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April, May, and June Beach Hunting Totals

beachclad

Full Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2020
Messages
125
Location
South Florida
Due to the beach closures in April and May, I decided to post my finds for all 3 months in Q2 in a single post.

As you can see by my clad count, those two months were dismal. I rebounded with the clad count in June, but not quite at the pace of January-March.

juneclad.jpg


Misc. finds:

junemisc.jpg


I did, by a miracle, manage to find a .925 silver (gold plated) Michael Kors women's ring in April, pictured above. It retails on eBay for around $30, but it's scratched. Bummer.

Once the beaches started to open up, I found yet more toy cars, including an oversized truck. Now if I could just find a life-sized car buried in the sand, that would be a real bucket-lister.

I also found more fake bling, including a men's black Tungsten ring with roman numerals (no brand, unfortunately), a dinosaur earring, a key-shaped earring, and a stainless steel black rosary necklace. The silvery circular-shaped tag says "ABCO CREM" so I think it's a cremation tag for maybe a dog (found at a dog beach).

Coincidentally, I commented on one of Felix's threads last month asking him how he finds so many nice Ray-Bans and literally the next day, I found my first pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses (cracked).

I went on to find 3 more generic pairs, of which only 1 is in "wearable" condition (just barely).

Oh, and I think I found a shark tooth. I'm not a paleontologist so it could just be a rock.

and now...the good stuff!

The Good Stuff:

Besides the beaches re-opening, June was eventful because it brought seaweed. Piles and piles of putrid Sargassum so thick that it was hard to detect in many areas.

There was also some sand movement as a result of adverse weather in early June.

June also brought...gold.

junegold.jpg


Why is there a crusty cell phone in the photo? I'll get to that below...

My first gold ring was a total fluke (1st ring on the left, bottom row). I found it on just the second and final target of my short hunt, just off a beach entrance/exit, near the towel line. It rang up as a 10-11 on the ID screen. No doubt a fresh drop. I usually check the weather before every hunt, but on this occasion, I forgot to. When I arrive at the beach, the sky starts flashing and I could hear thunder getting a little too close for comfort. Holding two metal poles, I didn't want to die, so I ran for my life. Turns out, I did get struck by lightning (metaphorically). The ring was stamped 14K with a Friedman's mark. Weight: 1.7 grams.

Then I came upon a slope, and it was here that I had a metal detecting epiphany.

I even drew a diagram:

junediagram.jpg


I had detected this area many times before, but on this occasion, I noticed that the targets at the base of this slope were all heavy. I hear the old-timers on the forum who always say that if you find heavy items like sinkers, then you're in the right spot. Well, for the first time that I can ever recall, I felt what it was like to be in the right spot.

During the entire 2 hour hunt, I dug just 1 piece of aluminum. Everything was heavy, including several 3 oz. sinkers, keys, clad, large pieces of metal hardware like hinges, nuts, bolts, and that cell phone, from 1996!

It's crazy to think, but that Startrac phone was the first-ever flip-phone. It sounded like a quarter and it was buried there for 24 years before I found it. I had no idea what it was when I dug it up, but later that night, I connected the dots.

There must have been serious tidal action that managed to move enough sand to expose that phone. That's why I found the gold!

The first ring in this spot was the 1st ring in the first row. It has black stones and a little verdigris. I'll have to clean it. It's stamped 14K and "THL" for Samuel Aaron, a jewelry designer. It has a very old gold look to it. It had to have been buried there at least as long as the phone. Rang up in the nickel range (11-12 on the Nox). Weight: 3 grams.

A little further up the slope, I find a small clover shaped gold thing. It looks like part of an earring. It has two tiny diamonds still on it, and they tested real on the diamond tester. The green piece in the center may have held a larger stone like an emerald that's missing now. No hallmark, but it's very heavy for an object of that size. Under a microscope, it looks like gold with all the hairline scratches. I grabbed an old chemical testing kit that's been in my storage closet for years, and I scratched a little of it on some sandpaper. Didn't see a base layer. I think it passed the 10K test, but not the 14K test. It could just be that my chemicals were bad.

Until I can figure out what it's composed of exactly, I'm considering it gold. Weight: 2 grams.

The next day I run back to the same spot hoping to relive the glory of the night before. I was starting to find aluminum junk between the tide lines so I knew this spot was beginning to dry up. Luckily I found another ring, no hallmark. Very thin men's ring. Passed 10K test. Again, it looked like old gold. Rang up like a nickel (12-13 on the Nox). Weight: 1.4 grams.

That was it for the "old" gold though, at least until there's major erosion.

I detected the slope at an angle, and sure enough, another small ladies ring (top row, 4th ring). Stamped 10K with a mark that looks like a figure 8. It rang up in the 9-11 range on the Nox. I was digging everything in this area. I even considered bringing a shovel and digging a trench. Weight: 1.2 grams.

The next day, I run back to the same spot. I hoped for more sand movement. Just an inch or two! Let me hear those faint signals.

To no avail. The slope was exhausted. It yielded 3 gold rings and a clover-shaped gold thing.

The rest of the hunt, I wandered around the slope, depressed. I needed that feeling of reaching down and holding that heavy, shiny circular object between my fingers.

As I wandered, I looked at the seaweed. I remembered reading in one of Drayton's books that the seaweed can sometimes hold heavy items.

About 100 or so yards from the (formerly) magical slope. I found probably my best ring yet, among the piles of seaweed between the tide lines. A very shiny ladies ring (top row, 3rd ring from left) that weighed in at 2.7 grams. Stamped 14K with a VI mark. I suspect it may have been a fresh drop because I circled around the area and only found light aluminum bits. Not sure how it got there and if it had anything to do with the same phenomenon that occurred back at the magical slope. Either way, I'll take it.

The next week sucked. I dug every signal in this area like a junkie looking for his next ring fix. I found more trash than I care to mention. Lots of dimes and nickels though. The Equinox really likes nickels.

The seaweed had gotten so thick that I decided to end the month up in the dry sand, near the dunes. The stuff I found near the dunes was surprising, including several more 3 oz. lead sinkers. Lead, in front of the dunes?! How? I've seen people sunbathing around these spots, so I kept looking. That's when I found a low jumpy signal in the 6-11 range. My first gold necklace. It's stamped 14K "585" and "Italy." Not quite up by the dunes but close. Probably another fresh drop. Weight: 5.1 grams.

So there you have it, folks. My best month so far, by a longshot. Seven gold, including 5 rings.

I'm still trying to figure out why exactly the rings showed up in this spot despite no noticeable erosion. At least not the cliffs you picture in your mind when you think of erosion. There were similar looking slopes up and down the beach but none held anything valuable. That's the puzzling aspect of it.

For July, I'm hoping for a nice tropical storm, and more gold. :D
 
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Congrats on all those goldies. Yes, it's a great feeling to be in a gold producing area isn't it? It could have been sand movement under the waves instead of visible beach erosion. That chain and pendant are beautiful! :yes:
 
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Congrats on all those goldies. Yes, it's a great feeling to be a gold producing area isn't it? It could have been sand movement under the waves instead of visible beach erosion. That chain and pendant are beautiful! :yes:

Thanks, Compass. It's amazing how I went from zero gold the previous 5 months to 7 in one month.

Until I can get consistent with the gold finds, I'm going to think of my recent hot streak as simply a blind squirrel finding an acorn once in a while.
 
:dingding: Nice goodies! Learning where the good stuff is I feel is a never ending learning process for me. No matter what conditions I find I try to find "what is different"? I used to be about covering as much area as possible. Although I still do that, I have also learned to be patient and work an area that is giving up the greenies, crusties, and heavier items. I see I missed a pair of Ray-Bans! :lol:
 
Thanks, Compass. It's amazing how I went from zero gold the previous 5 months to 7 in one month.

Until I can get consistent with the gold finds, I'm going to think of my recent hot streak as simply a blind squirrel finding an acorn once in a while.

Maybe, but I think that when you have hunts like you did you start to get a better feel for where the gold can show up and makes it more likely for future success. It happened once- it will happen again. I have a spot that will group the rings together from time to time. I just have to be patient and be there when it happens. :yes:
 
Nice! I'm still learning how to read beaches. Outside of the regular trash and clad coins, I haven't found any jewelry. Trying again soon!
 
That's a great run on the gold! All I can say, don't let it rest.
 
Nice gold and goodies. Startac flipper was my 1st too. I thought I was cool like Tom Cruise walking around. Everyone wanted it. Lol...
 
very good write up. It is post like these that can help others.

East or West coast in South Fl? I have written 3 booklets (100 pages each) on hunting Florida beaches. You are learning to read beaches. I interviewed two old timers who really clean up on the east coast of Fl and some Caribbean beaches. They confided somethings that helped my research but cannot reveal their names or locations.

1. they never worry about 99% of the competition because most are on vacation in FL and don't know the beaches and they usually take just their land detector is often isn't work a !!!! in the salt water.
2. every beach can be different on where the heavy drops are located, but in general they all drop in similar locations.
3. when finding light weight stuff, pop tops, fishing lures you are in the wrong spot.
4. do your research and look for the most expensive hotels and condos on the beach. that is where the big money is located. rich wear jewelry to the beach for two reasons, vanity and distrust of hotel workers.
5. when you find sinkers and old crusted coins, slow down, you are in the sweet spot.
6. determine if the beach is eroding or building. soft mushy sand in the water the beach is building. hard sand in the water the beach is eroding. eroding beaches are best for finding old drops.
7. building beaches and/or not finding sinkers, move to another beach. Just a few miles can bring you beach sand movement more favorable to your hunt.
8. hunt wet, towel line is hit hard by vacationing detectors whose land detectors can find fresh drops. No percentages there for the professional.
9. hunt the base of the cuts after a big storm if they are present. A storm of even modest strength along with currents and tides can remove 3-5 feet of sand. Professionals know the height of the sand on their beaches, vacationing detectorists don't have a clue it they have been seriously eroded.
10. If you are a vacationing detectorists and have a saltwater capable detector like a PI, Nox 800 then hunt like a pro. If you don't stick to the towel line because you are wasting your time in the water.

the idea about seaweed trapping targets is a good one that I had not heard before. I remember back in late 80's hunting gold in north Georgia creeks, the old timers advised us to check in the banks for clumps of clay tangled in roots. Same theory, trapping gold.
 
:dingding: Nice goodies! Learning where the good stuff is I feel is a never ending learning process for me. No matter what conditions I find I try to find "what is different"? I used to be about covering as much area as possible. Although I still do that, I have also learned to be patient and work an area that is giving up the greenies, crusties, and heavier items. I see I missed a pair of Ray-Bans! :lol:

I think we're all guessing. That's why beaches can never be truly "hunted out" by anyone. Every time I go out there, I notice something slightly different over the day before, and significantly different over the week/month before. A couple of months back, a coin line appeared out of nowhere with dozens of green crusted quarters in close proximity, at a quiet local beach I had detected many times before. I always assumed there was nothing to find there. One day the beach just randomly decided to fling some coins at that spot.

I found this YouTube video of a 1-year time-lapse of a shoreline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywScSyGXWI4. Check it out; It was the only time-lapse of a beach I could find over such an extended period of time. It starts at 1:15.
 
very good write up. It is post like these that can help others.

East or West coast in South Fl? I have written 3 booklets (100 pages each) on hunting Florida beaches. You are learning to read beaches. I interviewed two old timers who really clean up on the east coast of Fl and some Caribbean beaches. They confided somethings that helped my research but cannot reveal their names or locations.

1. they never worry about 99% of the competition because most are on vacation in FL and don't know the beaches and they usually take just their land detector is often isn't work a !!!! in the salt water.
2. every beach can be different on where the heavy drops are located, but in general they all drop in similar locations.
3. when finding light weight stuff, pop tops, fishing lures you are in the wrong spot.
4. do your research and look for the most expensive hotels and condos on the beach. that is where the big money is located. rich wear jewelry to the beach for two reasons, vanity and distrust of hotel workers.
5. when you find sinkers and old crusted coins, slow down, you are in the sweet spot.
6. determine if the beach is eroding or building. soft mushy sand in the water the beach is building. hard sand in the water the beach is eroding. eroding beaches are best for finding old drops.
7. building beaches and/or not finding sinkers, move to another beach. Just a few miles can bring you beach sand movement more favorable to your hunt.
8. hunt wet, towel line is hit hard by vacationing detectors whose land detectors can find fresh drops. No percentages there for the professional.
9. hunt the base of the cuts after a big storm if they are present. A storm of even modest strength along with currents and tides can remove 3-5 feet of sand. Professionals know the height of the sand on their beaches, vacationing detectorists don't have a clue it they have been seriously eroded.
10. If you are a vacationing detectorists and have a saltwater capable detector like a PI, Nox 800 then hunt like a pro. If you don't stick to the towel line because you are wasting your time in the water.

the idea about seaweed trapping targets is a good one that I had not heard before. I remember back in late 80's hunting gold in north Georgia creeks, the old timers advised us to check in the banks for clumps of clay tangled in roots. Same theory, trapping gold.


East Coast. I'd love to read some of your booklets. Where can I find them?

I agree with your points, especially #3 and #5. My new trusted strategy near the water line is to sample an area. If I find light targets, I keep walking. I usually try to find at least 1, but preferably two, quarters and/or nickels (since they're the biggest coins by size and weight) before I start to focus on a particular area.
 
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