AMAZING! The girlfriend finds horde of silver coins at gold rush 49er site!!!!

perdidogringo

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El Dorado
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Equinox 900, Fisher CZ-21, Garrett Pro-Pointer AT
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All Treasure Hunting
I still get an adrenaline rush and my heart skips a beat when I think back to what happened last week. My girlfriend and I were at a site in Latin America (sorry can't give the exact country) that was once a rest stop from 1848 to about 1855 for those on their way to and from California for the gold rush. We've detected here before and have found a few coins and relics and even a little gold (a gold nugget and a gold pendant). But this didn't prepare us at all for what was found this time- 147 buried gold rush era silver coins from one hole!

God only knows why the person who buried it never recovered the coins. Perhaps the owner of a hotel, saloon or other business on the property buried a bag of coins and died before he/she could recover it? Perhaps he /she just forgot where it was buried? Maybe a 49er buried it for safekeeping while lodging at the site and died, whether due to illness or murder? Your mind really starts to get creative after you find a horde like this! I never thought I would witness it happening right before my eyes and I surely never thought my girlfriend would be the one to find it- a cute 20 something Latina who has only been detecting for less than 2 years!

Anyway, this is how it happened- We were both detecting this spot, located deep in the jungle near an ancient trail used first by the native Americans of the region, then by the conquistadors, and finally by the 49ers for a few short years in the mid-1800s. She had just lost her pin pointer and I was giving her the business for being so careless. However, she then recovered it somehow in the deep foliage, which in itself was a miracle (thank God the new Garrett pin pointers are orange!). Not 10 minutes later she yelled to me that she found a coin. I maneuvered my way to her and she invited me to dig at the same hole as she was getting more signals (yes, I have a GREAT girlfriend 8-)). I subsequently dug up 2 more coins in amazement. Since it was her hole, I dropped my shovel, picked up my phone to start filming and told her to continue. That's where this video picks up. Please excuse the numerous cuss words I use but I was genuinely amazed to be watching this unfold before my eyes. Truly, a once in a lifetime experience. I hope you enjoy watching the video 1/2 as much as I enjoyed watching it happen live.

 

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I think I would have to get one of those military grade PI detectors if I was hunting in a jungle with not too much trash! I keep having visions of ancient gold artifacts. Thanks for posting!
 
I think I would have to get one of those military grade PI detectors if I was hunting in a jungle with not too much trash! I keep having visions of ancient gold artifacts. Thanks for posting!

We had a Pulse Star II detector which is a pretty powerful detector (deep), however, it's not very practical to utilize in the jungle.
 
Here's part 2 in case anyone is interested:


 
Congratualtions to you both! :notworthy:
 
AWESOME SCORE!! WTG :occasion14:

I cant wait to see a pic of the cleaned coins.. CONGRATS!!!

I agree Bill D. (VA)..
 
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What a memory. That is a bucket list hunt if I ever heard of one. CONGRATS.
 
Just sprayed coffee all over my screen, what an amazing pile of silver! Wow, congrats is an understatement
 
What an awesome find!
 
AMAZING is right! I don't think I'd sleep for the next month if I pulled in such a find. Congratulations, and thank you for the inspiration this brings the rest of us! :occasion14:
 
unbelievable !

anyone else cringing that shovel hammering away so close to 1850's coins ??? !!!
 
Thats freaking amazing! This deserves banner, rules or not.:occasion14:
 
Took a while to clean and index them. Here are the list of coins by year, type, and # of each in parenthesis.

1850 -1 franc (11)
1850 – French 50 cents (32)
1850 – 2 reales Nueva Granada (1)
1850 – american dime (1)
1850 – half american dime (1)
1849 – 1 franc (41)
1849 – 2 franc (1)
1848 – 2 reales Nueva Granada (3)
1848 – French 50 cents (1)
1847 – 1 franc (2)
1847 – French 50 cents (2)
1846 - French 50 cents (2)
1846 – 1 franc (2)
1844 – 1 franc (3)
1844- England 6 pence (1)
1842- american dime (1)
1841- 2 reales popayan (1)
1840- 1 franc (1)
1837 – 1 franc (1)
1837- ¼ franc (1)
1836 – 1 franc (1)
1834 – 1 franc (4)
1834 – ½ franc (2)
1832 – 1 franc (1)
1832 – ½ franc (1)
1831 – 1 franc (1)
1830 – 1 real colombia (1)
1828- 1 franc (1)
1827 - 1 franc (1)
1824 - 1 franc (1)
1818- 1 real colombia (1)- holed
1817 – 1 franc (1)
1816 – 1 franc (1)
1813 – 1 franc (1)
1812- 1 franc (2)
1811- 1 franc (1)
1809 – 1 franc (1)
1808- 1 franc (4)
1806- 1 franc (1)


11 other unidentified coins or with partial information, 4 of these are holed
That is quite an assortment of coins. Something bad must have happened to the original owner. I'm surprised there wasn't any gold in the mix. I didn't scroll through all the posts, so sorry if you already answered this - did you find any other relics that would indicate a camp or structure was there?
 
Now that's what i call a suspense thriller! Every time the shovel went close to the hole, my jaw clinched and i jumped with fear. Thank goodness it all worked out.

BTW...Awesome recovery:occasion14:
 
Wtg Lily congrats!!! :icon_thumright: Marry that chica hijo! I'll bet she cooks good too... :thumbsup:
 
unbelievable !

anyone else cringing that shovel hammering away so close to 1850's coins ??? !!!

LOL! Yeah, that's one target area of improvement for Lily. She gets on a roll and all excited when digging when she needs to be a little less aggressive. She once found a 1730 Potosi 1 real and dinged it pretty good with her shovel! :BangHead:
 
That is quite an assortment of coins. Something bad must have happened to the original owner. I'm surprised there wasn't any gold in the mix. I didn't scroll through all the posts, so sorry if you already answered this - did you find any other relics that would indicate a camp or structure was there?

We've searched the general areas several times and found a few individual coins from the era and many 49ers-era relics. My best find was a gold nugget, probably dropped on the way back from California.
 
Very historic find. Could make your very own museum exhibit with this! This is American history in physical form, should keep it all together and on display somewhere.
:occasion14::treasurechest:
 
That was great!
 

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