Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Funny story of thick storm erosion results

Tom_in_CA

Tom_in_CA

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In 1982-83, some big storms raked our west coast beaches. Two friends of mine showed up at a beach near Watsonville CA, after one of those big storms. They were both swinging Whites 6000 D's . Which, at the time, was about the best we had for wet-salt around here. And as you may recall: There was a "trick" to off-setting the ground balance , in order to knock out hot-rocks, black sand, etc...

The first guy to reach the wet sand, turned on his machine . He was attempting to get his knobs set, in order to start hunting. However: every time he'd go to make a sample swing (after raising, lowering, and adjusting the knobs), he would only hear beep beep beep beep. So he'd try adjusting again. To no avail. Just beeping everywhere. He assumed he was getting machine-gun fire from black sand.

By that time his buddy had reached the wet sand. Since his buddy was more experienced, he asked his friend for help balancing. Each of them tried, but .... when proceeding to swing, again: Just kept beeping everywhere.

On a hunch, my friend took a swipe with his sandscoop. Shook out the sand, and ....... COINS ! Turns out all the beeps had been coins. So thick on the beach, there was hardly a place where there WASN'T coins. (ie.: a clean place to perform ground balance check).

For that entire low tide cycle I think the 2 of them came away with something on the order of 500 to 700 coins each. Essentially as fast as you can dig. And only leaving d/t the incoming tide chasing them out.

Anyone seen conditions that thick before after beach erosion ?
 
I.ve seen them so thick I switched to my dry sand scoop because they were laying on top of the wet sand on every wave. Only problem was I did that one day and my friend left the coins totally alone and just dug the gold. Think I got 50 bucks and he got 3 gold:lol:
 
Well I'm a few years younger than you and Larry, but have experienced similar situations. I've arrived on the beach and found detectorists to my left and detectorists to my right. There were so many detectorists, it was hard to find a place to ground balance my detector. LOL :lol:
 
itsaring! said:
I.ve seen them so thick I switched to my dry sand scoop because they were laying on top of the wet sand on every wave. Only problem was I did that one day and my friend left the coins totally alone and just dug the gold. Think I got 50 bucks and he got 3 gold:lol:
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Yes, I've seen conditions where a lot of the coins, you actually SEE before even swinging over them. And yes: When conditions get that thick, I've actually often thought of only digging targets @ gold ranges. Eg.: zinc and below. And PASSING all high conductors. Yup, kiss silver coins goodbye.

There has been a particular stretch of time on one beach where I did eventually get so sick & tired of digging coins, that I started passing all high conductors. Interestingly, the erosion had been so precise, that NOT EVEN ZINC was left (since that's a lighter weight coin that got washed out with the light stuff). Only heavier coins, sinkers, gold, nails, etc... were left.

I got 5 gold rings that day. And my coin count dropped signficantly. I would still get nickels, and "beach-kissed" dimes and copper pennies that were thinner d/t tumbling. So some pennies/dimes would read below zinc. Still though, it cut down a lot of digging.

That was a case where it would simply have been impossible to harvest all the signals before the next tide. So ... why not angle for more gold, rather that sad-sorry black beach silver ?? :laughing:
 
I've seen conditions like that out in the water when the bottom was super washed out. You would get a signal, place your coil aside and it would beep no matter where you placed it. It was a very distinct area maybe 30 yards off shore in about shoulder deep in trough that ran parallel to shore for like a hundred yards. I joked that you could go out there with just a scoop, no detector, and find coins within three scoops, it really was that thick.
Canadianguy was there, we milked it as long as we could. We were averaging several gold each and a pouch FULL of coins per hunt. It has not washed out that deep in the years since, but knowing it's there keeps me waiting for a storm big enough to do it again...
 
zeemang said:
I've seen conditions like that out in the water when the bottom was super washed out. You would get a signal, place your coil aside and it would beep no matter where you placed it. It was a very distinct area maybe 30 yards off shore in about shoulder deep in trough that ran parallel to shore for like a hundred yards. I joked that you could go out there with just a scoop, no detector, and find coins within three scoops, it really was that thick.
Canadianguy was there, we milked it as long as we could. We were averaging several gold each and a pouch FULL of coins per hunt. It has not washed out that deep in the years since, but knowing it's there keeps me waiting for a storm big enough to do it again...
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Good story. Here's a similar one:

Buddy of mine went to Seacliff state beach (south of Santa Cruz) during some storms that hit here in 1980. The erosion had exposed some concrete K-rail ribs. That had been put down in the 1920s, in an effort to stop erosion from encroaching a newly built beach side picnic area and parking lots.

Well, I guess their concrete rib formations must've worked. Because they eventually became covered with sand, and forgotten. Only occasional storms exposed a peek at the top of these concrete formations.

But in 1980, the sand had washed out from around them completely at a few ends. So that when each wave receded, it had to "wash around" the ends of the concrete wall rail things. My friend was doing good as he was getting closer and closer to the K-rail things, because, of course, that's where the water movement was slowing down and dropping items. However, he could not sweep right up at the edge, since it had rebar metal inside the concrete.

On a hunch, he took a random swipe right at the base of these created tide-pool eddy turbulent zones. And ...... multiple coins ! (and nails and sinkers and rocks, etc...). He removes the coins, dumps out the rest, and swipes blind again. More coins !

So for the next several hours he just turned off his machine, set it on the ground, and scooped blindly all along the base of the concrete rib things. He ended up with 100 silver coins, about 700 total coins, and about 10 gold items (rings, necklaces, amulet, etc....). And the only reason he had to call it quits that day, was the incoming tide was chasing him back out.

We have NEVER seen it eroded to that level since then. I keep watching, and occasionally see the tops of those concrete things. But not all the way to the bases again.
 
A funny story Tom. I have had that happen to me as well. But only because There were big cuts and a local guy goes to a beach that produces some really good finds and seeds the beach low areas with pennies. This guy spends more money protecting this beach he looses money by detecting. After digging about 5 or so pennies I ignore the sound and pick through it. He stopped me a couple of times and ask me what the hxxl I was doing detecting his beach. I just smile and keep grabbing the goods. Now finding a beach the way you described would be sweet.
 
This was from a Feb. 2017 So. Cal. hunt after one of our winter storms. Not a coin with every swing of the coil, but man, it sure felt like it. As you can see by the picture, I did not bother including the pennies. I think I estimated close to 350 coins that day. That sure was a fun hunt !!!!
 

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jjm861 said:
.... I think I estimated close to 350 coins that day. ....
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Nice pix Jim. Yes, anytime you're at the mid 300's and higher, it almost "as fast as you can dig". Because by the time you factor in the stop to dig, shake the sand through the scoop, stick in apron, and proceed ..... then it's easy to envision how in a 5 or 6 hr. low-tide time frame, that 300 to 400 becomes pretty durned rapid action.

I've had days in the mid 300s. And even one day at 466. On the day of 466 it was often multiple coins per scoop. And that particular beach was riddled with bullets and lead, so I think the ACTUAL target count was well over 1k. Crazy fast !
 
Wow y'all make me jealous! I can't wait for some hurricanes to come through next year I'm going to take me some vacation time and hit the beach!
 
This was after Cyclone Dylan (Australia) in January 2014.
Six days in a row (8 hour shifts)produced 825 coins.
After 6 days I was so tired & my calves were killing me.
 

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ive come across this at a particular beach on two separate occasions. Coins galore. Every swing beeped. Got tired of digging them. I didn't count either time but I know it was in the hundreds for the couple of hours I spent before the tide chased me off. Had to empty my pouch more than once. I think I got a silver ring the 2nd time. Lots of 1960s coins but no silver. Even got older wheats. I gave up on that beach.
 
jjm861 said:
This was from a Feb. 2017 So. Cal. hunt after one of our winter storms. Not a coin with every swing of the coil, but man, it sure felt like it. As you can see by the picture, I did not bother including the pennies. I think I estimated close to 350 coins that day. That sure was a fun hunt !!!!
Click to expand...
Jeff, Your story makes me feel like I was there...oh yeah, I was there. :lol: Yes, that was a day to remember:
picture.php

As good as that hunt was I remember back in the 70's when I was still in school. After school let out I met my older friends who had been at the beach all day. They said that during the morning high tide there were so many coins being washed out that they left their detectors in the car and just ran up and down the beach picking up coins after every wave.
When I got to the beach that afternoon there were hundreds of holes in the wet sand. Yet, I could hardly move without hitting another target. Several times I dug out multiple coins with one scoop, four being the highest number! Despite the late start I wound up finding over $35 in change and about half of that was silver. I don't remember how much my good buddy had but I do remember that he had 8 silver half-dollars. Funny, but finding gold rings back then was so much more common that I don't even remember how many I had. :roll:
Sure would like to see another day like that! :yes:
 
Compass said:
.... I remember back in the 70's...
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That must've been the storms of 1977. I wasn't hunting the beaches then. I lived ~20 miles inland, and was only in high school. Was just getting started land hunting, so I didn't know anything about beach erosion. But in 1979 to '80-ish, I met some fellow who regaled me in stories about the 1977 storms. One guy on Carmel beach had something like 15 gold rings in one day.

So I'm guessing that the storms you're talking about were the the '77 storms, that no doubt raked So. CA too. And I think some big ones hit in the early 1970s in So. CA. I heard of this because I knew a surfer who, in the early 1970s, was in his 20s in So. CA. They arrived at the beach one day to see a tall cut, that went the full length of the beach. And at the foot of the cut, he spotted some coins. So rather than go surfing, he spent the next few hours just walking up and down the length of the cut, eyeballing round circles. Said it amounted to $7-ish dollars. I know that sounds silly nowadays, but I bet back then you could fill your gas tank with that, and still have money left over :)
 
Tom_in_CA said:
That must've been the storms of 1977. I wasn't hunting the beaches then. I lived ~20 miles inland, and was only in high school. Was just getting started land hunting, so I didn't know anything about beach erosion. But in 1979 to '80-ish, I met some fellow who regaled me in stories about the 1977 storms. One guy on Carmel beach had something like 15 gold rings in one day.

So I'm guessing that the storms you're talking about were the the '77 storms, that no doubt raked So. CA too. And I think some big ones hit in the early 1970s in So. CA. I heard of this because I knew a surfer who, in the early 1970s, was in his 20s in So. CA. They arrived at the beach one day to see a tall cut, that went the full length of the beach. And at the foot of the cut, he spotted some coins. So rather than go surfing, he spent the next few hours just walking up and down the length of the cut, eyeballing round circles. Said it amounted to $7-ish dollars. I know that sounds silly nowadays, but I bet back then you could fill your gas tank with that, and still have money left over :)
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My memory isn't the greatest but I'm thinking '74 or either side of that. Like yourself, I was a contented dirt hunter when I started in high school and my passion then was finding silver and older coins. Back then I was about 30 miles from the closest beach. Now I'm about 40 miles from the beaches (or lakes) and I have a passion for the yellow metal. :yes:
 
I've had a couple 400+ coin days with good erosion on LA beaches. Great when my container overflows and I had to fill my pockets with coins. I pulled $25 in clad one day. Another day was lighter targets. 300 coins with 200 being dimes. Thankfully 4 silver. It's nice when you can find 30 coins just laying on the surface of the black sand. Even pulled a few 1 gram gold earrings lying on the surface. They stand out against the black. Those days will return. I've had 200 coin days week after the storm when the sand moves just right. But those days you can't swing without a hit are fun, but tiring. I had a PI which meant plenty of targets. But in thick black sand I hunted, needed it. friends CTX wouldn't find a quarter at 2". I pulled silver coins from his footsteps.
 
MTJosh said:
.... Thankfully 4 silver.....
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Josh, "400+ coins" is essentially as fast as a person can dig. Eh ? Don't you love it when that happens ? After a few trips like that, you'll detest dry sand hunting forevermore !

As for the ratios you speak of (in recent year's storms), here's a factoid to make you sick to your stomach: During the storms of '82-83, I heard of a few eroded spots where the ratios were the other way around. Ie.: most all old, and only a few clad. The reason was: The sand had been stripped out further than all previous storms had ever reached to. So instead of getting coins that had "come back in" during prior decades spring sand-fill (hence dates mixed), the '82-83 storms, at some beaches, literally reached into virgin sand.

Example: There was a guy doing the beaches by El Segundo that year. He described one individual week, where every day, for 5 days straight, he had NO LESS than 100 silver coins per day. I don't know what his total coin counts were, but I'm sure they were 500+ per day. And gold ring totals of up to 5 to 7 each day.

He described one day during that series of storms, that he had to go to work. Couldn't detect. But he detoured, on his way to work, just to see how the beach looked. He spotted a buddy detecting, so he jogged down to see how his friend was doing. He had basically gone down to tell him "I gotta work. Can't detect today". In the short few minutes talking to his buddy, he watched him dig 3 silver halves. :dash2: He was so sick to his stomach thinking about how much action he was going to miss, but apparently "calling in sick" wasn't an option I guess :wow:
 
Compass said:
Jeff, Your story makes me feel like I was there...oh yeah, I was there. :lol: Yes, that was a day to remember:
picture.php

As good as that hunt was I remember back in the 70's when I was still in school. After school let out I met my older friends who had been at the beach all day. They said that during the morning high tide there were so many coins being washed out that they left their detectors in the car and just ran up and down the beach picking up coins after every wave.
When I got to the beach that afternoon there were hundreds of holes in the wet sand. Yet, I could hardly move without hitting another target. Several times I dug out multiple coins with one scoop, four being the highest number! Despite the late start I wound up finding over $35 in change and about half of that was silver. I don't remember how much my good buddy had but I do remember that he had 8 silver half-dollars. Funny, but finding gold rings back then was so much more common that I don't even remember how many I had. :roll:
Sure would like to see another day like that! :yes:
Click to expand...

George, I agree. When you and I met up that day last February, we both had some good gold to share. I have been on a bad gold skunk lately, if I could have just a small portion of that days hunt I would take it. :yes::yes:
 
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