Microjewelry Hunting - Question

Hiya Tom. After getting through "Fisher Intelligence" my interest was really peaked by the article on "Micro-jewelry hunting" at the beach. I have a couple of question regarding this topic.

1) With the Gold Bug 2 that you were using, what sort of depths were you recovering the small gold at?

2) And, other than the Gold Bug 2, are there other detectors to consider that excel at finding small gold? For instance would one of the Minelab SD or GP series be suitable, or would that be over-doing it?

Thanks again for the information. Really enriches the hobby.

Best!
Crabman

It is only the Gold Bug-II (with it's Godsend iron Disc capabilities) that is still the industry leader for micro-jewelry hunting. The GPX-4500 Minelab is a very powerful PI.......has very limited iron Disc capabilities (a instant "no-go").........is Minelabs most powerful flagship PI leader; yet, does not come close to the GB-II.
The GB-II will find a tiny 1/4Ct diamond single-post earring to depths of 7" - 8"......whereas...... nearly all other detectors will not even detect this target; even whilst scratching the bottom of the coil.

Thanks for the quick reply Tom. I will keep my eye open for a used Gold Bug 2. I live close to beaches and occasionally see people hunting the wet sand but never up on the dry sand which is really very expansive.

Best,

Hey Tom one more question. I didn't see it in your article. Am I correct, would you use a smaller coil for micro-jewelry hunting? Because the smaller coils have more sensitivity to smaller object? Or am I not right about that?

For those that hunt in freshwater beach and water situations find yourself an old metal hipmount Tesoro land unit...With disc at 0 a fishhook or bobbypin will crackle while the mico jewelry will hit. Tip from my freshwater hunting days years ago when my diabetic legs would take the cold water...Of course in saltwater enviroment the same unit will chatter like heck especially in the wet sand or water..

The standard 10" elliptical will absolutely 'shock' you....as to the 'micro' targets that it'll detect. There is virtually no need for a smaller (more sensitive to micro-micro jewelry) coil.
I will say this again; WITHOUT THE CORRECT PIE-PAN KIDS SIFTER......YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY HATE THE 'MIRCO-JEWELRY' HOBBY.

I (hopefully soon) will have a beach DVD released.....that (a portion) of the video encompasses micro-jewelry hunting with GB-II.

Looking forward to that beach video Tom! I am definitely in the market for a Gold Bug II. I was kind of window shopping today and noticed that the there is an optional 14 inch coil for the Gold Bug II. Do you any experience with that one at the beach? I assume that if you get too large, you might go past the point of "diminishing return". Let me know what you think!

Best,
Crabman

Tom

Haven't heard too many comments as yet on the new Gold Bug and if there is a bigger coil than that hockey puck it comes with. After some limited prospecting experience out in Apache Junction I decided that "ain't" my bag. I was curious as to it being much of a beach jewlery hunter.

Wally

Hey Tom, I pulled the trigger and bought a lightly used Gold Bug 2!

I am really curious about the performance of the 14 inch coil on this machine at the beach. I found a field test of this unit at the fisher website, and when the size of gold is approx 1 dwt (or 1.55 g) it seems all the coils (6, 10, 14) can detect it about the same depth. But what I am unsure of is this, is micro-gold smaller or larger than 1 dwt? If it is smaller, then I think I should stick to a 10 inch or smaller coil.

This machine will be perfect for me! Out here in southern california my 14 year old son has Surf PE at 6:30 in the morning twice a week. Now instead of just hanging out until 8:30 and waiting, I can cruise the volleyball courts and what not looking for micro-jewelry!

Now time to find that sifter that I keep hearing about.

Stick with the 10" coil!!!!! The 14" is too large......presenting too many targets under the coil at any given time. You MUST get the correct sifter. If you find yourself disliking micro-jewelry hunting......this is most probably the culprit.

The new Gold Bug Pro........is still in the design phase. Yes, I'm quite curious how this 19Khz unit will perform.......especially compared to the 71Khz Gold Bug-II. It would not bother me one bit....if it could not detect the extreme micro (the size of a grain of sand) piece of chewing gum foil......but could ascertain greater depths on single-post earrings. .. I would also be curious if it could be utilized as a relic hunter. Plenty of testing/reporting to do.

Thanks so much for the reply! Last question on this thread for me. You really stress having the right sifter. Have you got any pictures of the one you use, or perhaps tips on what store to go to in order to find one?

Hey Tom,

I did some hunting on the internet for a suitable platic toy sieve. I think I found one. I can't perfectly gauge the size of the holes, but the diameter of the sieve itself is 6.5 inches. Does that sounds about right?

Here is a link. Wish they had a better picture.

[www.amazon.com]

Hard to tell the size of the holes.......and I'm not sure you want 60 of them! All other dimentions look to be exact. I'm betting this is the sifter.

.....And I don't think I put ENOUGH EMPHASIS on this correct sifter. You will soon see why! Micro-jewelry hunting is a back-breaking hobby..... but.....in the right places......is WELL worth it (understatement).