CTX addiction

[silver]

Hey Silver - had to take some migraine medication so I'm about as sharp as a hammer at the moment.
1939 Roo half penny?

Most of the 1939 HalfPennys were the commonwealth type Robert.
Have a look at this site for the info on it.
http://www.tdkapdc.com.au/australian-halfpenny2c-1939-roo-reverse.html
and here too.
http://www.allcoinvalues.com/austra...lian-king-george-vi-era-halfpenny-values.html

 

[the duck]

Early victorian snake buckle the site is a ripper and still plenty of area left to detect
Go slow there will be some gems there i think

 

[Robert Le Mal]

thanks Silver - makes sense to me now.
Duck - I'm not hitting pockets of coins anymore but you are right there's still acres to search, I'll just have to get creative.

 

[Robert Le Mal]

went wading at Altona last night. Usually spot yielded bugger all except a good looking ring no markings though

However I found a nice deep cut a fair way out. Most of the coins are very crusty so this stuff has been there a long time.
Got a good signal which looked like a penny but I've never found pre-decimals at Altona before, decided to dig it anyway. First scoop left the signal in the hole.
Something heavy was jumping around in the scoop, at first it looked like a chunk of glass... lucky I checked more carefully in the moon light. Turned out to be a decent chunk of crystal. At the beach????
Anyway got the penny. So crusty I had no idea what it was until I got it home and carefully chipped off the crud.

Will be heading back to Altona soon to see what else is there.

 

[AtomRat]

Great lil haul mate amazing how much crust was on the penny b4 clean

That crystal seems a bit different.. mabey upload some more angles mate? Seems like quartz..but not completely positive...it nearly resembles calcite I dig crystals down the beach a fair bit mate..they will be with all your heavies in gutters

 

[silver]

Well done on the finds,...looks like a promising adventure comming on with this place for you
.

 

[Robert Le Mal]

Atomrat, it's interesting that you get crystals, I've been using the CTX at the beach alot and I've never found a crystal. My wife wondered if someone had thrown it into the sea?
Will post more pics if I can get a chance tomorrow. Wouldn't mind finding some more...very interesting.

 

[silver]

I think AR might mean that you lucked on one that could usually be found in the deeper gutters because of the target you were chasing being in the same geographical type location.

 

[AtomRat]

Yes, I meant digging crystals. Easy access to crystals are rock bars along the beach, usually volcanics are close sometimes. I think there is some whites detector that supposibly can detect crystals..and there supposibly are 'crystal detectors' ...but my eyes, shovel n sieve do the finding of beach gems for me

 

[Robert Le Mal]

thanks Silver, maybe I've never hit many deep gutters & hence no crystals before?

Atomrat - here's a closer photo of the crystal. I'd be curious to know what it's made of if possible?
The photo makes it appear more smoky than it is to the eye. I can see my finger clearly through it.

 

[AtomRat]

I don't know if I'm gonna get yelled at for this...haha ..but it looks frightfully like a massive topaz.
To do a calcite test, put it on a magazine with writing or anything with words. When you look at the crystal and look at the words, turning the crystal while its on the paper / words, will make them 'double vision' or split ..

I'd do a specific gravity test mate. It will give you your best answer. I like it A LOT

Coukd possibly help if you post it in the gems and mineral section somewhere too for help identifying it, but s.g test is the way. If its topaz.. wow.

 

[AtomRat]

Calcite double refraction example..but I recon its topaz still..

 

[silver]

Really really nice looking crystal Robert !

 

[Goldpick]

Very strange find from the depths Robert, who would have thought.

Might have been a mystical crystal with healing powers???

 

[Heatho]

Very interesting crystal Robert, specific gravity test will give a good idea on what it is, hopefully Topaz as AR thinks but could be anything really.

 

[treasureman]

interesting crystal.
im sure a gem specialist could help you out?
plenty of them around
interested to see what it is, quartz?

 

[Havinago]

I vote Quartz but I have absolutely no idea about gems and crystals :lol:

 

[AtomRat]

By eye can be hard to tell - quartz on most occasions is hexagonal ( 6 sided crystals )

Topaz

Quartz

Calcite

 

[Havinago]

:lol: :lol: they look the same to me :lol: :lol: told you i had no idea :8 , the gypsy down the road at the fair would know :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Heatho]

Specific gravity test is really the first test to do as Topaz is a lot heavier than Quartz, it's a very simple test and will nearly always put you on the right track to identifying a gemstone.