January 2013 Articles


The patch that just won’t quit
By Chris Durbridge
I’ve been working a piece of ground now for a few months but I probably wouldn’t have looked at it in the first place if it wasn’t for my maps and research..... [...]

A Sniff of Agate and the Whiff of Pig
By Tim Vine
It all began with an entry I’d made in a little book as a teenager many years ago. I was a keen fossicker back then and feverishly kept a record of gemstone locations revealed to me by senior members of my lapidary club...... [...]

He sold a gold mine for a bag of potatoes and a pot
By Bill Hummelstad
Pass by Paulo Marcolino’s headstone in Grafton’s old cemetery and there is nothing remarkable about it or the inscription. In fact, it’s about as basic as it gets, only a step or two up from World War I battlefield crosses that read ‘Known unto God’....... [...]

Gold at Last!
By Mark Williams
I’d once dreamed about finding a sovereign on a sunny day at a certain site and maybe that’s the reason why I kept returning but I’d also found some great coins there in the past so that probably had more to do with it.. ....[...]

Bits & Pieces


Mother of pearl The Mother of all Pearls
The largest and most expensive pearl ever found is known variously as the ‘Pearl of Lao Tzu’ or ‘The Pearl of Allah’ [...]