Sluicing for gold and coins in Illinois

[coinman66]

Live in east central Illinois. Anybody ever found gold in small streams? Also how far do you think coins would travel downstream? Able to sluice downstream from a old park that closed in the 30`s, only problem its about 1 mile downstream. Park had log slide, boat rides and swimming hole. 1904 there was supposedly 2000 people there on the 4th of July. Gotta be some lost coins and jewlery in water. What do you think? Thanks
Coinman66

 

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[cosmic]

Not sure about the gold.. Since it was brought by glacier, if the creek runs through a glacial area you might have some luck.. Get as close to bedrock as possible.. As far as coins moving that depends on flood activity.. I say about a quater mile downstream up to the immediate area..
Ray

 

[TreasureTales]

OK, I'm not going to comment on the gold situation because although all states have some gold, Illinois is not known as a gold hotspot, is it? So speaking only about the coins, I'd say they could very well travel downstream at least a mile. Think about how far boulders can travel during floods and high water. So given the timeframe of 1930s and before, and the amount of flood water that has been down that stream already, I'd say give the coin sluicing a try. I'd definitely look on the upstream sides of rocks, logjams, and on the outter sides of bends. When water slows, heavy objects fall to the bottom. That should also apply to some extent to coins. Good luck!!

 

[EDDE]

there be gold in Illinois
but not even commercial gravel pits try to recover it
the cost out weighs the results
i have found tiny specks
i found 4-5 tiny alluvial dust
the average was 1 fleck per 5 gallon bucket (by hand forget it,dredging maybe)
if you are in an area of none or little glacial action the chances are better
the glaciers ground all the gold up north here to powder (and brought trillions on metric tons of canadian soil)
study some local geology books and Illinois geology periodicals at the library