draining the beach

[parrothead]

Hi all. I have been lurking around here for a week or so, and decided to jump in. I got into detecting about 7 or 8 years ago. Never had much luck, and and the hobby ended up on the back burner... until just recently.

I live in a small community in Illinois. Our homeowner's association has 3 small lakes and a campground with a swimming hole. Not real old as the whole thing wasn't developed until the early 60's, but we know for a fact that 2 rings were lost out there this year, and who knows how many rings and necklaces have been lost over the years.

Anyway, this year they decided to do some dredging of the swimming hole and have been draining it for the last couple of weeks. I started on the beach area and found plenty of clad coins, but have just recently started getting into the area where the water was. It seems that there is more good stuff and less trash in this area.

So far besides the coins, I hit my first silver. It is a small ring with a .925 stamp in it. It has what I believe to be a peridot stone also. There is another mark inside of it that looks to be a diamond with a D inside of that. Is there an internet resource for indentifying these types of marks? Yesterday's hunt brought up a large gold plated earring, (does this count as my first gold find?), and what looks to be a bronze medal with latin on it and colored insets. Seems to be of the catholic type that honors a saint.

Sorry for no pic of thee medal, but the batteries are dead in my cam.

I also have permission to search a couple of old foundations that are in the neighborhood, but will put them off until the beach is done.

Nice site and I will try not to be a stranger.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Welcome to the forum and welcome back to the hobby. Sound like you have some great sites .925 is a great motivator. In my opinion your first gold has to be 10k solid gold + or white gold to count as your first gold. However I am new to MDing so what do I know !

Keep @ it and HH!!

 

[birdman]

You should find lots of good loot when the water level drops more,Good luck and welcome.

 

[parrothead]

Just did a little search on the medal that I found. It is a St. Benedict exorcism medal. I found lots of pictures , but none that match up exactly. The "inset" that is on it is enamel, probably. I have found a place that sells them and the only ones with the enamel are the gold plated ones. This one does not look like gold, however it is the only thing that came out of the swimming hole so far that had no corrosion or tarnish. The one that I found, also has one extra word that none of the others have. It says "Italy" in one spot where all of the others that I found on the net do not say this. I am going to keep checking this one out and post a pic tomorrow to see if anyone can give more info.

 

[Crutch]

Funny how a little time can change everything. Congrats, charge them batteries, I wanna see pics.

When I started i had a chip on my shoulder about not ever finding any rings, even though I don't hunt water sites. One afternoon I found 4 right at dark, One big silver with two turquoise bands and 3 gold plus one braclet and one buff nickle and I don't remember what else. Turns out that they were all cheap rings but finding four in one afternoon on dry land more than made up for the long wait.

P.S., good idea to wait on the home sites. Let the ground gain a little moisture first since you have a good place to hunt now.

 

[Floater]

Nice finds ParrotHead and dont Blow out any Flip Flops while your diggin. And buy some batteries. HH

 

[Mona Lisa]

Welcome to the forum, Parrothead. It sound like you have a great place to hunt. Good luck.....and.....post pictures of what you find!

 

[WheatbackDigger]

Let me know if your in need of any help Parrot, I commute by your community to and from work. I got a honey hole up north of you that has been producing some pretty good silver coins

 

[vic910]

Welcome to the forum Parrot, and, to the re-awakening of your addiction. Sounds like you've got some great sites lined up and can't wait to see some awesome finds!

vicki

 

[parrothead]

Been hitting the area and following the water level down as they keep pumping.

Hit first gold yesterday, then second gold just a few minutes after that. I pulled out 2 men's 14k wedding bands.

I tried to take a picture, but for some reason, my camera does not want to focus right on close up shots.

 

[tsgman]

Neat finds Parrot, and welcome to this forum.

 

[southern gent]

Hey Parrothead, Nice finds. I have several swimming holes that I hunt every year. I usually end up with at least ten rings per year. A pic would be nice but I understand the focus problems. The ring on my avatar took a dozen shots to come out that good. By the way, the lions share of my rings come from waist deep to knee deep. I never really understood why, but they do. Keep those good finds commin'! HH! Chris

 

[parrothead]

Third gold ring today. A small ladies ring with what looks like a large pink tourmaline stone in it.

 

[DugHoles]

It sounds like you found an area untouched me thinks. What a way to get back into the hobby.

GL & HH,

DugHoles

 

[Nana40]

Parrot!

Wow! Great finds!!!

Welcome to the forum!

Keep those finds coming!

Nana