Gold Miner’s Starter Kit

[Hendo0601]

I'm jealous. Always wanted to find a really old gold pan.

Very cool!

Very very very few have ever been recovered metal detecting, let alone two in the same hole. They are typically made of crappy tin and they just don’t survive in the acidic soil out here

[Hendo0601]

GREAT find! Very interesting bit of history there! You know what, that is cool enough for the Banner. My vote is in.

Thank you 🙏 my back still hurts from carrying all this stuff home haha!

[ToddsPoint]

"In a cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner forty-niner
And his daughter, Clementine." Gary

[CRUSADER]

Although it's a hoard of rust, it's a pretty cool one. Would make a nice display in a local mining related Museum!

[unclemac]

...if someone was panning gold nearby...was he on to something?

[PaleIO]

This is really cool! Only thing missing was a sack of gold nuggets

[FallColors]

Surely not what one expects in Today's Finds. Well done!

[Tnmountains]

Although it's a hoard of rust, it's a pretty cool one. Would make a nice display in a local mining related Museum!

I agree there is more history in that pile then in many single items. This tells a story.

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Congratulations on your research paying off with those amazingly historical California finds Hendo.

Kudos to you for achieving your first Tnet BANNER as well.

Dave

[eyemustdigtreasure]

Now, THAT is going to be hard to beat...!
Wow!
I'm sure this one became a Immediate Success...!
"Banner", for SURE...!!!

[Hendo0601]

Congratulations on your research paying off with those amazingly historical California finds Hendo.

Kudos to you for achieving your first Tnet BANNER as well.

Dave

Thank you so much!!! I’m still buzzing from the high of finding all of this stuff and now this?!?! Someone pinch me...

[Tesorodeoro]

Wow!

Just wow!

Carefully preserve the contents. What you found is likely more valuable than a pouch of nuggets.

You are right on about not finding gold pans. I’ve got 13 years straight detecting gold...covered more ground than most. Only found a single gold pan (I gave it to my brother as a house warming gift). But that’s not what’s amazing. Find of a lifetime. I’d vote banner if it were not already up there.

The pick will likely have a makers mark that will allow you to track it down to the exact street address in San Francisco.
Could you take a look? It should be 1/3 of the way along the pick..closer to the eyelet...on the side or bottom.
The intention was if the tip broke off (which was not uncommon) they could warranty the pick or not.

EDIT: the sledge and axe head will likely have makers marks as well.

I’m staring at a pick that is stamped “Nelson & Baker” on both ends of the pick (bottom). Sometimes it was just a brand...but they were proud of their stuff in the first gold rush.

[Coinstar magnet]

Great recoveries that lead to more questions!

[Hendo0601]

Wow!

Just wow!

Carefully preserve the contents. What you found is likely more valuable than a pouch of nuggets.

You are right on about not finding gold pans. I’ve got 13 years straight detecting gold...covered more ground than most. Only found a single gold pan (I gave it to my brother as a house warming gift). But that’s not what’s amazing. Find of a lifetime. I’d vote banner if it were not already up there.

The pick will likely have a makers mark that will allow you to track it down to the exact street address in San Francisco.
Could you take a look? It should be 1/3 of the way along the pick..closer to the eyelet...on the side or bottom.
The intention was if the tip broke off (which was not uncommon) they could warranty the pick or not.

First of all thank you! I never imagined this pile of iron actually making banner I’m beyond over the moon! I do agree with you about this collection of items being found together being more valuable than a sack of nuggets! This tells a story, and I’m glad to be telling it! I’ve been detecting in the MotherLode for about 5 years now and I’ve only ever seen one other gold pan dug and it was thrashed! The remarkable state of preservation of all of these artifacts is incredible. The knives and forks still have the wood on the handles!!! I have personally recovered easily over 20 intact picks and probably twice as many or more broken pick pieces, and of them only 2 or 3 are marked at all. Many of the early hand forged picks weren’t marked because it simply took time and the blacksmith didn’t want/need to take time to punch his name into a pick when he could already be making another one. Some smithees did in fact mark their picks, however, they are incredibly rare. Some miners would stamp their name into their own pick as well, to help identify it especially if working with others or you move around a lot. They broke a LOT of picks, so taking the time to punch your name into something you’re just going to break didn’t seem to make much sense so these are rare as well. The casting process came onto the scene in the 1860s which allowed the foundries to make picks much more quickly and since it was cast in a mold they could easily include a name or makers mark as a part of the mold. This came into practice more into the mid-late 1860s and on into the reconstruction/Victorian era. I have inspected 2 of the 3 picks and so far one of them is marked with a capital H, the other is blank. The third is soaking in apple cider vinegar to remove all of the surface corrosion. Once I get it out of the tank and hit it with the wire wheel I will know more, but I didn’t see any obvious markings. Marked shovels are equally as rare, if not more so.

[Tesorodeoro]

First of all thank you! I never imagined this pile of iron actually making banner I’m beyond over the moon! I do agree with you about this collection of items being found together being more valuable than a sack of nuggets! This tells a story, and I’m glad to be telling it! I’ve been detecting in the MotherLode for about 5 years now and I’ve only ever seen one other gold pan dug and it was thrashed! The remarkable state of preservation of all of these artifacts is incredible. The knives and forks still have the wood on the handles!!! I have personally recovered easily over 20 intact picks and probably twice as many or more broken pick pieces, and of them only 2 or 3 are marked at all. Many of the early hand forged picks weren’t marked because it simply took time and the blacksmith didn’t want/need to take time to punch his name into a pick when he could already be making another one. Some smithees did in fact mark their picks, however, they are incredibly rare. Some miners would stamp their name into their own pick as well, to help identify it especially if working with others or you move around a lot. They broke a LOT of picks, so taking the time to punch your name into something you’re just going to break didn’t seem to make much sense so these are rare as well. The casting process came onto the scene in the 1860s which allowed the foundries to make picks much more quickly and since it was cast in a mold they could easily include a name or makers mark as a part of the mold. This came into practice more into the mid-late 1860s and on into the reconstruction/Victorian era. I have inspected 2 of the 3 picks and so far one of them is marked with a capital H, the other is blank. The third is soaking in apple cider vinegar to remove all of the surface corrosion. Once I get it out of the tank and hit it with the wire wheel I will know more, but I didn’t see any obvious markings. Marked shovels are equally as rare, if not more so.

That bottle was likely pontil marked...1860’s. My younger brother found one many years ago while we were poking around early camps. If I remember correctly it had “whittle” marks on the panels. That was 20 years ago or more I bet. Dad says they probably had pickles or olives in them.

Could you take a picture with all of it together at once after you get things cleaned up?
Was it near a camp?