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Many years ago I made a scale to measure specific gravity.  I was actually entertaining the idea of building them (nice stainless steel ones), but I came across a site that makes it SO simple, and SO cheap to do, and it's fairly accurate!

To  test out this method, I used a 1959 quarter.  Had some wear but not nearly enough to effect the outcome.   A silver US quarter weighs 6.25 grams.  My electronic scale only has 10ths so it dropped the 5 and got 6.2 grams.  Now when I weighed it under water it weighed out at .6 grams.   6.2 grams divided by .6 grams equals 10.33 SG.    Silver SG (pure) is 10.49.   Close enough considering the coin is 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper.

Using SG is also a good way to certify coins as real and not "fake" alloy that is silver or gold plated.

Here is the link if you are interested:

http://www.johnbetts-fineminerals.com/jhbnyc/articles/specific_gravity.htm

For though’s of you gold prospectors things to look for when locating or discovering an ancient riverbed gravels to harvest for the weekend gold prospectors. Might be common sense to some, but to others.. it might be helpful!

Gold prospectors moraine tips

For the weekend Gold prospectors this glacial rock, mud and gold materiel may have been pulled off a valley floor as the glacier advanced foreword or it may have came off the valley rock walls as a result of freezing and thawing wedging or landslides. Moraines may be made of deb-re in size from silt-sized genealogical flour to huge boulders. The debris is mostly sub-angular to rounded in shape as it is ground up by the weight of ice. Moraines may be on the glacier’s surface or left as piles or sheets of debris where glaciers has melted.

Glacial drifts in the Midwestern and North Eastern United States. These areas were previously not widely known for gold occurrences, but after increased attention they have surprised a lot of people with the amounts of gold now been recovered.

To give a little background, understand that during the ice ages, (both Wisconsin and Illinois stages), the glaciers acted like giant bulldozers pushing enormous amounts of rocks and (gold bearing) gravel down from the sources in Canada many states were completely covered by the glaciers and (left with) moraine (gravel) deposits in bands (see moraine deposits, maps of Michigan, etc.). we also show the Moraine terminus (Southern extent) in all of the Midwestern and northeastern states certain states have incomplete (NY, PA, NJ, MN), or no specific (NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, ME) Moraine information by researching state or regional glaciation books (. Available at college geology apartments or in state geological surveys), you can then determine more specific Moraine deposit locations. Another way of determining moraine locations locally is by simply locating area gravel pits.

read the rest here and video at  http://prospectminingforgold.com/glacial-drift-gold-prospectors-tips/