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My First Gold Chain Necklace !

ToddB64

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
749
Location
Georgetown, Ohio, USA
Greetings ! :tiphat:

In a Public Park on Wed. Oct. 11, using the Teknetics Gamma 6000, I found my first Gold Chain Necklace, shown in the attached picture below.

This necklace was about 5" deep in a grassy area near the edge of a basketball court.

The soil was dark and moist after recent rains so recovery was easy, but I was still careful digging and slowly teasing the necklace out of the ground, so as not to break any links, or ornament that might be attached to the ends.
However, after recovery, there was nothing at the ends except broken clasp sections with no visible stamping.

Using my Garrett AT Pro-pointer, I scanned the hole well, looking for the broken-off clasp ends, but got no signals, so apparently these ends must have flown off somewhere when the chain broke.

This dug necklace is probably 10 karate (41.7%) Gold Shell plating over a base metal, as my wife has a smaller identical-looking chain necklace she inherited from her deceased parents and it is stamped "Made Italy 417 GS".

Specifications :

Necklace stamped "Made Italy 417 GS "
. Weight 0.60 oz, 10.9 dwt (Pennyweight), 17.0 grams
. 10 Karate gold (10k ÷ 24k) = 417 = 41.7% gold

My dug necklace
. Length = 20 inches, Number of chain links = 60
. Weight 0.71 oz, 12.9 dwt, 20.0 grams
. Non-magnetic (Tested with Neodymium magnet)

ToddB64
 

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  • Gold Necklace    20 in. lg., 60 Links Weight 12.9dwt, 20g, 0.71oz.jpg
    Gold Necklace 20 in. lg., 60 Links Weight 12.9dwt, 20g, 0.71oz.jpg
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Congratulations on hitting that target! You were hunting the right location and that rig you have is a jewelry finder! Any chain is one tough find, Nice Work there on the write up too, very helpful!
 
Hey, I found the same necklace this week!
 

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  • IMG_20171011_173636.jpg
    IMG_20171011_173636.jpg
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: Hey, I found the same necklace this week!

Congrats jl1252 !

I'll be darned if you didn't....ha, ha

It appears even the clasps on yours are likewise missing; what a coincidence !

Appreciate your sharing that.

ToddB64
 
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Congrats jl1252 !

I'll be darned if you didn't....ha, ha

It appears even the clasps on yours are likewise missing; what a coincidence !

Appreciate your sharing that.

ToddB64

Sorry if I hijacked, but I had to share. Made my heart jump too when I started pulling it out if the ground and had nearly 2 feet of chain. Then I saw it was junk. Still a blast to find. Congrats.
 
Congratulations on hitting that target! You were hunting the right location and that rig you have is a jewelry finder! Any chain is one tough find, Nice Work there on the write up too, very helpful!

Thanks Mud, for your thoughts and compliment on the write up !

For me and the Parks I hunt, the Gamma 6000 has proven to be a great coin finder too. The grassy areas around basketball courts and especially behind the back-boards seems to be literally loaded with Cents and Dimes in particular and occasionally Nickels and Quarters ring up.

I've read that thin necklace chains can be difficult to find unless you just happen to scan over an end-clasp or the chain is lying "balled up' in the ground. On the other hand, from my experience I believe necklace's like the one jl1252 and I found, having larger links, will usually signal well and are easier to find.

After years of metal detecting I see it as a "!!!!-shoot" as far as jewelry is concerned. It's all about the size of an object and the available surface to produce eddy currents, coupled with the depth of an object and serendipitously scanning your coil over the right spot. I also believe, if you will permit me to wax theologically, that when you do a good deed it can often cause the Architect of the Universe to smile and lend a helping hand ! :ewink:

Best Regards ! :friends:

ToddB64
 
Nice recovery! Finding chain necklaces are hard to find. The Gamma is an awesome detector and often overlooked. Some like it better than the Omega. A 8 inch dime is easy pickings in my mild soil using a Gamma 6000.

beephead
 
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Awesome find,those gold chains usto keep me up at night wondering how to find them.And finding it with a Gamma which is supposed to be more geared towards silver,wow.Congrats on that find!
 
A good start, too bad its plated.:(:no:

metaladdict,

Thanks for your empathy on the plating.

I'm still :waiting: and hoping for a jewelry item worth some big money, but this year hasn't been too bad for me considering the necklace and the ring I found earlier (Pictured below.).

ToddB64
 

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  • Todd finds Titanium Ring 36 Stones From Kathryn Hanlon Park 5-31-17 001.jpg
    Todd finds Titanium Ring 36 Stones From Kathryn Hanlon Park 5-31-17 001.jpg
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Nice recovery! Finding chain necklaces are hard to find. The Gamma is an awesome detector and often overlooked. Some like it better the Omega. A 8 inch dime is easy pickings in my mild soil using a Gamma 6000.

beephead

beephead,

Thanks for the kudos.

Yeah, I guess an 8 inch dime would be easy pickings ! :ewink:

You say "mild soil". Are you still living in TN ? Isn't the soil in most of that state high in red iron mineral and as a result difficult to detect ?

ToddB64
 
metaladdict,

Thanks for your empathy on the plating.

I'm still :waiting: and hoping for a jewelry item worth some big money, but this year hasn't been too bad for me considering the necklace and the ring I found earlier (Pictured below.).

ToddB64

Nice ring.
 
beephead,

Thanks for the kudos.

Yeah, I guess an 8 inch dime would be easy pickings ! :ewink:

You say "mild soil". Are you still living in TN ? Isn't the soil in most of that state high in red iron mineral and as a result difficult to detect ?

ToddB64

Not in southwest TN where I live. Lots of grey clay and loamy black soil. The other poster is correct, the Gamma is at its best when searching for silver coins, but it still hits good on gold. I don't know why, but the Gamma runs smoother and handles EMI better than the Omega versions 4 and earlier, but not better than the Omega version 5 and 6. The 8 inch round concentric search coil works best on the Gamma. Great little detector!

beephead
 
Awesome find,those gold chains usto keep me up at night wondering how to find them.And finding it with a Gamma which is supposed to be more geared towards silver,wow.Congrats on that find!

woodbutcher.....thanks !

In my first post I meant to include the detector settings used when the Gamma 6000 found that Gold Shell (Plated) necklace, but got carried away with other trains of thought and forgot. So, "better-late-than-never" as they say and here goes.

First, I should mention that the soil was moist after recent rains, which I believe improves coil signal T/R activity and that gave me a benefit that day.

After locating a metal-free area in ALL METALS mode, I set the Gamma in "Ground-Grab" and the soil mineralization level was running in the mid-50's.

My usual settings for the Gamma and my over-the-head-phones were being used and were as follows:

......MENU......
SENSITIVITY 90
DISC. LEVEL 40
#OF TONES 3
VOLUME 10

......MODE......
DISCRIMINATE

.."RAT PHONES MAX" HEADPHONES..
EAR CUPS VOLUME SETTINGS > Max. High

Hope this info. helps !

ToddB64
 
Great find on the necklace!!!! Only things I find in the park I hunt is pull tabs and clad....LOL

Dave......Appreciate your Kudos :thankyou:

You are using a great detector; it's just a matter of continuing to put in the hours hunting, with emphasis on the high-activity areas until you eventually will scan over a nice piece of jewelry. Keep swinging slow and low with Sens. as high as possible (without annoying noise) and it will happen if you don't give up !

In my case, I have recovered lots of trash and modern coinage in my 12 years of metal detecting, but the only jewelry has been low-cost costume jewelry and Catholic crucifix crosses. I have yet to find a single piece of expensive jewelry made of gold, silver or one of the platinum group metals with or without precious stones and many others share this experience, so don't despair.

ToddB64
 
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