Correct me if I'm wrong , but this is only true when :
1) talking about wet-sand erosion hunting. When mother nature groups targets by their weight/density . Then yes, hold on to your seat when you start getting fishing sinkers in an eroded zone, because gold is probably not far behind.
2) That you're not on a beach which is perpetually filled with fishing enthusiasts. Because then, duh, OF COURSE there'll be lots of fishing sinkers, and might not have ANY bearing on nearby gold.
As for #2, for example, we have beaches near me where it's rare that you ever see surf fishermen. It's strictly swimmers, surfers, picnics, kids, etc..... So in THOSE cases, if you get sinkers, your ears perk up. But there's other beaches here that are very popular with surf fishermen. On those beaches, we are always finding sinkers. Such that, my ears are not necessarily perking up when I get sinkers. Since, go figure, they were probably lost within the last week.
PS: Love that pix of all the butter !