River Hunting

[Silver Ring]

Hey Guys this is my first post. I have been searching a river near my house for coins,rings, and other treasure. I am trying to figure the best spots to look. My question is:

Will rings and coins migrate over time with the current or stay put on the river bottom?

The river near me is generally between 2-4ft deep with some middle areas between 5-15ft. It has some small rapid areas and the current is stronger in the middle. The river is about 75 yards wide. When it rains hard the level rises an a lot of sediment and debris flows.

I know an area where several people have given me first person accounts of losing gold rings and jewelry. Engagement rings in some cases. Any search insight?

 

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[Silver Ring]

Oh yeah I use a Garrett AT pro

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Coins and rings won't go far, especially in calm water. Go where the swimmers go.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

If you are in a region that freezes hard in the winter then the ice build-up and release (and snow-malt flooding) in the spring can move the river all over the place. Even fairly deep.

One of the deepest coins I have found was a (dratted) 1996 Roosevelt dime that had been 10" deep in the sediment beside a river. Near the same spot (within 50 ft) I found a Indian Head cent that was on the surface of a shale ledge - the obverse worn smooth.

Where I work we are having to have a channel dredged that moved 100 ft away from our outflow pipes in the course of two flooding events (2006 & 2011). One spot was 12 ft deep but is now a gravel bar 2 ft above normal river level.

 

[Hawks88]

Welcome to tnet. From Niagara Falls.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Best of luck and welcome from Northern Virginia

 

[Terry Soloman]

Inside bends of the river are where small, heavy gold rings will migrate to during heavy flooding and fast water times. As already suggested, look for spots that are natural swimming, or fording areas. Welcome from New York!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Welcome to the forum!

IMHO: It depends on a few factors; some are: places people may enjoy swimming, look for rope swings on trees and places that the water turns direction.

 

[Rookster]

Welcome to Tnet, the AT PRO and most of all, be careful. I would suggest an observer on shore. Good luck.

 

[Silver Ring]

Ok so I'm in NE Pennsylvania and the river does freeze over. So it makes sense to check a river bend just downstream from the swimming location in case of movement due to ice and or flooding. Correct?

 

[devldog]

Silver Ring, A Big Welcome to you to the Tnet forum from Georgia. Good advice given here. If you haven't already seen them, Acquachigger has some good videos on Utube concerning river hunting. He uses a lot of detectors, but it seems he mainly uses the Garrett AT Pro and the AT Gold for river hunting. He has a lot of good info out there concerning river hunting. Just a thought. Best of Luck to you.

 

[vpnavy]

Hey Guys this is my first post...

Welcome Aboard Silver Ring from another resident of the great state of PA! Take a look at Sub-Forums: Pennsylvania for information (i.e., clubs, etc.) directly related to PA.

 

[d2]

Where the swings are, where mothers sit with babies or to watch the younger kids, that's usually 2 feet deep or less. And my favorite besides swing area's is about breast deep. Where guys can stand on their hands and walk around for the ladies and have stuff fall out of their pockets. Rings and coins very seldom travel very far once they come off. People stepping on them while swimming and wading will push them down and sediment will collect over them but it also washes sediment away when the river is up. Greatest places in the world to detect is old swimming holes. Here in south Arkansas they were all crossings during the civil war and usually guarded, we find civil war bullets and stuff in them along with jewelry and silver coins from modern times. I use a detector pro pirate...d2

 

[Tommybuckets]

Last time out river hunting the first thing I found was,.. another guy detecting in the swimming hole! I suspect our rivers are pretty similar. I hunt in Md close to the Pa line. I check the swimming hole first but we keep the spots pretty clean. Then I check in the riffles of any bedrock that partially or completely spans the river and in behind big boulders. I am no pro tho. Right now the river is too flooded to detect here.