Old Farm Yields Heavy Gold

winslow

Sr. Member
Oct 30, 2004
423
1,457
Oregon, No Cal Border
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1
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Garrett AT Pro, Garrett AT Max, Equinox 800
It was a nice afternoon, I had a couple of spare hours and decided to call the owner of a 20 acre farm that's close to my house to see if it was OK to wander around the property with my detector. I last detected at the site about 10 years ago and came up with some old silver, some Indian head pennies and a few tokens. Got the OK so I was hoping for some more old coinage.

The farm has been active since the 1850's and is still worked. I found about 30 newer coins and was happy to dig a aluminum trade token.

Then ... I dug a target that was fairly big that I figured was part of an aluminum can. I'd already dug a number of pull tabs and aluminum shred. Boy was I wrong! I don't find jewelry very often but I dug a bracelet that certainly came out of the ground clean and had the weight and feel of gold. But man ... it felt too good to be true. It's been a while since I've found gold even though I keep digging those aluminum targets.

I cleaned it up when I got back and removed all the roots that were still stuck in the links. Even though I found a Hallmark with "Italy 18K" I still was suspicious. It wasn't until I took it to the local coin shop that buys and sells gold that I was finally convinced when they tested it positive as 18K. He offered me $1500 cash. No thank you ..

It weighed in at 2.329 oz. Whoever wore this must have been one heck of a big guy! I can put it over my hand without opening the clasp and several inches hang below my wrist. How can someone lose something like this??

This is my heaviest gold find ever.
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 47

Cal_Cobra

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Oct 3, 2008
1,099
1,710
Northern California
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That just paid for your detector (and possibly then some), congrats, that's awesome :icon_thumright:
 

Ogre1190

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Mar 31, 2015
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2,408
Northern Illinois
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Way to go!!! 🙌 You must be pumped! Great job!
 

Kurios1

Silver Member
Feb 25, 2017
3,766
7,383
FEMA REGION 5 North Central Illinois
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Holy SMOKES!:o Insanely HUGE chunk of 18K GOLD!:headbang: Boggles the mind someone could loose such a huge and pricy item. Good on you mate!:occasion18:
 

FreeBirdTim

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Sep 24, 2013
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Scituate, RI
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Current melt value is $2,087.00, so that guy tried to rip you off by offering 75% of melt. No way would I sell 18k for less than 85% of melt.
 

PikesPeakCharlie

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Nov 19, 2008
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Pikes Peak
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Wow ,Congrats !!!! 8-)
 

WaterScoop

Bronze Member
Sep 12, 2017
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SW Washington
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Nox 800,
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Super nice find, any mention of your find to the farm owner? Did he ask if you found anything? Did you tell him or would you tell him the truth if he asked if you found anything?

Just curious

Cheers

C379F067-63C8-4F5A-AF3D-31FEFE08EA6C.jpeg
 

Brendan75

Bronze Member
Aug 21, 2017
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Pretoria
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Hi. wow congrats on the gold bracelet, awesome find:icon_thumleft:
 

Terry Soloman

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May 28, 2010
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White Plains, New York
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sprailroad

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Jan 19, 2017
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Grants Pass, Oregon
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Ah Ha!, I see a "Best of gold jewelry" entry at our next meeting. Very nice.
 

Carolina Tom

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Apr 4, 2014
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Charlotte
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Wow, that's a super sweet BIG gold bracelet. Congrats on the epic find.
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,425
Massachusetts
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Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
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Congratulations on the big gold... :occasion14: You can buy more metal detecting goodies...:icon_thumleft:
 

smokeythecat

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Nov 22, 2012
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Maryland
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Just plain wow! I find it amazing the places gold gets lost.
 

Phishfindr

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Apr 7, 2017
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NEW ENGLAND
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That's quite a find! Congrats! :thumbsup:
 

OP
OP
winslow

winslow

Sr. Member
Oct 30, 2004
423
1,457
Oregon, No Cal Border
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Garrett AT Max, Equinox 800
Super nice find, any mention of your find to the farm owner? Did he ask if you found anything? Did you tell him or would you tell him the truth if he asked if you found anything?

Just curious




Cheers

View attachment 1566310

Yes ... I showed him before I left. He said "that's a nice start". Ha! I'm going to keep the gold bracelet but give him some cash. Probably $750. About 50% of what the local guy would pay. That seems fair and the right thing to do.
 

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