So let's say you go panning for gold in a creek bed and find some on your very first gold panning quest. When you go to sell that gold what questions are asked or gov forms to fill out, if any???
should not be any questions. Tell me where the spot is so I can check it out Look up Selling Placer Gold What to do with Your Gold
I have all the correct forms that you need, but first what kind of gold is it, we will need to know that first before anything. Fools Gold is the easiest to find and it is not worth your money to get it assayed.... Sorry! Rancher
I hope you struck it rich! There's gold in the creek right outside my deck. There's even mining claims further upstream. I have no idea what I'm doing, but I want to find a knowledgeable person to show me the ins and outs of panning. I learn best by seeing and doing.
If it was on State Land in Alaska, you owe the State a Royalty.... Check with DNR Mineral Rights Division... If on Federal Land, you need to check with BLM, and see if you are on someone else's Claim... If. So you owe the the Gold found. If it is OPEN Land, then you need to file a Legal Claim, ASAP... Before someone else beats to to it... In either case you will owe the FEDs a Royalty....
Only if I had a gold bearing stream next to my shack in the hill's.. Have the small equipment to take advantage of it however.. Maybe I should go out with a pan and see... Know about an area not to far away..
First find out if that part of the creek has been claimed. Then find out if there is any gold on it. The chances are high that there is because water flows downhill and so does gold, to the greatest extent possible. There may be small amounts in the creek sand and larger amounts settled into natural sluice pockets in the bedrock or gravel a little deeper. If you find any traces at all by panning, it's a good bet there's more deeper down in the form of nuggets or trapped deposits. If so a sluice box or a small dredge might be a much better way to go than a pan. If you find any significant amount of gold, then you need to decide whether or not to file a claim. Be sure that if you find gold and don't file a claim, as soon as the word gets out someone else will claim that location. Consider also that the course of the creek may have changed over the ages, and there may be gold to be found on either side of the water.
Also, a lot of states you need a permit and you are only allowed to pan in certain areas. And, yes, they get a piece of the action...
So once again our benevolent protectors get a piece of the action because they're the GOVERNMENT. Nice.
If you do find a bit of gold, you can always sell it to a jeweler as high-purity scrap, like the stuff you can reclaim from electronics--dead computers, cell phones, and the like. Jewelers like the idea of buying electronic gold because they can offer you less than market and maybe make a small killing. Melt it down into a button, first, so the amount he looks at is the same amount you get back. He can do a scratch test to confirm the purity, and weigh it, and then it's just a matter of haggling the price. (Don't give it away.) Don't even consider pawnshops. Not just because of having to show ID, but because they always want to pay 2 cents on the dollar. Or less.
I bring home buckets of creek gravel from my hometown in NC when I visit. I can always get several grams which I'm just saving up. People don't realize that there was more gold pulled from NC than the California Gold Rush ever dreamed of. It was also home to the first gold found in the US. If you know what to look for, there is still plenty there, and I once found a .625 ounce "nugget" in a field while walking to a creek. Good read: New Page 1
Yes, indeed. NC has a lot of gold and gem mining history. Even Georgia has had its rushes--but about the only gold you can find in Florida is Pie-rat gold, me hearties! Unless... (I've seen several of this guy's videos. I think he drinks a lot of espresso.)