pulltab to gold ring ratio?

Chug And Red

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Feb 18, 2010
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Vancouver WA
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You will have times when gold is popping out every time you hunt Other times TRASH TRASH AND MORE Pulltabs I'm still on a Trash/ PULL TAB RUN!!! I'm sure Gold will come Up this Weekend Red is Having Withdrawls!!!!!! :laughing9: :laughing9:
 

Bum Luck

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May 24, 2008
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4325 and still counting..........................................
 

Tom_in_CA

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Mar 23, 2007
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I'm assuming you mean land-sites, and not swimming beaches, right? And don't forget, on the wet sand at ocean beaches, after storm/tide/swell erosion, mother nature can take all the light-stuff away (kiss tabs and foil goodbye), leaving only the heavier targets.

So assuming you meant land sites (like parks, turf, etc..) it depends: The more upscale the park, the better. But if you are working blighted run-down inner-city parks, the ratio could be hundreds to one (foil, tabs, can slaw, screw caps, etc....).

There was a scraped park (scraped to make way for astroturf) in a blighted section of San Francisco, about 4 yrs. ago. Since the turf was scraped, and subsequently all jumbled up, we treated it in a "relic mindset" (ie.: dig all except iron). At the end of a few weeks, I had a box FILLED with pounds upon pounds of junk (saved everything for a study I was going to do on target ratios). In the end, I think I had perhaps 3 or 4 pieces of gold, and probably 200+ junk items, for each of those gold items (2 rings, a gold watch back, and a pendant thing). It simply would not have been feasible to hunt this park for gold rings, if it had not been jumbled up allowing for un-fettered digging. Ie.: a person would simply have been kicked out of the park for too many divots (or simply gone psycho, given up, and left for "greener grounds").

And even within the same park, some areas will be better than others. For example: around BBQ pits, and picnic tables, is where people have routinely eaten for decades and decades, right? So there will naturally be more tabs and foil right in these zones. Contrast to sports areas, or sand pits of some sort, where perhaps its' more physical romping activity, and less eating activities.

So it all just "depends".
 

Montauk3

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Nov 2, 2006
907
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Florida
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148.23 tabs per 1.392% of gold. If you can't do better then this, quit and become a monk.
 

Old Town

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Aug 18, 2010
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Key West
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I long ago gave up the idea of detecting with gold in mind on land sites. I detect strictly for silver coins and any clad I happen to scoop up. I use a level of discrimination that hears gold jewelry so if it's there, I'm most apt to find it.

For me gold jewelry is rare in parks and playgrounds. I do find a fair amount of silver jewelry. Probably 10 silver items to every gold piece. Taking this attitude you have fun finding coins and take the gold when it's around but do not dwell on getting gold skunked.

A lot of people seem to have trouble detecting gold like 14K. All my detectors easily register gold. I've never had a machine that would not register gold. Keep the disc about iron and at foil. If there is gold below, and within range, you'll find it.

Old Town
 

Frankn

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Mar 21, 2010
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The way I look at it is, your ratio is what's there at that location. Think of it this way. When you were young and didn't give a "hoot" about anyone else, how many tabs did you pull and drop? Now how many gold rings have you lost? So now you know what you are up against. the odds are stacked against you. To improve your odds, go where you think the rings are most likely lost. I would say that over 75% of my ring finds are at the beach! Most are gold wedding bands, but some are gold with diamonds.
 

Tom_in_CA

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Mar 23, 2007
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Oldtown, what you are saying is very hard for the purist relic hunter type to digest. If they hear someone say they've "tuned out foil" or "passing up tabs", they will absolutely bristle, and consider you a rogue beginner. These are the hard-core types who've primarily hunted CW or rev. war type stuff. Or beach hunters, etc.... Afterall they reason: "you might miss a gold ring or rare button that reads down lower", etc...

I even hunted with a dealer before, who ..... like this ..... was quite adamant that you should never pass low conductors, because ........ otherwise you'll miss small gold, nickels, etc... It made absolutely no sense to him, that anyone would foolishly pass lows, since it was/is so easy just to dig it all, and thus, not miss anything. Ie.: "anyone without the patience to dig some junk, is obviously 'missing out', etc..."

But the reality is, that by the end of the day, in junky inner-city urban parks, these purists will end up with an apron full of junk, and look with envy at your silver coins. They can't understand why they don't have an equal amount of oldies, since afterall, if they're digging all, then they should have the "best of both worlds" right? But the reality is, they will spend all their time digging shallow foil, tabs, etc... It simply isn't worth the occasional cruddy orange buffalo they will find, and the gold ring per hundred aluminum items, to be divoting up the park. You will simply, at some point, be better off going to a swimming beach somewhere (where ratios are better) if jewelry is your goal, and NOT trying to strip-mine turfed parks.

It's kind of like playing blackjack: When you have 20 in your hand, do you take another hit, or do you hold? Of course you hold right? EVEN THOUGH that next card *might* be a one card. Why not take another hit then, if the next card *might* be a one? Because odds are, it's not going to be a one. In the same way, in detecting (junky parks anyhow), there are times you "hold", and go for the known better-odds factors.

If you're in an area that allows strip-mining, by all means do so. But in other situations, we need to be a little more picky.
 

Frankn

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Mar 21, 2010
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I think the subject was park hunting for small objects like rings and coins as a ratio to pulltabs! No one is hunting relics in a public park!
Now , I use a whites XLT. I set it for coins and jewelry which will sound out, but the display will indicate iron without sound. I usually do not dig iron in parks.
Your settings are a tradeoff! Gold and iron are close and nickle and aluminum are close. On my detector I can look at the bargraph and tell for 95%. certainty if it is aluminum
 

Old Town

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Aug 18, 2010
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Key West
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You two men both bring up good thought. Relics I think of as coming out of the woods somewhere. Hunting specifically for gold rings in any park means you had better dig every signal. This if gold jewelry is your single goal. No VDI I've ever used can tell a flip top from a wedding band.

All I set my machines for is an ability to sniff a small gold ring (14K) that I use for the purpose. Then I go coin hunting. I hit silver and modern clad like crazy. If some small gold item is under my coil I've got a very good chance of sounding on it whether I use a VDI or non-metered machine. Mostly I hunt by sound. Still I dig lots of trash.

If on some day I don't feel ambitious, I forget gold altogether and set my disc. higher and only take silver and clad and forget most aluminum junk along with gold.

Gold is so rare I'd rather go the jewelry store with a big bucket of my grubby clad and buy what I want anyway. Making a career out of gold hunting in parks is a waste of time if you ask me. Not so the beaches however.

Old Town
 

lennon631

Sr. Member
May 3, 2010
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Long Island NY
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When o WHEN, will "they" produce a machine with a tone specifically for gold! Anyone know that one? :dontknow:
 

Old Town

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Aug 18, 2010
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They do this now and have for years. All makers produce gold-specific detectors with higher frequencies. The problem is there's so little gold compared to other junk. You'll not find more if it's not there to begin with.

OT
 

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