Hunt in storm erosion

[johnj45586]

Today I checked out the winter storm erosion at Laguna. Low tide was about 3 PM so I did a lot of searching along the erosion line and above on the debris lines.
The results were nothing like what I had hoped. I found only clad and one junk earring. As it got closer to low tide I went to the north end of Main Beach to check out sand conditions. In large areas all the sand is gone and it is down to rock (or compressed clay). The iron pipe (about 12 inch diameter) is fully exposed now. It is pretty much where I had determined it to be. I will spend more time later marking it against nearby landmarks so I can avoid it in the future when the sand comes back.
I checked all over the bare rock and in the little patches of sand that was left. For the most part the only thing that seems to have collected are old pennies and nails.
In one instance after brushing all the sand away from the rock a quarter sounding target didn't move. Closer examination revealed a coin on edge sticking slightly out of a crack in the hardened clay.
On the way back south to Main Beach I ran into someone with a metal detector. Not too friendly. I waved and was pretty much ignored. So I turned my detector off and walked over to him. He claimed to have found some coins. When I showed what I had collected he asked if I found them with "that" detector. He didn't think it would work down next to the water. That kind of surprised me. I thought everyone knew the ACE 250 is a coin magnet. I wasn't surprised that I had far more coins than he did.
I attached a picture of the junk earring. It seems to be solid metal (not plated) and tests like silver but there are no marks. The "stone" is molded glass probably with a mirror backing. Only the top facet is polished flat. It is glued in place.
The first bad penny picture is a nail and penny together in matrix. I broke it apart after the picture and the nail is really long as indicated by the arrows. The second bad penny picture is actually two pennies where the corrosion has grown into the sand. Some of the pennies I found were completely missing the copper.
Hunting in erosion areas seems to yield really old finds. If it is gold all is well, anything else is badly stained or corroded.
The fun find of the day was when I pryed the quarter out of the crack in the hardened clay. 1968 was the closest I got to silver.
The count was 12 quarters, 5 dimes, 3 nickels and 18 pennies - plus one junk earring.
Tomorrow I will check out San Clemente (by the pier). That was a good area (1 gold, 2 silver rings) last storm. I am getting a little antsy to find the first gold of the year (or real silver for that matter).
Happy hunting!

[PAPPY]

John, Did you show him what all you had found with THAT detector? Did you invite him to visit our site?

[NCHL]

I'm proud of you for walking over to him John. He obiviously was having a not-so-good-day. As for the comment about your detector, I discovered a long time ago that narrow minds tend to say narrow things.

I do like Pappy's reply. Invite him over to TQ. Maybe he just needs to be exposed to some good people.

Top of the day to you...

[JCWhite]

You did good talkin to him. Love your stories. JC

['E']

Maybe you gave him some insight & maybe now he'll chill out some, or he just could have been jealous of your finds or not happy you were hunting where he was or maybe he was

[KellycoChick]

JohnJ you represent the best this hobby has to offer - you're resourceful, you clean up the environment, you're friendly and teach us all from your lessons and you're dedicated. I'm proud of you for walking up to him too! Like "E" said, maybe he'll chill out some now and start to enjoy this hobby. Keep on reaching out! You represent us well!!

[pris]

You know what, John, I absolutely love that you walked up to him. He sounds like all the locals here, self absorbed and superficial. It's a real shame, but it's a majority of people around here that behave in this manner. I think that John is the exception. Nobody says thank you or you're welcome. They're an entitled bunch out here (please read my sarcasm).

Sorry for the rant, but I think I may be getting just a bit tired of So Cal mentality. Too bad the weather is great

[MinelabMan]

Way to go Mr. Ambassador . You could have asked him he was hunting with that attitude but you did the right thing, like KellycoChick said, maybe what you did will have a positive effect on him.

[IndianaSmith]

John, your post title reminded me of an article in the copy of W & ETabout a P-38 that had been "lost" for the past 65 years (WWII). It ended-up buried under the sand, until recently, when weather caused the sand to shift & erode. This all took place on a beach in Wales.

I bet that would have made the 250 "sing"

Good luck in your future hunts!
Smitty

[NC_Hunting]

Good story John and congratz on a good day out!