Gold? and silver

Spend a few days days at Whangamata (beach hop),Then stayed on for the Monday and Tuesday,Meet up with Colin from the Mt with his 3030 wow what an impressive machine got to have one of these.The built in gps is invaluable when looking for a lost item.
 Found the beach here pretty hard going as it was sanded up real bad,so moved on to Waihi beach,it rarely lets me down and did not disappoint me this time I found the wee gold ring attached to the silver chain and pendant in an area that was a bit washed out.The large silver ring must win the ugly comp (sorry Grant),I am almost ashamed to show it,I guess the owner threw it away,Good for scrap as it is marked STD.The gold ring is not hall marked but has the figures GM and 17-3.There was a manufacturer way back at the turn of the century with those initials but the ring doesn't appear worn enough for 100yrs old.

Gold, but don't do this..........bugga

Still at Whitianga,and this time I spent the last two days at Buffalo Beach, A little bit of time spent on the lower tide line was fruitless,but moving up the beach 2 metres below the high water mark I found the G spot,an area around 2 metres wide stretching down the beach about 200 metres,I found all the bits pictured,and they are a big variety,ranging from modern $ through to the 1872 threepence with the hole in it,the old fob watch looked promising but fell to bits when I tried to free it up.

 The mans large gold ring once again shows how brittle they become after years in the salt,would you believe I had just finnished washing it,when it slipped out of my hand and landed on the lino promptly disintrigating into 4 pieces,I couldnt believe it,this is the 3rd time a ring has broken on me will cleaning it,I talked to a jeweller about it and he explained that the combination of metals break down over time due to a reaction from the salt and elements,generally on the lower rated carat rings etc.A bit of super glue patched it up to keep all the bits intact,also found a few very early bullets and lots of old copper sheathing along with old copper nails I can only guess they are from the old sailing ship HMS Buffalo that blew aground here many years ago,I went back yesterday afternoon and the beach had already started to change with the sand building up again.But I still picked up a few more coins plus two more silver rings......

A bit more gold from Whitianga

Back to Brophys Beach,as we are staying at Simpsons Beach brophys is just around the corner,I decided to finnish of an area close to were I was the day before,it is just a 3 metre wide strip that has been exposed by the elements.Talking to a local and she told me there used to be an old wharf here and at times the old foundations are exposed.Well I ended up with the two wee 9kt girls rings plus four silver rings  which will need a bit of cleaning, and also a few old pennys and sixpences along with the usual sinkers and assortment of $1-$2 coins plus all the older decimals,One of the better finds were the two half crowns lying on top of each other.

long hours in the sun produces gold

First thanks Grant for the tip on Brophys beach,although it was hard work the result of around 6 hours of detecting over three days finally produced gold,well gold and silver as this mans ring is a combination of the two or maybe gold/white gold.The two silver rings cleaned up pretty good, also the $1 and $2 coins although pretty black with a bit of elbow grease they can now be passed over the counter without any funny looks.Even found a few older pennys and two sixpences.The old camper is getting harder to tow with all the extra weight from all the sinkers i have been collecting.

'White gold' trouble - industries - business | Stuff.co.nz

'White gold' trouble - industries - business | Stuff.co.nz


I had this forwarded to me,and found it very interesting reading,I wonder if the rhoduim plating has something to do with detectors not being able to pick up certain items.I now know of three lost items that would fall into this catagory And have tried hard to find them. Have a read and let me know your thoughts.Sometimes I sure do wonder" what I am missing"

Number 10 gold for the year......unbelievable

After my recent run on gold rings,I would not have expected to see any more for another month or more,would you believe it, I was detecting at Shakespear bay,picking up the odd coin or two,when I get another good solid 12-22 this time, thinking it was a teartab I quickly dug it up only to see a glint of gold.The two wee silvers were in a small washed out area along with the older 20c bits.
 We are on the road to Whitianga tomorrow only have another 8 weeks in NZ then off to Perth to work for the winter (put $ back in the bank, the gold is not quite enough).

 The other day when I found the Ladies gold ring a Father with his young daughter were watching me,I guess she was around 4 years old,when I showed them the ring she asked to hold it,thinking that woudn't be a problem I popped into her hand.What a mistake that was,the little sod wouldn't give it back again, She started to throw a real tantram screaming and crying,her dad was thrown right out of gear,I had visions of the little beggar throwing it away into the long grass.In the end I said I will do you a deal and held out my hand,and said I will swop the ring for what is in my hand,she then handed it over and I promptly dropped a sad looking old sinker into her hand as an exchange,Haha the look on her face was priceless her jaw dropped 2 feet and away she went again into tantram land.The poor dad was very apologetic.About then I decided it was cup of tea time....sure was funny