OOPPPSSS

[Swampbuckster]

I learned quickly to never carry your gold collection in the same vial you prospect with (This would seem a no-brainer to most prospectors) I must first say my "collection" was 17 specks panned out of good ol' lower michigan. Wasn't quite ready to melt it down and turn it in for cash. Anyhow, I brought my prospecting bag to northern lower michigan over the weekend to do some panning on a river that passes through the property. I panned for maybe only a half hour, as dinner was ready and the sun was setting. I put the bag in the pole barn and didn't think twice about it. The following morning, I went to get my vial from the bag and all I felt was broken glass in the pocket! The low for the night was 26 F which must have froze the water in the vial, considering there was ice still near the cap. I could see the majority of gold laying near the cap so placed the broken vial and shards of glass in a pill bottle I had in my fishing tackle box. I just transferred my collection today into a new vial and luckily only lost 2 specks! Whew. I WON'T be letting that happen again!

 

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[Stand Watie]

I know that feeling. I came home from prospecting/panning and put my lucky gold cap I wear when hunting gold on a shelf by the door. I usually put any loose change I have in my pocket in my cap but I didn't have any loose change that day. What I had in my pocket was my glass vial with 3 flakes of gold I had found that day. So I put that inside my upside down "lucky" cap.

Fast forward 3 days and it's time to go out and look for gold again. I'm in a bit of a hurry so I get dressed and head for the door to the garage. As I go by the shelf I grab my lucky cap by the bill and flip it up on my head. I forgot the vial was in it. The glass vial flies out of my "lucky" cap and hits the tile floor in the laundry room. It shattered into a million pieces. I guess my cap isn't so lucky.

I tiptoed out of the area of the glass explosion hoping I didn't step on one of the flakes of gold. Instead of going to the woods prospecting I spent the rest of the afternoon prospecting on the tile floor of my laundry room. After sweeping into a dust pan and then using a damp paper towel to get up any and all small particles on the floor I ended up finding only 1 of the flakes.

Maybe I should file for a claim on my laundry room.

PS. I will use plastic vials from now on.

 

[mills84]

This reminds me, I ran into someone at the river that had his glass vial in some type of padded/insulated pouch (foam rubber or neoprene?). The pouch was just a little larger than the vial so the vial fit in there nice and snug. The vial looked like an odd size (a bit larger than the 1 ounce size), so maybe they both came together?

Anyway, has anyone seen something like this for sale online? Seems like a good idea.

 

[russau]

i also had a BIG OPPS! i had 1 1/4 OZ. of gold that i was screening to size my gold,and i had it in one of my gold pans out in my shop. i left it there in the pan for about a week and kept thinking that i should move it to containers cause sure as H**L im going to knock it over one of these days! sure enough, the day came when i was passing by the pan and bumped it! just like in the movies i watched the pan/gold tip over in slow motion and i couldnt get to it,no matter how fast i tried in slow motion.yep 1 1/4 OZ of mostly fine gold hit the concrete floor! i "think" i got it all but i probly didnt!lesson learned!and i hope NOT forgotten!

 

[Swampbuckster]

Hahaha. Good stories. Glad to hear I'm not alone! Stand Watie, so do you still use your "lucky cap"??

 

[Gold Cube]

I was drying out some realy fine gold from Lake Superior. I set it on the top of the camper in the sun away from the risk of getting it bumped. Safe from dogs, people and vehicles. Proud of my fore thought of the golds safety, I turned to work some other concentrates. Two steps away and a wind gust flipped the pan off the top and spread 5 grams of gold around on the ground. I got a little over 4.5 grams back. Hard come, easy go. I store it in water untill I get home from now on. I'll be back up there in July to go get some more.
Mike

 

[Stand Watie]

Hahaha. Good stories. Glad to hear I'm not alone! Stand Watie, so do you still use your "lucky cap"??

Not anymore. I changed caps after that incident. I'm no fool. I listen to the warnings of the Gold Gods.

 

[Swampbuckster]

Hahahaha.