My Slump Has Ended.....2nd 10K HS Ring......

[Garrett424]

It happened again!!

After a pretty terrible hunting weekend where I never really got into "the zone" I left work feeling really good. That "little voice" spontaneously said, "Go back to the field and hit around the pitcher's mound" (which I've hit many times already with very little luck).

I had planned all day to go to a completely different spot but my intuition had something else in mind. As usual, I obeyed. I began to feel really lucky and was definitely in the zone by the time I got there and started swinging. It felt good.

I wasn't there 10 minutes and about 3 feet to the left of where the pitcher's mound used to be (many years ago) I got the strangest hit. It was faint and bouncing like crazy so I had to dig it up to see what was hiding down there. It could have been anything because my numbers were all over the place.

Imagine my surprise when I dug another big 10K Man's High School ring. It's missing the stone (which I tried to find with no luck) and is in pretty bad shape but it's still another gold ring so I'm happy.

This is also the second time I've gotten a really bouncy reading on a gold ring. Very strange. Now I'm wondering how many I've missed.

Here it is before cleaning:



And after a really quick rinse:



Gotta' love the way that gold shines right up no matter how long it's been hidden away in the dirt. It never ceases to amaze me.

There are no initials and no name. It's a Jenkins ring (a local company btw), marked 10K and it's from Patterson High in Baltimore; dated 1977. The owner would be around 55-56 right about now.
I'll see what I can come up with as far as the possibility of returning it goes.

The owner of the last one I found refuses to take it back and the grandson told me to stop contacting him. I'm wondering if it may have been stolen and a new name put on it or something. I don't know.

Anyway, this is the 2nd HS ring and 4th gold piece from this spot. Needless to say I'm going back.

I needed a decent find. All weekend long no matter what I did I was just not feelin' it. Then I drove almost an hour to a new spot that was terrible. There must have been a million pull tabs and bottle caps and the ground was hard as a rock. It was downright aggravating. Next thing you know I find more gold in a matter of minutes in a place I've hunted many times.

You just never know with this hobby. Sometimes there's just no rhyme or reason.

I do know one thing. I love old coins and silver but I have to admit; I'm pretty sure that at this point, gold is my favorite thing to find. Of course, platinum would be nice too. I haven't come across any; yet.

That's about it.
Thanks for lookin' & Happy Hunting.......

 

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[Garrett424]

Garrett424,

The reason the 10K rings bounce so much on your readout is because they're an alloy. 10K is just 41.7% gold. This of course, means that 58.3% of the weight of the ring is made from other metals. For the 10K rings, the other metals vary, but are primarily comprised of copper, but it's not uncommon to have some silver, and very likely some nickel or zinc which adds hardness. The result is a ring that bounces ALL OVER the metals detected.

The purer the gold, the more likely the ring will stabilize in the gold readout range. White gold, which contains a lot of nickel, rings the most solid for me in the gold range (in which nickel is smack in!) Personally, I've found that 14K bands bounce only a little, 10K bounces a lot for me, and the one 9K ring I pulled out, I swore was just going to be trash. Only one 8.6 gram 14K mens ring rang solid... and it was at the nickel range with zero bounce. I believe this was largely due to the orientation of the ring in the ground (flat with hole parallel, making for a great target), and the size of the ring. It rang up just like any nickel would.

With all that bouncing, I've given up trying to determine if what I'm going to pull is likely to be gold, and I simply dig it all. I've been rewarded with 6 gold rings this year. To be sure, I'm also rewarded with thousands of bits of trash and pulltabs!

My best find was 4.5 inches deep, and I know this area has been hit repeatedly by detectorists over the years... The thing is, most of them won't dig up what looks like trash on the read out. The ring (estimated at $4K-$6K at the jeweler who cleaned it) and it bounced nickel, foil, occasionally up at the copper range. I'm certain every other detectorist thought it was trash... Heck, I thought it was trash! Even when I pulled it out, I was still thinking "costume jewelry." And how happy I am, that I was wrong! I went back and cleaned 100% of the trash out of the area, and was even rewarded with a second gold ring... 14K yellow gold plain band. Also bounced like trash...

The point here is, with alloys, you never can tell, and it's worth digging a little bit extra.

Super excited for your find. that's a real catch!

Here's the link to the ring I referenced above...
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/m...5-14k-white-gold-setting-found-ace-350-a.html

Skippy

That makes sense.

I dug a really nice 14K with diamonds and sapphires that also bounced but not nearly as much.

I swear, my numbers were going from iron to silver on that latest class ring.

The one I dug a few weeks ago was pretty solidly in the mid 60's (a little high for gold but whatever) but it wasn't nearly as deep and the ground was wet and muddy.

The 14K necklace I dug was a solid 57 the same day in the same dirt. That's why we MUST dig trash in order to get the gold. Like you, I've been rewarded with gold a few times myself from digging up all of that trash.

This particular site is LOADED with trash. I plan to eventually dig it all and find whatever gold is hiding in there. It will be a huge undertaking but I have no doubt it will be worth it.

Thanks for the great info and HH.

 

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[Garrett424]

Garrett424,

The reason the 10K rings bounce so much on your readout is because they're an alloy. 10K is just 41.7% gold. This of course, means that 58.3% of the weight of the ring is made from other metals. For the 10K rings, the other metals vary, but are primarily comprised of copper, but it's not uncommon to have some silver, and very likely some nickel or zinc which adds hardness. The result is a ring that bounces ALL OVER the metals detected.

The purer the gold, the more likely the ring will stabilize in the gold readout range. White gold, which contains a lot of nickel, rings the most solid for me in the gold range (in which nickel is smack in!) Personally, I've found that 14K bands bounce only a little, 10K bounces a lot for me, and the one 9K ring I pulled out, I swore was just going to be trash. Only one 8.6 gram 14K mens ring rang solid... and it was at the nickel range with zero bounce. I believe this was largely due to the orientation of the ring in the ground (flat with hole parallel, making for a great target), and the size of the ring. It rang up just like any nickel would.

With all that bouncing, I've given up trying to determine if what I'm going to pull is likely to be gold, and I simply dig it all. I've been rewarded with 6 gold rings this year. To be sure, I'm also rewarded with thousands of bits of trash and pulltabs!

My best find was 4.5 inches deep, and I know this area has been hit repeatedly by detectorists over the years... The thing is, most of them won't dig up what looks like trash on the read out. The ring (estimated at $4K-$6K at the jeweler who cleaned it) and it bounced nickel, foil, occasionally up at the copper range. I'm certain every other detectorist thought it was trash... Heck, I thought it was trash! Even when I pulled it out, I was still thinking "costume jewelry." And how happy I am, that I was wrong! I went back and cleaned 100% of the trash out of the area, and was even rewarded with a second gold ring... 14K yellow gold plain band. Also bounced like trash...

The point here is, with alloys, you never can tell, and it's worth digging a little bit extra.

Super excited for your find. that's a real catch!

Here's the link to the ring I referenced above...
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/m...5-14k-white-gold-setting-found-ace-350-a.html

Skippy

I just checked out that ring. That thing is beautiful.

Like you, I plan on and accept the fact that I'll be digging trash when I go out to hunt. Yes, it's a pain but once in a while the gold appears.
I once found a tiny 14K hollow earring UNDER a pulltab. It's so small it barely registers on any of my detectors; even in the air. Had I not dug that pull tab I would have certainly missed it.

I cannot tell you how many times I've dropped to my knees and said to myself "it COULD be gold". Then I say to myself, "Well, it could have been gold".
Digging trash is the only sure way to get the gold. I constantly remind myself of that fact.

I have yet to dig a single silver coin this year but I've dug 4 gold items so far. I am hitting a spot this coming Friday where I always find silver so I'm hoping the trend continues but you can bet I'll be digging everything from foil right on up. I found a really nice two tone white/yellow 14K band there last year with my $30.00 used Tracker IV. It was my first gold ring find and is still one of my best finds. It's a really nice, heavy ring.

Funny thing though. The spot where I dug the 2 gold HS rings SHOULD have some silver coins but so far; nothing. It's definitely an old site. I've found myself questioning my detector a few times but then I have to remind myself I dug an 1807 copper at almost 10 inches so if there is silver to be had my machine should find it. It's definitely found me a few silver rings. My regular spots just don't hold much silver as far as I can tell. Of course, you never know what may turn up. Like I said above, I've hit that pitchers mound many times and didn't find that ring until last night. I'm sure it's been there all along based on how deep it was (about 7").

Plus, it's a known fact that as soon as LBJ and the criminal banksters did away with the silver coinage people immediately began to hoard them. They are pretty rare. I guess that's what makes finding them so special.

Also, I'm convinced that you don't need to spend a ton of money on a detector. It's true that better detectors DO find more treasure, but if you just show up and keep digging the treasure will appear sooner or later; quite often later. You found that incredible ring with an Ace 350. It's not a bad machine by any means but it's also not a top of the line unit. The point is, you showed up and dug what it located and for that, you were generously rewarded.

I'm almost beginning to pride myself a bit on great finds with "low end" equipment. To me, it makes the finds that much better. It's like making great music on a cheap guitar.

It's funny how one occasional good find makes digging all of that trash worth it though. You immediately forget whatever frustration you may have been feeling beforehand. And believe me, after the weekend I had of pretty rough (and practically fruitless) hunting, a nice find was just what I needed.

I plan to go back in a little while and see if I can locate the stone for that ring. It was getting dark when I dug it and I'm hoping that with a little patience I can find it. If I can I hope it's still in one piece. It's been down there for quite a long time.

I have one last question. Did you sell that ring or do you still have it??
I have never sold any of my treasures thus far. With all of the work involved in finding them the thought of selling them is almost unbearable.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice! Gold class ring! Congrats! I am still searching for a gold ring I can keep.
You tried to return it and he clearly doesn't want it, it 's yours!
Good luck on your search for the stone for the other class ring.

Get yourself in the water I think you'll do quite well gold wise.

 

[Garrett424]

Nice! Gold class ring! Congrats! I am still searching for a gold ring I can keep.
You tried to return it and he clearly doesn't want it, it 's yours!
Good luck on your search for the stone for the other class ring.

Get yourself in the water I think you'll do quite well gold wise.

I'm hittin' the water and the beach Friday. I am SO psyched. Both my sons are coming with me for a day of swimming and treasure hunting. I haven't been to this spot in almost a year and I always seem to do well there. I hope (and pray) the trend continues.

I absolutely LOVE summer time.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

AWESOME! Best of luck to you and your boys! Hope you find something Banner!

 

[Garrett424]

Congrats G424 in another class ring! I have yet to find one, the closest I have come is the Girl Scout ring... filled, but looks so real, it will make you jump around and get all excited before it lets you down! Man I'm telling you it looked real!

As for the fruitcake that didn't want the ring returned, I say EXCELLENT and Thanks man! Very well done. Best of luck to you.

Hey Tom,

I just saw a GS ring just like yours on Ebay for 44.95.

So, even though it's filled it's definitely not a bad find at all.

 

[Garrett424]

I just found out that the maker of this ring; Jenkins, is a local company. They're literally about ten minutes from where I work.

I'm wondering if they could identify whose ring it is if I physically took it to their shop and let them look at it.??

Thoughts??

 

[UnderMiner]

I just found out that the maker of this ring; Jenkins, is a local company. They're literally about ten minutes from where I work.

I'm wondering if they could identify whose ring it is if I physically took it to their shop and let them look at it.??

Thoughts??

I don't think it would be that easy for them to figure out the owner, it's likely they made hundreds of rings in identical style. But couldn't hurt to get some general info on it from them

 

[Garrett424]

I don't think it would be that easy for them to figure out the owner, it's likely they made hundreds of rings in identical style. But couldn't hurt to get some general info on it from them

Well they may have a list of the rings they made for the Patterson High Class of '77 and possibly the customers. It may not be a huge list.
Of course I have no idea how long they keep records.

They may also have access to other information that I don't. I don't know but I'll see what I can do.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Well they may have a list of the rings they made for the Patterson High Class of '77 and possibly the customers. It may not be a huge list.
Of course I have no idea how long they keep records.

They may also have access to information that I don't. I don't know but I'll see what I can do.

You're a good man Garrett424 , plus you play guitar-- double thumbs up!

 

[CASPER-2]