I had totally forgot how cold the water is when it runs down your back under the suit! I hadn't wore this suit since 2003 but it still fit! Total for the day was only $3.13 in change, no silver. But I located 6 wheat pennies dating from 1941 - 1957 in excellent shape, and a cheap ring. I dug I don't know how many nails, beer cans and pull tabs. I also found 4 really cool fishing lures. After about 2 hours I started getting cold so I headed for warmer shallow water. I got a signal that about blasted my headphones off, and thinking it was another buried beer can I almost didn't dig it. But something told me to at least fan away a little of the gravel, and am I glad I did! Soon I saw a golden glint, and took a picture. It looked like braided gold but I couldn't tell After a little more fanning more of it was exposed and I about messed my wetsuit! It was a gold bracelet but it was very embedded in the gravel. The more I fanned the gravel the more of it became visible. I've learned in the past not to force these things out, or they'll break. 10 more minutes of fanning and it lay fully exposed. Photographing it as I uncovered it, I then layed it across a rock and photographed it along with my digger. It turned out to be a necklace 15" long by 5/8" wide and was stamped "18K Italy". Now thats a bucket-lister guys! Picture 1 shows the 1st glint of gold I spotted. Picture 2 shows a little more of it exposed. Picture 3 shows it almost uncovered. Picture 4 shows it layed over the rock compared to my digger, Picture 5 shows the stamping of 18K Italy. Picture 6 shows my total finds for the day. When I get a chance I'm going to have it appraised. I can't help wondering WHY people wear stuff like this in the lake? I've dreamed of finding something like this in Hawaii for years, but who would have thought I'd find it in an Oregon lake? Next time however I'm using my Minelab Equinox, because it can discriminate. But.....I need some underwater headphones for it. Unfortunately my Whites TRX bullseye pinpointer drowned today in only 2 feet of water! But even though it is several years out of warranty, Whites said they would either repair or replace it under warranty because they are guaranteed sound to 10 feet deep. Sent it off today!
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