Beach silver, some wheats, and, dare I hope, gold?

[lenmac65]

I took this past Thursday off, and drove an hour or so to the coast for an early morning low tide. The sun was just rising, and it was so beautiful and peaceful; however, my time was limited, so I quickly set about swinging. The beach was target rich, so I dug about 90 coins and one ring in 3 hours of detecting. Some of the coins were actually sticking out between the small rocks, as the tide had washed away the sand in certain areas. Once I got home, I saw that two of the many dimes I found were silver Roosevelt coins, one with a date of 1962 still showing. I also had several wheat pennies in my pouch. As for the ring, that too was exposed on the rocky surface, though I would have overlooked it without the detector. It is gold colored, but has no markings whatsoever. As shown in the photo, it has diamonds in the shape of the letter 'G.' While I am so hoping this ring is gold, my guess is that it is copper, although I thought it would have turned green in the surf (unless a recent drop, I suppose). I suspect the diamonds are crystal, but I am sure hoping otherwise. I am no jewelry expert and so rarely find rings, so I would appreciate any opinions on it. I might take it to a jeweler, unless it is so obviously cheap costume jewelry. The year is quickly winding down, though the weather has been cooperative thus far. Good luck wherever you are searching, and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

Nice looking ring, congrats!

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[A2coins]

Great post and read I wish I could drive to the coast in an hour that would be peace ful for sure . I see you have a nox and AT Ive used both what does it VDI on the nox or the AT and it will give you a good indicator

 

[A2coins]

It does look gold hope it is

 

[lenmac65]

Great post and read I wish I could drive to the coast in an hour that would be peace ful for sure . I see you have a nox and AT Ive used both what does it VDI on the nox or the AT and it will give you a good indicator

Great suggestion ... I am embarrassed I did not think of that, but I never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer. I found it on the Equinox, which is now telling me 12-14. I also tested it on the AT Pro, which is giving me 59-60, I believe. Those are lower numbers than for the copper pennies I have found, but this is a ring, and I am not sure what they typically read in comparison. I have never found gold, so I am not sure what to expect. Thanks for the suggestion and feedback.... your comments are always welcome.

 

[niffler]

Equinox number indicates gold. Pictures look like a gold ring. Congratulations! I'd have it tested to be sure though.

 

[Jose The Goon]

I have posted here a similar tutorial about gold rings found in salt water about a year ago. For you & other members, I will again explain what I have learned
from my own experience. Gold rings will tarnish to varying degrees in salt water depending upon; the saltiness of the water, it's karat, (10k, 14k, 18k, 22k),
and how many years it has been in the sea or ocean. 24k will not tarnish. But most rings will have an alloy of tin, copper, silver, brass etc. mixed into the
pure gold to create hardness. 24k rings, like the one recently found by "BavariaJeff" in Seoul Korea, would be very thick, otherwise they would be vulnerable
to squashing or misshaping because of 24k's softness. The tarnish will also vary depending on what type of alloys are in the gold.

Now I will relate a short story of how I learned this, & in hindsight, made a huge mistake. My first taste of underwater detecting was in the waters off a
small island in the Caribbean Sea in 1985. (very salty waters). The beach sand was pulled away exposing the rocks, shells and smoothed-out coral. I started
to find old coins & rings jammed between the rocks & coral. 12 silver rings that were blackened by the sea and 8 what I believed were copper rings. (wedding bands etc.). I said to myself; "Does everyone around here get married with copper rings ??" Then this happened. I'm snorkeling in about 3-4 feet of water
with a weight belt & a hand held galvanized steel hand scoop with a magnet fixed on the back to pick up the pain in the ass bobby pins, nails, etc., & this nice
"copper ring" with what looks like Julius Caesar's profile pops out. But, in his laurel wreath, these beautiful diamonds are jumping out at me with sparkling red,
blue & green flashes. ( the Sun is above me shining through the water at the ring below). I say to myself; "What kind of person puts these nice diamonds
in a copper ring??". When I got back to my towel on the beach, I started rubbing one of the "copper" wedding bands in the sand. Sure enough, they were gold.
All eight dark brown rings were 14k. When I got back to my hotel room I proceeded to polish all the gold rings with toothpaste. Big mistake with the "Caesar" ring. There were 7 beautiful "rose cut" diamonds perfectly spaced in a flush setting on the laurel wreath. The contrast of the dark brown tarnish & the diamonds made the diamonds stand out when showing the ring. By polishing it I ruined what took the sea many years to accomplish. In the picture below you can see the ring as it looks now but in the background of the man's profile you can see the dark brown of the original tarnish. About 15 years ago I kept the ring in a jar of salt water for about 3 years to see if I could get the tarnish back. NOTHING !!! I ruined it. The picture is an old scan but you have to trust me. The diamonds are there. Therefore, my suggestion to you would be to polish a small spot on the inside of the ring & see if it looks more like gold than copper or have it tested.
It could very well be a recently lost copper or other metal ring but it also could be an old gold ring with a small degree of tarnish & real diamonds. I'm hoping for the latter. Best wishes, nice finds, thanks for sharing. Cheers !! J.T.G.

 

[lenmac65]

Therefore, my suggestion to you would be to polish a small spot on the inside of the ring & see if it looks more like gold than copper or have it tested.It could very well be a recently lost copper or other metal ring but it also could be an old gold ring with a small degree of tarnish & real diamonds. I'm hoping for the latter. Best wishes, nice finds, thanks for sharing. Cheers !! J.T.G.

Thank you for the detailed post and tips ... I truly appreciate it! That is an awesome ring, by the way, and a great story.

 

[Trezurehunter]

Very nice.

 

[cudamark]

Get an acid test kit and diamond tester if you expect to need one again sometime. They're pretty cheap on Ebay.

 

[CoinFetcher]

It’s gold

 

[washingtonian]

Very cool finds. Gotta love that silver and looks like gold at a quick glance. Congrats!

 

[CASPER-2]

looks gold and diamonds to me look real - definitely go back to that spot - slow down and i bet you get more older coins out of there
if you got 90 coins and ring that big - then others missed them and probably missed more
I hit Ma. spots and rarely get that many good targets on a good day - there are so many hunters out there

 

[Arizona Jeff]

Nice finds. Invest in an acid test kit, Amazon has them for under twenty bucks including shipping.

 

[Rookster]

Great suggestion ... I am embarrassed I did not think of that, but I never said I was the sharpest knife in the drawer. I found it on the Equinox, which is now telling me 12-14. I also tested it on the AT Pro, which is giving me 59-60, I believe. Those are lower numbers than for the copper pennies I have found, but this is a ring, and I am not sure what they typically read in comparison. I have never found gold, so I am not sure what to expect. Thanks for the suggestion and feedback.... your comments are always welcome.

Looks more gold than copper. I’d bet it’s gold. Nice. Congratulations