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Been getting more into this “Expedition Unknown” show, starring Josh Gates. I watched it before, but the host’s schtick turned me off. They’re constantly running blocks of shows on the Travel Channel though, and some of them are admittedly pretty good. Aside from the goofy humor, my real gripe is that the segments are too short. Once each episode starts getting interesting, and the host finally gets to the destination, there’s very little time spent on actually probing, searching, digging or whatever. A couple of minutes, at most. There was one where they were looking for buried krugerands, and they were using metal detectors, but they only spent a short time showing that.

I really enjoy that show “Mysteries at the Museum”. Good hosting, fairly informative given that they showcase 3 or 4 stories in an hour, and decent re-enactments. They had an episode I caught 2 nights ago about that gold coin cache that couple found in CA. I never knew this, but it turns out it was indeed the loot from the S.F. mint robbery. Which makes sense. 1,400 coins in all, all gold, and mostly $20 pieces. Talk about hitting the jackpot. I’m sure there were treasure hunters who devoted years to finding that loot, and many others, all to no avail. And along come a husband and wife aimlessly walking through the woods when they spot old cans sticking out from the ground.

Due to California’s Finders Keepers law, the couple gets to keep everything, minus taxes I’m guessing. Good for them.

On a separate note, has anyone watched that Rick Tomaska Coin show? Do any of you guys even get him on your channels? What’s the deal with him? He’s great to watch the way he pitches the coins, but I’m guessing they’re bad buys? I’m sure he gets them cheaper and adds on a hefty commission for himself, though some of the deals looks damn good. I’m not savvy enough with coin grading however to risk ordering anything from there. He was selling a set of peace dollars last night, and he was asking like $400 for the set. All were in uncirculated condition, but when the camera was doing close-ups, I noticed quite a few blemishes on the pieces. Don’t know what to make of him or his deals. Quite fun to watch though.
Joe, I don't turn on the travel channel much but maybe I will start looking at it and see what is on.

Last night I caught a show about Treasure - bunch of folks guys and one woman in south america looking for Spanish and or Inca treasure. It was good until three guys with CTX 3030s each dug a Minie Bullet. They all said they were fired - well nope they were round so they were drops. I started to get that feeling this is drama. Then the woman dives in a pound and finds a knife with a Inca head and she has to use a drill and a chisel below the water to free it from a rock crevice. More drama I turned it off right before she finds a gold item behind a sunken boulder.
Yea I caught that show last night after Gold Rush its called treasure Quest I have watch for a few weeks now. It has good times and bad. I would imagine it is hard making a treasure finding show that can keep everyone excited to keep tuning in.
I couldn't do it Find the treasure and get to the next.
Anyways it was interesting at the end which is why they disclosed what they found then to keep everyone tuned in for next time. The gold sun god mask was cool and the bronze lamas or what ever they were. but if you read the printing afterwards they have filmed for 2 more months and have permission for 3 more months. I hope they found some more stuff
Steveo, yes I agree - I too hope they find something and it continues to get better.
(12-17-2016 12:53 PM)Bigtony Wrote: [ -> ]Joe, I don't turn on the travel channel much but maybe I will start looking at it and see what is on.

Last night I caught a show about Treasure - bunch of folks guys and one woman in south america looking for Spanish and or Inca treasure. It was good until three guys with CTX 3030s each dug a Minie Bullet. They all said they were fired - well nope they were round so they were drops. I started to get that feeling this is drama. Then the woman dives in a pound and finds a knife with a Inca head and she has to use a drill and a chisel below the water to free it from a rock crevice. More drama I turned it off right before she finds a gold item behind a sunken boulder.

There's a ton of treasure hunting related shows on now. Most have nothing to do with metal detecting, but a few are still interesting. The Oak Island one is pretty good, though I doubt they'll ever find anything, as that would kill the show...and their whopping paychecks. But I'm guessing a fair amount of what makes the final cut in these shows is staged, or played up for the cameras, as most of the times us treasure hunters are walking alone in a field finding nothing, and farting in the wind. And the average layperson isn't going to see that as very interesting.

I believe Chicago Ron and a few other guys from the detecting shows even admitted that, when they made a nice find, the cameras weren't always around, and they had to put the find back in the hole and cover it up, while they waited for the camera guys to come and film them. Then they would pretend to do a live dig. I'm sure there's a bunch of crap that goes on like that.

(12-17-2016 09:03 PM)Steveo Wrote: [ -> ]Yea I caught that show last night after Gold Rush its called treasure Quest I have watch for a few weeks now. It has good times and bad. I would imagine it is hard making a treasure finding show that can keep everyone excited to keep tuning in.
I couldn't do it Find the treasure and get to the next.
Anyways it was interesting at the end which is why they disclosed what they found then to keep everyone tuned in for next time. The gold sun god mask was cool and the bronze lamas or what ever they were. but if you read the printing afterwards they have filmed for 2 more months and have permission for 3 more months. I hope they found some more stuff

Steve, the show I'm speaking of is called "Expedition Unknown." But I've seen Treasure Quest before, too, and it's pretty good. As for Gold Rush, I haven't watched that since the first season. Number one, I know zero about gold prospecting on a large scale like that, so it doesn't really get my juices going. Number two, a lot of it seems overly staged. Fistfights breaking out, curses flying all over, guys walking off the site in a huff, etc. Most of that wouldn't exist in a real operation, as it would kill profitability, and that nonsense wouldn't be tolerated much. But it does make for entertaining television.
One thing Treasure Quest had was a female detectorist and she put on a two piece bathing suit to dive and retrieve the golden relics. That part I liked.....

I will flip around for all of these shows from time to time and if it holds my ionterest then I will watch it.
My wife and I started watching "Expedition Unknown" the other night and after about 20 minutes she said "Is this show about finding stuff or is it about him? I don't want to see anymore". I had pretty much the same feeling after seeing one or two other episodes, so we flipped over to something else. Don't feel like we missed too much.
When it comes to exploration and discovery shows I prefer the documentary approach, where serious researchers compile months or even years of work into a neat informative scientific program. The reality approach we see so much of can be interesting but you have to figure that much has to be scripted, acted, reshot etc in order to come up with an hour of TV that flows somewhat intelligibly, and doesn't have vast amounts of boring nothing happening moments. In other words it's ironic that reality isn't always real.
Good and bad about  Tomaska
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion...ck-tomaska

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic..._ID=192650

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/guy-sel...ff.240719/

What you see and buy on TV may not what you get when the parcel arrives.
Basically graded higher than actually is. Best to check return policies.
I have been scammed like this in the past...............
(12-19-2016 07:17 AM)Sven TreasureLinx Wrote: [ -> ]Good and bad about  Tomaska
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion...ck-tomaska

http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic..._ID=192650

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/guy-sel...ff.240719/

What you see and buy on TV may not what you get when the parcel arrives.
Basically graded higher than actually is. Best to check return policies.
I have been scammed like this in the past...............

Thanks for the tips, Sven. I really enjoy watching Tomaska's show, and he's a brilliant pitchman, but I just don't know enough about grading to roll the dice on an expensive purchase. Much less one in which I cannot inspect the coins up-close & in person.

I figured they would've been graded higher, as that's where he makes his profit from. To the unsuspecting, untrained eye however (such as mine), some of the deals look damn good, but I guess that's more because of his fine pitching versus the quality of the pieces Yes
http://www.pcgs.com/grades/

http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/


Coin grading by many upgrade by sellers and the same people downgrade when buying.

If a coin has been certified, then you can't be scammed.

http://www.apmex.com/education/numismati...gs-ngc-cac


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[Image: coin-grades-70.jpg]
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