Why Gold Doesnt Ring up as Gold: AKA - Why you should dig more "trash."

[Skippy SH13]

Why Gold Doesn't Ring up as Gold: AKA - Why you should dig more "trash."

All,

While replying to a "Today's Finds" poster, I realized this is good information to share with others.

The question I'm posting (and answering) here is this, "Why does the gold I dig up not register as gold?!"

Simply put, unless the jewelry is 24K, or ".999," it's NOT PURE.
22K = 91.67%
18K = 75%
14K = 58.33%
12K = 505
10K = 41.7%
9K = 37.5%

If it's not 24K gold, it's an ALLOY. This is the reason gold will bounce on your readouts.

Take for example, a 10K gold ring. 10K is just 41.7% gold. This of course, means that 58.3% of the weight of the ring is made from other metals. For a typical 10K ring (such as a class ring), the other metals vary, but the primary alloy is likely copper. It's not uncommon to have some silver, and very likely some nickel or zinc is included, which adds hardness. The result of such an alloy is a ring that bounces ALL OVER the metals detected readout.

In short, such a ring will bounce between foil, nickel, gold, and copper, making it look like a piece of trash!

The purer the gold, the more likely the ring will stabilize in the gold readout range. White gold, which contains a lot of nickel, rings the most solid for me in the gold range (in which nickel is smack in!) Personally, I've found that 14K bands bounce only a little, 10K bounces a lot for me, and the one 9K ring I pulled out, I swore was just going to be trash. Only one 8.6 gram 14K mens ring rang solid... and it was at the nickel range with zero bounce. I believe this was largely due to the orientation of the ring in the ground (flat with hole parallel, making for a great target), and the size of the ring. It rang up just like any nickel would.

With all that bouncing, I've personally given up trying to only "Find gold," and I simply dig it all. I've been rewarded with 6 gold rings this year. To be sure, I'm also rewarded with thousands of bits of trash and pulltabs!

My best find was 4.5 inches deep, and I know this area has been hit repeatedly by detectorists over the years... that particular ring bounced between the nickel and copper range, and totally looked like a piece of trash. The thing is, I know many detectorists won't dig up what looks like trash on the read out. Given the depth, and the personal knowledge that this area is hit regularly by detectorists, I'm certain every other detectorist thought it was trash... Heck, I thought it was trash! Even when I pulled it out, I was still thinking "costume jewelry." That ring came out to be valued at over $4K. Once I found it, I went back and cleaned 100% of the trash out of the area, and was even rewarded with a second gold ring... 14K yellow gold plain band. Also bounced like trash...

The point here is, with alloys, you never can tell, and it's worth digging a little bit extra.

EDIT: this should NOT be construed as "if you dig 1000 pull-tabs you're guaranteed a gold ring.." In fact, a lot of this comes down to location! If there's no jewelry to be found, digging a million pull-tabs doesn't do you any good. But if you're in the area where jewelry is likely to be, don't be afraid to dig erratic signals! The most erratic signal I ever dug turned out to be a silver cross with 14K Black hills gold, with a silver chain... That thing was ALL OVER the map...

Cheers!

Skippy

 

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[flgliderpilot]

Great post thanks !

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Interestingly metal detectors can only differentiate two kinds of metal: ferrous and non-ferrous. The non-ferrous they "guess" at based on relative conductivity and the eddy currents that a coil's field causes on their surface. Jewelry comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes (and alloys as Skippy listed), and rings are attractive to a detector because of their shape (because that's what the designers have configured them to be).

But, for the most part, if you set your detector to ignore all pull-tabs you will be leaving most gold rings and a good chance most thin gold chain behind as well.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

skippy, this issue has confused a lot of people. Because we md'rs frequently say "gold [jewelry] is a low conductor". And yes, on our TID screens, gold jewelry DOES read lower (depending on size of ring) than higher conductive silver rings, or copper coins, etc... RIGHT ?

But then the confused person says "wait, I thought gold was a HIGH conductor ?" (eg.: its use in electronics). And you are absolutely right: Gold in its pure form IS a very high conductor. HOWEVER, rarely does any jewelers work in 24k. It's just too soft and would wear away in day-to-day-use. Hence it's alloyed down to 18k, 14k, etc.... And the alloys cause it to be a low conductor.

But as to the rest of your post, the "take-away" of all this, for the solution to "finding more gold rings", is not necessarily to "dig foil and tabs till your arms fall off". Because it's already a GIVEN that gold jewelry is low to mid conductors (sharing with aluminum TID's). So to simply give the advice to "dig all low conductors" to the newbie, and watch him go out to blighted junky parks, is the recipe for insanity. Instead, the solution/recipe for finding more gold jewelry is WHERE you hunt. If someone's goal is "gold jewelry", then what, pray-tell, are they doing in junky urban blighted parks? Instead they should be going to where gold jewelry is more likely to be, ratio-wise, to begin with. Namely: Swimming beaches.

And not even necessarily in-the-water (although that's the prime spot). Even at beach towel line, volley-ball, sun-tan zones, and other such areas close to beach/water. And let's face it: digging in sand is easier If someone's not near the ocean, then freshwater lake swim beaches will suffice. If they're not near swim lakes, then sand boxes, sand volleyball courts, mud wrestle pits, PT courses, etc... are a close 2nd. And if you absolutely MUST hunt turf for gold ring hunts, then pick the turf wisely: Avoid picnic/eating zones (read "tabs" and "foil" and "can-nuggets" from BBQs), and instead choose sports related venues, with zero eating/picnicking. Ie.: soccer, ski lift lines, perhaps baseball (where people take their gloves on and off which tugs at rings, etc...).

In other words: Location location location. Not simply "lower your disc. and dig foil till your arms fall off"

 

[jhen999]

Myself, after digging up over 2000 targets this year and only finding 3 gold items..i have given up on digging what looks to be trash targets, i still will dig targets that I know fall in the nickel range, the odds are just not vary good at finding gold, and you spend a lot of time digging trash, there are only so many bend over and dig left in the old body, I will dig the odd signal know and then just to see what it is. I think the odds of finding gold would be about the same if you only dig an odd signal know and then to digging everything. Just my opinion....I think Tom in Ca. is right about Locations...

 

[Skippy SH13]

Oooh.. That is NOT intended for the take-away... I'll edit the top post, to make sure. My point is that we shouldn't be afraid to dig erratic signals in areas there might be gold!

I totally agree that digging under a picnic bench is likely to produce foil tabs.. In areas (like where I live) that don't have beaches, I look for places where people take gloves off in the winter (which causes rings to fall off), and in places where people either lay their rings down on a towel (like city parks with water features), or are at places where Moms grease up kids with sunscreen... When people take jewelry off, it doesn't always go back on!

Location is definitely king... but the scenario where someone is taking off their rings on a towel, is ALSO the scenario where they're having a soda... Pull-tabs and jewelry co-mingle there. Don't be afraid to dig trash in areas there could be jewelry!

But as to the rest of your post, the "take-away" of all this, for the solution to "finding more gold rings", is not necessarily to "dig foil and tabs till your arms fall off".

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Gold doesn't register as anything specific. It's all about the size, shape, and weight of the gold piece in particular. I have found gold that rang in as low as foil (12-04) all the way up to zinc penny (12-31,32). But most come in as 12-22 (rings) which is a pull tab. Now because most gold falls in the "trash" category one would have to dig more of it. There is just no way around it.

 

[G.I.B.]

Nice lesson. Thanks. I understand a little more of the WHY?

I've always known that if you want gold you should be digging pull tabs and nickels.

And because of that train of thought, I have an extensive pull tab collection and a handful of nickels along with a few rings.

 

[Bquamb]

Seriously helpful for a noobie such as myself. I have a hard time picking target from target as almost everything seems to sound like a pull Tab or a bottle cap here in Canada with my AT Pro Int. I guess time to dig more and more garbage!

Thank you!

 

[Skippy SH13]

I like to dig quarters, too... You should see my bottle cap collection. LOL!

-Skippy

Nice lesson. Thanks. I understand a little more of the WHY?

I've always known that if you want gold you should be digging pull tabs and nickels.

And because of that train of thought, I have an extensive pull tab collection and a handful of nickels along with a few rings.

 

[Skippy SH13]

As Tom notes, be sure to pick your location wisely. I won't dig every signal under a park bench, but I will dig the signals where people lay stuff down!

Seriously helpful for a noobie such as myself. I have a hard time picking target from target as almost everything seems to sound like a pull Tab or a bottle cap here in Canada with my AT Pro Int. I guess time to dig more and more garbage!

Thank you!

 

[ivan salis]

a lot has to do with how a metal detector attempts to figger out exactly what metal it has "found" ... electrical conductivity is the main thing ..how electrically conductive the metal is and how strongly it reacts to the detector "electrical field" ...is how the detector figgers out what metal and how deep it is ...sadly some metals are quite similar to one another in conductivity levels -- like say a 10 k ring , a pulltab and a nickel ...which is why if you have a ACE 250..with only 12 blocks --all 3 items will be in the same "block" so its dig it all or lose out on possible good items --however if one has a better sorting machine like say a delta 4000 ..with its 0 to 99 numbers display then you can get a bit of "target separation .." like oh a 58 for a nickel / 10 k ring ...60 for pull tab and say 64-68 on a 14K gold ring ..

 

[flgliderpilot]

Right I was going to ask something similar to that.. in my ATP, pull tabs consistently ring in at 55-56. Bottle caps have a very distinctive "cerchunk" but I always double check by sweeping the tip of the DD coil over it and I will get a solid iron tone.

What are the chances of a gold ring landing exactly at 55? I thought I read here that USUALLY (not all gold is the same), they ring lower at 50 (or higher) but rarely at exactly 55.

I've still been digging the stupid pull tabs btw... intentionally because I don't want to miss a ring.

I've also seen it suggested that if gold is what you are after to discriminate out coins and iron... since digging dimes and pennies all day is not what we are after if we are in a good spot. Yes you'll get pull tabs but you will be digging less and covering more ground.

 

[Skippy SH13]

flgliderpilot,

Since we're both running ACE 350's, this makes the conversation relevant...

When I detect, I detect in Jewelry mode... Basically everything north of iron, and then I discriminate manually (choice points)... I don't dig everything... quite the contrary! I regularly pass up targets I can identify by sound or how it behaves in the readout. As you note, the low tone of a bottle cap is distinctive at the edge. Usually 2-3 times a day I'll pull one just to "predict" and "confirm" what I'm looking at is a bottle cap in the ground. Pennies are easy to ignore because they're typically not bouncing on anything but penny! Sometimes in some areas I'll notch those out, and then just look at the readout if I get an erratic signal (it'll still show up, just doesn't ding).

What I've found for certain though, is that gold doesn't ring solid silver. Anything north of pennies are likely to be coins, large metal, or silver. I leave pennies and copper on the discrimination because I find I pick up rings in that realm (costume jewelry). It's more distinctive than a penny... more of a solid tone for me on the ACE350, and I can usually call them out before I dig them. I dig my fair share of pennies, too, if they're on the surface (pick ups). They add up over time, and a mason jar of them makes for a nice Amazon.com gift card at the coinstar.

I dig pull tabs, too because they ring up so solidly.. I just can't pass them up! The gold rings (and even tungsten and titanium) ring up like pull tabs, so I pick up quite a few rings that way. Yesterday, for example, while digging pull tab signals, I pulled rings # 54, #55, and #56 for the year, sadly, all costume, one really nice that I thought was gold for sure (might just be plated, but no halmark). And all of them were from an area that I'd detected 10 days ago... so they're definitely recent drops. I figure, if people are dropping those, they'll eventually drop a gold one. It's a pretty high traffic area where people remove jewelry. It's just a matter of time before something good comes along in the form of an earring or ring.

One thing that I've done that REALLY helps, is to clear an area completely of trash/pulltabs, junk. Then I know for certain when I return that whatever is dropped is going to be surface, and easy to remove... it also helps me get a feel for what's being dropped in the area. One area I stopped going to, because it was ONLY pulltabs that were being tossed... from the first 100 tabs, to the last dozen pulled out, there was never anything in that area that was worth keeping. Not an area I intend to keep hunting. Sure maybe someday someone will drop something, but I'll find 10 somethings somewhere else in the meantime!

Have you chucked a bunch of jewelry on your lawn, yet, to determine how the various signals appear?

Skippy

 

[cudamark]

That sounds too much like "I only lose $.02 per unit, but I make it up in volume". Gold can be anywhere in the non-ferrous spectrum and even in the upper iron range with some detectors under certain conditions. I've dug gold from scratchy foil to solid zinc cent. I understand that big gold coins can read even higher (those are still on my bucket list, so no personal experience there! ) The decision you have to make is: how much effort do I want to put into finding some gold items? At the beach, it's easy....scoop all non-ferrous targets. In a trashy park, pick your degree of pain. For me, it's gotta be a nickel sound (if the park is old enough for Buffaloes or older) or just the high conductors, which for me is just above zinc cents. I hunt with a wide open screen for everywhere but the worst trash dumps, and decide to dig based on sound, depth, and target I.D.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... I guess time to dig more and more garbage! ....

Either that , or ..... go to places where ring ratios are better, to begin with. Read my post above

 

[Tom_in_CA]

One time I dug 5 gold rings in a hunt, without a single item of aluminum. The trick ? It was after beach erosion on the beach, where all the light weight objects were taken out with the receding sand (even zinc pennies that day, leaving only heavier coins, sinkers, etc...) ! Now granted this is rare, but .... just saying ... "location location location". Not "don't discriminate don't discriminate don't discriminate"

 

[MrMikeJackie]

He will get it Tom, eventually. All the planets need to align properly, then bingo.

 

[ivan salis]

with my delta 4000 ..I had fun at a "seeded" beach hunt once ,,, before the hunt occurred .....I played fool the guesser ....I had folks take their rings and hold it in their fist and I would tell them the gold "karat" of their ring when they waved their hand under my coil ... 58 was 10 k ... 64 was 14 k and 68 was 18 k ..if I remember correctly...

 

[flgliderpilot]

I have not found gold yet, but if I am digging pull tabs and bottle caps at 10" then clearly I am not going to find gold.

If I am digging deep crusty quarters, or better yet, fishing sinkers, things are looking good assuming I am in the right spot where there is a lot of people with jewelery going for a swim etc.

Problem is, I guess I haven't found the right spot, more more likely my spot is being hit hard by those more experienced (you know who you are lol). I've even been hitting the sand bars and the low area between sand bar and shore at low tide, along with the wet and dry sand and nothing yet! I figure even a stopped clock tells the correct time twice a day so it's just a matter of time. By then my collection of clad will be worth more than a ring.