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Big Changes Are Coming!

Big club changes are coming in February. First, we

will be meeting in a new Loveland location. The new

location is better and brighter with excellent

parking! Next, we are beginning a new club structure,

emphasizing our social club roots, with no club

officers. Instead of a board meeting prior to the

regular monthly meetings we are requesting that allmembers with input please attend the pre-meeting to

suggest and agree on upcoming events for the club.

Look for more details at the January 5th club

meeting (at the same location within Mountain Range

Shadows). In the meanwhile, please pay particular

attention to the February newsletter for more

details and a map to the new meeting location.

v. 15, n. 1 January, 2011 Going for the Gold

Rocky Mountain Prospectors &Treasure Hunters Newsletter

The News

Visit RMPTH On The Internet At http://rmpth.com

Contents

The Constitution is not an instrument for thegovernment to restrain the people, it is an instru-ment for the people to restrain the government -lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.

- Patrick Henry

1 Searching For Caches2 About The News2 Colorado Gold Rush

3 France Seizes Lava Treasure Coins4 Diamond Geologists Find SunkenTreasure

5 Find Of The Year Program6 The Beep That Made Me Leap8 Iron Age Gold Find9 Good Metal Detecting Etiquette10 Calendar of Events11 Calendars12 Some Gold Facts13 Why Athletes Cant Have Regular

Jobs

15 Winterizing Your Equipment16 Trading Post18 2010 Schedule of Events19 Contact List

Searching For Caches

By Eric L. Nielsen

From the RMPTH Newslet ter Archives f rom

2004

Most people, including treasure seekers, can-not begin to comprehend the number ofcaches that are available to be found. Acache (pronounced cash) could be considered to be astockpile of items hidden to keep unauthorized peo-ple from finding and destroying, using or stealing it.Caches of all kinds exist, however, money and pre-cious metals usually evoke the greatest enthusiasmand excitement when recovered.

(Continued on page 7)

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Page 2 The News, January 2011

The News is the official newsletter of the RockyMountain Prospectors and Treasure HuntersClub (RMPTH): our mailing address is P.O. Box

271863, Fort Collins, CO. 80527-1863.

Opinions expressed in The News are those of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect those of the

club or its members. Publication of information inThe News constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Useof any information found in this publication is at thesole risk of the user. Neither RMPTH, nor its volun-teers, nor The News, nor its editors or contributorsassume any liability for damages resulting from useof information in this publication.

Submissions

Articles, letters and short items of interest on pros-pecting, detecting and treasure hunting topics arewelcome and encouraged. All items submitted forpublication are subject to editing. Submittals for pub-

lication may be made in writing or, preferably, inASCII text format on IBM-compatible disk. If you havequestions about a submission, please contact the edi-tor for information.

Copyright

Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit groupsmay reprint or quote from any articles appearing inThe News without prior permission, provided thatproper author and publication credits are given andthat a copy of the publication in which the article ap-pears is sent at no cost to RMPTHat the above mail-ing address. Clubs wishing to exchange newsletters

with RMPTHare invited to send a copy of their news-letter together with an exchange request.

About The New s Adver t is ing

Classified advertising is free to members for non-business ads.

About RMPTH

RMPTHis an independent nonprofit hobbyist cluband is not incorporated. The club open to anyone in-terested in prospecting, detecting or treasure hunting.Its purpose is to provide an educational and socialforum of mutual benefit for members. RMPTHholds amonthly meeting and conducts various field outings,special presentations and seminars. Members havevoting privileges. Free membership includes access toThe News monthly newsletter, all general meetingsand selected seminars. There are no annual dues andall expenses are funded through donation.

JANUARY MEETING REFRESHMENTS

We have not yet taken volunteers for 2011 meeting refreshments.

Hopefully we all have some Holiday treats remaining.

Please bring a snack to share for the January Meeting!

28 pounds of food goods were collected at the

December RMPTH Meeting. The goods were delivered

to the Larimer County Food Bank. Thanks for sharing!

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Page 3The News, January 2011

what would be expected under the circumstances they sold the coins and gold plate illegally into theblack market. Laws that give nothing to the finder en-courage such illicit activities, with both archaeologyand collectors suffering from their resulting behavior.

According to an Oct. 27 Reuters news report, One ofthe original three Corsican friends, Felix Bian-

camaria, told [the] French daily [newspaper] Libera-tion in 2005 how the discovery of what he quicklysuspected were Roman coins brought him and hisfellow divers untold wealth and thrills until the partysoured when local police caught wind of their ex-ploits.

Rather than turn the treasure over to authorities asstate property, the divers claimed they had inheritedit and began selling it to dealers. However the flood ofrare Roman coins on the market eventually raisedquestions among collectors.

Biancamaria told Liberation, People thought we werepart of a gang of armed robbers. He described howthe three men dove for treasure by day, then spenttheir evenings a little too conspicuously in nightclubs.

In 1994 the three divers were among eight people sen-tenced to between six and 18 months in prison forillegally making money from the find. One of the di-vers, Marc Contoni, has since died in a shooting in2004. The arrests in October involved five additionalpeople, all in Paris.

The recently seized coins, together with a prizedgolden plate, are estimated to have a value of between1 million and 2 million euros ($1.38 million to $2.76million), police said, according to Reuters.

Agence France-Presse added that a buyer in Belgiumwas also involved. AFP reported, After recent suspi-cions about a secret sale of another piece from theLava Treasure, custom authorities along with the of-fice that fights against the trafficking of cultural treas-ures and Corsican officials launched an investigationwhich partially ended on Oct. 21 with the transactionin Belgium. The final transaction never took place.

Police, fearing they might lose their target, moved inand arrested the intermediary in the sale at the trainstation at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Once again the AFP report includes the ominous com-ment, As a cultural treasure, the golden plate belongsto the state and should be turned over to the cultureministry in December.

France Seizes Lava

Treasure CoinsBy Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News

December 13, 2010

France recently seized an unannounced numberof third century A.D. Roman gold coins as wellas an ancient gold plate allegedly with a pedi-gree linking the material to the Lava Treasure, ac-cording to an Oct. 27 announcement.

The Lava Treasure, consisting primarily of ancientRoman gold coins, received its name because the findwas discovered accidentally by fishermen diving in theGulf of Lava. The gulf is off the west coast of Corsicain the Mediterranean Sea. Corsica belongs to France.

The Lava Treasure was first encountered about 25years ago when three Corsicans diving for sea urchinsspotted gold in the shallow waters there. The rest ofthe story can likely be nicely summarized by the offi-cial French national police statement released Oct. 27in which it says, This submerged treasure, identifiedas a maritime cultural asset, belongs to the state.

It is the words cultural asset, which could also bereworded as cultural patrimony, that is the key, es-pecially when it involves coins rather than fine art orother objects.

As Ancient Coin Collectors Guild spokesman WayneG. Sayles commented in the October 2010 issue ofThe Celator magazine, [coins are] utilitarian objectsthat were created in the millions and are not in anyway of significant cultural value to any state.

Had this find been discovered off the coast of GreatBritain, as an example, the find could have been de-clared as treasure trove and the finders could have atleast received a reward for their efforts. Being that thefind was on French territory there was to be no im-bursement, and likely not even a thank you. As the

police statement reads, the find belongs to the state.

Cyprus, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and a host ofother countries have restrictive laws governing findsof this nature in which the find is automaticallyclaimed by a government as that governments cul-tural patrimony. The finders have no rights to the findand for practical purposes might as well have rebur-ied the find where it was discovered.

In the case of the Lava Treasure the three divers did

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"People sleep peacefully in their bedat night, only because rough menstand ready to do violence on theirbehalf."

- George Orwell

Gold Glossary

Highbanker - A highbanker is a sluice box with mobility.

Instead of being put right in the creek like a sluice, the

highbanker uses a water pump to transport the water into

higher and sometimes richer placer reserves. In addition to

the ability to go just about anywhere, the highbanker also

is able to run more material in less time than the sluice.

These characteristics make the highbanker a common mod-

ern day mining tool.

TREASURE HUNTERSCODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect private property and do no treasurehunting without the owner's permission.

I WILL fill all excavations.

I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of naturalresources, wildlife, and private property.

I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration, and courtesyat all times.

I WILL build fires in designated or safe places only.

I WILL leave gates as found.

I WILL remove and properly dispose of any trash that I

find.

I WILL NOT litter.

I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings, or what is leftof ghost towns and deserted structures.

I WILL NOT tamper with signs, structural facilities, orequipment.

Diamond Geologists

Find Sunken Treasure

AP

Geologists hunting for diamonds off the coastof Namibia stumbled upon a different sort ofriches when they hit upon a shipwreck full of

copper ingots, elephant tusks and gold coins.

The discovery was reported by Namdeb DiamondCorp, a joint venture between diamond giant De Beersand the government of Namibia. Preliminary analysisindicates the well-worn Spanish or Portuguese shiplikely went down in stormy weather in the late 1400sor early 1500s. Judging from the cargo, researcherssaid the ship was likely looking for material to buildcannons or was perhaps trading in ivory.

This image shows coins and a brass divider recovered in thewreckage.

Technetics T2

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The Find of the Year Program was held at theDecember meeting. Category winners for theyear were as follows:Best Jewelry: Mike Noll - 2009 High School Gradua-tion Ring

Oldest Coin: Ed Edwards 1894 Victorian Half Penny

Most Valuable Coin: Paul Lange 1918 Wheat Cent

Best Bottle: Mike Noll Antique Purple Bottle

Most Raw Gold: No Entry

Largest Raw Gold: No Entry

Most Unique Find (Excavated): Dick French -Antique U.S. Military Helmet Strap Button

Most Unique Find (Non-Excavated): Joe Johnston -Lamp From 1888 Presidential Model Studebaker Car-riage

Rock, Gem, Mineral & Fossil: Fred Hart - ImpressiveQuartz Crystal Formation

And

The 2010 Individual Find Of The Year Winner was:

Most Unique Find (Excavated): Dick French -Antique U.S. Military Helmet Strap Button

Congrats to all the 2010 Winners!

Find Of The Year

Program

Property WantedFor Detector Hunt

The club is looking for private property on

which to hold an organized club detector hunt.Obviously, it would be most ideal if this prop-erty is known to have seen some past histori-cal activity. If you have such property or knowof someone who does, please contact PaulLange or Rick Mattingly to plan a club field

outing event.

Refreshment Volunteers

January - *Volunteer NeededFebruary - *Volunteer NeededMarch - *Volunteer NeededApril - Lupe Bobbitt & Anne NicholsMay - *Volunteer NeededJune - Betsy Emond & Mike NollJuly - Bryan & Lucy MorganAugust - *Volunteer NeededSeptember - Barbara SchuldtOctober - *Volunteer NeededNovember - *Volunteer Needed

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The Beep That Made

Me Leap

Housew i fe discovers 250,000

gold t reasure af ter seven years of hunt ing

w i t h a meta l detec to r

By Dalya AlbergeLast updated at 11:18 PM on 24th June 2009

After seven years of combingfields and beaches with a metaldetector, the only thing house-wife Mary Hannaby had to show for herhobby was an old dental plate.

But all those efforts paid off when herfirst proper find turned out to be a

15th-century gold treasure valued at250,000 or more. The find is thoughtto be part of a high-quality reliquary orpendant, and depicts the Holy Trinity.

Mrs. Hannaby, 57, from Hemel Hemp-stead, Hertfordshire, heard her metaldetector's tell-tale beep while out onone of her regular six hour Sundaydetecting walks with her son, wood-carver Michael, 33.

For 500 years, the treasure had lain buried four inchesbelow the ground, despite repeated ploughing.

The discovery is all the more astonishing as this was notthe first time the Hannabys had scoured the arable fieldbetween Ashridge and Great Gaddesden.

'You get a buzz every time you get a signal, but chancesare it won't be anything,' said Mrs. Hannaby.

'This time, it popped up all of a And the pair struck goldagain when the landowner refused Mrs. Hannaby's offerto split the money equally and said he wanted only 30per cent, saying he would never have known about thetreasure if not for her.

Under the Treasure Act of 1996, finders must reportpotential treasure such as gold and silver objects morethan 300 years old.

Finders are offered the market value for their discoverieswhich museums have first option to buy.

At 2.8cm by 2.3cm, the treasure isbarely larger than a postage stamp, butits importance is exciting experts.

Roger Bland, head of treasure at theBritish Museum, describes it as an'important find', and regrets that themuseum does not currently have the

funds to buy it.

Carolyn Miner, sculpture specialist atSotheby's, was 'awestruck' when theHannabys first showed the treasure toher and will auction it in London onJuly 9.

As one of only three of its kind to havesurvived, the find could be worth evenmore than 250,000, and its engraving

is being compared to that of the Middleham Jewel,which sold at auction for 1.3million in 1986 and waslater resold to the Yorkshire Museum for 2.5million.

Former pub kitchen worker Mrs. Hannaby hopes thesale proceeds will pay off her mortgage.

North Carolina became the home of the first

gold rush in 1799, when a 17 pound nugget was

found by 12 year old Conrad Reed, in Little

Meadow Creek. The Reed farm yielded 153

pounds of gold including a 28 pound nugget!

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Many novice, as well as seasoned treasure hunters,who have spent considerable amounts of time search-ing for individual coins and relics, do not believe thatcaches really exist or that they can be found if they doexist. Many TH'rs think it is just not worth the effort.That may be good because they do not get in the way

of serious cache hunters who search diligently for the"big ticket" caches that they know exist.

A little background may be helpful to more fully un-derstand this facet of treasure hunting. FollowingWorld War II, when military surplus mine detectorsbecame available, several American vet-erans who had knowledge and experi-ence with their use and who had infor-mation about the locations of some ofthe many caches available, purchasedthese rather primitive detectors andsearched for and found their intended

targets and quietly embarked on thisnew and exciting vocation. With the ad-vent of more sophisticated and "userfriendly" detectors pioneered by Dr.Gerhard Fisher, many of those earlyTH'rs became very proficient and suc-cessful at locating caches.

During the 1950's, 60's, and early 70's,many of those people traveled through-out the U.S. and worked at various jobsin communities while quietly gleaninguseful information about people whohad hidden money away that was never found afterthey died, or about outlaw loot that had been stashedafter robberies. For many of these people, cachehunting became a full time and profitable profession.Actually, locating caches was probably relatively easyback then because people in general were more gener-ous with information and landowners were more will-ing to give permission to enter their property tosearch than they are now. They may have been lessgreedy because they didn't believe anything would befound or didn't care.

Most experienced cache hunters made sure they had asigned agreement with the landowner and sharedtheir finds with the landowner or at least gave themsome kind of reward. They also commonly gave a re-ward to the person who provided them with the leador initial information that resulted in successfully lo-cating a cache, without divulging details about whatwas recovered. Government entities were also not asgreedy. In fact, during the 1960's and 70's severalState senators and members of Congress were activeparticipants in very successful private treasure recov-

(Continued from page 1) ery associations.

One reason for the great success experienced by theserious cache hunters during that time period is thatthey had direct access to valuable information. Many"old timers" from the outlaw days were still alive andcould remember events involving robberies of banksand stage coaches, etc. in vivid detail, especially if

they were part of the posse that caught or killed theoutlaws. They could describe exact landmarks thatprobably had not changed very much. Sometimesthey could describe the area in great detail where theloot was known to have been hidden or they couldtake the cache hunter to the location and show him.

There are still too many outlaws, in-cluding bank robbers, burglars andother thieves, out there. There are allkinds of criminals that cache money orstolen items such as jewelry. Thethieves eventually fence jewelry and

other stolen items and spend the moneyunless they are captured or killed.

Drug dealing is rampant around theworld and due to recent laws passed tocontrol unlawful international exchangeof U.S. currency, gold bullion has be-come a favorite medium of exchange byinternational drug lords. Local drugdealers still deal in cash, lots and lots ofcash, which they almost always hidesafely away from customers, competi-tors and the law. Many drug related

murders have resulted in cash left hidden somewherejust waiting for someone to find. It is not advisable torecover the cache of a drug dealer who is still alivebecause they seem to take the theft of their unlawfulgains very seriously and death is the usual method ofpunishment if you are caught. Recovery of hiddenmoney or other items belonging to anyone, while theyare still alive, without their permission is consideredto be theft and is punishable by law.

Ordinary people who have excess money still squirrelit away for various reasons. Some people just don=t

want to have it all in the bank. During the last severalthousand years, people around the world have buriedtheir personal hoards of money in containers in oneor several locations. Years ago when silver coinagewas in common use and before the U.S. governmentwent off the gold standard and began controlling theexchange of gold, both silver and gold coins were thechoice to bury since they would not rot and disinte-grate like paper currency. After 1965 when the U.S.discontinued circulation of silver coinage, millions of


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Ms Dyer said: "This is a very significant find, the mostimportant hoard of Iron Age gold ever found in Scot-land.

"That these stunning artefacts have been unearthed insuch excellent condition after being buried for 2,000years is simply amazing."

The four torcs were just six inches beneath the sur-face when Mr. Booth discovered them with his metaldetector.

Professor Ian Ralston, chairman of Safap, said: "Thepanel is grateful to the finder for reporting thesehighly important finds in good time and for the fur-ther assistance from the finder during fieldwork by

the National Museum atthe site of the discovery.

"This has allowed much

greater understanding ofthe archaeological contextof these four exceptionalitems."

Dr Gordon Rintoul, Na-tional Museums Scotlanddirector, said he would belooking at a number ofways to raise the moneyfor the reward.

"These magnificent Iron Age gold torcs are of nationaland international importance and we are delightedthat National Museums Scotland will now have theopportunity to acquire them for preservation and dis-play," he said.

"In the context of the current difficult economic cli-mate, we will be exploring a range of sources of fund-ing to secure what is a substantial sum to ensurethese items remain available for future generationswithin the national collections."

Since the discovery, Mr. Booth has also found an 800-

year-old medieval seal near Stirling.

He said he was still waiting to hear how much the findwas worth.

BBC Mobile Newshttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-11550610

Iron Age Gold Find

Treasure hunter se t fo r I ron Age go ld f ind rew ard

Aman who unearthed a hoard of Iron Age goldthe first time he used his new metal detector is

set to receive almost 500,000 as a reward forthe discovery.

Amateur treasure hunter David Booth found the fourneck ornaments - or torcs - in a field near Stirling inSeptember 2009.

The gold, worth about 1m, dated from between the1st and 3rd Century BC.

National Museums Scot-land will receive the treas-ure trove, provided theypay 462,000 to Mr.Booth.

"I'm going to pay off thecredit cards and loans andbuy a new house for thefamily," he said.

"The landowner will gethis share as well."

Mr. Booth said he found

the torcs in the first hole he dug after trying out hisnew metal detector last year.

He added: "I can't wait to take my kids along to themuseum to show them - and the rest of Scotland cansee them too."

Under Scots law, the Crown can claim any archaeo-logical objects found in Scotland.

Finders have no ownership rights and must reportany objects to the Treasure Trove Unit.

'Amazing' find

The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel(Safap) has recommended the items be handed to theNational Museums Scotland - provided they make theex gratia award to Mr Booth.

The decision was announced by the Queen's and LordTreasurer's Remembrancer Catherine Dyer, who asthe Crown's representative in Scotland can claim bur-ied archaeological or historic items.

The neck ornaments were found in a field near Stirling

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Carat and Karat

Carat abbreviated "ct." and spelled with a "c" is a measure

of weight used for gemstones. One carat is equal to 1/5 of

a gram (200 milligrams). Stones are measured to the near-

est hundredth of a carat. A hundredth of a carat Is also

called a point. Thus a .10 carat stone can be called either 10

points, or 1/10 of a carat. Small stones like .05, and .10ctare most often referred to by point designations.

Karat with a "K" is a measure of the purity of a gold alloy.

Pure gold is 24 karat and 12 karat gold is 50% gold.

24K 100% gold

18K 75% gold

14K 59% gold

12K 50% gold

10K 42% gold

1880s Alma, Coloradohydraulic gold mining.

Good Metal Detecting

Etiquette

From an issue of George Street er 's Treasure

Hunter ' s Gazet te ( ww w .st reeter .org )

1. Always have permission from the landowner beforesearching.2. No matter where you detect, city or private land, ALWAYSFILL YOUR HOLES!3. If you carry it in, carry it out. Don't leave your soda popcans, plastic wrappers, or any other trash behind.4. Be extremely careful about fire. The landowner andneighbors, livestock and wildlife in the area, are dependingon you to make sure all campfires & smoking materials areout.5. Here's a sticky point and one that has, unfortunately, costa few friendships: If a friend takes you to one of his or herdigging spots, it doesn't necessarily become your spot aswell. Check with your friend, then the landowner, before

going back to the spot alone. And definitely checkwith them before you bring your friends to the spot as well.6. I wish this were law rather than etiquette: Keep a carefulrecord of the particulars of your finds. This record keepingwill help maintain an artifacts' historical context, and thewhat and where of an excavated artifact is of great impor-tance to future historical research.

In short, abide by the law, respect the landowner and hisproperty, value the friendship of your fellow detectorists,and maintain a careful record of your finds.

Gold Nugget newsletter, December, 2003

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Calendar of Events

MAP TO TH E MEETIN G PLACE

Mount ain Range

Shadows Clubhouse

betw een Loveland and

Fort Col l ins a long I-25

Directions:The Mountain Range Shadows Clubhouse islocated within the Mountain Range Shadows

development on Mummy Range. ExitInterstate 25 at the Highway 392 exit (Windsor

Exit), and turn south on the SW FrontageRoad (west side of the Interstate).

January Meet ingWednesday, January 5. We will meet at the MountainRange Shadows Clubhouse at 7:00PM. Refer to theadjoining map for directions.

Meeting Agenda6:00 - 7:00 Social Time & Planning Session7:00 - 7:30 Business, Announcements & Find of

the Month Program7:30 - 7:45 Break7:45 - 9:00 Event Planning for 2011. Plus, discus-

sion of new meeting space and club organization be-ginning in February.

Visit the Club Store at the Meetings

Bill Moore, RMPTH Storekeeper, invites all members to visit

the Club Store at the monthly meetings.

Get your very own RMPTH club shirt and hat.

RMPTH DUES

ANNUAL DUES ARE$30 PAYABLE IN

JULY. NEWMEMBER DUES ARE$2.50 FOR EACH

MONTH UP TO ANDINCLUDING JULY.

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January 2011Sun Mon Tue W ed Thu Fri Sat

1New Years Day

2 3 4 5RMPTH Social & Plan-ning Session 6:00PMClub Meeting 7:00PM

6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17Martin Luther King

Jr. Day

18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

February 2011Sun Mon Tue W ed Thu Fri Sat1 2

RMPTH Social & BoardMeeting 6:00PMClub Meeting 7:00PM

3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14Valentines Day

15 16 17 18 19

20 21Presidents Day

22 23 24 25 26

27 28

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RMPTH Field Outing Statement

NOTE: The Presentations and Outings Coordinator(s)and the President stay in touch and continue to review

and plan upcoming presentations and outings for the yearon a monthly basis. Our editor Rick Mattingly needs

timely information for each issue of The News. Please getinformation about any particular event to him by the 15th

of the month to meet the printing deadline for the nextissue.

Planned trips, outings, activities, and meeting programsare in the newsletter and on line at the clubs website.

Planning is a work in progress and additional outings andactivities are added and sometimes deleted on an ongo-ing basis. Events planned in the upcoming month(s) areemphasized to the members at the monthly meetings.

Contact the Presentations Coordinator(s), Editor, or thePresident if you have any suggestions or ideas through-

out the year for fieldtrips, outings, and programs.

The best made plans may change at the last minute dueto the illness of the Trail Boss, weather, land access, ve-

hicles breaking down, wrong meeting sites, etc. Pleasebe understanding of extenuating circumstances and con-

tact the coordinator or Trail Boss of a specific event ifthere is any question of an event being cancelled or

changed at the last minute.

"About the time we can

make the ends meet,

somebody moves the

ends."

- Herbert Hoover

"A friend is one whoknows you and loves you

just the same."

- Elbert Hubbard

Some Gold Facts

This info is e ight years old but s t i l l in terest ing.

Jus t m ove the dec imal p laces in the va lues !

It is amazing, but the total amount of gold in theworld is a surprisingly small quantity. Here's howyou can calculate the total amount that is available. If

you look at a page like this one, or if you look it up in anencyclopedia, you will find that the annual worldwideproduction of gold is something like 50 million troyounces per year. Gold has a specific gravity of 19.3,meaning that it is 19.3 times heavier than water. So goldweighs 19.3 kilograms per liter. A liter is a cube thatmeasures 10 centimeters (about 4 inches) on a side.

There are 32.15 troy ounces in a kilogram. Therefore,the world produces a cube of gold that is about 4.3 me-ters (about 14 feet) on each side every year. In other

words, all of the gold produced worldwide in one yearcould just about fit in the average person's living room!This cube weighs 1,555,210 kilograms (3,110,420pounds). A recent spot price for gold was $256.10 U.S. --using that number, all of the gold produced in a year isworth $12,805,000,000. That's a lot of money, but notan unimaginable amount. For example, that's about howmuch the Pentagon spent launching the GPS satellitesystem. NASA's budget in 1998 was $13.6 billion. Figur-ing out the total amount of gold that has been producedby man is a little harder. To get at some kind of esti-mate, let's figure that the world has been producing goldat 50 million ounces a year for 200 years.

That number is probably a little high, but when you fig-ure that the Aztecs and the Egyptians produced a fairamount of gold for a long time, it's probably not too faroff. Fifty million ounces * 200 years = 10 billion ounces.Ten billion ounces of gold would fit into a cube roughly25 meters (about 82 feet) on a side. Consider that theWashington Monument measures 55 feet by 55 feet at itsbase and is 555 feet tall (17 x 17 x 170 m). That meansthat if you could somehow gather every scrap of gold thatman has ever mined into one place, you could only buildabout one-third of the Washington Monument. Platinumis even more scarce than gold. Only 3.6 million troyounces are produced per year. Its specific gravity is21.45, and it was discovered in the 18th century, not in3,000 B.C. If you assume that the world has produced3.6 million ounces per year for 50 years to estimate thetotal worldwide supply, all of the platinum in the worldwould fit in a cube that is 6.3 meters (about 20 feet) on aside. In other words, all of the platinum in the entireworld would easily fit in the average home!

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Why Athletes Cant

Have Regular Jobs

T

o darn funny to not pass along!

1. Chicago Cubs outfielder Andre Dawson on being arole model:"I wan' all dem kids to do what I do, to look up to

me. I wan' all the kids to copulate me."

2. New Orleans Saint RB George Rogers when askedabout the upcoming season:"I want to rush for 1,000 or 1,500 yards, whichever

comes first."

3. And, upon

hearing JoeJacobi of the'Skin's say:"I'd run over

my own motherto win the Su-per Bowl,"

Matt Millen ofthe Raiderssaid: "To win,I'd run overJoe's Mom,too."

4. Torrin Polk,University ofHouston re-ceiver, on his coach, John Jenkins:"He treat us like mens. He let us wear earrings."

5. Football commentator and former player Joe The-ismann:"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A gen-

ius is a guy like Norman Einstein."

6. Senior basketball player at the University of Pitts-

burgh :"I'm going to graduate on time, no matter how long it

takes." (Now that is beautiful)

7. Bill Peterson, a Florida State football coach:"You guys line up alphabetically by height.."And, "You guys pair up in groups of three, and then

line up in a circle."

8. Boxing promoter Dan Duva on Mike Tyson going toprison:

"Why would anyone expect him to come out smarter?He went to prison for three years, not Princeton ."

9. Stu Grimson, Chicago Blackhawks left wing, ex-plaining why he keeps a color photo of himself abovehis locker:"That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can

still find my clothes."

10. Lou Duva, veteran boxing trainer, on the Spartantraining regimen of heavyweight Andrew Golota:

"He's a guy who gets up at six o'clock in the morn-ing, regardless of what time it is."

11. Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketballplayer, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he ap-peared nervous at practice:

"My sister's expecting ababy, and I don't know ifI'm going to be an uncle oran aunt.

(I wonder if his IQ everhit room temperature inJanuary)

12. Frank Layden , UtahJazz president, on a for-mer player:

"I asked him, 'Son, whatis it with you? Is it igno-rance or apathy?'

He said, 'Coach, Idon't know and I don'tcare.'"

13. Shelby Metcalf, basket-ball coach at Texas A&M,

recounting what he told a player who received four F'sand one D:

"Son, looks to me like you're spending too muchtime on one subject."

14. In the words of NC State great CharlesShackelford:

"I can go to my left or right, I am amphibious."

15. Former Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips whenasked by Bob Costas why he takes his wife on all theroad trips, Phillips responded: "Because she's toodamn ugly to kiss good-bye."

Thanks to Don Steele

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dollars worth of silver coins were collected from cir-culation and hoarded by individuals who realized thatthe newly minted clad coins had little real value.Some of this money was put in safe deposit boxes inbanks, but most of this hoarded silver was probablyhidden at home with a good portion of it safely buried

in the ground where plenty of it still resides to thisday.

Many people who lived through the depression andlost their entire savings in the bank closures vowednever to put their money in another bank, which ledto a multitude of "posthole banks", so named becausea quart jar would just fit down a post hole and couldeasily be retrieved when a withdrawal was necessarysimply by pulling the staples and re-moving the post. People became veryinventive with methods for hidingaway their money. Many men never

told their spouse or family where theirwealth was hidden and much of it isstill hidden right where they put it be-fore they died. Those early cachehunters could often obtain vital infor-mation simply by talking to friendsand relatives of the deceased andlearning pertinent details that manytimes led them directly to the cacheswith little effort.Present day cache hunters must work harder to ferretout facts that will lead them to success. Obtainingpermission to search takes more ingenuity and per-suasion than in the past. On the brighter side, wehave much, much better equipment available withwhich to search and can locate the deeply buriedcaches more readily than could our predecessors.Also, believe it or not, there are more caches out therenow than ever before. .

Business people who are commonly paid with cashoften hide money to avoid paying taxes. Imminentbankruptcy, divorce or other setback has caused peo-ple to hide money to have something remaining wheneverything else that they are known to possess is

taken from them. Many people have purchased goldand silver bullion and coins which they have buriedfor safe keeping and some of these people didn't markthe spot well enough or their memories fade with age.There are millions of dollars that have been left safelyhidden away due to sudden and unexpected deaths ofthe people who hid them.

Wars have resulted in many caches of money, pre-cious metals and gemstones, and artwork, as well asarmaments of war left behind when the people who

(Continued from page 7) hid them were killed or permanently displaced. Thepresent war in Iraq is a good example. It is mind bog-gling to think about the millions of dollars worth ofgold, silver and American currency, which were mis-appropriated or stolen by Saddam Hussein and hisfamily, that have been recovered there after ourtroops took control. How many billions more are hid-den away which have not been recovered? Our troops

also continue to find caches of weapons and ammuni-tion.

For thousands of years conquering armies have plun-dered and pillaged, believing that to the victors belongthe spoils and when they could no longer carry allthey plundered, they generally hid it with the intentionof returning at some future date. This seldom waspossible, which left behind many lost caches.

In an excellent article in the Augustand September 2001 issues of "TheNews", the RMPTH newsletter,

RMPTH member, Ken Oyler discussesseveral very large and valuable cacheshidden by the retreating Japanese inthe Philippines during World War II.There were probably thousands ofsmall caches of valuables resultingfrom the Japanese occupation of thePhilippines, hidden by people to pre-vent the Japanese from seizing them.

The Japanese were so ruthless that many of the peo-ple who hid those valuables were probably killed,leaving the caches for someone more fortunate tofind.

Every year caches are unearthed around the world.Some are reported by the news media but most arequietly recovered in secret with no one the wiser.Some are found accidentally but many are recoveredby people who researched the facts and analyzed theinformation, determined the probable locations andmade on site searches leading to the successful recov-eries of the targeted caches.

There are so many caches which remain hidden, lostand forgotten that the serious cache hunter could

spend a lifetime and not even begin to investigate allof the available leads. This author has acquired doz-ens of good leads, any of which could potentially re-sult in recovery of a valuable cache. If there is enoughinterest in this subject the author will discuss some ofthe intricacies of cache hunting in future articles,which should benefit anyone seriously interested inparticipating in this fascinating endeavor.

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Gold Glossary

Hard Rock Mine - A hard rock mine is a

tunnel that is dug into solid rock for the

sole purpose of finding valuable or precious

rocks, minerals, or metals. Gold originates

deep within the earth in places called Pock-ets. The pockets are filled with gold, heavy

ore, and quartz.

Symbol: AUAtomic Number: 79

Atomic Weight: 196.967

Melting Point: 1063 (1945 F)Specific Gravity: 19.2

MOHs Scale of Hardness:2.5 - 3

Karat

24K = 100% Pure Gold18K = 75% Pure Gold14K = 58% Pure Gold10K = 42% Pure Gold

Troy Weights

1 grain = 0.0648 grams24 grains = 1 penny

weight (DWT) = 1.552 grams20 DWT = 1 ounce =

480 grains = 31.10 grams

Gold Fac t s

YOURADVERTISEMENTCOULD BE HERE!Call Rick Mattinglyat 970-613-8968or [email protected]

Winterizing Your Equipment

Winter is upon us, and its time to prepare your equipment for thewinter ahead, look for damaged parts, and think about modifica-tions.GOLD PANS - Wash them off, do not leave them to sit all winter caked

with dirt. The dirt will pull moisture from the pan overtime causing the panto become hard, brittle, and eventfully crack. Next summer, when you getout your gold pan, take a piece of 60 grit sand paper, and sand the bottomof the pan in a circular motion. The fresh scratches will grab the flour gold.

SLUICE BOXES - This applies to the sluice box that you throw down in

the river, and sluice boxes that are on high-bankers, and dredges.

Open it up, check all the riffles for damage, and repair as needed.

If you have the standard blue ribbed carpet, usually covered with expandedmetal, carefully take out the carpet. it should be dry by now, hold it over awheel barrow box, or plastic, and beat the hell out of it. You wouldn't be-lieve all the fine facial powder gold that will come out. The gripping power

of the water previously held it in place. Now that it is dry the gold will comeout with no need to burn the carpet.

Now is also a good time to think about replacing it with miners moss, 3MNomad carpeting. The miners moss will capture the finest gold and itwashes out every time with incredible ease. It holds more material than thestandard ribbed carpet and you will not need the expanded metal anymore.Miners Moss cost about twenty bucks for a piece to fit a large sluice box. Itis worth the money the first time you use it.

The winter is a good time to look your equipment over and decide whatmodifications to make on your dredge or high-banker. As you have figuredout by now, when you buy one of these pieces of equipment, they are readyto run, but they are the bare minimum. So you need to modify, or improve

them. You have been using it all summer, you know what is wrong, or whatcould be improved. So pull out your machine, set it up and look. Bringyour pen and paper.

HIGH BANK ERS - What about that grizzly that has every other wire

wielded, sometimes not at all. on the bottom edge. I recommend weldingthem all. It keeps the bigger rocks from clogging up the sluice and it rarelyjams up the grizzly. Look and write down all the things you need to do to itto make it work better.

Check your hoses. Intake on the pump - is it dry rotting, is it cracking?Pressure hose, the blue lay-flat hose, wears out fast. If it needs replacing,replace it with gray lay-flat. It's a few cents more, but you get two, three,four times the life. Did you have enough lay-flat hose? 200 to 300 feet is a

good length to have. Cut into 50 foot lengths. Anything over 50' is too hardto roll and manage. Do you still have the old lug-n-pin type connectors? Youmight want to think about cam-lock, quick release connectors. They canknock a half hour off your setup and take-down times.

You should have quite a list now. This will make a good winter project andwhen spring comes you will be ready to roar!

DREDGES - Check those hoses as above. If your suction hose has a crackin it, it will be breaking through soon. Duck tape will make for a quick re-


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All mistakes and

misspellings wereintentionally made so

that you could have thepleasure of finding them.

Trading Post - (free to members)

About Trading Post

The News runs classifiedads in Trading Post for threeconsecutive issues. Trading

Post ads up to 10 lines (or 70words) long are free to

RMPTH members; donationof $5 for non-members.

To place an ad in Trading

Post contact Rick Mattingly at(970) 613-8968 evenings ore-mail at:

[email protected]

FOR SALE: Trout Unlimited Colorado Pontoon Boatwith 8'-6" pontoons and motor mount. Brand new andnever used. Perfect for lake or river fishing and pros-pecting. New price $575. Sell price $350. Contact TimCline in Frederick at (303) 833-3372.

FOR SALE: Price Reduction - 18 DOUBLE DECK VI-BRATING LAP by Diamond Pacific. You can do roughgrinding and finish polishing at the same time! Themachine is made of non-rusting aluminum castings. Itweighs 50 lbs. It has never been used is in its origi-nal crate. It is assembled and ready to run. List priceis $1290. Will sell for $849 a savings of $441 (a re-duction of 34%)! Call Bob at (303) 819-3523.

FOR SALE: Keene High Banker, includes stand, hoseand 5 HP Briggs and Stratton pump. Great condition,$900.00 or Best Offer. Contact Cindy Bone at (970)669-8247.

FOR SALE: Prospecting equipment: 4" Dredge and

more plus Whites VSAT Gold Detector. ContactHomer at (970) 224-4244

FOR SALE: Two CoilTec coils for MineLab GP or SDSeries: 14" Round Mono, $150.00. 5" x 10" JoeyMono, $75.00. Like New. Plus Shipping. Call (307)886-3937 or Cell (307) 654-1432.

WANTED: Federal or state duck stamps; mint orused. Contact John Hart at (307) 778-3993.

FOR SALE: Garret Treasure Ace 300 Detector.- $225OBO. Contact Roger at (970) 622-0821.

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pair, but replacement time is here. 15' is a good length. Doyou have a swivel nozzle? Do you have a crevice suction tip?How about a quick release on the power jet, or on the pres-sure hose. What about replacing all those cheap screwdriver hose clamps with real hose clamps that take awrench to tighten down. Wield a tee handle on the hoseclamp for the dredge box/power jet connection. Eagle Hard-ware has lots of parts and pieces and small 1/2" boat plugworks great in the pontoons to help drain them. So there's a

few ideas, you should come up with more.

THE ENGINE - The most important thing to winterize!

This is what its all about. Without that engine, yourthrough. I have seen people come out and go home becauseof an engine that they did not maintain properly. Some ofyou are not so mechanically inclined. If this is the case,take your engine to Golden Small Engine 25th & Kipling,237-5680 and have them winterize it for you. The goodprospector will let his engine run out of gas the last time hegoes out and leave it that way. Now the gas tank, hoses, andcarburetor are all clear. If you didn't do that, you can pullthe hose from the gas tank and drain the gas. Reattach thehose. Take your garden hose and run water through the

pump. Start the engine. It will run only a short time, andthe garden hose will cool the seals in the pump. Gas willstart to break down after 3 months of above-ground stor-age, so do not leave gas in your engine over the winter!Drain the pump of water. Drain the oil and fill it with astraight 30 weight good grade oil. Pull your spark plug andreplace it with a new one. Be sure to gap the new plug. Pour1/2 ounce oil for a 3.5 hp, 3/4 ounce oil for a 5 hp, and 1ounce for a 8 hp engine through the spark plug hole. Wait aminute, then pull the cord two times. That will coat the pis-ton head and cylinder with oil. Put in the new plug. Take offthe air cleaner. If it is a paper cartridge, replace it. If it isthe oiled foam type, take it to the sink, and wash it by handwith a good liquid soap in warm water. Ring it out and let

thoroughly dry overnight. You can pour the same oilthrough the foam filter that you put in the engine. Wrap thefoam with paper towel and squeeze out the excess oil. Thenput it back on your engine. You've just done a major tune upon your engine, and you've winterized it too. Store it in a dryplace. Next year, fill it up with a good, mid-grade gas, 87octane. Change that oil every 25 hours and you'll have agood running engine all summer long!

METAL DETECTORS - Many coin detectorist can go outall winter long because the snow comes and melts. The golddetectorist usually has to go to the high country and that issnowed in. So pull those batteries out of your detector.Even ni-cads leak. Take out those batteries and put new

ones in next year. Hows your coil cover? If its ready to wearthrough, replace it. Only this time, put some silicone on thetop crack. This will keep dirt and black-sands from workingin between the coil and the coil cover.

Gold Prospectors of the RockiesThe Gold Nugget newsletter

Volume 2 Number 11 November/December 1997

(Continued from page 15)WEEKEND & SMALL-SCALEMINERS CODE OF ETHICS

I WILLrespect other prospectors claims and not workthose claims without the owners permission

I WILL have on-site all necessary permits and licenses

I WILLbuild fires in designated or safe places only, andin accordance with current State and Federal guidelines

I WILLbe careful with fuels and motor oils and be cog-nizant of their potential destructive effect on the envi-ronment

I WILL remove and properly dispose of all trash anddebris that I find -I will not litter

I WILL be thoughtful, considerate and courteous tothose around me at all time

I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of naturalresources, wildlife, fisheries and private property, andrespect all laws or ordinances governing prospectingand mining

I WILL NOTremove stream bank material, destroynatural vegetation or woody debris dams, nor dischargeexcess silt into the waterways

I WILL NOT refuel motorized equipment in the stream

I WILL NOT allow oil from motorized

equipment to drip onto the ground or into the water

I WILL NOTprospect in areas closed to prospectingand mining

Offer Your Assistance To AnyOf Our Program Coordinators

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Month Meeting Program Trip/Activity

January Club Business and Open Forum No Trip/Activity Scheduled

FebruaryRMPTH Gold Prospecting DVD Presenta-

tion by Bob Smith & Rick MattinglyNo Trip/Activity Scheduled

MarchWyoming Railroad History

By Ben TrujilloNo Trip/Activity Scheduled

AprilPOW Camp 202By Paul Lange

Clear Creek Gold Panning

MayAfrican Diamond Mining

By Jose Santana

Lets Go Gold Panning On The Arkansas EventProspecting, Detecting & More Clinic at Lions Park

Greeley Gold Panning Demo at Rail Depot

JuneLocal History

By Peggy Ford Waldo -Greeley Research Curator

Nugget Shooting Clinic at Lions ParkPhoenix Mine Tour

Eldora Ski Resort Detector Outing

JulyGold and Platinum in WyomingBy Wayne Sutherland, WGS

Schedule Under Construction!

AugustCache Hunting

By Rick MattinglySchedule Under Construction!

SeptemberThe South African Gold Mines

By Dr. Robert Brownlee

Annual Coin & Prize HuntColorado Mineral & Fossil ShowDenver

Lucite Hills Wyoming Gem Outing

October The Cliff Dwellings Speak PresentationBy Bill and Beth Sagstetter Off-Road Detector & Cache Hunt

NovemberAnnual Show & Tell &

Silent AuctionLocal Detector Outing

DecemberAnnual Find of the Year Awards &

Christmas PartyFlatirons Mineral Club & Model Train Show

Good Hunting in 2010!

Rocky Mountain Prospectors and Treasure Hunters Club2010 Schedule of Events

2011SCH

EDULEU

NDER

CONSTRU

CTION

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Colorado Gold Rush

Trappers and explorers had previously noticed gold in what is now Colorado includingprospectors on their way to California in 1849. In 1858 a party of prospectors fromGeorgia returned and found small quantities of gold in Cherry Creek, near the presentsite of Denver, Colorado. When word got back east, the rush was on; Pike's Peak or Bust! wasthe slogan. By 1859 large numbers of prospective miners and settlers had come to the Denverarea. At first there was only the slight show-ing in Cherry Creek and the South PlatteRiver, but soon paying quantities of goldwere discovered at Idaho Springs and Cen-tral City. By 1860 Central City had a popula-

tion of 60,000 people and Denver andGolden were substantial towns serving themines.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopediahttp://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Gold_Rush

Rocky MountainProspectors & Treasure Hunters

Contact List

THECON

TACTLIS

TIS

BEINGRE

CONFIGU

REDFOR

2011.

CHECKT

HE

FEBRUARYNEW

SLETTER.

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The NewsRocky Mountain Prospectors &Treasure Hunters Club

P.O. Box 271863Fort Collins, CO. 80527-1863

JANUARY, 2011 ISSUE

RMPTH0111

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