My beach finds

[Goldpick]

The threepence should clean up nicely, but those brown buggers, or should I say green buggers, look like they are about to become a part of the earth again.

 

[Paulmarr]

Some days are better than others - you just never know which is the exciting part.

Went out for a session on my own and here are the finds...

There were targets everywhere but the bad news was they were quite deep and located in quick sand - the deeper you shovel and deeper the target goes.

Anyway the coins were flowing when I found quite a few sinkers all of a sudden...

My kids tell me that round objects is a type of ear ring - you know the way they put those massive tubes in their ears? (Yuck). They also told me they are usually alloy so I can bin it! It also told me I was in the jewellery neighbourhood, and I didn't take long for a 9k ladies gold ring and a 925 silver piece from a necklace or earring to appear ... Both old pieces that have been in the drink for years.

I learned that it is not a good idea to try and bend the ring back into round shape cause they break after being in the water for so long

Back of silver piece

And a couple of silver coins - a three pence and a toasted six pence along with a large penny - two half pennies - a couple of brown buggers and two 5 cent pieces.

The dog chain was interesting - very deep but sounded too good not to dig - 18 inches down!

The best part of the day was to return home to see I received some night time reading material (thanks son!)

 

[Goldpick]

I nearly creamed myself when I last pulled out a dog choker chain, thought it was a massive silver chain - such disappointment!

 

[silver]

How would you rate that read Paul ? Pity on the ring breaking, my father used to say to leave a handsaw sitting in the sunlight for half an hour before readjusting the teeth angles that way they don't snap off on you. It may be a case of the same thing for rings before you straighten them. At least your Gold Scrap Bin will look nice, and any gold is good gold(well done on the hunt).

 

[Paulmarr]

Thanks Silver - yes it is a great read and as Gary Drayton (author of book and detecting expert) used the Sovereign exclusively for many years I have picked up quite a few tips I will be using the next time I go detecting - and I am sure the results will speak from themselves!

Lots of great beach detecting techniques I wasn't aware of - including some advice in direct opposite to advice I have read here. For instance - Gary says the shell grit line should be avoided in most circumstances as it will not be holding the targets we are after (gold jewelry) yet I have read on someone's post in this section that the shell grit line is one we should be looking for.

Also I have been running the detector in beginner's mode (auto sensitivity) and the book explains how to use the features of the detector in detail so can't wait to get out there to try what I have gleaned from the pages - hopefully it is $20 well spent!

 

[Goldpick]

Lol, that was probably me re the shell grit, but I have found quite a few targets in that area, but your reference is more specific to gold objects vs coins, which are more likely to be in the gutters further off the beach. Quite frankly, sometimes good finds can occur anywhere, all depends on when they were deposited, what erosion events have taken place, physical barriers like jetties and breakwaters, the wave action, how deep the sand is, and whether the base rock or clays are close to the surface, and so on. The only gold ring I have found was near a jetty on the low tide flats, other lighter gold items have been found all over the place with no rhyme or reason.

The is a guy on another forum that consistently finds gold rings, all have been found off-shore in gutters with clay decomposed bedrock close to surface, a barrier that holds the rings without having to dig to china. That is also in a couple metres of water, so skindiving is a necessity and a very thick wetsuit. That was in vic.

Considering gold is heavy, and for ease of detecting, I reckon working the southern metro beaches (seacliff to glenelg) could be more productive, considering the wave action has mobilised most sand to the north around Glenelg, and as a result, bedrock is pretty close to surface even at low tide on the flats and in the gutters. Probably a good trap for gold, without it working its way too far offshore, and with less digging involved.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Well my first time out after a few weeks and the ctx lives up to its name. After digging a few coppers and a 10c, the next target was nice and yellow not long after the little brother turned up. The big one is 14k and the small one is 9k. Felt good to be out and to take home some gold. Was also hoping to pick up at least 1 silver coin but I guess I can't have it all

 

[Goldpick]

Fantastic, looks like the upgrade was worth its while. Can you gauge how much easier it is to pick up such targets, when evolving from the 705 to the Excalibur, and then the CTX, or is it simply a case of being in the right place at the right time, or perhaps better depth or target identification?

 

[Heatho]

Well done, great work after a break. Cuttlery set is still growing every outing. 1 question though, does the CTX show rings as a solid target like a coin? Can it differentiate between a ring and a coin on the display?

 

[Paulmarr]

Nice work son - a pigeon pair!

 

[Sa_bogan]

Fantastic, looks like the upgrade was worth its while. Can you gauge how much easier it is to pick up such targets, when evolving from the 705 to the Excalibur, and then the CTX, or is it simply a case of being in the right place at the right time, or perhaps better depth or target identification?

Thanks mate, I would have to agree on the upgrade being worth while
It's hard to make this answer easy so there are a few parts to it
Firstly I would have to say like any hobby you need to do your reading and then put it into practice. The more correct information you can read up on and retain, then use out in the field, the better you will get.
As for upgrading from the starter 705 through to the ctx. Like any trade, you need the right tool for the job and I have chosen the beach to be the place I like to detect. So I came to a quick realisation that the 705 is a great detector for dry sand but if you want to cover both the wet Sand and water then it just wouldn't do. Both the Excalibur and ctx are meant for the beach and it makes a great difference from having to reduce sensitivity and restrict myself to dry sand, were as the other to can also be flat out with there settings and getting great depth.
Lastly its always the case of walking over the target so the "right place right time" fits into all detecting, but there are advantages with the ctx over the other 2 with target id. I loved the Excalibur for being a tone machine and do miss it, but being able to see the target with FE CO and the pin point with trace ID gives a great advantage. Though in saying this the ctx is a very large learning curve and wouldn't recommend just jumping straight into as it will be to much and could put you off using it

Sorry this was a long winded answer and I hope it all made sense and answered your question.

Heatho it will only show what the target is made of and not its shape, though it would be a sweet feature for sure

 

[Goldpick]

Thanks bogan, that's a great reply. Looking at the bigger picture, I think having such a detector for finding gold & silver makes sense. These days you are probably more likely to find decent amounts of gold on and around our beaches and parks vs nugget hunting close to home. Thus the purchase price of the CTX is probably not too bad say compared to a gpx5000 for gold prospecting only. There have also been some good nugget finds with the CTX too, so I wouldn't discount giving it a run in the hills for something different.

I do like the fact that the screen will actually show what the object is, and hopefully prevent close by iron objects masking out the good ones. Whilst I do love my tone only machines, I do like tinkering with new technology, so long as it works as it should (some detectors have all the bells and whistles, without providing any new real advantages).

Looking forward to see what you come up with next, and don't be afraid to wack up some screen snapshots of some of the good target ID's, once you get your head around it (using the snapshot feature). I'm sure you will come up with another you tube clip once you have things sorted for beach detecting.

 

[Paulmarr]

Ok - morning session with the detecting team - bogan and his CTX ( with myself and the Sovereign GT) - and here are the finds...

No gold but a few silvers coins

A florin!

The scrap pile grows - a florin, a six pence, 5 x three pence, a penny, as well as a five cent and a brown bugger... The piece of bracelet I thought was gold for a minute - oh well - even found a Motorola phone which was meant to be waterproof

Another enjoyable session! (Yes the CTX found the florin)

 

[Paulmarr]

Wow - quiet on the forum tonight - so we did a Goldpick and went for a night detect session down at the beach - here are the finds ....

The CTX performed again - found both rings - one is a Lord of the Rings replica....

And a dainty 9k gold ladies ring with a stone of some kind...

Even managed another three pence - a penny - a five cent piece and a brown bugger. I think I will be renaming Bogan to "Lord of the Rings"! My precious....

 

[Goldpick]

Yes it is a bit quiet tonight, I've been out terrorising the parks tonight with a few spendables found. Great to see the gold rings are still coming, that is very thin indeed. Wet sand, dry sand or in the water?

 

[Pilsner]

Nice finds. The "Lord of the Rings" replica seems it was quite a while in the sand, maybe even before all the movies fever started? Is it silver?
I wonder that the ctx was able to pick up such a thin ring, was it deep? Or did sa_bogan managed to go so slowly? I'm not sure I would be able to pick it up with my swipe speed and I don't think I'm too fast (for such ring probably yes).

 

[Sa_bogan]

the ctx had no issue finding that ring but i have been using a slower sweep speed which has boosted my finds with the ctx for sure. not sure what the ring is made of but im hoping is at least silver but could be tungston.

Goldpick - the tides were pretty strong but still managed to shallow detect without being sucked into the ocean. are you still using your infinium?

 

[Goldpick]

Yes, still using the infinium, last time was down outer harbour way, but have been hitting the parks for some spendables, as I need to replace large DD coil, and repair the small DD elliptical one (plus need a decent sand scoop).

The monos on the finny go deep, but can be bit temperamental sometimes, the small DD coil usually runs dead quiet, is light, and still gets good depth hence is my favourite at the beach.

Might have another go over the next day or two. Thurday night looks good, 0.3m low tide at 11.30pm.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Cleaned up ok for its condition. Not sure what its made of but it looks like copper is starting to show

And I think the little ring is 10k and not 9k

 

[Sa_bogan]

Just put the florin in for a quick dip and it has come up with a slight copper tinge. Do you think that the container I'm using might be changing the colour of my finds? There is a fair amount of rust residue in it so I'm thinking the ring could still be silver?