barry

The gold pyrite belt on the eastern seaboard travels from the Potomac River, Virginia's northern border, south through North Carolina, South Carolina, and terminates in Georgia. There are a number of recreational pay to play mines in North Carolina as well as gold prospecting clubs. Here's another picture.

Yep, there were 300 or so mines and prospects in Virginia, earliest discovered around 1800 and most abandoned after free labor vanished in 1865. Though some were worked until 1940-1950s.

Virginia gold from the ghost hole...

My favorite are Ecco boots. Not cheap but the most comfortable I have ever worn and cured my bone spurs. The soles may be too soft for the terrain out west, but hold up well here in Virginia. http://us.shop.ecco.com/rugged-track-gtx-high-838024.html?dwvar_838024_color=51052#c3apiks=345_214412&gclid=CNyFo8OH-c8CFQNehgodifIBVA&cgid=men-boots

Atlanta, GA

Chris are you finding a consistent numeric reading for nuggets. While relic hunting I find the Deus to be very accurate on numeric readings, i.e 40-50 are brass buttons, high 70s mini balls, etc. I would assume that nuggets would produce a higher reading than lead?

Rob, I have been using the XP Deus for a coupled years now for detecting Civil War relics. I must say it is the best detector I have ever used for old house sites that were littered for hundreds of years with every type of iron imaginable. These sites have been pounded since the 1960's with every detector known to relic hunters yet the Deus produces a large number of finds from every one of these sites. I haven't tried it yet in the old gold mining sites but after your post I know where I'll try it this weekend.

Rob, thanks for the input on the new Coiltek coil. I use the solid NF Advantage currently so I wouldn't expect the new CT coil to be much heavier ? If is as good on small nuggets as the NF it sound like it would work well in by sites. Tom, I have the old Coiltek coil.

I need input prior to buying a new coil for my GPX 5000. I prefer the 14" elliptical coils and have used the Coiltek and Nugget Finder Advantage. The Coiltek was very good until it wore out after a couple years, to the point it was so erratic it was unusable. Afterwards I tried the Nugget Finder and found it to be better than the Coiltek on smaller nuggets but within the warranty it also failed to the point it was not usable. the Nugget Finder warranty was great, the coil was replaced, but the second coil was not near as stable as the first was originally. Now the second coil is not usable so I need to buy another. I would interested in hearing from other nugget hunters and the coils they prefer.

I was suspended a few days prior to graduation my senior year in high school. Several of us were caught drinking on the class trip to NYC where you could buy booze when 18 years old. The principal relented and let us graduate on time but it was touch and go there for a while. I thought we were destined to repeat the 12th grade.

actually it was coincident that the cavalry saber was in the picture. a friend had dropped it off, a gift, as he was down sizing his collection, just as I was finishing the detector repairs. like me, he has been digging and collecting civil war relics many years prior to digging nuggets. living in Virginia provided numerous opportunity to dig relics. I started detecting battlefield and campsites with my first detector in 1959, as a nine year old, and have continued to this time. I only realized that I could dig nuggets three years ago. this saber was found stuck point down in 1929 according to the tag on the Brandy Station battlefield, more than likely a grave marker.

On the first day of a three day vacation to nugget hunt I tripped and snapped off the plastic quick track handle on the Minelab.What a pain trying to detect holding the shaft and pressing the quick trap button. There wasn't a nearby dealer to borrow a handle so I fashioned a replacement using the remains of a broken shovel handle. Using 5/8", 1/2", 1/4", and 1/8" drill bits and a sawzall I was back in business in less than 30 minutes. To be honest, I like my handle better than the original. Feel free to copy as I have no plans to patent.

A little over 3/4 ozt, most have a ugly black substance and a few almost entirely coated. I'll have to find a way to clean the black stuff off. I have a new computer and operating system so I am struggling with posting decent picture with Microsoft Paint. I hope it can be enlarged for better viewing.

Thanks Bob, I am in Virginia in the gold pyrite belt where there were over 300 gold mines in the early days so no secret locations and I own the land where I am prospecting. I'll take some pictures and forward along.

Same here, now I need to clean the key board. Bob, thanks for the input. Last night I re-examined the nuggets with a glass and I did see on some nuggets with pieces of quartz hidden in the crevices so can I now assume that these nuggets came from a different source than the nuggets with the black coating?