Welcome to the weekend! I love Saturday mornings, always very slow paced and nice and quiet. If you have young kids I'm sure you're Saturday mornings aren't quite the same! For years I remember that I always enjoyed cooking breakfast on the weekends for my son, but children grow up way too fast. For that matter life passes by way too fast. Enjoy it while it lasts!
I've decided to dedicate Saturdays to some of my gold nugget finds or treasure hunting posts, because it's a great time to get out and search for some gold for yourself. There really is silver and gold treasure out there in all parts of the world. With some initiative, research, and some hard work they can be yours.
Today's post will focus on one of my nuggets that I found and also follow up on the treasure hunt for the late Forrest Fenn's treasure. First up is one of mine which was found in Ventura County, California. This was one I found using a metal detector in shallow water of a river bed. I had been detecting along the bank of the river hoping to find some nuggets, I got a strong hit right up behind a large boulder and this is what I found.
This is a 2.5 gram gold nugget that has likely been in the river for a very long time. It's relatively smooth but there are areas that look much shinier likely having been recently dislodged and carried in the current causing some fresh wear to the nugget. Once I found the area with the detector then came the gold panning. It took a couple pans to get down to it because it wasn't on the surface, all part of the fun. There were a few smaller nuggets in the pan that came with it so it was a great find. That's one of the bonuses of finding gold in a river or stream, it's usually not completely alone (although I have seen that happen.) It always exciting to see gold shining at you in your gold pan! It will give you gold fever!
There is a lot of gold just sitting in rivers, in the desert, or maybe even in your backyard just waiting to be found. The adventure is really the best part because you never know what you will find. I've almost always come back with at least some gold, but I can recall a couple trips trying out a new spots that I came back empty handed. Moral of the story being you're more likely to find gold where it's been found before. But if you don't ever get out to search you won't ever find any.
I wrote some time back about the Forrest Fenn treasure. Fenn was an elderly well to do art dealer in Santa Fe, New Mexico who hid a chest with gold and precious stones in the US Rocky Mountains hoping to inspire people to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors while hunting for his treasure. He passed away about four years ago just after the treasure was found. The haul was worth over $2 million US, hidden away for more than ten years until a student finally found it. Since then some of the treasure has come up for sale so you too can own a piece of the treasure. But it doesn't come cheap.
This golden frog was included in the chest and was made somewhere between 700 to 1000 A.D. in the Costa Rica/ Panama area of Central America. It's believed to have been a pendant most likely worn by royalty or another individual of high rank in the society. It weighs 28.8 grams and is up for sale on eBay, for the very small price of $90K US it can be yours. Way out of my price range....
Bay.com
Another offering also found in the treasure chest was gold dust and small gold nuggets. These were submitted to NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation) for authentication as part of the Fenn treasure. This particular part of the treasure is listed for around $1.5K US. More than I would be willing to pay, but to have a piece of the Fenn treasure some people seem willing to pay for it!
eBay.com
Personally I think I would rather find it myself than pay those prices, but that's just me! But then again some people are willing to pay thousands for a piece of silverware that came off the Titanic... Items that are attached to a celebrity or rare find often demand high premiums!
If you are interested in gold prospecting or treasure hunting there are many great resources online. Maybe the best way to get started is to find a local group of prospectors who will help you get started and show you the ropes if you will. They will also likely let you tag along in some promising locations. It's a great way to get started in a very fun hobby.
That will do it for my post today, I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, suggestions, or comments feel free to leave them below. Have a great weekend everyone!
And since I am posting in the #freecompliments community I just wanted to remind everyone to take some time today to be kind. A little kindness can make a huge difference in someone's life. Please check out the community and consider joining us!
And my disclaimer:
Gold prospecting is a very fun hobby, but it can be expensive. It's very possible that if you invest too much into equipment it may take a long to to get a return on your investment, and some people never do. Also please remember that not all detectors and dredges are the same, always research carefully before buying them. And please stay away from dangerous areas, no treasure is worth dying for!
All photos are mine unless otherwise noted.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenn_treasure
Now for the winner of the re-blog lottery! Today we had 46 people who re-blogged my post, thank you so much! The people who re-blogged were:
Voluntary daily reminder list for those who request to be on it: 
If you want to be added to the list as well just feel free to ask!
Thank you everyone! I have been working to improve my engagement and all of you have really helped out! If you have any recommendations or suggestions please feel free to let me know. I'm always looking to improve my posts.
Good luck to everyone!
And the Wheel of Names results:
Winner #1:
Winner #2:
Congratulations 
Congratulations 
Now for today's re-blog lottery! You just need to re-blog my post you will be placed on the Wheel of Names for a spin to possibly win up to 5 HSBI units! New twist, one winner on the first spin wins 3 HSBI, and a second spin for a chance for 2 HSBI, so two possible winners or one really lucky one could win both spins! An upvote is not required but is always greatly appreciated. Bots aren't allowed to win the prizes. Contest ends at 14:00 (2 PM) California Pacific time tomorrow. If I somehow missed your re-blog please let me know and I'll add you to the next draw.
What are HSBI units? They are units that you can purchase to sponsor someone and you in turn receive a unit as well. This way we both benefit! They give you occasional upvotes on your posts for a lifetime, and the more you accumulate the more often you receive upvotes and the bigger they can be. You can read some more here:
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This is a new group focusing on on boarding and retaining new Hive members. Feel free to ask how you can help out!