Interesting non-target items found while out nugget shooting

[DizzyDigger]

Been thinking about what kinds of relics or other goodies I might find
when out nugget hunting, and would love to hear about any interesting
finds others have made.

I don't mean the usual assortment of birdshot, bullets or bits of wire, etc.,
but rather interesting objects that you've dug out in the middle of nowhere,
and then wondered how the hell it got there in the first place.

 

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[Jim in Idaho]

I found an 1889 V nickel the first time out with my GMT. I was prospecting a way-out spot, and must have stumbled on a place somebody once camped.
Jim

 

[mthunter22]

an old metal levi button in a wood rat nest..

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Hello Dizz… over nearly three decades of prospecting I’ve found several old English and Canadian large coppers, a half cent piece, a buffalo nickel just recently, and several five cent silver coins… the older King Edward and Victorian types. Plus quite a number of bottles, and relics… implements, utensils, lanterns, and a broken silver pocket watch.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people in the farther places… some have resulted in longterm friendships… those friends are my best finds.

​

Probably worth mentioning are some highgrader silver caches found over the years. These aren’t exactly what you refer to… but are still noteworthy because they’re unusual finds. The first photo below contains pristine silver nuggets… the majority were found several years ago as a cache secreted back in the woods adjacent to a minesite.

​

The second photo is a minor spill or cache found this past season at a minesite in an unusual spot… indicative of highgrading activity while the silver ores were being transported away from the minesite. Such caches are invariably pristine quality silver… we can easily imagine that such would be the main interest of pilferers…

​

 

[Terry Soloman]

Found this while nuggetshooting in the Bradshaw Mountains.

 

[Ausgoldhunter]

hmm well Yesterday i found a 1.1 Oz copper nugget, which i then lost on the walk back to the car.. an Iphone 3gs, before anyone asks, no it doesn't work lol..

Oh not sure if this counts, but I found my wifes ML eureka gold leaning against a tree while she was taking pictures of a bigass Goanna climbing a tree about 200 yards away...
(note: This is how our SD2000 was LOST in the bush for 2 days.. she put it down to go look at a kangaroo).. it was recovered after 4-5 hours of walking around.

 

[gold tramp]

things we find in the desert

View attachment 782326View attachment 782324View attachment 782325View attachment 782327

My son found this at a mine camp friday while bleepin, i think it might be from the 40s ? C- Ration ? it smelled and looked fine didnt try though we were to far out in the bush no
cell service if we had a bad reaction.

I think it was a cool find unopened can of assorted cookies.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Hello Dizz… over nearly three decades of prospecting I’ve found several old English and Canadian large coppers, a half cent piece, a buffalo nickel just recently, and several five cent silver coins… the older King Edward and Victorian types. Plus quite a number of bottles, and relics… implements, utensils, lanterns, and a broken silver pocket watch.

I’ve met a lot of interesting people in the farther places… some have resulted in longterm friendships… those friends are my best finds.

View attachment 782065
​

Probably worth mentioning are some highgrader silver caches found over the years. These aren’t exactly what you refer to… but are still noteworthy because they’re unusual finds. The first photo below contains pristine silver nuggets… the majority were found several years ago as a cache secreted back in the woods adjacent to a minesite.

View attachment 782063
​

The second photo is a minor spill or cache found this past season at a minesite in an unusual spot… indicative of highgrading activity while the silver ores were being transported away from the minesite. Such caches are invariably pristine quality silver… we can easily imagine that such would be the main interest of pilferers…

View attachment 782064
​

Wow, Jim, those are some nice finds! Hope I have that kind of luck next weekend...finally got enough decent weather I'm going to try detecting my old silver ledge.
Jim

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Found this while nuggetshooting in the Bradshaw Mountains.

That's a beautiful piece, Terry
Jim

 

[DizzyDigger]

Wow...after seeing all these incredible finds I'm not sure if I want to
go hunting for nuggets or just hike around looking for other goodies..

Jim in ID: To me that would be one of the best finds ever, as it is evidence
of man's past, and that "history" took place right there in that spot. I've found
2 "V" nickels while metal detecting parks in the past, but I've never found a coin
dating older than 1902.

mthunter22: Never thought of looking in Pack Rat nests! Those thievin' critters
will haul off assorted stuff that they can get their teeth around or drag back
to their "booty pile", and they especially like shiny things. Might be interesting to
hunt down a couple of those nests and see what kind of things the local rats
have collected over the years.

Jim H...incredible finds! I've never seen silver "in the raw", so unless it looks like
what you have in the jars I likely wouldn't recognize it even if it jumped up and
bit me in the arse...

Aus: No Roos or Goanna's out in the Mojave, but there are a few other critters I
plan to get pics of. Taking my Nikon, and lenses to get me out as far as 450mm
(if I can't get in close enough for a 450mm then it's my own damn fault...lol)

With my current schedule, I'll have at least 7-10 days to just wander around
central and northern Nevada nugget shooting and relic hunting. Unfortunately,
not being very mobile I can't hike for miles and miles like some folks, and probably
won't get more than 1/2 mi. from my truck at any time. I drive an '87 Toy. 4x4, and
that SOB will go just about anywhere I point it, and then I'll hike from there.

Most days I do pretty good, but there are days I can't get 10' without tipping over, so I'll
just have to be careful. Even thought about wearing a football "girdle" with the tailbone
pad so I don't bust my arse on the rocks when land on by butt. (ever notice as you get
older that the factory-installed "padding" in your booty seems to just disappear?)

Back in about 1980 I was on a varmint hunting trip, and after hunting all night I
decided to hike out from the dirt road about 200 yds. and make a daylight stand
(sit in one place and use a predator call to bring the coyotes to me). I sat down
on the rim of a wash, and as I was snuggling myself back into a sagebush for cover,
I noticed a shiny thing sitting on TOP of the sand about 2 ft. away. Turned out to
be a very shiny 1917 Wheatie, sitting out there in the wide open hundreds of
yards from anything and with absolutely nothing to show how the heck it got there,
just waiting for me to come along and pick it up.

I don't leave till Sunday, and I'm so jazzed about this trip that I'm hoping my Mrs.
can tolerate me till then.

 

[Jim Hemmingway]

Well Dizz... I don't know about your Mrs... but I suppose we can tolerate you for a little bit yet... maybe.

Those silver nuggets are fairly representative. Sometimes the shine is dulled with some amount of graying resulting from surface sulfide formation... that is more often the case where silver is located in low wet areas. A bit of a buzz with a rotary tool and wire brush cleans it right up.

I guess many of us are learning about the pros and cons of aging Dizz... it's inevitable... so just take your time and keep personal safety in mind. I have an older acquaintance I see every autumn in the silverfields of northern Ontario who is approaching 80 but still active in prospecting / detecting there. He's a bit tipsy too. Last season I found him pretty much stuck out in the middle of jumbled uneven rock tailings in a fairly remote area... he knew he was in a bit of a pickle. So I went out after him, took his hand, and helped get over to a flatter area where he could navigate for himself. Yah... I watched him weaving back and forth out there and figured he needed help before he fell flat on his noggin... it wouldn't have been good.

Have an enjoyable trip, take your time... sort of pace yourself if needs be... and maybe make some nice finds. When you get back home, it'd be nice to hear how you made out. All the very best...

Jim.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Thanks for the info on the silver Jim! Don't know if I'll find any, but at least now I have an idea
of what to look for.

BTW, it's not that I'm so over-the-hill at 54..rather I have an illness that causes severe balance issues,
as (amongst other things) it destroys the nerve carrying the signals from the inner ear to the brain.
Got so bad I had to have the nerve in the right ear surgically severed, so that ear is nothing more
than a decoration hanging off my head. The primary balance control for the body is located in the
inner ear, and with only one poorly functioning ear remaining (it's diseased too) I just have to be
careful not to "Zig" when I should be "Zagging"..lean too far in any direction and there's no stopping
the ground from smacking me..lol

Biggest problem is when the ground is very uneven, or there's a lot of boulders to work around. This is
the primary reason I've switched from wet placer to dry washing and nugget shooting. If I crash-n-burn
out in the desert the worst that might happen is maybe break an arm/wrist. The river rocks/boulders are
wet and slippery, and up here the waters just barely above freezing. Falling into the river and drowning
would be a lot worse than just getting a sore arse or another broken wrist.

No doubt in a couple more years the left ones gonna be completely shot too, so I guess I'll have
to change my username over to "Deaf Digger"..

Will try and do a full write-up when I get home, with plenty of pics. Planning to do some predator
calling too, and hoping I can bring in a nice Cougar or Bobcat willing to pose for a portraits..

 

[63bkpkr]

Well lets see nothing too obvious:
Couple of 10 stamp mill setups, Boulder Tongs, Couple of ore cars(in the mines), very large one lunger engine, several groups of ore buckets on cable systems, a few old miners cabins(one with a really cute mouse in it), Champagne bottles along with a 4" Monitor nozzle, hobnail boots, "V" nickel at the top of the trail (interesting someone else found one), 4'-6" long wrecking bar standing vertically in a sand wall at a hydraulically washed hillside, super heavy duty chain falls some still on the 1" diameter steel cables strung across the creek where the boulders were being moved, riveted water pipes, old tree limb cuttings that were so old they'd turned black, trails not on any map, mountains so rugged they scare ya, rattlesnakes/Lots of Bears, pick axe heads, "old" beer can, old bottles, one side of a cast iron students school house desk, steel wheeled wheel barrows, lots of stacked rock walls, a Buick straight six engine with 3 speed tranny setup with a capstan winch on the tranny(river boulder pulling), many 1" diameter steel bars pounded into drilled holes for anchor points for winching boulders, old dishes from England (cracked but whole), unique rocks, strange shadows but otherwise not much..................63bkpkr

4" output monitor nozzle (left the Champagne bottles as they were broken)

One Lunger Engine

Chain type Ore buckets and castings

Unique rock structures

Strange Shadows

 

[63bkpkr]

Hey Jim H,

Maybe more like a flash bulb, very bright but good for only one shot. Thank you. Your items were splendid as well, bottles of silver ore, drool. I've had one mine superintendent show us several pint bottles of good sized gold nuggets, that sure messed us up for anymore fishing.

As I compiled the list more and more kept coming up and it surprised me how many unique finds I've had that I'd guess many people never see. The boulder tongs were huge and it would take 4 of me to lift the the three unit set. The one lunger engine was a shock, huge spark plug and just laying out in the open on a hillside above the river. I just now recalled the hand cranked star bit drilling unit for boring holes in mine walls with 1800's patent dates on it. Just hiking the back country minding my own business and stumble across these historical pieces. Great fun and I do enjoy the challenge of getting into some of these places, like going up avalanche chutes.

However Jim, your posts are much more analytical/factual with details and solutions that find more ore than I'm likely to find in a lifetime and you get out in the back country as well! Good stuff ain't it.................63bkpkr

Drilling unit, weigh's a freaking 5 tons, how'd they get it in there? Piece by piece I'd guess? {Jackson Drill Denver, patent dates 1898, 1899}

 

[doc-d]

Thank you all for posting the interesting history and experiences........life out here in the east lacks such cool finds, yet there are some small surprises out here waiting.....

 

[Fullpan]

I've run across some things like Herb. Always two questions. What the heck is it? And how the heck did it get here?

Those sure were tough, determined hombres - back in the day.

 

[63bkpkr]

Yes Fullpan at times I've had both those questions myself though some objects are identifiable.





This is not so easy, it is a portion of a 4' 6" work bar I found in a creek bank standing vertically covered with dirt. Actually this one Was a GMT find as it was totally buried. I've done some awesome work with it!



Do not forget to enjoy yourselves out there!!......................63bkpkr

 

[Fullpan]

Hey Jim H,

Maybe more like a flash bulb, very bright but good for only one shot. Thank you. Your items were splendid as well, bottles of silver ore, drool. I've had one mine superintendent show us several pint bottles of good sized gold nuggets, that sure messed us up for anymore fishing.

As I compiled the list more and more kept coming up and it surprised me how many unique finds I've had that I'd guess many people never see. The boulder tongs were huge and it would take 4 of me to lift the the three unit set. The one lunger engine was a shock, huge spark plug and just laying out in the open on a hillside above the river. I just now recalled the hand cranked star bit drilling unit for boring holes in mine walls with 1800's patent dates on it. Just hiking the back country minding my own business and stumble across these historical pieces. Great fun and I do enjoy the challenge of getting into some of these places, like going up avalanche chutes.

However Jim, your posts are much more analytical/factual with details and solutions that find more ore than I'm likely to find in a lifetime and you get out in the back country as well! Good stuff ain't it.................63bkpkr

View attachment 784232 Drilling unit, weigh's a freaking 5 tons, how'd they get it in there? Piece by piece I'd guess? {Jackson Drill Denver, patent dates 1898, 1899}

Put yourself in the miners shoes - "we need a denver drilling unit". How does he buy it? On credit, don't think so. Its maybe 1902 - order by telegraph? Shipped
(after payment?) from Denver by rail to Sacramento? Then by wagon or early heavy duty truck back up the hill to Auburn (were there any paved roads?) Then
separate parts loaded onto small wagons (or mules?) and followed "hiking trails" into remote canyon. Then reassembled with heavy duty tools (by factory rep?)
Then find out its the wrong model - what then, Hoo boy! - had to be tough and be a real optimist to make it happen. We get frustrated and want to quit cause
a flapper valve fails.

 

[mcb]

Awesome finds Jim! I've never seen silver nuggets, this is a first for me.