Man makes up to $300/day panning for gold/rare gems simply by walking streets of New York City.

reply to post by ltinycdancerg


lol. I doubt many will.

To much effort. Americans are lazy.

To the motivated go the spoils.

As a panner (for fun) Im impressed but the cats out of the bag now the streets will be so clean you could eat off them.

Originally posted by nixie_nox
Before running to your local jewelry district to do this, also consider how much money people in NYC have. This might not work in New Orleans.

I was thinking the exact opposite! There are many people here who like to have nice things they can't afford, all paid for with bp and fema cash, and what not. Plus all the tourism? I was just thinking of going down to bourbon, since we all know it gets alot of foot traffic. Maybe after mardi gras would be a good time to do it..

Nice one. But he can't really do that everyday. Maybe once every six months he can collect enough gold and other precious stones that will amount to $1000. Not really something to be your bread and butter.

While the video was interesting, in reality i dont think that the work pay effort is worth it.

As he claims he can make up to $300/day going through NY..but this TEDIOUS and really hard work which becomes clear from the video. (Not even to mention what he has to do afterwards to filter out the gold).

In the same time there would be smarter and better jobs than that which would make at least the same amount of money...if not more...with less work than what he is doing. Just my $0.02

Another method to concentrate gold is borax method.

Mix gold bearing dirt with borax (found at local supermarket), melt with blowtorch

Gold will concentrate in bottom as "button", borax will combine with impurities

www.geus.dk...

My dad has been cleaning out beaches and lakes (after the summer ends), for at least 30 years aroun the Midwest with his metal detectors. He has cases of jewelry and a lot of coins. He just does it for fun, but he is probably sitting on a small fortune as he typically keeps everything he finds.

Originally posted by ga-`tv-gi
As a panner (for fun) Im impressed but the cats out of the bag now the streets will be so clean you could eat off them.

This would be a good thing.

with our powers combined.....

reply to post by grindhouzer


Not every city is a candidate for such a dayjob...You will need a city with an history or active business i these valuable metals/ jems. Cities with gold/ diamond trade like Amsterdam, Antwerpen will do great....

After a while all streets will be cleaned from its precious stuff and will it take a decade or more before there will be any chance to make a profit. Outside these "trade" streets you can only find... not much...

Good and creative initiative to make some interesting cash....

I heared there is gold in sea-water...if someone is looking for me i'll be at the waterfront..

reply to post by Bonkeman


You also need to know the law, unfortunately there are laws even against metal detecting. For example National Parks are off the list, if you are even found with a metal detector trying to get into a National Park get ready for a hefty fine, and even possibly some jail time. Historic sites are also a big no no, metal detecting anywhere even close to one will also get you a hefty fine and possible jail time.

I can understand if they are against dredging, but searching with a metal detector being illegal in so many places is just ridiculous. Also, if you plan on metal detecting in a park, you need to get written permission from the director of that park, and it needs to be written, not just a handshake, and be ready for getting no permission at all in many parks.

If you do get permission, you need to learn a few things about metal detecting in a park, first, you have to leave it as it was, or better. you need to learn the plug technique so you don't mess up the lawn, and you have to get good at it, so that noone complains about plugs in their parks.

Another problem you might encounter is if you find anything that is 100 years or older, it is consider an antique and as such it belongs to the state where you find it. You MIGTH get a finder's fee, but don't think it will be a lot because it won't be that much.

Also, each state, in the U.S., has different laws on metal detecting, in some states it is even illegal to do it at a beach.

Other countries also have similar laws on metal detecting and treasure hunting.

There are people who actually think there is nothing to be found anymore, but that is not true, there is LOTS to be found which is why there are so many laws against it, and there are laws which the state/federal government can use to confiscate what you find.

Pretty nifty huh?... welcome to the brave new world...

im sure he has taken the mother load for himself. thats why he is revealing his secret. he has made his money and now would like the fame that comes with a great idea.

All that gold he found would have been the result of decades of gold collection, no way in hell is that sort of earnings renewable. You really think a guy that smart is stupid enough to let his secret out unless he fished the pond dry first? lol

Originally posted by TiM3LoRd
You really think a guy that smart is stupid enough to let his secret out unless he fished the pond dry first? lol

Well..if it took him YEARS to get that jar full...then is the question whether he is really THAT smart.

I honestly think he got more from P/T for appearing in the show than what he would "make" in 6 months digging in dirt in NY. So..the smart part was probably to make this public and cash in on the show after he already cleaned up all those places

reply to post by grindhouzer


Damn, sounds like a good job. I don't know why the hell I applied to Petco.

pretty nasty !

I don't want to imagine whats in the crud from those nooks and crannies.

reply to post by hbarker


He would probably do better in San Fran. Not a lot of gold in the dirt in So cal compared to up there.

Found this very interesting. I know of a gold operation which has carpeting in its rooms. Every year the carpeting is removed and sent to a refiner who pulls out the lost gold for the owner. This effort brings in tens of thousands of lost dollars for the owner. (Plus new carpeting throughout.)

When I was younger, and needed money, I'd head to some of the fashionable bars in the city. Early in the morning customers who were by then inebriated, would walk outside and loose cash or coin on the sidewalks or the gutters. Almost any time I did this I'd eventually find about $20. That may not seem like much today, but back then my salary was $100 a week. Essentially I'd double my salary doing this bit of prospecting. I mentioned doing this to my boss and he laughed and said he used to do the same thing when he was younger. (Today I'd be lucky if I could bend over and pick up anything.) ;-( Today one might do this outside of casinos, again in the early morning hours.

reply to post by grindhouzer


$4,000 per month is a possibility... good luck to the guy.... thats one great way to get by without paying any taxes!!

Originally posted by MysticPearl
Watch it quickly become illegal after people start doing it in a few cities.

Even something this harmless will be dealt with, and a law constructed against, because nothing is free.

Brilliant, though.

Absolutely right. Even though the sidewalks are considered 'public' you still can't paint them or build on them or chisel way at 'em so....I'm pretty certain, Homeland Security, for our OWN protection (insert eye roll) will amend and stick in a law that'll read: "Anyone found doing anything but walking on public sidewalks will be subjected to $10,000.00 fine and up to 5-years in prison. This included fainting. "

Thank you and enjoy our awesome country.
Signed,
The People from PNAC

This is slightly misleading in that the source of this gold and gems IS a direct result of the jewelers working in the jewelers shops above. But....

First the percentages of Gold in Jewelry are:

24 karat is 100% gold.
Too soft so not considered suitable for jewelry

22 karat is 91.7% gold
Again, too soft so not considered suitable for jewelry

18 karat is 75.0% gold
Used successfully in fine jewelry

14 karat is 58.3% gold
Used successfully in all jewelry

12 karat is 50.0% gold
Not used for jewelry

10 karat is 41.7% gold
This metal is the defined karat limit legally considered to be real gold in the United States.


The Gold commonly used in the US in most Jewelry is likely 14K which is really only about 58% pure gold so those little pieces can't be worth as much as they are quoting simply by taking the weight and dividing by the current spot gold prices for Gold Bullion which is 99.99% pure Gold and not 58%.

This is why I never watch programs such as Penn & Teller.....because as with most all Television they are sensationalizing their information to sell commercial time.

$300. per day....multiply that by .58 for the actual gold content of 14K and you have $174.

Don't quit your day job is all that I have to say.

reply to post by nh_ee


There are actually people who still live off prospecting for gold and other precious metals and gems. Not everyone succeeds, but a few do make a good living.