Euro 20 Cents (Greek Letita)

[johnj45586]

I MD'd Main Beach and my secondary beach in Laguna for the weekend (Sunday and Monday mornings). The results were ok for clad, but no significant "things". The only finds other than clad were a steel stamped earring, 2 toy cars, 1 cartoon-toy forklift and one toy airplane. My toy collection is growing fast. Clad for the weekend hunt was 18 quarters, 16 dimes, 5 nickels and 28 pennies.
My secondary beach looks to be pretty much overlooked because of the fencing and torn up park above it.
They started running the sand sifter at 07:00 - very inconsiderate. They could have waited until 08:00.
Today I decided to try Doheney Beach. I visited that beach over Labor Day weekend and it looked hopeful. This is a beach that you have to plan an outing that includes time for MD'ing - it costs $10 for all day access. A surprise was that the concession stands are only open Sat, Sun and Holidays (not today). So we had to go out for a picnic lunch.
The beach is beautiful and the water is beyond description. The water was mostly flat with a set of 3 waves every 7 minutes or so. The waves have perfect shape for surfing - which is what makes it so popular. There are also campgrounds and very extensive picnic facilities with firepits and all.
I decided to start near the picnic areas in the dry sand. That produced my first setback. There are millions of ferromagnetic pebbles in that area. And it seems that at some time in the past the firepits have been dumped on the sand. There is a lot of melted aluminum in this area.
I randomly walked around trying to find a less confusing area to hunt. Then I noticed the volleyball courts have a light sand, in contrast to all the other sand at the beach.
I started at the posts that hold the net. I have found that people tend to stash their valuables near the posts, using them as a marker. The first post I checked around had a bright shiny nickel sitting on the surface. That was a good sign! There was a sizable spill of general clad around the post. I checked the other post and came up with the attached volleyball medalion/pendant. I have only washed it with soap and water - I am unsure as to whether or not I should clean it.
I checked all the volleyball courts and picked up more clad.
Next I tried to find areas where kids had dug holes or there were patterns of beach towels or blankets. Very soon I had a Euro 20 cent coin. This one is the Greek variety. On the heads side is a portrait of Ioannis Kapodistrias who was a Greek statesman from 1776 to 1831. The denomination in Greek is 20 letita. Of course I had to wait until I got home to look up the Greek alphabet to make the translation.
I also turned up a neat PTA pin that is very sparkly and a sterling stud earring with a CZ stone from China. (And a lead sinker).
The clad count was 9 quarters, 17 dimes, 4 nickels and 19 pennies.
Some of the clad was very deep and had been in the sand a long time. Most of the clad wasn't too deep and was in good shape. The sand where most was found was very far from the water and probably doesn't get wet more than once every couple of years.
I tried some variations to my normal hunting. It was low tide and there are areas of the beach where there are small pebbles rather than sand. And there are areas where pebbles have been washed up by the current. I checked both areas very carefully. I had a theory this would be a great place for gold to collect. Maybe it is, but there was nothing there.
The other area I checked was the grassy area near the picnic tables. I didn't want to dig because I hadn't checked to see if it was ok. So I cut the sensitivity way down on my ACE 250 and looked around. There was lots and lots of foil. I got a couple of good "jewelry" hits and used the pinpoint function to locate them. Every one was a pop tab. There were lots of ferromagnetic hits. Probably lots of bottle caps.
Altogether a great day at the beach with opportunity to get in some MD'ing.
Over the weekend I rolled up my clad and took it to the bank on Monday. I got $140 in bills for it. Pretty neat to get paid to exercise.

[MinelabMan]

Great finds John, WTG, there's not too many hobbies that pay dividends, and you're getting your share. Keep it up

[julieburger]

Very cool finds. Hope they keep coming.

[gordiesgirl]

You are really cleaning up. Awesome finds WTG

[Dyrty]

Absolutely awesome finds. Happy Hunting!

[EPC Guy]

Ca$h, jewelry, exercise and sunshine - all for just walking around...does it get any better than that?

[JCWhite]

Very nice finds and I like your posts because you take your time and tell about how you did your search and some of the rational. I find this very informative and like the photos you attach. Thanks for the post.

[pris]

Very nice, John. That's a good stack of change. There's definitely a big difference in the amount of $ on the beach vs. parks. I counted all my finds since I started back in Feb. and it's only just over $30.

I'll be goin' down there this Sunday, so I hope I have better luck. I've not really found anything special at the beaches, yet.