Old Farm Yields Heavy Gold

winslow · Mar 18, 2018

It was a nice afternoon, I had a couple of spare hours and decided to call the owner of a 20 acre farm that's close to my house to see if it was OK to wander around the property with my detector. I last detected at the site about 10 years ago and came up with some old silver, some Indian head pennies and a few tokens. Got the OK so I was hoping for some more old coinage.

The farm has been active since the 1850's and is still worked. I found about 30 newer coins and was happy to dig a aluminum trade token.

Then ... I dug a target that was fairly big that I figured was part of an aluminum can. I'd already dug a number of pull tabs and aluminum shred. Boy was I wrong! I don't find jewelry very often but I dug a bracelet that certainly came out of the ground clean and had the weight and feel of gold. But man ... it felt too good to be true. It's been a while since I've found gold even though I keep digging those aluminum targets.

I cleaned it up when I got back and removed all the roots that were still stuck in the links. Even though I found a Hallmark with "Italy 18K" I still was suspicious. It wasn't until I took it to the local coin shop that buys and sells gold that I was finally convinced when they tested it positive as 18K. He offered me $1500 cash. No thank you ..

It weighed in at 2.329 oz. Whoever wore this must have been one heck of a big guy! I can put it over my hand without opening the clasp and several inches hang below my wrist. How can someone lose something like this??

This is my heaviest gold find ever.

testing123 · Mar 19, 2018

wow, now that's a find!

Keep in mind that precious metals are measured in troy ounces, or about 31.1 grams. Scales may have the option to weigh in troy ounces. I couldn't tell from the pic.

WaterScoop · Mar 19, 2018

winslow said:
Yes ... I showed him before I left. He said "that's a nice start". Ha! I'm going to keep the gold bracelet but give him some cash. Probably $750. About 50% of what the local guy would pay. That seems fair and the right thing to do.

That’s good Karma for you Winslow ! Good Man... from the sound of the Farmers answer he thinks you are goin to find the next pot of rare gold coins under one of his trees next.