Goldtargets 2017 adventures

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Goldtarget

(AKA OldGT)
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
4,350
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6,818
Location
, VIC
Well its been a while since I posted up....so long in fact the last title was 2016 hunts...

The weather had allowed a little rain so with change from everything being bone dry I decided to go out. Original plan was to take on an old house site, but the gates were locked so back to the parks I went. Shame really you blokes and all your old PD finds had me jacked up ready to put some runs on the board!

Did three parks, all places I've been in the last cpl months. The dirty ones came out of the local market park that is full full full of trash, but enough circle work pulled a couple dollars out.

The golden coin in the pic is an Indonesian import that rang up like a 10c piece. Safe to say I was a little confused at first...Had a moment thinking I was going completely mad wondering why a $2 coin rang up so low....The old lizard emblem set me straight.

The weather got the better of me the rains have set in but managed a couple quick hours. Had a few more crusty ones but the tin rattlers were at the lights today so I piled the half handful of mixed coppers and dirty silver decimals in the top...The look on the blokes face was priceless. I apologized and he replied "It's alright mate I only have to collect it not count it". I feel sorry for the person that gets that tin :eek:
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Ran out of patience today building a new shed so decided to go detecting. Being a long weekend and all, I wasn't 3 minutes in and I hear a car pull up and a bloke gets out.

Now I'm thinking 'here we go....another grass nazi ' but actually the fella turned out to be a swinger on his way out to give his GPZ a run. After proper introductions we got chatting away and he asked if I wanted to tag along out in the nearby gold areas.

At first I declined telling him I only had the Fisher....to which he replied 'Mate it can still do the job.' Now I'm thinking he's mad but he insists we give it a go. So we head out bush about 20 mins down the road.

We arrive at a spot I know pretty well, and it's hot ground. It takes a few minutes getting the GPZ set up and he asks to see the 75. We spend about 20 mins talking over how to use a vlf on hot ground while he shows me a few tricks. Before the Zed even hits the ground the Fisher has a target under the coil in my instructors hands. A tiny boot tack about an inch and a half down. After persisting with the PP I manage to get the tack isolated.

So we set off working the hillside and for the first time ever I have seen a new side to my old detector I never thought I would use. After an hour I've managed to get three small lead targets out despite the bloody hot ground and feel like I'm in the zone.

The daylight starts fading so I decide to finish up. I thank John for all his pointers and he gives me that large Aussie grin and a 'No worries mate'. As I'm driving off I can't help but think that despite no yella in the hand, I found gold today. Prospecters are bloody great people. I reckon I know what I'll be up to tomorrow. ... :D
 
As much as I wanted to go out golding today it was not to be.....But I was itching to have a crack on the detector so I threw it in this morning and managed to get a quick 2 hour stint in on the drive home.

First spot was a kiddies playground that turned up zero, not even junk or a single pull tab, in the chipbark. I was a little wary as someone looked to have spent some time raking out shapes around the equipment (like boundary lines) which looked like a series of similar markings in my local area. I suspect someone else might have a new detector and is making the rounds. After turning up zero I thought I'd check the grassed areas to see if there was any high tones. The first high tone turned out to be a 1949 half Penny! Safe to say I was not expecting it, but followed it up with 2 x 1950 Pennys so I wonder if the dirt was brought in from an old house site or built on one. Not much else came out except a few bits of melted lead & Cast Aluminum. Admittedly I didn't get around the whole area but definitely worth another look.

Next step was a park I've done several times but one side is super junky and very dry in the summer months. Managed a few moderns and some junk including a cheapo watch and two halves of a cast chunky heart. With less than 40 mins before dark I moved on to park number 3.

I'd looked at this park many times but as it's located in broad view and it's sheer size I'd decided against it. Today I thought I'd just give it a quick going over to see if there was anything worthwhile to dig and if it was worthy to spend some time on. It was definitely one of the quietest pieces of ground I've ever been on, due mostly to the extremely short grass and constant council attention.

None the less the first target out was the mangled 50c piece, which is by far and away the worst mower clipped coin I've ever retrieved. The signals came thick and fast in a very short amount of time. I barely got through 5 % of the area before dark came in but the short grass and manicured probably better tackled with workable light. All 4 of the $2 came out of the small section so I think the park shows promise.
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Bit of a surprise when you get predecs next to modern play equipment, though it does happen, and not necessarily due to fill being brought in. Most of the parks that I have detected with fill in them are full of industrial site waste, very frustrating to detect and usually a walk away proposition.

Hopefully there are some silvers still around to detect at that spot, certainly not out of the question.

As an example, I had a favourite spot out of Adelaide that always produced good amounts of modern coinage from the bark covered playground. Meanwhile once that was cleaned out, you could move onto the grassed areas which just happened to be a Victorian era park back in the day. It was replaced with the playground and tennis courts, and has provided quite a few silvers and Victorian coins over the years - bit of a dream spot. :)
 
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So here is the final tally. Definitely public holiday rates today! Stayed local and just tried to bust out some territory cherry picking the solid tones. All these less than 3 km from my doorstep.
First hunt was a park the have a yearly festival in March in, did the entirety which I've never attempted before. Most of them came from a 4x4 Metre area.

Next was an a school grounds and playground as the kiddies were away today which the elephant came from.Last time I was there that was the live hunt thread I did. Wanted to do the tennis courts across the road but they looked like they were having their half yearly clean up.

Last spot was the main street grassed area which gave and gave. Surprised me to say the least. The amount of aly screw tops was pretty insane but its now left whisper quiet.
 
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School elephant. ..I think cast aly which is a shame...not enough weight for silver I would think.
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Whoever invented these bloody caps ought be shot....Ring up like a $1 or $2 coin and just the right colour :mad: :mad: Dug a good 25 or so of these :mad: :mad:
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Dodgy shot of my high street cleaning
 
I like the nice neat rows of leaves, at least you know where you have already detected. :D Came out at a pretty respectable total, despite the PIA alloy caps. :)
 
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