Stumbling onto Gold at Night

IMAUDIGGER

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Mar 16, 2016
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Couple years ago, I was detecting in the lower 40 acres and it began to get dark, I pulled my headlamp out and discovered the battery was dead.
I would have continued detecting if my headlamp had been working, but instead I started hiking back up a skid road towards my truck.
Darkness quickly settled in, but my eyes were adjusted to the darkness so I kept swinging my detector and digging nails.

Finally I could not see well enough to detect and decided it was time to quit.

I started walking quickly up the road, all the while randomly swinging my coil.

Suddenly I got a loud signal that sounded a lot like gold. The signal was about 4" down and when I finally got it separated, I could feel the heft.
My heart jumped a little, but since it was dark, I could not tell if it was gold or a large chunk of lead.

As I walked up the road, I tried to nick it with my thumbnail and it felt hard...good sign...I walked another 10 minutes not knowing what I had found, wondering if it could be a nice nugget.

When I got to the truck, I turned the cab light on and was treated to the color of gold. I quickly popped the nugget into my mouth to clean it off and this is what I saw.






IMG_1107.JPG

Pays to swing your coil while your walking, even if your not concentrating. This isn't the first thing I have found that way or the best.

Anybody else stumble onto gold this way?
 

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smokeythecat

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Nov 22, 2012
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Like, no, not nuggets but on the last 20' of beach sand heading to the parking lot found a 18k gold and diamond ring early this year. BEAUTIFUL nugget. BANNER! It's huge.
 

Aufisher

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May 12, 2013
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Great story and an awesome nugget!
 

OBN

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Dec 30, 2008
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That's a sweet yellow there!! Wow!! Love that Kolor! I like how you compared it to lead, there is a feel to it I agree..clunk, clunk feel in the hand.

I guess my best was a 2 carat diamond plat ring, it was so dark I could just make out it was a ring with a big stone. Had no clue, figured it was just another ocean city junk ring.. a few feet later I hit another, then another. With these I did notice the weight but being my first Platinum rings I was clueless, dropped them in my pouch and headed off the beach. A few days later I headed to Jared Jewelries.. They gave me a quick write up for just the main ring..23 to 27 grand replacement cost.

2 years later I found a 21k wedding band almost the same location, right at dusk..this one I did find the owner.
 

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IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

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Thanks guys - I loved the suspense not knowing what it was...all the while knowing what it might be.
Sometimes when I have a situation like that...Say a really dirty coin...I prolong the suspense on purpose by waiting till I get home to have a good look.

Been disappointed many times that way.
 

Kenmitch

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Oct 7, 2016
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Nice! Guessing around .75 ounce.
 

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IMAUDIGGER

IMAUDIGGER

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Kenmitch, I'm sure I put it on the scale, but I don't remember how much it was.
I won't even guess because I'm usually way off on larger nuggets.
Surely under 3/4 ounce, probably closer to 1/2 ounce.
Dang it - now I'll have to check.
 

Lanny in AB

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Apr 2, 2003
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Loved the story!

That's a great one.

Thanks for sharing, and all the best,

Lanny
 

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