Respect Paid



A few weeks ago I met up with Jack in Gold Basin, AZ to do some detecting.
He hadn't been in that area much and I was to show him around a little. I told
him I would first show him where I had found a couple nickels in the ground
and you know what that means.  He looked puzzled and said how old were
they and is it a place where miners camped?  I realized he didn't know what I
was referring to and explained.  When some prospectors find a  gold nugget
they leave behind a nickel in the hole to show appreciation or respect to the
earth or God for their good luck. It's a tradition I'd read or heard about, I don't
even remember where but its true.  I then asked him if he had dug any nickels
in the last year at Lost Basin and he said no. I've dug a few over the years and
where I found them the area usually has been good for a few more nuggets. 
Anyway he said he had never ever heard of such a thing and even then I'm not
sure he believed me.  I told him some of the holes are so well covered you will
have to look very close to tell that the ground was ever disturbed.  So just this
week I'm back home and talking to him on the phone and he tells me this story.





He met an older prospector in Lost Basin  who has been detecting
the area for many years. Rumor had it he once found a very large nugget say
15 ounces or so but he never talked about it. Well Jack was out in the field and
ran into him and they talked. He felt comfortable with Jack and mentioned his
large find of long ago. Then he mentioned something that astounded Jack and
sounded familiar. He said he broke off a piece of that large nugget and reburied
it in the same hole to give back something to Mother Earth.   Small World!
He then talked of places where he and the other old timers had found gold and
would leave behind a nickel in the ground to show their thanks. This just blew
 Jack away, now he was sure I was telling the truth and not just some story.
So fellow prospectors if you ever get a signal and dig up a nickel or even
 some other coin look around you may find your in a good nugget area.



Some coins found in old dig holes. When you find one slow down
and look around you may be standing in a nugget patch!


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