Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries
True Stories of Amazing Treasures Found by Everyday People
By Mark D Smith
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Copyright 2014 and Beyond All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, copied, or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author.
Table of Contents
Incredible Metal Detecting Discoveries
More Best Selling Books by the Author
Kindle Fire Users
Introduction
Incredible Gold Finds
The Mojave Nugget
The Boot of Cortez
Hand of Faith
Destiny
The Ausrox Nugget
The Treasure Coast
350 Year Old Golden Chalice
The Ringlemere Cup
Hoards
The Hoxne Hoard
The Frome Hoard
The Vale of York Hoard
Staffordshire Hoard
The Hallaton Hoard
The Salisbury Hoard
St. Albans Hoard
The Stirling Hoard
Wickham Market Hoard
The Bredon Hill Hoard
The Chalgrove Hoards
The Shrewsbury Hoard
The Derrynaflan Hoard
The Grouville Hoard
Frightening Finds
The Beach of Death
The Dark Treasure of Little Bighorn
Isle Haute
Ancient Indian Burial Grounds
Child Coffin
The Thetford Hoard
Incredible Metal Detecting Finds Made by Kids!
Shells On The Beach
Boom Boom!
Civil War Relic History Lesson
Space Treasure
Beginner's Luck
Incredible Ring Finds
A Big Ring and A UFO
Don't Throw Away Anything
Long Lost Ring
42 Years In the Ground
The Traveling Ring
Surprise Ring
17th Century Gold
The Raglan Ring
The Escrick Ring
The Newark Torc
The Crosby Garrett Helmet
One Final Story
It's REAL!
Thanks!
More Best Selling Books by the Author
Available in digital format and paperback
Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the World
Metal Detecting the Beach
Coin Hunting Made Easy: Finding Silver, Gold and Other Rare Valuable Coins for Profit and Fun
Kindle Fire Users
If you are reading this book using a Kindle Fire, double tap the images to zoom in and get a better view! You can pinch the image to zoom in and out. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!
Introduction
My name is Mark Smith, and I am addicted to finding treasure with my metal detector. It's the truth, and I will happily admit it, but the funny thing is this. I am not alone with my rather healthy addiction. There are countless other men and women all over our great blue planet who have also been bitten by the treasure hunting bug. Once it sinks its teeth in, there is no turning back.
We eagerly comb the globe looking for our next fix. It could be a piece of gold jewelry encrusted with diamonds. It could be an old coin from the Roman Empire, or it could be a long lost relic that has been buried for hundreds of years.
We are all helplessly and hopelessly addicted. You can see it in our eyes. There is a wild untamed fire burning deep within. A desire to explore, to find and most importantly a desire to recover. Okay, maybe I went too far with the whole “untamed fire burning deep within” part, but you get the idea.
It is all about the thrill of the hunt and the idea that you could very well be unearthing an amazing piece of treasure that has been hidden from sight for who knows how long. I am getting excited just thinking about it. It really gets my blood pumping.
If you happen to be a treasure hunting addict like myself, then you already know just how exciting it can be digging up some long lost piece of treasure. There is nothing quite like it. The glimmer of a gold ring in the bottom of a beach scoop. The weight of an old copper, bronze, silver or gold coin in the palm of your hand. It is fascinating, fun and highly addictive.
I often find myself looking at the treasures I have recovered over the years and thinking to myself, “I can't believe I found this stuff with my metal detector.” I know I am not alone either. I have met quite a few great people who do the same exact thing.
All of us cherish our finds no matter how simple they may be. We get to hold a physical piece of fascinating history in the palm of our hands. What other hobby gives a person this opportunity? None that I know of.
There are incredible untold stories just waiting below the surface of the earth and all it takes is a metal detector to locate them. What follows next just so happens to be some of the most incredible metal detecting stories in the world. If you are not already hooked on the idea of metal detecting, I can guarantee you will be once you are done reading these stories. Every single one of them is true. This is the reality of metal detecting. Jump right in. Dig in and prepare to be amazed!
Incredible Gold Finds
Gold is one thing that every single person swinging a metal detector wants to find and there are plenty of people finding it too. Gold has a way of doing strange things to a person. Finding gold can create an itch that you can never seem to scratch. Finding one piece of that funny yellow metal only fuels your desire to recover more and more.
Some people may get a mild case of gold fever, while others get consumed by the concept of uncovering some long lost gold treasure that could be worth millions of dollars. Either way, searching for gold with a metal detector is a truly great experience, especially when you do get to see that glint of yellow.
It doesn't matter if you are a hardcore beach hunter, or a dedicated nugget shooter. Seeing a piece of gold in the bottom of a scoop or encrusted in earth will quicken your pulse, make your mind race and possibly even make you jump for joy.
If you have been lucky enough to find some gold, then you know exactly what I am talking about. If you are still looking for your first piece of gold, then these stories will inspire you to get out there and claim your own share. We can all learn a thing or two about these incredible metal detecting finds. Dig in!
The Mojave Nugget
People have been heading to the west coast of the United States in pursuit of gold since it was first discovered there in the early 1800s. The Gold Rush created an almost mass hysteria in the area as people fought tooth and nail to claim their stake.
They worked hard to recover gold. The tools of the trade were rock hammers, chisels, pick axes, gold pans and sluices made from wood and metal. They didn't have the modern conveniences of using something like a metal detector to help them locate the mother lode.
California has always been and still is to this day an excellent place to locate gold. Using a metal detector makes the process a little easier, but in order to get to those good gold bearing fields you will have to travel to some pretty harsh environments like the Mojave Desert in the Southwestern United States.
It is here that the temperatures during the day can g
et hot enough to fry an egg on a slab of rock. You would think the setting sun would be welcomed with open arms, but when that bright orange ball in the sky slowly creeps below the horizon, the temperatures can plummet fast enough to chill your favorite beverage.
If these harsh conditions are not enough to make you want to stay in the comfort of your modern home, then just think of the creatures that call the Mojave Desert home. Deadly scorpions and rattlesnakes as fat as your thigh not only like these conditions, they thrive in them, but these things don't even enter the mind of a person who has a bad case of gold fever. Their mind is on the find. They are looking for that magical yellow metal, and that is exactly what Ty Paulsen found way back in 1977 with his metal detector.
Feast your eyes on the largest gold nugget recovered in the state of California with a metal detector, The Mojave Nugget.
Don't forget to double tap the image and zoom in for a good close up!
Could you imagine finding this monster gold nugget with a metal detector? It would be like finding the tip of an iceberg, and it would just keep getting bigger as you slowly or frantically removed rocks and desert sand from around it. If it was me, I would most likely need a to change my pants after unearthing a gold nugget of this magnitude.
How Much Does This Monster Nugget Weigh?
It can be difficult to determine the size of something like this when you are just staring and drooling over a picture. This is a big one. It weighs 156 troy ounces. That equals 4.9 kilograms or a massive 10 pounds 11 ounces. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the size of this nugget. It is huge, and I promise you there are some that are even bigger!
Where Was the Mojave Nugget Unearthed?
That is the million dollar question isn't it? The exact location of this monster nugget find is still not known. It was recovered somewhere very close to the city of Randsburg, California in an area where gold has been known to exist in large volumes. There are plenty of mines in the area, but the exact location where this beauty was unearthed still remains behind tight lips. Who could blame them? Would you be willing to tell anyone the exact location if you discovered this giant nugget? I don't think I would.
There are also quite a few interesting stories floating around out there about how this nugget was found. Ty was using a metal detector when he located it. That part we know, but the exact kind or model of metal detector he was using is still up for debate.
Some people are saying it was a metal detector that was designed to locate landmines and others are saying that Ty had several coils attached to his vehicle. He would just drive very slowly through the desert until his coils alerted him to the treasure below. We may never know because Ty Paulsen has since departed the land of the living.
What Happened to the Mojave Nugget?
Ty sold his amazing find to a private collector by the name of Robert E. Peterson. Don't worry, this massive gold nugget did not stay hidden behind closed doors in a private collection.
Margie and Robert E. Peterson decided to donate their rather impressive gold nugget collection to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. The entire collection of gold nuggets consists of over 130 pieces of gold that total more than 1660 troy ounces. That is just over 113 pounds or 51 kilograms of pure golden delight. Sitting at the middle of the collection is the Mojave Gold Nugget. As of this writing, this is the biggest gold nugget that has been recovered in California soil with a metal detector.
If you are planning a trip to the area, I strongly suggest you visit this exhibit. Once you see the Mojave Nugget, the cleaning crew at the museum will need to come along and pick your jaw up off the floor.
Museum Contact Information
It is always a good idea to call ahead to make sure this exhibit is still on display.
Museum website: http://www.nhm.org/
Phone number: 213-763-3466
email: [email protected]
The Boot of Cortez
This next story will lay the theory “an expensive metal detector is the best metal detector” to rest. I mentioned in my book entitled: “Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the World,” knowing how to use your metal detector properly is much more important than buying a metal detector with an expensive price tag. This story drives this fact straight home and proves that sometimes simple is so much better.
Once again we have to travel to that harsh desert landscape for this incredible story. This one takes place just south of the United States border in the Sonoran Desert where the daytime temperatures can exceed 125 degrees Fahrenheit (51 degrees Celsius). It is said that the wind here is so ferocious that its hot breath literally strips the water from any living creature in a matter of minutes. This area is not exactly a walk through the park with your metal detector. You have to be conditioned to handle this type of environment, and you have to be a hardcore treasure hunter to spend any extended amount of time here.
This area of desert may seem harsh and devoid of life, but it is rich in treasure folklore. There are countless legends of mountains of gold and silver just waiting for the would be treasure hunter to uncover. These legends are attractive to anyone who has been bitten by the treasure hunting bug.
Could you imagine discovering a mountain of gold? What would it be like to walk into some long lost desert cave where the walls were lined with the richest gold veins the world has ever seen? Are you ready to take your metal detector out to the desert yet? I know I am. If you are not, then you will be by the time you are done reading this story.
The Sonoran Desert is no stranger to gold. There are numerous gold and silver mines throughout the Sonoran Desert region, and in 1989 history was made by a local Mexican prospector in a canyon close to the Gran Desierto de Altar.
This local prospector whose name seems to be magically erased from the history books found the largest gold nugget in the entire western hemisphere with a metal detector. If you thought the Mojave Nugget was incredible, you haven't seen anything yet.
Instead of sweating his life away prospecting for gold the old fashioned way, this prospector decided to put technology to work for him. He purchased an inexpensive metal detector from Radio Shack. The exact model he used is not known, but given the era of the find and the fact that he purchased this metal detector at Radio Shack means one thing. He was using an entry level machine without any fancy bells and whistles.
Did this prospector randomly pick an area and blindly search it with his entry level metal detector?
No he didn't. He carefully picked an area in a canyon where large gold nuggets have been found in the past.
Once he decided on this area, he slowly and very methodically combed every single inch of desert sand using a tight grid like pattern. Hunting in a grid pattern is essential if you want to leave nothing behind but footprints. I cover this metal detecting technique in great detail in my book entitled: “Metal Detecting: A Beginner's Guide to Mastering the Greatest Hobby In the World.”
Was This Method an Instant Success?
No it was not. This prospector faced what many of us face when using our metal detectors on a regular basis. He uncovered quite a bit of trash before he finally hit the mother lode.
He spent about two weeks digging scrap iron targets and old bullets in this harsh desert environment, but his hard work and dedication was about to pay off more than he could have ever imagined
His entry level metal detector alerts him to a rather large target in the sand. This target is so big that it must be an old iron chunk of trash, but this prospector ignores this idea and gets down on his hands and knees to uncover his find.
At first it appears to be a good sized nugget laying in the ground, but as he continues to move the sand and rock away, the nugget grows in size. By the time he is done, he has unearthed a nugget that measures 10.75 inches in height (27.3 centimeters) and 7.25 inches wide (18.41 centimeters).
This monster nugget weighs in at 389.4 troy ounces. That is 26 pounds, 10 ounces (12 kilograms) wo
rth of almost pure gold. Not only is the nugget huge, but it is oddly shaped just like a boot. Hence the name, “The Boot of Cortez.”
Boot of Cortez images courtesy of Robert Boor. The images were taken while the Boot of Cortez was on display at the 2004 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.
Where Is The Boot of Cortez Now?
On January 20th, 2008, the Boot of Cortez was sold at auction for $1,314,500 or £775,699. As of this writing, this was the most recent transaction for this amazing metal detecting find. Its owner has said that they hope to have it on exhibit soon.
Is There a Metal Detecting Moral to This Story?
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