Treasure Hunting Forum

As any digger of Civil War artifacts can tell you, iron relics of that struggle come out of the ground with a good coating of rust. Different diggers have different methods for cleaning the artifacts, but the generally accepted most effective method is electrolysis. This procedure requires a container in which the artifact (the cathode) rests submerged [...]

One of the most fascinating aspects of the treasure-hunting hobby is that related to diamonds. Placing a value on the gems is an intangible task for most people; therein lies the key that makes the buying and trading of diamonds very profitable. Most everyone has heard of the “four Cs” - clarity, color, carats, and [...]

Years ago I began buying run-down rental properties in Vicksburg. My son and I would make the necessary repairs, repainting and bringing up to code, etc., etc., and we would then rent them to what we hoped would be responsible occupants who would take care of the properties and pay the rent on time. We [...]

I’ve only tried gold panning once, while on a trip to Alaska. I think if I lived their, I’d be hooked. Our gold-panning guide took us to a small stream where much gold had been found in the past, gave us some easy lessons, and let us go. Panning is fairly simple. Simply put, you fill [...]

During this past year’s dry summer the gages of our local rivers – the Mississippi, the Big Black, and the Yazoo – read fairly low levels. Since the beds of all our rivers and oceans are home to TRILLIONS of dollars in treasure, I couldn’t resist temptation. No, I didn’t dive for it this time. [...]

If you haven’t discovered the treasures that lie waiting for discovery on the ground and on makeshift tables every Friday or Saturday morning at garage and yard sales, it’s time you did, for, in my experience, they’re well worth the early morning sojourns. They remind me of the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas [...]

I made another trip into the hills of Vicksburg with the Nautilus DMC-IIB metal detector, and once again had to come out of the woods after less than an hour. The performance of the machine is fine, but with the 15” head, the weight is hard to deal with. I dug several deep signals, nothing [...]

A while back a lady friend of mine called to ask if I wanted to hunt a nearby Vicksburg creek. I told her I was too busy to go, but I wished her luck. Little did I realize what an opportunity I missed. Within an hour she came by my place with her various Civil [...]

I’ve tried many different types of metal detectors, from White to Fisher to Garrett to many I can’t even remember the manufacturer of. Right now I’m trying out the Nautilus detector, the DMC-IIB. I’ve found that setup of the detector is a complex process – I’ve had to take the manual with me to the [...]

There are probably few people who haven’t dreamed of buying a rare painting for $2.00 at a yard sale or an auction, or of using a metal detector to dig or dive for relics, or of digging a cache of gold coins from a cistern on an old house site. Certainly I did, some thirty-five-plus [...]