History of the gold pan

Though the first recorded instances of placer mining are from ancient Rome, the first gold pan (that we know of) was the Batea. Traditionally made of a solid piece of wood, the Batea originated from Spain and was later introduced to the Mayans in Mexico and South America. In the hands of a skilled prospector the Batea worked well in those areas, since it could operate well where there is less water available for use than with traditional gold pans.

  In the early days of prospecting one would call his pan a gold dish. Back then many a prospector would carve his (or her) pan from a block of wood. It wouldn’t take much to make a wooden pan–just a pocket knife to do the rough carving, which could then be sanded smooth with gravel from a stream bed. Not only wood but also cow horns could be used to make gold pans. If you would slit it lengthwise and steam it until its soft enough to be worked, then you could open the horn outwards and shape it into a shallow dish suitable for panning. The most popular pan to evolve in those times was the steel pan. It was (and still can be) manufactured by a metal spinning process. Now in this day and age most of us use the more common plastic pans. Designed with riffles, the plastic pans can easily trap the gold, thus considerably speeding up the panning process.

 The most common sizes of pans today are the 8 to 12 inch pan, which are used primarily for sampling, or clean up. The 14 inch pan is the most popular, multi size use. I personally prefer a 12 inch green pan.

What about you? What size pan do you like to use? And what color do you think allows the gold to be more easily seen?  Leave your answers in the comments below. Thanks for reading this article and make sure you stop by again.

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The History of Metal Detectors

                                    The History of Metal Detectors

　
Lets take a trip back in time. Back to 1881. For that was when the first metal detector was made. In 1881, Alexander Graham Bell invented the first metal detector. As President James Garfield lay dying of an assassin's bullet, Alexander Graham Bell hurriedly invented a crude metal detector in an unsuccessful attempt to locate the fatal slug. The metal detector worked correctly but the attempt was unsuccessful because the metal coil spring bed　Garfield was lying on had confused the detector.

　The first modern metal detector was made when Gerhard Fisher had developed a system of radio direction-finding, which was to be used for accurate navigation. In 1925, he applied for, and was granted, the first patent for a metal detector.

　Many manufacturers of these new devices brought their own ideas to the market. In the 1950s White's Electronics of Oregon began by building a machine called the Oremaster Geiger Counter. Another leader in detector technology was Charles Garrett, who pioneered the Beat Frequency Oscillator machine. In the 1950s and 1960s, the invention and development of the transistor  allowed metal detector manufacturers and designers to create smaller, lighter machines with improved circuitry.

  The biggest technical change in detectors was the development of the induction-balance system. This system involved two coils that were electrically balanced. When metal was introduced to their vicinity, they would become unbalanced. This allowed the detectors to discriminate between metals, because every metal has a different phase response when exposed to an alternating current. A disadvantage of discriminators was that they reduced the sensitivity of the machines.

　With new coil designs and pulse induction, metal detectors have come a long way from their predecessors. There are many different types and uses of metal detectors, more than you might realize. There are ones made for hobbyists(like you), for the military, and there are ones used by archaeologists. Also, let’s not forget the kinds used for security screening　at your local airport. Metal detectors are also used in the industrial world to find contamination in food from metal shards broken from the processing machinery during the manufacturing.

Leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite detector is. With so many types and brands of metal detectors to choose from, what do you think is the best one you've used?

Thank you for reading this weeks article and if you enjoyed, don't forget to share us on Facebook. Also make sure you come back next week where we will be talking about Gold Prospecting.

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Lost Treasures of the Civil War

                                  Lost Treasures of the Civil War                                                

The year is 1863. The time of the Civil War. A young blue-coated lieutenant is given a task by his superior officers. The task. To transport a wagon with a false bottom. In that false bottom. Gold Bars. Twenty six to be exact, each with a weight of fifty pounds. The lieutenant and his entourage of nine individuals, eight cavalrymen and one civilian guide, headed northward from Wheeling, West Virginia. Believed to had made their first stop in the town of Butler, a lumber community just north of Pittsburgh, the young lieutenant took ill. So severe was his fever it forced him to ride in the back of the wagon, which was covered in hay to mask the identity of their true mission.

 With the lieutenant ill, the civilian guide, named Connors, took command. Unbeknownst of the wagons true cargo, Connors lead the party through Clarion Valley. After they reached the town of Clarion, the pale, sickly officer resumed command. Feeling they were far enough north the lieutenant choose to head northwestward to Ridgway, then eastward to the Sinnemahoning River near the town of Driftwood. There they would construct a raft and float down to the Susquehanna River, and then to Harrisburg. After their arrival in Ridgway(and a little trouble with its inhabitants) the expedition set out towards St. Marys, a small Dutch community eleven miles to the east. During the night the young lieutenant had another severe seizure. In agony he cried out the true intention of of their mission, stunning the men he was with.

  After a night at St. Marys, Connors, the civilian guide, once more assumed command. He announced that the expedition would be heading over the rugged mountains towards Driftwood. Though they where but twenty miles from their goal, the hard part was yet to come. The group left St. Marys, and that was the last time anyone laid eyes on them. In August, a wild eyed, disorient Connors stumbled into the town of Lock Haven where he told everyone about the deaths of those that were with him and the loss of their cargo. Overwhelmed with sympathy, the local residents believed Connors depiction of what happened, while the army did not. They questioned him relentlessly. First Connors told of the officer dying and being buried, and then he told of a terrific fight. After that he claimed he lost his memory.

 The army turned the case over to the Pinkertons. For almost a year the forest wilderness swarmed with agents, who hired on as lumberjacks and teamsters. They searched the area but had no success. During the summer some dead mules were found—perhaps the ones that pulled the wagon. Two or three years later, several human skeletons, believed to be those of the guards detail, were found in the Dent’s Run area of Elk County not far from Driftwood. But the gold bars where not among them. Occasionally one claims to have found the spot where the treasure was lost, but so far the treasure has yet to been found.

The answers of what happened to the gold bars are still lies a mystery. There is a theory that the little band was ambushed and massacred by Copperheads or a Gang of robbers. Some feel that Connors may have planned an ambush. So what do you think happened? Leave a comment below on how you think the Gold Ingots of Dent’s Run happened to disappear.

Thank you for reading our first article and make sure you take part in this months survey. Also don't forget to stop by next week where we will focus on The History of Metal Detectors. If you liked this article please share.

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