Kelley (Texas)
New member
Earlier today I received an e-mail from a good friend that lives in Oklahoma. He wanted to know if someone could use a metal detector on South Padre Island off the Gulf Coast of Texas. I could not totally answer his question, only knew that you can not hunt in the park area of the island.
This inquiry brought back some old memories about South Padre Island and some gold coins found there many years ago.
A good friend of my parents had a son that put himself through college (Texas University) many years ago by going to South Padre Island once a month and bringing back some gold coins on each trip. He always brought back a few coins, three or four each time. It appears that he had a special place where he found them, may have been an area where the coins washed up on the beach or else a treasure trove that he had found. He did this without a metal detector.
I found out about this by accident when Gene was visiting with my parents just after Thanksgiving around 1980 or 1981. Gene and my Father were sitting in the living room when I walked in and noticed my Father holding several odd shaped gold colored coins. My Father handed the coins back to Gene and I watched him put them in his pocket. When I asked about the gold colored coins, my Father and Gene just made a joke about some fake coins that Gene had found. They changed the subject and it was obvious that they were not going to talk about the coins.
A few years later, my Father told me that Gene had paid his way through college by going to South Padre Island once a month and bringing back some gold Spanish coins. That was all that my Father told me, said that was all he knew...said he did not know where on South Padre Island that Gene was finding the coins, but he never once failed to return without some gold coins. This was all that my Father ever told me about the subject.
Several years ago, I saw Gene and after visiting with him for a few minutes, I brought up the subject of the gold coins. He gave me a chilling cold look and told me that subject was not going to be discussed and that I was never to bring the subject up again! He always was a jerk, we never were what you could call close friends. I returned the chilling look to him and said that was fine with me...I then changed the subject and we both relaxed. He is now an attorney up in Austin, Texas.
I have always wondered where he found those gold coins, and how he found them without a metal detector. South Padre Island is long, maybe 90 miles long, really do not know how long it really is. I do know that some folks with the last name of "Singer" as the sewing machine folks lived on the island many years ago, and there are stories that they buried gold coins on the island. Only problem with that is that the coins Gene had were supposed to be Spanish coins...who knows, but they were gold coins.
Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
This inquiry brought back some old memories about South Padre Island and some gold coins found there many years ago.
A good friend of my parents had a son that put himself through college (Texas University) many years ago by going to South Padre Island once a month and bringing back some gold coins on each trip. He always brought back a few coins, three or four each time. It appears that he had a special place where he found them, may have been an area where the coins washed up on the beach or else a treasure trove that he had found. He did this without a metal detector.
I found out about this by accident when Gene was visiting with my parents just after Thanksgiving around 1980 or 1981. Gene and my Father were sitting in the living room when I walked in and noticed my Father holding several odd shaped gold colored coins. My Father handed the coins back to Gene and I watched him put them in his pocket. When I asked about the gold colored coins, my Father and Gene just made a joke about some fake coins that Gene had found. They changed the subject and it was obvious that they were not going to talk about the coins.
A few years later, my Father told me that Gene had paid his way through college by going to South Padre Island once a month and bringing back some gold Spanish coins. That was all that my Father told me, said that was all he knew...said he did not know where on South Padre Island that Gene was finding the coins, but he never once failed to return without some gold coins. This was all that my Father ever told me about the subject.
Several years ago, I saw Gene and after visiting with him for a few minutes, I brought up the subject of the gold coins. He gave me a chilling cold look and told me that subject was not going to be discussed and that I was never to bring the subject up again! He always was a jerk, we never were what you could call close friends. I returned the chilling look to him and said that was fine with me...I then changed the subject and we both relaxed. He is now an attorney up in Austin, Texas.
I have always wondered where he found those gold coins, and how he found them without a metal detector. South Padre Island is long, maybe 90 miles long, really do not know how long it really is. I do know that some folks with the last name of "Singer" as the sewing machine folks lived on the island many years ago, and there are stories that they buried gold coins on the island. Only problem with that is that the coins Gene had were supposed to be Spanish coins...who knows, but they were gold coins.
Please have a great day! Kelley (Texas)
