Gold Bullion Worth Approx.$3,000,000
Photo Courtesy Sveriges Riksbank

Gold and Treasure Hunting

Gold and Treasure Hunting is a fun activity that that is growing in popularity. Especially since the price of gold is over $900/oz.

A popular treasure hunting tool is the metal detector. The Garrett Ace 250 metal detector is a good all around detector, especially for the price. Other great options are White's and Minelab metal detectors. A well known site for buying metal detectors is Kellyco detectors.

There are many steps in treasure hunting that can easily start on the web or in your local library. References to a lost treasure can often be found using some basic research skills.

Be ready to separate myth from fact while researching. There are many legends that have yet to be tracked down and may never be. For example, the legend of the Lost Dutchman's gold mine has had treasure seekers scouring the Arizona mountains for a hundred years looking for any trace of the reported vast riches that were found and then lost. Another is the hunt for the 7 lost Cities of Gold, El Dorado. There is evidence that it may really exist.

Make sure to be organized and orderly in your search for treasure. Many of the "Lost Treasures" were lost through sloppy observation and record keeping. Be ready to save all information found and sample data for years, what may look like an ink blot may well be a key to vast lost treasure! It may also prove useful for for historians later as well.

Treasure hunting at a beach does not require much research to get started. Almost any public beach is open to metal detecting, but it is wise to check the local laws anyway. If you plan on going beach metal detecting, It's a good idea to do so after a winter storm. There are a few reasons for this, one being that in the winter there are usually less people at the beach. Storms also remove sand from the beach, exposing opportunity to find something buried much farther down. Gold is much denser than rock or sand and will carry any gemstones attached straight down to the deepest and densest layers (clay or bedrock if possible) during a storm.

Metal Detecting can be done with little preparation unless you are planning to attempt to make a significant find. To do that, you will need to spend some time in the library looking up information that will give you hints as to the existence of the treasure and it's last known location. These kinds of projects usually take serious financial backing too, and are beyond the scope of this article. Larger finds have come in at about 70 to 500 Million US Dollars! Usually this is not public information, so it may require some additional legwork to talk to locals and historians.

Keep good records and check the related laws in the region being investigated. You may have to seek special permits for the area being searched for the kinds of tools you will use, such as a gold dredge. Using your records you will need to assemble a set of information and maps that provide clues as to where to search and what type of equipment to use. This part of puzzle creation and solving is often one of the most compelling reasons for treasure hunting.

If you plan on selling gold you find while metal detecting, remember that a gold nugget is worth more than normal spot price because of the gold's rarity. Some forms of precious metals are generally worth more than others and any larger gold nugget can be worth around two to four times spot price. In other words, at $700 dollars an ounce, a one ounce gold nugget could be worth between $1,400-2,800 dollars!.

When work is finished don't forget to clean up what you find. Cleaning your gold and treasure can raise it's value, but be careful. Before you clean something that looks like trash, do some research on it. It could be worth quite a bit, and cleaning it could damage and devalue your treasure, leaving it worth little or nothing. An example is polishing an old silver coin you found while metal detecting at the beach. After you polish the coin, you find out you made it worthless to a collector. If you are not sure the value of some artifact, don't risk losing it's value just to make it look better!

Remember to fill in your holes, and have fun metal detecting for buried treasure!