Today I found (without a detector)...

Eureka Moments

Eureka Moments

Well-Known Member
Silver Stacker
Thread for people (like wrcmad and kids) who find things without the aid of an electronic gadget.

Be it gemstones, dinosaur fossils or a tenner in the carpark, if you find something cool this is your spot to post and boast. :)

Here is a cool find by a friend....The electronic gadget shown in the pic played no part in the find, it wasnt switched on.



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We had pulled up along a track and were about to have a detect when he found it sitting on top of the ground. I had an equal chance to spot it but didnt. :(

43.5 grams sterling. :)
 
Please exuse the double post, but I'll post the pics here too (given EM referenced me :) ):

A couple of days out west with the kids fossicking and panning.... a heap of sapphires and a few small nuggets. Oh what fun they had!
Daughter found the pictured sapphire so I'll get it cut for her and mounted in something.... necklace? (silver of course) ;)

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^^^ Brilliant finds whilst spending quality time with family.

Well done wrcmad and family. Memories that will last a lifetime, or at least until your next fossiking adventure. :)
 
I am sure I heard about it here, or maybe it was a random YouTube click but somewhere I came across the idea that you could get iron ore off the beach. I figured I wasn't going to be lucky enough to live next to a beach with Iron ore and I don't have any magnets anyway so I shelved the idea, after all, a couple of YouTube videos doesn't prove anything!

Anyway, after reading a thread on here about scrapping electricals I ended up with a few magnets so I figured I would take them down the beach and see if I stood any chance.

Being known for our red dirt I figured I stood a chance and in all the rock-pools there are these little shiny black beads which I have always assumed are hematite.

Long story short, the place is loaded with magnetic irony stuff.

Now I don't have a fossicking permit or a mining license or even a magnet operator's license and I am sure that there was no risk assessment done on the process so obviously the place will have to remain anonymous or I could face some serious infringement fines but it sure was fun!

Collected a small glad-bag of black beads and dust (waaaay more magnetic than the red dust and easier to find) but after washing it and using a magnet to separate out the sand and beach debris there really isn't much left. I put it through a tea strainer so now I have a small baggie of iron dust and a small box of Iron beads.

Next step is not to buy an electromagnet and trawl along the beach. Not to build a big clay tower and fill it with charcoal and iron dust. Not to blow air into the tower while I set fire to it and definitely not to try and extract a lump of Iron out of it. Because that would be wrong.

However if anyone has any idea how much iron can be extracted from shiny black magnetic dust I would be very interested to know.
 
Jislizard said:
I am sure I heard about it here, or maybe it was a random YouTube click but somewhere I came across the idea that you could get iron ore off the beach. I figured I wasn't going to be lucky enough to live next to a beach with Iron ore and I don't have any magnets anyway so I shelved the idea, after all, a couple of YouTube videos doesn't prove anything!

Anyway, after reading a thread on here about scrapping electricals I ended up with a few magnets so I figured I would take them down the beach and see if I stood any chance.

Being known for our red dirt I figured I stood a chance and in all the rock-pools there are these little shiny black beads which I have always assumed are hematite.

Long story short, the place is loaded with magnetic irony stuff.

Now I don't have a fossicking permit or a mining license or even a magnet operator's license and I am sure that there was no risk assessment done on the process so obviously the place will have to remain anonymous or I could face some serious infringement fines but it sure was fun!

Collected a small glad-bag of black beads and dust (waaaay more magnetic than the red dust and easier to find) but after washing it and using a magnet to separate out the sand and beach debris there really isn't much left. I put it through a tea strainer so now I have a small baggie of iron dust and a small box of Iron beads.

Next step is not to buy an electromagnet and trawl along the beach. Not to build a big clay tower and fill it with charcoal and iron dust. Not to blow air into the tower while I set fire to it and definitely not to try and extract a lump of Iron out of it. Because that would be wrong.

However if anyone has any idea how much iron can be extracted from shiny black magnetic dust I would be very interested to know.
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Easier to sell the iron ore out of an old car door than what you'd get off the beach. No instant riches in a hurry.

When gold detecting mineralised and magnetised ground is a pain. People use magnets to get rid of the ironstone and human ferrous deposits (like car doors) and dont bother keeping it.

Get a half decent detector and get onto the modern coins and jewellery on the beaches....less romantic but heaps better ROI.

On the other hand, black sand deposits on beaches can also be indicaters for gold deposits. This happens from time to time both here and NZ. I know next to nothing about the process or geology involved, read about it an some Gem & Treasure mags.
 
Well I might just spread the iron ore over my garden if I ever decide to bury anything.

Our sand isn't really black and I am pretty sure we dumped a load of fresh sand on the beach from somewhere else anyway.

I would love to get a detector but what with work and housework I don't have time to scratch let alone wander around on beaches. It took me a couple of months to find the time to take a magnet down to the beach, which is one street away from my house.
 
Had the above sapphire fasceted, along with a zirconia my daughter found on the same trip.

Now, how to set them?..... :/

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SilverEye said:
You find raw gemstones just.. sitting there? On the ground?

Australia truly is a magical place. :o
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Bluddy oath! :D

Most of the place is undetected but...the flies, the flies, the flies the heat and the lack of water.

Fantastic country to explore but you need good mates (Preferably a tough chick in her late 30's) who is resourceful or, can go fully independent (Can handle tough living / basics).

I'm looking to go out in the desert this year to the quartz outcrops but the problem is, people who have the time and the "want" to stay out there.

H
 
Found a $5 note in the grass about 10m from my car at work on Friday afternoon.

Cant be sure if I had lost it earlier in the day or not... but still a good find !
 
I discovered I'd lost $10 (2 x $5 notes) which fell out of my pocket - parking money for work :(

Didn't find this out though until after I managed to snag a rare free street park at work :)

I found same 2 x $5 notes in the driveway when I get back home after work :)

So I had a jam donut :)
 
Been meaning to post these for awhile. Found all these within 20' of each other in front of my house with the exception of the obsidian one. Picked it up in an arroyo in New Mexico.

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OK, not exactly *today*, but at a fleamarket earlier in March I found this paperweight in a box of junk and bought it for $9.

It has a high-relief 925 silver medallion in the center (approx 35mm in diameter).
I think its set in bronze, as brass cleaner has done nothing to clean it. There are no other visible markings.

Kind of a cool piece for the price.

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Source: Author's own

I'm a sucker for a good flea market. :)
 
Found $50 today.

Wedged up in the top of a cash counting machine - suddenly the cash tin wasn't short $50 like it had been for a few weeks!
 
ironwood said:
Been meaning to post these for awhile. Found all these within 20' of each other in front of my house with the exception of the obsidian one. Picked it up in an arroyo in New Mexico.
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I have a small blade knapped from petrified coral I found in Florida. It has a gastropod fossil in the middle on the blade. F@#$ing coolest stone tool find ever. No damage, still sharp. Plucked it out of the bottom of a creek bed.
 
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