Two Pounds of Gold
 

A couple of nuggets I added to my collection this past summer. Story at link.......

http://www.nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com...showtopic=7972

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

sure makes it easier to triangulate you. :bandit:

just kidding :elefant:

Do you yourself detect?

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Don't need to detect myself.......I'm easy to find. :stickyman

Actually, I've been metal detecting / nuggetshooting for close to 38 years now and collecting nuggets for about 35 of those years. Great hobby, but I learned a long time ago that to put together a really first rate collection would require some purchases instead of depending on just detector / prospecting finds. Kind of like trying to build a first-rate coin collection with a metal detector in the local park. To be realistic, you have to raise your sights and lower your expectations when digging in the dirt......even though the "anticipation" of a really good find is always there. :smokin:

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Is that you Jimmy Sierra? :smile:

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Not hardly ! LOL Nobody else on earth can stretch the truth that far just to sell a metal detector. :eek:

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...the "great chase". Nothing like letting the "kid" come out and play in the dirt, the mud, and the water - and hunt "Easter eggs" all at the same time.

Nuggets are marvelous; rare, beautiful, and unique. Isn't it tragic that most all of the nuggets found before 1990 were melted down to assay and sell for their gold content?

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

So true Goldminer,

I never realized just how rare domestic nuggets over 10 ounces are until I started trying to find a few for the collection. I sometimes wonder if they are harder to find already dug or still in the ground. I've probably seen two or three hundred or more Aussie pieces that size, but less than 10 or 15 domestic nuggets over 10 ounces in the last several years. And many of those were acid cleaned or otherwise treated to distroy their natural character. Speaking here of "solid" nuggets rather than "specimens" consisting mostly of quartz with interlaced gold streaks which are much more common in larger sizes. I just have this "thing" about paying gold prices for quartz weight.....:smokin:

But you're right, "the thrill of the hunt" is all a part of the game, as frustrating as it gets sometimes........:banghead:

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Ten ounces! I'd lose my teeth if I found a color any where that. The biggest one I ever recovered was a little over 7 dwt. out of bedrock under 2 feet of water and five feet of overburden. I still think of it as a virtual "monster". Course other than the few big ones found in the old days around here, we don't have the large colors found in CA, AK, and Australia. A dwt. is a pretty good size nugget here in the east but as you say...a guy never knows what a clean up is going to reveal.

When I'm dredging and see s nugget I just pick it up and swallow it...then sort it out later.

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

That would certainly give new meaning to the term "clean-up"...... haha !

In that case, I don't think I'd be wishing for 10+ ouncers.

Re: Two Pounds of Gold
 

Those nuggets are gorgeous! I understand what your saying about metal detecting. I've been at it for about 18 months. A few gold rings and lots of old coins in rough shape are what I have to show for hours of work, but I just like to get outdoors and look for interesting finds. Those hoard finds are few and far between but it's still a great hobby.