3.5 years in, some of my best finds....

[digger27]

I have found so many great things, these are some of the more special in my mind.
An inaugural coin from Harry Truman's second election.
Not the official large size but a smaller one also put out by the mint.

A very rare merchant's token from Birmingham.
Large as a half dollar, writing all over the front and back...and a date!
From research there are only 5 or less of these known to exist, I am the only one to ever put a picture of this token on the whole world wide web.

Since I am a jewelry hunter that is my goal and chains are hard to find but I managed to pick up some nice silver ones along the way, a bunch of nice silver rings, too.

Gold is and always will be the most special because it is so rare to find that in the dirt.
All found in soil, no beach hunting, and all found with 3 different detectors my Vaquero, a Compadre and most were found with my F2 because I tend to use that one the most.
Ya gotta go with what works!

 

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[ShOwStOpp3r]

wow nice man!...hey where are you scoring all the nice chains?,,,in a park somewhere where sports are played like football or what...
im kinda new to the hobby and would like to know good spots to score jewerly

 

[digger27]

wow nice man!...hey where are you scoring all the nice chains?,,,in a park somewhere where sports are played like football or what...
im kinda new to the hobby and would like to know good spots to score jewelry

Jewelry is my thing, it turns me on more than any other find and in the last few years I have figured out places to hunt and techniques to hunt them to give me a better chance to find that type of target.
Sometimes luck plays a role, I have rolled over gold and silver rings and some chains out in the middle of nowhere, but here are a few tips that work for me and give me a slight edge and other hunters too because they have used them and found great things for themselves and thanked me.

The trashiest areas are where I find the most jewelry.

I usually hunt parks, and the places I aim for are the ones with the most trash because those are the areas with the most activity.
Picnic pavilions are loaded with tabs, pop tops and foil, but some of those signals can also be silver or gold rings or even a chain or two.
Volleyball courts have never been great for me in the sand area but around the perimeter where players make piles of their clothes and stuff can be very productive.

Far and away the very best site I have ever found to find jewelry of all kinds is around the perimeter of basketball court areas.
Most players make piles of their stuff and put their jewelry in these piles before they play.
Sometimes they forget that jewelry is there and drop them on that spot when they pick up their belongings or drop jewelry on paths that lead to the parking lots near these courts.

This might be the trashiest area you might ever encounter especially in an old park, but if you know what to dig and do the work these can be the most rewarding.
8 pieces of gold and lots of silver in my collection has come from just a few of the courts I have hunted, including my best gold and diamond ring and that large silver rope chain which is close to an ounce in weight.

What to dig.

At sites like these basketball courts, or anywhere else for that matter, of course you must dig the high tones to find silver rings.
Not all of them come in at those dime and quarter high tone levels, however, some smaller items like small rings and some earrings might come in at zinc, instead.

I dig all zinc signals from the high range to the low and always will.
In the high range they are usually zincolns but I figure even those stupid things add up over time and I have found some other great stuff like a very rare token, some smaller silver jewelry pieces and that large thick silver Figaro bracelet in that chain pic at this same reading, among other things.
In the low zinc area where mostly decent size pieces of can slaw live is also the exact area where large gold rings live, too.
I have found 4 class rings at low zinc, and some slightly smaller gold rings just below that at high tabs.

When it comes to chains because of something called eddy currents and physics you will hardly ever find any silver chains at the high end like where silver coins and rings come in.
The links in chains will confuse all detectors because they diffuse the return signal and they will all come in way lower.
I have found very small silver chains at iron, a few larger ones at foil, and on up through nickel, the top rope chain came in there.
We have to hope that our detectors can lock onto a clasp, not the chain, and because of the size differences they can come in just about anywhere, that would be gold and silver.


Gold

Just like silver chains this stuff can come in virtually anywhere depending on the size, configuration, purity due to karats and alloys and even how it is positioned in the ground, among other factors.
In that gold pic above the 4 class rings came in at that lower zinc area, many came in at tabs and nickel but every one in common trash areas including those nickel signals, and many of the smaller rings came in at foil.
The very thin gold chain clasp came in at iron.

I say I am a dig it all hunter but that is not really true...I am a dig it all SOLID SIGNAL digger.
I have been lucky enough to find 23 pieces of gold in only 3.5 years in this hobby and I did that by digging solid trash signals.

Every piece of gold I have ever found was never very deep but always came in at signals disguised as trash.
Solid, repeating signals but in trash areas on my detectors from iron on up through that lower zinc area.
If you are lucky enough to come across a very pure piece of gold or a gold coin they can easily come in even higher.

Those basketball courts are loaded with trash but I do the work, dig all solid signals good and bad because not only are some targets disguised but masking is a bigger problem than most realize, and I have been rewarded for all that work.

Some don't like to do it my way or have the patience to dig that much trash, but for me that is just the way I think this hobby is done and I look at all my jewelry and I am fine with it and never have regrets.

It appears the free thinking people that run this place do allow third party links to other sites, be thankful for that, many other forums don't, so here is some detailed posts I wrote for another forum where I share all my tips on hunting any trashy site but specifically basketball courts.

Where to hunt....I got a Basketball Jones! - Friendly Metal Detecting Forums

My secrets of hunting trashy basketball courts.... - Friendly Metal Detecting Forums


Masking and digging trash at basketball courts part 2... - Friendly Metal Detecting Forums

 

[rlc1940]

Way to go Digger!! Glad for your finds and your tips & techniques so graciously shared! Much success in your future digs and Happy Hunting...

 

[digger27]

Way to go Digger!! Glad for your finds and your tips & techniques so graciously shared! Much success in your future digs and Happy Hunting...

Thanks!
In this hobby I believe you just need to pay it forward.
I learn from others and my own experimentation and experiences and pass them on.
Several hunters have thanked me because they read some of my tips and do a few things like I do and that has helped them find some great targets for themselves.
Sometimes even their first gold.
This makes me very happy and I will always do these things because it is one of the most satisfying things in this hobby for me.