Steve Herschbach Finds Half Pound Gold Nugget!

I always wanted to title a thread like that after years of "This Detector Finds a Gold Nugget" or "That Detector Finds a Gold Nugget". The heck with that - I found this gold nugget! This is the final chapter in a long running tale with photos posted elsewhere. [www.detectorprospector.com]


From July 22 to July 28 six days of metal detecting had netted me only three gold nuggets. That is a lot of detecting and digging for just three happy moments! I was getting burned out plus missing my wife and new home. My wife had also let me know one of my dogs was not doing well. It all just added up to time to go home. Besides, I had about 5.5 ounces of gold, not bad at all and better than I had hoped for. Good weather, good gold, good times with friends, it really had been a near perfect trip.

Therefore on the morning of the 29th of July I wandered up to Chris and Bernie's camp and told them I was done. I was paid up at Chicken Gold Camp through the 31st so my plan was to be packed up and hit the road for Nevada early on August 1st. I had just a few days left so had to decide what to do.

There is an area on upper Jack Wade known to have produced big gold in the past. Like nuggets weighing pounds, and a 10 ounce nugget had been found there by a dredger the previous season. It was on the ground owned by the miner I had a deal with. I had of course hunted if previously but only found a few small nuggets and lots of little ferrous trash. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the area was relatively open and level so easy hunting. I fired up the Minelab GPX 5000 with Nugget Finder 14" x 9" mono and crossed over the creek to give it a go. I was really relaxed because mentally I was done working and just happy to be out beeping a couple more days. It was really a nice feeling knowing I would soon be heading home.

I barely had got started when I crested the top of a small ridge of tailings and got a massive boomer signal. Just a huge descending low tone, the type you might get if you buried a huge bolt or some other large ferrous target not too far down. There was a recent dig hole on the target, and I thought "well, let's see what he left in the hole" and gave just a couple big scoops. It was sandy easy digging stuff, and as it slid down the hill I glimpsed gold. I thought "no way!" and as I grabbed it could feel the weight. I stood there looking at 6.5 ounces of solid gold in my hand!



There is no doubt in my mind about the addictive nature of nugget detecting. It is not easy to do and the gold is not easy to find. There can be lots of false starts and disappointments along the way. It is all that however that makes it so sweet when gold is finally found, when all the hard work and effort is rewarded. I get a thrill out of every nugget I find, no matter how small, because I work hard for every one of them. The really big finds are much rarer yet, so much so that few people ever get to say they found a nugget weighing one ounce or more. The feeling of accomplishment is indescribable because it verges on feeling like a miracle has occurred. Once you get a taste of that feeling you want to feel it again, and it is that quest that powers me and others through days, months, and years of effort. The thrill of finding gold!

Real nice!, good story Steve.

That's awesome, and that's why we do this crazy hobby, congrats Steve!

That is so cool.

Holy Crap Steve!!!! That is a monster nugget dude! I hope Im wearing depends if I ever find one like that!!Its a pretty one too,especially compared to some of the others you found in that area. Awesome man!!

That is cool and great write up, cheers

Nice catch there Steve, looks like it should be in the nugget hall of fame.

WTG that is beautiful Steve and you deserve it.

Beyond NICE Steve!

Great to see the rewards of hard work and that there's STILL some monster gold nuggets to be found out there by those willing to do their homework and put forth effort in finding them!

Mega endorphin rush when you saw that, congratulations!

Fantastic! Looks like a VLF would have been able to get that one? Is that a prototype WM12 module on your chest, haha...

If the fellow who dug the hole at that spot reads about what he just missed he's gonna have a breakdown...

Awesome find.!!!!!!

Feel sorry for the guy who quit digging.....Glad you kept Digging...

Excellent!!

Keith

Nice work! Something most of us can only dream of.
Congratulations!

Awesome, thanks for the story!

Pure awesome!!!!! A great big CONGRATS Steve!!!!

Good things come to those who keep looking for them ,,,CONGRATS !!!

Is that your "gold face" LOL CG!!!

A find of a lifetime. . . . . with a dream database creation. Congrat's! Great description of on-the-spot emotions/sentiments/feelings.

Nice story and what a find!!!

Wowziers man!! Congrats!

Excuse me while I put my eyes back in my head, they just popped out! Wow what a whopper, guess your shooting for 3/4 or 1 pounder now? Hope your friend/dog is well! & HH

First and foremost congrats on a super find....If I lived in gold country all my other detectors would be gone and would have a top of the line gold nugget unit...Here in Pa. all we have are coal nuggets but have heard of tracer glacier gold found in some streams....actually local dealer has panning outfits for sale has to tell me something....Understand flakes at best too small for any detector to pick up...

Super nice!!!! WTG!!!!

So beautiful and what a thrill that would have to be! Congrats Steve!!!

Thank you everyone. The main lesson of course is there are still plenty of great finds left to be made by each of us, no matter what we seek.

I would not mind a 12 Troy ounce (1 Troy Pound) nugget as that has a nice ring to it. I have friends that have found them and been present when others found them so it is not as much a stretch as you might imagine. Biggest nugget I personally saw dug weighed 32 ounces and it was pretty solid gold. That said, it just does not matter that much anymore to me as it really has all become about the hunt. The gold just goes in a safe deposit box until sold and I do sell all my gold as I am not the sort of person who gets attached to physical stuff.The last one I found does not matter to me anymore. It is the next one I am interested in.

Anyway, best of luck to all of you on your own adventures!!


"There's gold, and it's haunting and haunting, It's luring me on as of old. Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting, so much as just finding the gold."
Robert Service - Spell of the Yukon

Awe baloney! You just found half a dozen double eagles and a 10er and melted them down so you could make us jealous! Oh sorry I just lost it there for a moment. Not even I would do that...
Awesome find, Steve!
I'd say a big lesson here is hunt with the right stuff and check your holes! From the sound of the hit maybe most any detector would have sounded off, so lesson two is no finds that you don't swing your coil over!
It seems you did everything right here. You knew the land, history and owner permission. You had an optimal attitude and mental framework. You had the skill set and equipment. And you dug a signal that some might pass as too good to be true!
Congratulations for showing us how its done!

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

Congrats Steve, was a fun read and I liked your words a few posts up. It's all about the Journey... ;-)

Congrats.

Pretty awsome experience you have there.

That is why we live. To explore and experience.

And have FUN doing it.

Congratulations!! I could get hooked really easy...Lol!

Reading that I was there with ya Steve. Superb all around pics and memoir. What a find! I'm living in a small world compared to yours. My hat's off to ya..............