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People are shying from Gold jewelry cause of the prices

Dancer

Well-known member
I get that. Put me in that boat. But Silver is very affordable, very. So why all the Tungsten & stainless wedding bands? Now some guys are finding silver, but I'm just having a hard time putting my coils over many. Compared to even just 4yrs ago.
 
Same here Dancer. Used to be able to find three or four gold rings for the year and a lot of 925s. Now I pretty much just find junk jewelry with the occasional 925 here on the east coast. I think you make a point and I also believe that beach goers are leaving the good stuff at home. Believe me they watch us hunting and digging. I shy away from showing anything of value to them anymore. There are other factors too. Lack of beach erosion, competition, etc. Aren't you up in the panhandle? How did you make out in Michael?
 
I think I posted this a while back. My son has basically told me his generation isn't buying gold. One of the resorts we frequent has a Facebook page. The women on there are constantly posting about leaving jewelry in the safe, or at home.
 
Way to many factors to determine anymore than a guess as to why you dont find more gold. For some reason younger people believe the tung, TI, and even SS are more attractive than the silver. They have even took to putting real stones on them. Silver is lighter........ i find they move a lot easier toward the beach. Its been an interesting year thus far with the deeper sand........ and Red Tide as well here in Fl. People are more aware it seems also about detecting.... thus aware about wearing expensive jewelry to the beach. You ever seen some look at their rings ...... or clutch that cross around their neck when they see you with a detector lol.
 
I do believe that not as many people use gold that used to but I think it's more that us pirates are multiplying way faster than the depositors. We are going deeper cleaning out fresh drops faster and once old drops are found they be gone for good.

Being from the midwest so a freshwater hunter I see the swimming beaches quality are getting very bad. I theorize that with all the field irrigation the water flow to a lot of smaller lakes with beaches is way to slow and the water is silting up making things yucky for swimmers. Add on to that many many swimming beaches that have become geese sewage holding ponds. Because of all of this and more that have been many times (and getting a lot more often) I go to hunt a beach and it is closed because of E Coli. I also theorize that when a family packs up and makes a drive to spend a day at the beach just to get there and find it closed they probably won't bother to plan to go there again???
 
I think all three of the responses are correct
and I will add another. The price of gold when the economy wasn’t so great
People sold there gold
So with more people doing metal detecting
People see what where doings they don’t wear it
It devastated the hobby for me. That’s why I am not in a rush to by more machines
It’s not worth it
 
I am definitely seeing more SS, TC and TI than I did 10 years ago. I also pay attention to the necks and hands of people on beaches. I still see plenty of jewelry being worn, even stupid things like large class rings on necklaces. Of course its impossible to know if that observed jewelry is real or not. I do know that most of the class rings now are junk type metals, and even the sterling class rings are stupidly expensive despite have about $5 of silver in them.

I think the reduction in finds is directly proportional to an increase in hunters as well as an increase in detector ability combined with lowered prices for saltwater capable machines. 20+ years ago when I hunted Florida beaches I might see another hunter. From what I read on the forums its more like a pack hunt out there now on a daily basis.
 
During the summer in my area the competition is fierce. One morning I counted 8 other coil swingers from where I was standing. That was only the folks who I could be certain were detecting. So with more and more junk rings on the market, more and more people detecting, and the general public no longer having a love affair with gold my finds have been steadily decreasing.
 
OC MD use to be a hot spot for summer gold. I was considering moving there when I retired in 2014 but lucky I seen the trend coming. Now the locals struggle to find 5 gold each, a summer, when in the day I averaged about 25 to 28 a year just hunting it during my vacations.. 2009/10/11. The real killer there was the replenishment. With a long history and always a great hunt after a storm, now all that gets moved is sand on top of sand. The old treasures are buried with a hundred foot of new beach and I believe the gold is gone until they stop doing it every two years. Unfortunately they have a 50 year contract with the Army Corps of Engineers.
 
I do need to add that I wish I were doing it right now, gold or no gold. :detecting: To be honest, after 7 years in the water I still love seeing even a quarter in the scoop.
 
I can remember get 25 to 28 rings a week, your right Beechnut their are so many getting into this hobby soon it will be even less, i'm glad I had my fun over the last 30 years plenty of Gold and Silver and Diamonds, Good luck to all the treasure hunters now and HH.
 
A great topic to comment on. Many valid points have been made and being from Southern California, you would think the gold and silver rings and jewellery lost on the beaches would still be plentiful. In the past it was but nowadays, it's scarce for all the reasons made above. The only way to get the good stuff now is to be there swinging as the people are just leaving to go home. To be there right after volleyball matches are finishing and to be there after the parties and events are concluding. I don't know if it will ever be the same but we all need to be flexible and work harder and smarter if we want to find the good finds:thumbup:
 
Along with Gold & Silver being scarce, Clad isn't exactly jumping into my pouch like years before either. So what might start to happen is the impatient, easily bored, new hunters will move on and find something else to do. I know if I was just starting out, it would just seem a little slow. Most young teens, not all, wouldn't go for this type of hobby. I think most of us might have hunted animals in the past. Got squeezed out of that too in my area. But there's a lot in common. You got to have a nack of knowing where to hunt, and be lucky too. So if the competition starts thinning out, a little more game could become available. Trouble is, just being short of 70, I might be thinned out first. Just joking.
 
Tatoos are the big bling now, showing their style and making a statement,cheap jewelry but expensive tats.
 
I am an OLD retired sailor. When I joined the Navy it was common to see guys with nearly all exposed skin tattooed. Then the craze went away. Personally never understood why one would want all that ink in their skin. Yes I have One tattoo. It was the only one I ever wanted.

Today at the beaches I see beautiful young ladies with more tattoos than those old sailors had back then. It puzzles me why they take a beautiful body and desecrate it with all that ugly ink.
 
A new metal for rings is gaining in popularity. It is tantalum. Had my first experience of finding a tantalum ring for a gentleman. It rings up about the same as titanium and tungsten. The main difference is that the tantalum ring can be resized and is not as hard or brittle as the other two.
The metal is more rare and therefore the price is a little higher than titanium or tungsten. Going price for a mans wedding band is around $400.
 
Still finding gold in Europe (Germany and Switzerland). Mostly small though
 
Many of us guys were raised as Gold being the standard. My Grandparents had little but they had gold wedding bands. (Although thin) Growing up every high school sponsored gold graduation rings. Necklaces, medallions , gold. That's a lot of gold running around. Then came the spike in prices. The young aren't biting. They sold everything, invested in Stainless. Maybe they're not so stupid. Example, I found a stainless wedding band couple weeks ago. Guys out a hundred bucks, maybe less. Could have been $1,500 or so. Plus he's got the latest cell phone with his savings.
Going to be amusing when families gather to see who gets granpas Tungsten wedding ring.
 
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