10 Hours on the West Coast of Florida

LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Spent 10 hours over 2 days MDing on the west coast of Florida on a storm ravaged beach that lost most of the sand. The wind was blowing and the temp was in the 50s. Fist-sized stones were everywhere. Digging targets required removing the top stones first, loosening the remaining stone and sand mixture and trying to scoop into a stone laden beach. It was tough going given that I usually work on sand covered beaches where the scoop has no problems going down the full 12 inch length. I should have taken a crowbar along with my large scoop, hand trowel and large screw driver. Digging was brutal.

Here I sit writing this post with an open oozing callus on my left hand – forgot to change hands the first day of MDing after 5 ½ hrs. Also tore the fingernail off the middle finger of the right hand while digging with my hands into the stone laden beach. Lower back is stiff and it is difficult to get out of a chair – the result of repeatedly bending down to dig targets. Neck is also stiff – haven’t a clue why. Bottom of my feet are sore from walking on the stones with my Cressi hard soled diving boots. Lower arms are sore from swinging the detector and digging into the impossible beach. Face is wind and sun burnt and I can barely lift my arms to drink my morning coffee My wife said I over-did-it. Can’t wait till tomorrow when I return to the beach for more MDing. Live is good.

Oh, what about the finds and why would I continue with the “hardship? Averaged over 11 coins/hr (compared to about 7/hr on sandy beaches) and found 2 rings, albeit cheap ones. Given the shape of the beach, I know that there is gold to be found given the amount of sand removal – although brutal, these are the types of beach conditions one looks for in searching for (previously) deep targets. Much of the remaining sand is the deep darker sand. I also analyzed the dates of the found coins and they’re averaging about 5-10 yrs older, depending on denomination, than coin finds from other regular sanded beaches. There is lots of coin degeneration – 32% of the cents did not have identifiable dates and 12% of the dimes also did not have identifiable dates. This compares to seldom seeing such corroded coins, even the zinc cents, on sandy beaches. My detector is fully charged – my body will recover.
 

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Captain Caveman

Silver Member
May 14, 2015
2,513
2,234
Madison, MS
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75SE, F44, F2 and CZ-20. Minelab E-TRAC and Go-Find 60. Tesoro Tejon. BH Quick Silver.
Primary Interest:
Other
Thanks for sharing and good luck!
 

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LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Yap, wore some really good gloves and yet...digging like a dog for 97 cents/hr and loving it.
 

Sir Gala Clad

Bronze Member
Jul 9, 2012
1,330
511
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All Treasure Hunting
Excellent Report wish I had been there with you.
Your wife is right- you did over did it!

Sounds like you need a more surgical retrieval approach taking care neither to hurt your self or cause damage.
Hopefully you will find some gold, and your wife will get excited - take turns retrieving and detecting (one detects, other retrieves).
Maybe a third party to drag both of you off the beach, if not able - at least to tote water and sunblock

As I live near the equator, I time my hunts to avoid the sun (melenoa hours) and lookie loos rather than the tides.

Yes life is good, but betta with less pain and mo betta with more gain.
 

flgliderpilot

Bronze Member
Apr 28, 2015
1,504
1,427
Saint Augustine, FL
Detector(s) used
CZ-21, Minelab Equinox, Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Well heck sounds like you found a good spot. I went out during what I believe was the same storm, at extreme low tide which was in the 40s and 15 knots. Honestly I lasted about 10 minutes. I expected to see some erosion since the current was ripping side shore, but the beach was still sanded in, and with it being so cold there was not a chance I was wasting any time with it. I went home and went back to sleep!

Good luck with the next hunt sounds like you are near finding something good.
 

PI PETE

Hero Member
Aug 10, 2009
550
291
Detector(s) used
Excal_1000 / Whites VX3 / Shadow 2-Troy / & Infinium L-S/Garrett / AT GOLD
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Pictures please!
 

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LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I should be back to the eroded beach next Tuesday & Wednesday (1/19, 1/20) and I'll take pics of what I think is prime hunting grounds.
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I should be back to the eroded beach next Tuesday & Wednesday (1/19, 1/20) and I'll take pics of what I think is prime hunting grounds.
Looking forward to the pics...Ive never seen the West coast beaches of Florida down to rocks like that...good luck.
 

cdv1

Hero Member
Jun 29, 2011
766
678
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Looking forward to the pics...Ive never seen the West coast beaches of Florida down to rocks like that...good luck.

There is one out there, I'm fairly certain I know the beach and it is a tough hunt in those rocks if it is the one I'm thinking of......
Cliff
 

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LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Went back to the weather stripped beach and found GOLD! The first pic shows the stone covered beach — what was under about 1 — 1 ½ feet of sand. Last year went to the same beach and my scoop had no problem going 12” deep w/o running into the stones. The second pic shows the beach where the upper sand was washed away exposing the deeper black sand where I found the majority of my finds this time (easier digging). The stones and black sand are ideal signs of where to detect on the beach — where the upper layers of sand have been washed-away and thus concentrating the targets in the deeper black sand and stone layers. The movement of the sand (and targets) also leads to the development of pockets of coins — found a small pocket of about 25 coins in a 3 sq meter area.

The third pic shows my finds after 4 hrs of hunting: 61 coins (32 cents, 6 nickels, 13 dimes, 12 quarters), 3 pieces of costume jewelry and a thin gold band marked 14K and which appears to be from a larger band or wedding set. At about 15 coins/hr, my “coin rate” was about twice what I typically find on white sand beaches — emphasizing the concentration of coins. Also, 19 of the 32 cents (60%) were too corroded to identify the date (group of corroded cents shown on lower mid-right)! The found coins were, overall, very weathered, darkened and corroded. In addition, as stated earlier, the coins were also 5 — 10 yrs older than similar coins found on white sand Florida beaches.

One thing that does hold true is my coin — to — gold ratio: Last year I posted on TreasureNet that I find a piece of gold for every 200 — 250 found coins. To date this year, I have found 210 coins (total = $14.02) before I found my first piece of gold. Returning to the eroded beach shortly, I hope to improve the coin — to — gold ratio. Who knows, there may be a pocket of gold rings waiting discovery! I’ll keep you posted.

Florida 011716 131.jpg Florida 011716 130.jpg Florida 011716 138.jpg
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congrats on the gold...thanks for the pics.
 

dr-quest

Sr. Member
Feb 25, 2007
369
66
Nova Scotia Canada
Detector(s) used
Garret AT Gold, Whites XLT,Tesoro Stingray ll,Whites Surfmaster ll
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The window only stays open so long, cant wait to see the best find of your adventure when you are resting up for the next window :thumbsup:
 

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LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Found Platinum at Stone covered Beach

If you’ve been following this Thread you know that I’m on the west coast of Florida and at a stone covered, washed out beach. Went back yesterday and spent 6 ½ hrs “in the stones.” The going was rough – digging into the stone and black sand mix was like digging in old cement. Found Platinum wedding band! (first pic) Also found large diamond ring or as it turned out ; actually, a good looking sterling ring with 1 ct center stone flagged by 6 smaller stones (all prob Zirconium, second photo). Also found 6 sinkers, junk ring and 39 coins. Due to the heaving digging conditions, my coin/hr count was 5.8 coins/hr. My gold - to - coin ratio (Platinum also counts) has now dropped to 1:124. My normal ratio for the past 3 yrs has been 1:200-250. WOW. Hope to keep this ratio as low as possible...we'll see. Going back tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
Jan 20 2016 014.jpg Jan 20 2016 017.jpg
 

metaldetectorguy

Full Member
Feb 21, 2011
189
120
SouthSide
Detector(s) used
Dual Field, CZ-21, V3i, VX3, Deus, BHID 300, Coinmaster GT, MX5, Ace 150, Ace 250, Gtax 1000, MXT Pro
Wow! Pretty sweet. Looks like some nice hunting there. Thanks for sharing. Congrats on the finds!
 

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LawrencetheMDer

Hero Member
Feb 22, 2014
978
2,386
Ohio and Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Manticore, Minelab CTX3030 w 11" and 17" DD coils,
Minelab Excalibur II w 10" coil, Equinox 800 (4) w 11" and 15" coils,
Troy Shadow x2 w 7" coil, Pointers; Garrett Carrot, Pro Find 35,
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Hey Guys, went back to the SCB (stoned covered beach) and 6 hrs later came away with 48 coins and 4 sinkers. My coins/hr for 2016 (7.4/hr, total = 296) is slightly above my long term average of about 7 coins/hr. Tide was high due to incoming storm (?). Hope to return at low tide to try my luck again. How can 6 hrs go by in one hr?
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey Guys, went back to the SCB (stoned covered beach) and 6 hrs later came away with 48 coins and 4 sinkers. My coins/hr for 2016 (7.4/hr, total = 296) is slightly above my long term average of about 7 coins/hr. Tide was high due to incoming storm (?). Hope to return at low tide to try my luck again. How can 6 hrs go by in one hr?
Yeah, time goes by at warp speed when Im detecting in the water...I get there and say man Ive got all day and all of the sudden the sun is going down...they say time flies when your having fun so I must be having a blast.
 

lookindown

Gold Member
Mar 11, 2010
7,089
4,936
Florida
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
ACE 250,AT PRO, CZ21...RTG pro scoop...Stealth 720
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Congrats on the awesome plat...nice silver too.
 

melbajoe

Jr. Member
Dec 5, 2014
28
15
ct
Detector(s) used
excal II CZ21 sov gt
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
congrats- that platinum looks nice. Hard work does pay off
 

Irishgoldhound

Bronze Member
Jul 15, 2013
2,350
2,129
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Wow nice rings. Real diamond set in a sterling ring is not too common. Did you have it tested ?
 

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