The G2 and Urban Prospecting

[lloyd0161]

Today as I searched for bits of jewelry, etc. with the G2 I thought about prospecting and the phrase "gold is where you find it". Well for us "Urban Prospectors" gold is where you find it; volleyball courts, sports fields, the beach, anywhere people congregate and lose stuff. I have almost entirely forgotten about finding old silver coins which are becoming more scarce where I live or cherry picking clad which I find boring after about 10 minutes and instead have been concentrating on hunting for gold jewelry; my new found passion. So far I have only found the one 14k ring for my wife. But I have been diligent in digging all the signals that fall in the gold range on the ID scale of the G2. I have come up with A LOT OF FOIL WADS in this pursuit. This makes you think about the prospectors looking for natural gold and possibly spending an eternity chasing a dream of finding the mother lode or any amount of gold for that matter. A lot of people eventually give up I'm sure. Our Urban Gold on the other hand has already been discovered once, fashioned into a man made object and then been returned to the earth for another prospector to find again. Unfortunately this type of hunting covers a broad range of targets or "fools gold" which is a plethora of junk items. At the low end of the scale you will be "foiled" again and again. At the high end of the gold spectrum we find those pesky undesirable zinc pennies My wife's engagement ring falls in this category since it also reads as zinc penny. This was a very expensive zinc penny though But, hopefully diligence will start to pay off as I discover the best places to look for gold in my urban territory.

So how many "Urban Prospectors" do we have out there? If there isn't a forum for this category, maybe we should request to start one so we can share our stories and finds in our dedicated pursuit of Urban Gold.

 

[godigit1]

Im with you ! Precious metals recovery specialist Thats pretty much all I dig any more foil to zinc range. That G2 will pay for itself over and over if you get it in the right spots......
If you stick with it it only gets better. Since your digging allot of targets really take the moment to try to concentrate on what the targets are like in pin point after a while you can start to eliminate allot of signals like surface foil and be confident you not walking away from a piece of gold.

 

[sgoss66]

I am, and always will be, a silver/old coin hunter first and foremost. But, lately, I have had the desire to figure out how/where to find gold rings and such with my GB Pro, and am realizing it has alot to do with picking the right spots. A forum (or perhaps this thread) where experienced folks discuss some of what they've learned over the years about gold jewelry hunting would be most interesting/fascinating/educational...

Steve

 

[godigit1]

Hey Steve,
I do really enjoy a old coin find when they come but around here for me I simply hit more gold than old coins. In over two years with the bug I think I have 8 silver coins now. I have a pile of silver jewelry The coins are just either two deep or scarce around here. But then again its all about location for any type of hunting.
The Gb G2 have no problem with small silver at all hits very nice!

I believe this is OK to do but here is a link to a ongoing thread with allot of links back to this forum

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/discussions/read.php?2,31078

This is allot of reading but invaluable information that can benefit everyone in any style of detecting.

 

[godigit1]

The link must not have been ok! The paste was right but the forum link didn't work, I thought it was ok!!!
Ill Pm you Steve!!!

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, I'm in this camp! I swing the f70, and its perfect for this type of hunting...I've got 5 silvers this year, 4572 coins, 354.17 one little gold ring, lots of silver jewelry, and a couple of paper dollars. I dont dig, just stab with a screwdriver, and move fast, early, and hard in the urban parks, beaches and sports fields.
Lots of skills and what to look for to master this style, it probably does deserve its own forum, its gonna be the future for us...Mud

 

[godigit1]

Interesting thoughts Mudpuppy!
Now that you mention it I think your absolutely right. The old coins cant last forever so naturally tactics will have to change as the targets run out faster than tech can keep up!

 

[lloyd0161]

Interesting thoughts Mudpuppy!
Now that you mention it I think your absolutely right. The old coins cant last forever so naturally tactics will have to change as the targets run out faster than tech can keep up!

Exactly Although, Old silver coins are way easier to find than gold jewelry. So I would venture to guess that are plenty of gold targets left out there that reside among the thousands of pull tabs, bits of can slaw, etc. This will take a lot more digging or a lot more skill, or both for that matter. If an area is still full of pull tabs, then there is the potential for gold.

 

[mudpuppy]

Yeah, its a whole different strategy, reading craigslist for lost items, shooting snow pile zones along parking lots, getting into a park real early after a wedding reception, family reunion, party, fair, or event..music festivals where people drink and dance...even shootings and fights recorded in the local paper I try to get to first light...the old silver shows up as incedental finds, but focused on gold and silver jewelry, a fellow can smoke jump a dozen totlots and fields in a day, never spending more than 20 minutes at each one, really racking up the clad, the cool thing is you dont need to dig, since most targets are surface to 5" tops...with an exceptional deep Q or half dollar signal every now and then. Right now theres a big blues music festival going on, I can hear it from my back porch, and I'll be there at 0dark to see what was left or lost, give the beach a quick sweep as well, and home by 9.
Mud

 

[lloyd0161]

Out hunting this afternoon with two of my buddies. We found the mother load of clad quarters in a sports park. It seems that the people that frequent this park only pocket quarters with the occasional dime and almost no pennies. I think we each dug around $6 in quarters, amazing. There was a quarter every couple feet or so. Do players toss quarters on a playing field for good luck? One of my buddies found a rather large men's silver ring among the sea of quarters. I was trying to dig all the low tones and find gold but the nuisance quarters kept getting in the way.

 

[godigit1]

Funny MudPup!
You got most my routine down!!! Ill add one thing to the mix and I'm not racist but certain neighborhoods are better than others and its not what you think.

Some Examples,

Rich neighborhood primarily white In San Francisco.
Most women are wearing minimal jewelry, black tight pants that nothing could possible fall out of a little sports cap and there jogging down the street with their stroller.

Mixed Neighborhood in Silicon Valley,predominately Indian (with a dot).
Main sport Soccer. Lots of heavy 18k 22k rings swinging around on the field. Most Indian gold is higher in purity. Certain races love their bling and adorn their children with very nice things (the tot lots).

Big park Frequented by large Hispanic populations.
Religious symbols everywhere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But if I could give the most important clue of all it would be to slow down and spend time in those tot lots covering every inch (The bug gets pretty close to large metal Poles) or wherever you search . Its better to search a smaller area thoroughly that to search a large area but miss allot of spots.

Of course most of all it allot of luck and being in the right place at the right time

Finally get to hunt tomorrow and Its neighborhood 1 so I don't expect to much but it is a very old area ill be at so maybe a silver!.

digit

 

[mudpuppy]

You got that right there godigit1...thats the thinking and reasoning aspect of this hobby that urban hunters like us develop...nothing to do with racism, just a matter of paying attention to our surroundings and aware of our targets location both before and after the drop! Man, we are sort of like coyotes flitting in and out of civilization in the early hours sniffing and moving along...some of my areas are not safe to hunt until a really cold windy fall day drizzing and very early, and then only if there is a cop parked nearby...but Dang! lots of loot to be gotten in a short time then! Sort of like a coyote raiding a chicken coop, he dont belong in there, its dangerous, but the pay back is 100% just better get in and out and not dilly dally! Sounds like you have some great options nearby, Good luck!
Mud

 

[Monte]

I don't know if they still do, but I do remember back in the latter '60 and early '70s my brother and i would concentrate a lot of our efforts hunting football fields, especially between the 45 yard lines. Many people used to toss a coin for 'Good luck" at about the 50 yard line, and I'd say the majority of older football fields reflected that trend.

I am not sure when they started doing that, or when (if) they have stopped it. I also don't know if this just might be some sort of regional thing in different parts of the country. Out of old habit, I guess, I still tend to concentrate on that 'mid-zone' split at older sites. Often, I have been rewarded.

Monte

 

[parrott]

Well if'n they don't still toss the quarters... lets all get together with a rumor they still do....

 

[markg]

I had a fellow detecting buddy with over 25 years mention to investigate those wadded tin foil balls for rings. To my memory he had found one years ago and he speculated the lady had put it their to prevent loss and lost it anyway.

 

[plidn1]

I dredged gold for a living all thru out the 80's and into the 90's. It was a lot of hard work for just wages. Very expensive when you consider the cost of equipment and grub stake. The only redeeming factor was that you were your own man.
I have since found my GOLD MINE in the parks and schools.
Oh, I dig a lot of trash, LORD I DIG TRASH. But that's my job.
My detector payed my bills and kept me in spending money all last winter selling the gold and silver.
Here is just a small sample of my recent goodies I have found.

 

[markg]

I wear a double nail apron and the left pouch is usually full of all kinds of metal trash. Every now and then I put a nice piece of gold in a bottle and put it in the right pouch.

 

[lloyd0161]

I wear a double nail apron and the left pouch is usually full of all kinds of metal trash. Every now and then I put a nice piece of gold in a bottle and put it in the right pouch.

MarkG, I found a WWII Observer Wings pin similar to the pin you have in your photo.