Metal Detecting discussions and finds

Haven't been out much but found this a few months ago. "Northern pacific coast railroad " baggage tag. Probably 1870s/ish. Small rail line in Northern CA.



I dont sell stuff I find but Talked with another guy that had sold his for ~$700 so kind of cool to know how rare they are.

 

Nice find! Was that tag on the old grade or a ways off of it? I had a heck of a time detecting on RR grades here- They used crushed lava or old smelter slag on them and they are all too hot for my NOX and even my PI.

 

Actually it was at a camp that was probably a few miles from the cprr. Not along a railroad, just got lucky seems some guy just chucked it once he got down here.

 

The weather is finally cooling, so gonna dust off the gold machine soon. We got into a nice patch in the spring, so we have a starting point.

 

Also look or detect along the “throw zone”. It’s another good way to find stuff. I’ve picked up old complete bottles in sandy areas near the tracks and other things that had some weight to them that were obviously chucked out of a train window.

 

Went to the El Paso’s today with a geologist buddy who used to work for USGS. He brought along some geologic maps and we spent the day exploring and going over where the auriferous tertiary river gravels occur in the layers of the El Paso’s and Summit Range to the east. Then we explored and detected around the east side of 395 in that area. I did not know that the the Garlock fault split the tertiary river deposit in half and that’s why it’s the same in Goeler Wash to the west and around the LDMA claims to the east.

Spending the day prospecting for gold, and not being sure where to look is not fun. It definitely helps to know the geology!

 

Got out today for the first time in a couple years. Site was really trashy. 1855 was the oldest map i could find of the area and it showed the homesite. Home disappeared on historic aerials between ‘67 and ‘84. Its possible they burnt it or just pushed the house over and plowed in into the field as there was quite the debris field. Anyway here are my keepers from the day and a mystery item if any one has any ideas as to what it is or went to.

Draped bust large cent. No date :/


1918 Wheat Penny


Aluminum thimble.


Mystery find:

 

Johnston ruffler from a sewing machine

 

Very nice. Thanks for the info!

 

Google lens has helped me identify quite a few random things I have found over the years, it's a really handy tool for stuff like that