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 Replies: 19 / Views: 9,704 |
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Valued Member
Canada
258 Posts |
As well as being an avid coin collector, I also have a small mineral collection. I have loved minerals since I was a young boy searching for fools gold (pyrite) in the gravel baseball fields were I lived. Since then I have collected various gemstones, tektites, meteorites, fossils and fluorescent minerals.
Now that I am back into coin collecting I have developed an interest in collecting gold nuggets and native silver. I have one .136g nugget and another one, 0.777g is on the way. I find it a neat and affordable way to satisfy my passions for both minerals and precious metals.
Anyone else collect these?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
I personally don't collect them but I do enjoy pics... (hint, hint).
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Valued Member
 Canada
258 Posts |
K. I'll post one later. At work now.
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Valued Member
Canada
258 Posts |
OK here are pics of my nuggets taken from the ebay listings. The first image is the .136g and the second the .777g. Enjoy!   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Cool! I really like the bottom one. Kinda reminds me of one of my crowns.
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Valued Member
Canada
258 Posts |
It's not too evident in the picture but in the bottom nugget you can see a few quartz crystals. I kind of like these nuggets more than gold coins. I plan on adding a new one to my collection every month.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Ive been thinking of getting some native copper. I too like mineral samples...I was once gifted a whole load from Michigan. What kind of flourescent minerals are available?
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Valued Member
Canada
258 Posts |
@BenByfield: you can get a wide variety of minerals from ebay, but keep in mind that shipping will be high due to the weight of many of the samples. New Jersey seems to be a source four quite a bit of flourescents. They even have a cave you can visit which is lit by uv lights and the walls glow in green pink and blue. Pretty spectacular I'd imagine. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
573 Posts |
I had an interest in minerals when I was younger, as well. I don't have any gold or silver, but do have a nice chunk of copper ore I found while fishing in Michigan's UP. It weighs about 10 lbs and is streaked with quartz, iron pyrite and another purplish brownish crystal that I haven't identified. I thought it might either be smoky quartz or garnet.   |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
785 Posts |
If you want pictures of gold nuggets go to the metal detecting sub-forum of CCF they'll hook you up.  Warning: Your going to want to have your droolproof keyboard out!  EDIT: Sorry, here is the link to what I was talking about https://goccf.com/t/36746&whichpage=1Edited by Nathancrh1
07/04/2013 5:57 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3079 Posts |
 Native copper, copper balls, not as cold as brass ones  and some copper ingots  copper mixed in with the slag and brick work inside the smelting furnace   [  Called a half bred native silver on native copper |
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Valued Member
United States
239 Posts |
I live in New Jersey & that mine is about 20 minutes away from me. Its a zinc mine. I remember going there on a field trip for school back years ago. It was really cool because once you got really deep, they shut off all the flash lights to show us how dark it really was.. Then we lit a match and you would be surprised how much light one little flame really throws off in pure darkness!! And yes, they turned on the black lights and the rocks lit up all different colors, it was really neat Edit: Here is a youtube video I dug up of that mine (Sterling Mine.. too bad they don't mine silver!) They show the fluorescent color demonstration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCN5fkx4IcYEdited by Jenger
07/04/2013 9:16 pm
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Valued Member
Canada
258 Posts |
Thanks for all the great posts. I love good eye candy. @Jenger: Cool vid, you are lucky to have visited that place personally. I'd love to check it out someday.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3670 Posts |
I would think since gold is worth so much less until refined, that gold nuggets is more of a hobby verses investment, but I could be wrong as I have seen some get way high in price on running auctions on ebay..... |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
When an Australian buys a metal detector, it is usually to go looking for gold nuggets.
Favourite areas to go hunting are in the 'golden triange' Bendigo Ballarat area in Victoria, or around the Bathurst Hill End Sofala area of New South Wales.
Reasonably pointless to go hunting for coins in Australia, except that a few could be found in the abandoned gold working areas of the 19th Century.
That is, unless you want to fit a magetometer to an aircraft, and go hunting for whole mineralised areas.
That'll cost you a bit!
Or perhaps use an anti submarine hunter - killer aircraft, such as a Lockheed PC3 Orion!
Problem with this: You won't find many submarines in the old worked out goldfields.
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Valued Member
United States
239 Posts |
Edited by Jenger
07/05/2013 11:53 am
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Replies: 19 / Views: 9,704 |
Posted 07/04/2013 1:40 pm
