Cash and Treasures Program on the Travel Channel

Mythbusters *could* be the best science show on TV, but it aims more for entertainment than good science. Consequently, it is not the best science show on TV (and would probably lose viewers if it were). The result is an amusing, entertaining, humorous show that I like to watch, but I /don't/ watch for the science content.

if one person joins each club as a result of this show it will be worth all the deceptions about the "value" of rocks,

right as long as someone profits off us suckers it's all worth while
thanks for helping me decide about hounding.

One of my favorite things about hearing from people when I talk about the fraud and deception used in this show is that the only people who actively defend it are connected to the show one way or another.

WHY do the people on this show keep handling dynamite sticks with their bare hands? Why don't they ever talk about safety? Why don't they just tell people to tie live cobras to their belts while out collecting?

BTW, did anyone catch the news article that hit the other day about the guy who escaped from his truck after he drove off the pier into a lake? He said that he had watched an episode of Mythbusters the other week that showed him who to escape from just this type of peril. So, Fred, while not exactly "Science Perfect", Mythbusters is at least somewhat informative. And it doesn't make my skin crawl like the money grubbing in C&T.

Don't you know you can make more money as a butcher? Don't you waste your time on me.

I have not seen this program. But, if the content of the show does not contain any cops, forensic investigators, lawyers, judges or doctor phils or try to sell me pimple remover or religion, it can't be too bad.

Mark



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2008 05:04PM by Mark Rheinberger.

Hi!

I do like the show for several reasons I think it is exciting to see new locations and to see places I have already been digging. If you have not seen the show you can watch the episodes here:
[travel.discovery.com]

Yes the "HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH" thing is kind of sickening and someone needs to explain to the host basic mineral handling rules, like do not hold 2 large priceless emeralds in one hand ... or stack large fine quarts crystals in one hand while franticly robbing a vug for more. They really need to take safety first as they are attempting to teach.

Great show with rough edges, I enjoy it a bunch.

Still haven't got to see any of this show (they don't show it on any of the channels I get here) and no-one seems to have uploaded it to the usual naughty places on the internet!

Jolyon

Jolyon,

Count your self lucky that you haven't seen it. The show is overblown, overhyped, over-advertised and mostly horrible! There is nothing but the "treasure hunting" aspect in the show, and many of the things they show are exceedingly dangerous.

One episode, the model/featured "performer" was drilling a pegmatite with no protective gear. Dust blowing all around! Then the miner (jackass!), let her cap, load and tamp the dynamite in the hole. All the time, she's gushing about how neat this was!

This sort of thing was really rampant back in the 1960's when everyone was running out into the desert to get rich with gemstones, gold, Uranium, etc. The only people who made money sold them the equipment they used.

I will be exceptionally surprised if even a single rockhound, much less mineral collector, gets their start from this series (do a survey in 10 years!).

Henry

Justin,

The points you make about the show are valid. However, you have to keep in mind who comprises their general audience. This show is not intended for those of us who are serious collectors, scientists or serious rockhounds. The show is intended to stimulate the general public to get out and spend some money traveling. It is the Travel Channel, afterall.

Keep in mind that the baby boomers are now retiring. They will have plenty of free time on their hands and lots of money to spend. Before I retired, I worked in the Marketing Department of a large insurance company. OUr goal was to get employers to buy health, life and disability insurance for their employees. Our advertising was directed toward the employers demographic.

In marketing, using commercials as an example, your advertising is directed toward your target group. How about all those "hooters" in the beer commercials? Or those beautiful women in the makeup commercials?

I like the show and I think it will benefit the hobby. Keep in mind that mineral museums might stay open if the general public gets interested in minerals and gems.

However, I did take exception to the free ride given to mine owners when they were allowed to value their specimens. How about her digging at Pala for tourmaline and then pulling out a flawless four inch crystal from the pocket? Yeah, right!

My mother was watching the program last night, and I decided to watch it with her. On this particular episode, they visited the Royston Turquoise Mine. The hostess claimed that Turquoise is composed of Copper, Iron, and Aluminum Sulfate. I'm just curious where they got this information from (Turquoise is actually a phosphate)? The hostess also found a huge piece of Turquoise which was obviously planted there for her to pick up and turn into jewelery, which upset me because as a specimen, it would be out of this world. Of course, they had to ask EVERYONE how much it was worth. On another episode, someone on the show proclaimed that Herkimer Diamonds "were the hardest type of crystal in the world". I think the concept of the show is good, especially since it captures the interest of people who seemingly wouldn't care, but the fact that there is an excessive amount of scientific inaccuracy and the tendency of the program to put a monetary value on everything they find is inexcusable and pretty much ruins the show. I will be honest- if I owned a fee-site as a profession, I would probably want a show like C&T to visit, I think it's good in respect to giving a lot of places the publicity and continued interest they need to keep themselves open.

HA!

Hey Jeremy, I was hoping that someone would point out that the new episodes are PLANTED like crazy.

I Tivo'ed that turqouise episode, so I kept rewinding and watching that obvious plant. It was so badly done. C&T people lurking here should be aware that your planted scenes are really poorly done. Just ask me for help. I'll be more than glad to show you all of your failures.

Maybe they could benifit from...oh I don't know...having someone that actually knows about minerals helping them out in the scripting/filming/etc.

I know LOTS of PRETTY girls who know more about minerals than this new host can even imagaine. I know TONS of people who would make GREAT writers and consultants on this show, but as I watch the credits, I don't know any of those people.

At least the past two seasons were free from SALTED FINDS! (they still had SALTED Locations, but not salted finds...)

The emerald one seems to be completely inaccurate, how many places in North America have emeralds been found? I know of 3 different localities in the states, and I'm sure there are more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2008 02:56AM by Wayne Gilmore.

Someone's post said "if one person joins each club as a result of this show it will be worth all the deceptions about the "value" of rocks.." but I think it was said sarcastically, if one reads the tone and words; a good point if taken in the right way. I recall an old collector, now deceased, whom I used to visit, and when I had lived in that area (in Maine) used to collect a lot with him. He told me that collecting was great in the old days, but after that famous strike of tourmaline at Newry, Maine (back in the early 1970s) that the news attracted a lot of get-rich-quickers, and now many of the best mines and locations are off-limits to collectors as they are leased by guys who think they are going to make a profit, despite the costs and work involved. He thought that it ruined the hobby for a lot of decent people, while the others infiltrated the clubs and drove them out.
I have talked with a few miners, better ones I think, and it seems to me that they hardly crack a book to learn something about what's in the deposit, they just want the stuff to sell. One of these guys at a show had a flat of tiny crystals he didn't know what they were, I bought a couple as they looked like phenakite to me. I tried telling him something about symmetry, that it couldn't be apatite as it was trigonal (terminations showed that), not hexagonal, and besides phenakite scratches glass while apatite doesn't. Then he thought that, just because it scratches glass, it might be topaz, even though that has a completely different crystal system! His boss stopped the sale of the crystals when he learned it wasn't apatite.
Another guy, who has a self-expressed "25 years of experience in pegmatite mining" once told me that my crystal of albite (a micro one that resembles the 'zygadite' habit) could not be 'zygadite' unless I had two specimens of it. I don't know where he got that from. This guy later claimed that the new Pegmatology book was the first book published on pegmatites. When I wrote him telling him there were at least 2 earlier books (one pub. by Economic Geology in 1949, the other a MAC Short Course Handbook in 1982), he then proceeded to downgrade them, even though they are included in the bibliography of the Pegmatology book.
A friend used to collect, and he also liked to learn about, minerals. He got into a club, tried to do the right thing with the landowners, had a lot of trouble with the club, and had to quit. Then he was into mining with the miners, but they weren't interested in using the opportunity (along with a lot of very hard work that he was doing) to learn anything, and most of them dissed him off; I think they didn't like anyone more intelligent. He is now out of mineral collecting, which is sad as you could hardly find a more honest and decent guy. Even those in the local club have seemed to diss him, which surprised me until a club member (and officer) acted rudely to me every time he saw me (I couldn't figure this out the first time as I had never done him any injury or insult of any kind). I knew he might be at a nearby mineral show, but went anyway, and though he dissed me I just ignored him.
Those who love to watch sensationalism on TV might not be so adept at reading books, thinking, and learning. I think publicity just attracts the wrong crowd.

that part at the Royston mine where she snagged that turquoise from under that rock without ever looking was amazing!!! I want to go digging with her!!! I believe Chris rose and crew should have the reality show!!!

Yes, I would expect you would have much better luck with a film crew along.

SWEET LORD!

Did anyone catch the Petrified Wood episode?

THEY WERE DIGGING IN A TRENCH ABOVE THEIR FREAKIN HEADS!

They even jump out of the way when it falls in on them! OMG!
This is how you die. Die from being crushed by several hundred pounds of dirt. Or a log. A log of wood.

This show is amazing. Amazingly bad. To quote a really smart guy...
"They might as well tell you to tie cobras to your belt", oh hold on, that was me that said that. Well, it is true. They never give safety tips and they show you how to kill yourself. If they ever show an episode where they litter on screen I'm going to hunt them down.

Oh, it's not a good idea to let your 6 year old operate the track hoe. I grew up on a farm and while that is cute an all...geesh.

I shook my head the whole time.

Did they replace the host with a girl with bigger boobs because the previous ones were not getting them into the good salted locations? My wife can do a complete stand up act on this lone fact.

Justin
They only replaced Becky because she got pregnant.
Wayne

Can anybody let me know where a can download the episode "petrified wood" from 2008 Jannuary?

Yes, the petrified wood episode went *way* beyond entertaining and into the realm of scary. When they were poking at the wall of that deep trench, I had to watch between my fingers, hands over my eyes. YIKES! Where's the safety consultant for this show? Are the producers that willing to lose their host on camera?

Another episode about fossils showed kids whacking away at shale: a) with no eye protection, b) using claw hammers, and c) using the *claw* end of the hammer. OMG!

They do appear to shoot the show on a fairly tight schedule. The dive for Lake Superior agates was done in some pretty rough weather. Depending on the host's contract, a personal injury lawyer will probably have a pretty easy time proving negligence.

Here's to another great MinDat Thread!! Thanks, Justin, especially for the "discreet" Frank Zappa reference ("...don't waste your time on me!") I also cringe almost every time when this show is on, especially for all the fraud that's perpetuated. I am of the belief that not a single piece either host has found was real, all have been staged or manipulated, with the possible exception of the nice pocket of quartz crystals from the Ace of Diamonds mine in New York. The aquamarine Becky supposedly found didn't resemble the material we saw them dig after the blast; it was 100 times better! The turquois that came from under a rock was so poorly staged it was obviously a plant. I have never seen a decent rough sapphire of ANY size recovered by a digger at the Spokane Mine in 30 years, so I know that the stone she got was a plant/gift or whatever. Those guys screen everything before they let you have a whack at it. And their obsession with VALUE is beyond belief!! I don't care if it sells TV or the show or whatever, it's just plain disgusting. What about the value of FUN for family, young people, etc.?
And if they just would at least do a little research! Some one earlier noted the statement made at Herkimer about quartz being "the hardest crystal known" ought to get some producer fired at least! Then another episode made the blanket statement that Hiddenite was the ONLY place in North America where emeralds were found!! What about the Turner Farm and Little Switzerland (Big Crabtree Mine), North Carolina emerald localities? What about the occurrence in Superior, Montana? The new find in Canada? And when they went to Alaska to hunt for gold... they claimed that "gold was the MOST valuable metal known" or some such dreck....what about platinum, iridium, and rhodium you idiots? How ignorant can they get? Do the producers have less than a high school education? Because that's how it appears to us. Some one above suggested that more educated people serve as advisors on this show,and I agree. It couldn't get any worse, and it's a GREAT disservice to the mineral collecting hobby!!
Chris