Urban Prospecting

[steve herschbach]

I do love my nugget detecting! It is pretty simple stuff really. Just dig whatever goes beep, or at most try and ignore ferrous trash. Dig, dig, dig.

So what to do when I am stuck in town? I still like to go prospecting for gold, the urban kind. Jewelry of any sort, and the best part about jewelry is it never runs out. If you are into old coins, once they are gone they are gone. But you can clean a tot lot completely out and go back some time later and do it all over again. Or the sport field or the park. people wear more jewelry than ever, even the kids are wearing it, so the supply never runs out.

The basic story is the same though. Dig, dig, dig! I either dig everything when in sand or gravel/woodchips or although I get more selective in turf I dug piles of aluminum. Lots of trash per gold item, but then, not unlike nugget detecting. I will dig a lot of trash for a piece of gold. And sometimes I have better luck finding gold in town than out! With the pice of silver being what it is, I may have to start looking for that other precious metal again. Been awhile since I dug a piece of silver.

A big reason for doing this is not just to find gold or have a good time - it is to hone my detecting skills and keep an edge on them. I run into people all the time nugget detecting who only turn on the detector during that rare trip to find a nugget. Otherwise it stays in the closet. I instantly have an advantage over them as I know my machine well and it it is talking to me. I compare metal detecting to playing a musical instrument. It takes real skill, and constant practice to stay good. Urban prospecting keeps my skill set current until that next big nugget hunt.

I currently rely on my White's DFX with Bigfoot coil for use as a turf sweeper, and a Fisher Gold Bug Pro for tot lots, beaches, volleyball courts, anywhere the digging is easy. And every once in awhile I break out the Gold Bug 2 for some micro-jewelry hunting. Finally, the new Minelab CTX 3030 is going to see some freshwater lake use. And that is going to be my three day weekend, urban prospecting for gold. have a great and safe Labor Day weekend!

Steve Herschbach

 

[gilaoro]

Steve, One of my "Secret" urban spots is to find the spot the parking lot sweepers dump their swepings, usualy behind a shopping center, vacant lot etc.
Its nasty but lots of jewlery and coins!

Max

 

[Old Radio Tech]

city and state snow piles?

 

[tvanwho]

Can you tell us how to find where the sweepers dump their stuff, ditto for car washes with vacuum cleaners and the snow removal crews? What about the beach cleaning machines? Do you use a sifter screen or metal detect for the goodies?

-Tom V.

 

[gilaoro]

city and state snow piles?

One of the best spots I ever hit was the snow piles behind the shopping center in Chinle,AZ on the reservation!
You would not beleive the Torquiose pieces! I Never made it back there in the winter.

Max

 

[steve herschbach]

You know that is something I have heard a lot, but only tried briefly a time or two. All I found was loose change but I have never really given it a good go. I am pretty good at digging lots of trash but I wonder if this would wear even me down. It would be easy if I cared about the coins but it is gold I am after, and it would seem the amount of aluminum trash would be overwhelming. I guess I will never know unless I really try it. Maybe some selective discrimination would help. I did hear of a very expensive ring being lost in a parking lot here last winter.

Found a large St. Christopher silver medallion and large silver ring in the tot lots yesterday.

Steve Herschbach

 

[tvanwho]

My buddy recovered a number of pieces of gold jewelry and coins in a creek next to a Little League baseball field
while highbanking for placer gold ,in downtown Indianapolis a few years ago.. Or maybe a spring suspended sifter like the archaeologists
use would be the way to go on trash piles along with a sharp eye.Have also seen motorized screen sifter machines on You Tube
videos for sifting dirt clods ,kinda like a trommel,but without a sluice. Make an electric one to keep it quiet.

-Tom V

 

[rabbitt46]

Always wanted to check out the snow pile lot here but never seem to remember to get there before they clean it up.

 

[mudpuppy]

Great topic! I do a lot of snowpile areas...they are trashy but productive. Pulling into a location in the summer, a guy can imagine how and where a plow driver would do a push and pile. The detector will let you know if you are right. At schools, I find where the teachers park and work that area good. Using Mapquest, you can flip it from map to satellite and find schools by looking for the sports fields...then just sort of think of the high traffic areas and good spots. Good thing is most targets are shallow, and can be quickly stabbed with a screwdriver, sens can be low, any high foil signal on up gets a poke. I'm gonna wade a creek this am right through the center of an old town, then go whack some sportsfields, totlots, and plow zones. Its pretty comfortable and easy hunting since a fellow is seldom far from the truck.
Mud