Picture a garage full of miscellaneous items; old gardening tools piled in the corners, a spattering of different state license plates hanging from the ceiling, and a stack of old Life magazines by the tool chest. Piles upon piles of scrap metal and bolts and tools fill the garage, with a wide line of “junk” outlining where the underbelly of a small silver car sits. The only part of the old concrete floor you can see is when the car is gone, where two tire tracks remain.
This is my grandfather’s garage. Whenever we traveled to my grandparents’ house, my favorite thing to do was go down to the basement or out to the garage and sift through all the rusted treasures. My grandfather’s passion for collecting unique, old items, it seems, has been passed down to me. As the years went by, the thrill of the hunt for something unique in that old garage grew to a passion for collecting coins and gemstones. For this post, I’m going to focus on those vibrant, gleaming gems that every girl loves. But they can be a guy’s best friend, too, when it comes to their value.
When it comes to finding treasures, gemstone hunting is probably the most accessible to anyone and everyone. My first experience gem stone hunting was back in elementary school. It was at one of those many sites where you bought a bucket of dug up dirt and rocks and sift through little bits at a time and keep what you think looks anything like a valuable gem. And just because you’re not going out into some ditch somewhere and digging up the gravel yourself doesn’t mean you don’t find anything. Believe it or not, the businesses that do this usually don’t search through the gravel before giving them to out to customers. We found loads of gems from that one day, some slightly invaluable, but others worth well enough to pay off the buckets we bought.
What I’m getting at is that you don’t have to be a world traveler or a trained scuba diver to find treasures. You just have to go to the right places. I’ve seen those gem businesses everywhere from state parks to local hometown attractions.
But if you want to go for the big bucks, there are specific places here in the U.S. that are hot spots for gem hunters. The Travel Channel has a great list of these places, and I’ve been to a few! If diamonds are what you’re looking for, try the perfectly named Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arizona. Believe it or not, this is the only place in the world where the public can go to search for diamonds and can keep what they find.
Here’s a quick list of where to go to find other precious gems that fit your taste!
http://newstonesandgems.com/gem-hunting/
– Emeralds – Emerald Hollow Mine, North Carolina
– Opals – Bonanza Opal mine, Nevada (Opals are my favorite!)
– GOLD – Roaring Camp, California
– Turquoise – Royston Mine, Nevada
So, if you’re a treasure enthusiast like me, but don’t have scuba diving training or aren’t an expert in hunting for precious gems, you can always find a place to go. Local or at least within the U.S., there are tons of places to find those precious gems. Good luck and happy hunting!
Works Cited:
http://www.travelchannel.com/interests/history/articles/top-10-treasure-hunting-hot-spots
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/julian-mining-company-julian?select=N2PBVucPh1-Hrqbk7N4NuQ#N2PBVucPh1-Hrqbk7N4NuQ
http://newstonesandgems.com/gem-hunting/