finds from Saturday

[lab rat]

Here are a few goodies I picked up...

Hunted 5 hours, dug 47 coins, 150 pieces of trash, and

 

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[lab rat]

The earring studs are .925 silver posts w/ CZs, found 3 feet apart! Unfortunately the backings were lost... my detector isn't sensitive enough to find THOSE.

Ring #1 is 14k

Ring #2 has an amethyst, hallmark is illegible

Ring #3 is 10k w/ 3 knardly diamonds.

 

[Marc]

Very nice - thanks for sharing them!

 

[hockeyplayer]

Lab Rat, how do you clean up your jewelery finds? I have a number of pieces that I'm afraid to use harsh cleaners on.

 

[BRD]

Excellent finds, Lab rat,
You should be proud.
thanks,
BRD

 

[mediccoin]

Congrats on the finds.

 

[fishlips]

Great finds!!

 

[lab rat]

Hockeyplayer--

I don't generally clean my jewelry finds unless they are really crusty, but silver and gold rarely get that way. In fact ring # 2 (above) had some pasty white stuff on it. I sprayed it w/ a little organic orange cleaner (similar to turpentine, but very weakly diluted) and went over it with a toothbrush. Usually soap and water are all you need. For diamonds, you can use toothpaste and a toothbrush to get the scum off.

Silver can be cleaned w/ a short dip in white vinegar (5% from any grocery store) w/ some aluminum foil. Take it out and put it directly in baking soda (without drying it) and scrub it with a toothbrush, but I don't recommend this for coins unless you don't care about losing value. And if your piece is plated, the plating will come off.

Turpentine works because it will dissolve any grease/ oil, without affecting the metals. Don't use window cleaner unless you check first to be sure it doesn't have ammonia, or you can cause pitting in your finds-- it does dissolve precious metals.

Hope this helps!

 

[lab rat]

Incidently--

CZs usually come up really clean when you find them. If it sparkles out of the dirt, it is probably a CZ. Diamonds collect grease and oil, and usually look dull when you find them, unless it was just lost!

 

[lab rat]

I just modified the picture-- the other one was kinda dark...

Yup, I love it when I find more gold than silver-- now if I could only find more gold than trash!!!

 

[Darren in NC]

Congrats, Labrat. Makes me want to retire sooner than later. Thanks for the cleaning tips, too.

 

[Gold_pinger]

you hunting that dry land stuff?

 

[coinshooter]

Lab Rat, How did you get those studs to stay in your scoop? 8)

 

[lab rat]

Goldpinger- Yup, that land was dry after I got it home and shook it out of my waders and left it in the sun for a few hours!

Coinshooter- I've got a trick for small targets-- when they keep falling through my sand scoop, I'll scoop up the target in sand (detecting the ground to make sure I've got it) then shake the scoop out very gently over a wide, clean smooth area (I might flatten out a spot with my feet first) and watch for something to fall out. If I don't see anything, I'll go over it with the detector again to isolate the target again, then bring out the VibraProbe. I can pick up small targets quicky without spending too much time on them. In parks I use the VibraProbe extensively...

 

[Gold_pinger]

my trick for small targets. 1/8 inch mesh hardware cloth in the bottom of my scoop.
Also my surf PI picks up those earring backs if the coil touches one.

 

[lab rat]

I found an earring back on the surface by sight once, but never with my detector. Do those stay in your 1/8" mesh screen?

I couldn't use an 1/8" mesh here-- most beaches the sand is very fine and sticky like clay. It would take forever to screen it! For deep targets I just dig through it and push it aside, until I detect the target in the upturned pile. Then I'll work through a small amount of sand to get the prize.