Finding Gold Coins HELP!

[Copper]

I have made up my mind that there are gold coins out there to be found. The US $1 gold piece is very small and easy to drop. I'm sure these were lost and I'm going to find one (some place other than ebay).

Speaking of ebay, I just purchased a type III 1857 $1 gold piece I plan to use for detecting practice and a ring setting. I am going to plant that coin every which way until I know what to expect in the field.

Question: Does anybody out there have any suggestions on how I may increase my chances of finding this prize which has escaped me now for some 35 years? Any techniques or suggestions on the types of places to hunt? HELP!

 

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[jeff of pa]

Just that you have to dig everything in the Cantab range

 

[Copper]

Thanks.

I was also wondering about maybe using a smaller search coil. I would think these coins would not be too deep. I just have a feeling we're all missing them.

Years ago I had this same feeling about Barber dimes (silver dimes in general). Very few found these back in the 60's. Then the detectors became more sensitive and we all started working a grid pattern...BINGO! Suddenly we were finding Barbers!

 

[cedarratt]

My bh 505 has a little trouble pin pointing with the 8" coil but the 4" I can hit with in a 2 inch circle of where my target is. Hes one way to practice close your eyes and toss one out into you back yard. Then look till you find it, this works great unless you use your yard as a welding shop like I tend to do. You also should know that you can use cheaper gold coins for searching. $1 US coins have collecter value where 1/25 1/10 oz bullion coins are only worth their wieght in gold. You might also try to get a hold of a Maximillian coin they wiegh less then a gram and are about 8k gold and they are pretty cheap. about 10 bucks. You can also get platinum 1/10 oz coins for about 50$.

 

[Copper]

Thanks much.

I do wonder if we're heading the wrong way with this movement toward bigger coils? The big coils are great for some areas, but not all. In areas with heavy trash they can be nearly useless. The junk can cancel out the other signals (coins on edge, etc.).

I wonder what would happen if one were to return to those most likely "worked out" spots and used a new powerful detector with a 4 inch coil (with the machine set to detect gold). I guess the only way this would work is if there is a slight difference between the signal of a pulltab and a gold coin.

Any comments?

 

[jeff of pa]

A large size Coil Will not Cancel out good targets mixed with Bad, when using a Sovereign or an Explorer. It may have a problem in trashy areas on others.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?on going back to Hunted areas with a smaller coil, the only advantage would be Target Seperation. You Will Lose Depth.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? the ONLY machine I know of that you could tune a $1.00 Gold coin in & ignore 99% of everything else, Including Silver is the Explorer. However , Even so, If you were to try something like that, I'd do it with a Coil that gets Depth.

 

[Copper]

the ONLY machine I know of that you could tune a $1.00 Gold coin in & ignore 99% of everything else, Including Silver is the Explorer.

Thanks much!

Excuse my ignorance but what is the Explorer detector? What brand?

I know an area where rich folks played back in the mid 1800's. I wouldn't mind visiting there again.

 

[jeff of pa]

MINELAB MAKES THE EXPLORER.? Whites DFX & XLT may be able to do the same, But as I said, The only one I tried something like this was with the Explorer. I set it to find Gold Rings & Ignore all else. Only Problem, the Only thing I found that day was Can Tabs. as I said Nothing is 100%

 

[jeff of pa]

What You Would do With The Explorer Is Make The Whole Screen Black, Which Means Reject EVERYTHING. then you would hit "Learn" & pass a $1.00 gold under the coil & a White Dot about the size of a Period ( . ) will appear where Gold Dollars hit. Then only objects that hit this white spot will Signal.

 

[spotz]

Finding gold coins depends a lot on research & probability of gold coins in use at the site you are hunting. I have countless hours of computer search time into the art of finding gold coins & It has not happened for me YET. According to research, the most likely gold coin to be found is the $5.00 gold piece. Mint stastics indicate that from 1850 to 1933, 90% of total gold coins minted were in the $5.00 denomination, thus being the coin most carried & lost. ?

Larger population centers around gold field areas had more gold in circulation. The places near a mint were obvious places, like Denver & San Fancisco. There is a detectoris, Mark Ferns 3975 Campbell, Baker City, Oregon 97814 who has been very successful in finding gold coins. He has written a small book on the subjuet & you can order it from him on CD ROM for about $5.00. It is informative, but brief. He hunts ghost towns & historic areas in Oregon where gold mining was big. The Sumpter Vallery Reigon was one of the biggest gold producing areas in the US.

What I have found in research so far indicates that nice older Silver coin finds & some Gold coins are more likely in the Eastern States, but more numerous Gold Coin Finds are more lilely in the Western States as the Gold Rush pushed the miners West to Oregon & California.

Lots of resrearch, lots of time detecting & a lot of luck are involved with Gold Coin Finds. Finding old caches of coins from persons who were known to have secreted their money away in a jar or a can or a post hole bank are the most likely places for multiple Gold Coin Finds. Almost no one trusted banks in the old days & smart persons still don't trust banks with your money. There is a lot of gold & silver salted away or lost out there & it will take people like us to find it. Just keep looking & dig everything at any suspected good site & you will prevail. Good Luck!
Spotz

 

[jeff of pa]

Very Good Points & researsh Spotz.? ?One of the reasons I got rid of the Explorer was the Temptation To Do things Like I mentioned above. Plus All the Bells & whistles, made me wonder Continuosly IF I ever had it set up right .

 

[spotz]

Yeah Jeff. I know just what you mean. I REALLY WANT TO FIND A GOLD COIN, but I will just have to be patient. We all know what it really takes is a good site & putting in the time. I feel that time has been my pernonal enemy, but with a little luck, I'll be fully & comfortably retired before the end of the month. Uh Oh! That means I'll be out of excuses. Hmmmm! Spotz

 

[Copper]

WOW! Thanks much to all of you who have commented so far!

There's a wealth of information here already.

spotz, you're comments about the $5 gold coin is consistant with what I've seen so far. You've done your homework. Also, thanks for the address. I plan to get that book.

Most gold coins I've heard of found were $5 gold pieces (in the U.S). In fact, I don't know of a single $1 coin find that wasn't part of some piece of jewelry.

Maybe what we're coming to is this, if we want to dig a gold coin we'll have to put up with digging a lot of trash. Would you all agree to that?

 

[jeff of pa]

Absolutely. Not Only Do you Have to Dig alot of trash to find one But The Supprise Of actually Digging one up, is So much better If you Don't know Till you See It pop out the Ground.

 

[lonewolfe]

Let us be 'real' here on this subject and bring a realistic enlightenment into the light here,

although I don't want to rain on anyones parade,

most newbies to the hobby have over blown ideas on what they will find, how often and in what quantity,

Digging a LOT of trash is 100% correct in trying to find a gold "anything".. The $1 love token piece that I found was after 17+ yrs of detecting, digging 1000s upon 1000s of targets in 100s upon 100s of places, using many different machines, and techninques, learning thru trial and error with 100s and probably 1000s of hrs logged on detectors, and it was thru much painstaking ?research that I found an old swimming hole that no one had ever detected before which lead me to find it. It is the only gold coin/token I've ever found in 20+ yrs of detecting. It's worth is approx. $35 to $40.. People did NOT carry gold coins like people have carried silver, copper, etc. for the last 60 yrs or so in quantity. Even a 100 yrs ago, most people didn't carry much coinage because the weekly pay on avg. back then was $1 to $3 and every penny was accounted for.. Most people never had ANY gold coin. The ones that did, didn't lose it very often and the ones that did lose them, would have searched almost endlessly to recover it because of its worth.. Gold coin was a "rich mans" coin. If it weren't and they were lost by the 1000s and 1000s and 10s of 1000s as other coins were/are, people would be finding them daily..

Your best bet in finding one is as mentioned above by another member (in a cache burried on a property) of some old rich farmer or the sort.. I know many guys (much older than I) and who've detected since the 60s who are still detecting to this day, who have never found a single gold coin.. Can it be done? Sure it can, thru much research, a lot of luck, many many learning experiences with detectors, putting yourself in the rgt place at having a chance to find one and a million ofther factors that pertain to finding one. Good luck and keep the dream alive!

 

[Copper]

I know what you're saying. I think most of just like to talk about it. Maybe that's the most fun anyway.

I knew a fellow who actually found a gold coin. He found it in the front yard of an old county building in Michigan. He was totally shocked! To my knowledge he never found another.

Back in the old days I found my share of gold in the form of rings. Maybe that's the best "gold" opportunity out there?

Oh, I'll keep searching for that gold coin. Not because of it's value. Shoot, I could buy all I wanted. I guess it's all sort of a challenge thing, knowwhatImean?

 

[lonewolfe]

I hear you loud and clear! It's all about the "thrill of the hunt" anyway!

 

[spotz]

Dead on! If we were doing this for the money, we'd all quit. It's ALL about the challange. Are we good eonugh or smart enough to find a gold coin? RESEARCH is the #1 factor. If you aren't in a likely spot, you ain't gonna find it, but the DREAM keeps us all going. Dig & you will find it. If you aren't prepared to dig it all, sorry! There are success stories out there & none of them said it would be easy. Spotz

 

[stoney56]

This should fall under techniques but if you just want to see where $5 gold falls on meter, 3 nickles taped together will give you good idea on meter. But why search for just gold coin, an ef 16d dime or 1909SVDB, or any # of coins have more value . If you do happen to dig a gold coin then you've accomplished more than alot of others after 20+ years.

 

[Copper]

Hey Copper!!!
? ? Here is a good idea, do sites where houses are torn down and the top shaved off.

Yes, you definitely have something there. I knew someone who found an old military barracks location. As I recall it was in the northern Michigan area and was used by the National Guard. I could be wrong about that but that's what sticks in my mind. Anyway, the old hut barracks were moved away and he went into the area with screen and simply sifted the sandy areas where those metal huts had been. He didn't own a metal detector but he took home a bunch of older coins (no gold, but lots of old silver).