John_C As you prospect in the desert areas, have you ever found anything of value?
Just curious as visited with a 'prospector' who used a metal detector. He said he found nothing of value in the deserts of AZ, NV but had great success metal detecting on the beaches of CA during the winter months when most beaches are vacant...finding gold rings, diamond rings, etc. people lost in the water. Said he sold most of it to a jeweler in CA and more than paid for his trip and time being a snowbird.
Hi Eagle,
Oh, I pick up bit of gold, silver, and some old items... I used to laugh that I didn't find enough to quit my day-job though...

I actually built that little CC and assembled equipment so I could detect more often in the desert after I retired... The winter and early spring rains, along with cool temps are great detecting times, but the Boss moved me to MN, making detecting the desert quite spendy $$$...
As far as coin-detecting at beaches and parks, I just never developed an interest for that kind of detecting. I really love the desert, picking around old mine dumps and looking for the nuggets and "treasures" the "Old Timers" missed/lost/or just left behind... It's not the monetary value of the find, it's the
romance that gets me...
Last year, I came across an old (Late 1800 - early 1900 era) encampment and detected a bunch of melted lead and several round balls scattered about. The round balls exhibited heavy flash as might be left by an old worn mold... At another location, I found a Henry .40 cal. rimfire case at about 14" deep, way up on the side of a hill... no roads or mining activity close. The shell had been fired three times (reloaded twice) as indicated by uniform firing pin marks... These finds make one conjure up all sorts of stories of why and what... Were the folks at the old encampment casting bullets as they were being overrun by an overwhelming enemy??...
Was the single cartridge on the hillside, fired by the old timer at a deer or maybe an indian, or maybe a bad guy trying to rob him... Ahhh, the stories that come to mind... These finds are what makes metal detecting interesting...
I once found on old 45/70 case that had been shortened to fire in a 45/60 rifle; it had a plug in the end and when removed, I found several little gold nuggets inside... Did the "Nugget Cache" fall out of the old timers pocket... Did he or she just drop it... or... or... Ahhh, the stories that come to mind...
To me, these finds are truly the real treasures...
The "Romance" for me is finding that bit of history that is of little to no monetary value, maybe a gold nugget, just waking in the early morning desert, and listening to the morning dove and the quail... and smelling early morning coffee mixed with the sweet aroma of sagebrush, dampened by the early morning dew or rain... I wish all could experience such a romance and any of you that detect or camp, cherish your finds, fill all your holes, and leave the country cleaner than found...
