Recent colonial recoveries

[Bill D. (VA)]

My season finally met its end last week as all my old and prospective sites are now planted or off limits. Was definitely a time of ups and downs. Between the cold and snowy weather, winter wheat being planted everywhere, hunting allowed on Sundays, difficulty making contact with key property owners, my partner Dan having a baby and Joey moving, along with a myriad of other issues, my time in the field was less than half of what I've been accustomed to the previous 3 years. But in spite of all that craziness, I was still able to salvage a pretty good year capped off with 3 banner finds along with 12 colonial silvers and an even greater number of coppers. The obvious highlight was the recovery of the incredible Lord Baltimore sixpence at the very beginning of the season. And the 17th century basket sword hilt and patriotic rattlesnake and stars button from the Rev War era weren't too shabby either. The 18th century sword guard I dug recently was a nice find too, but that's been sent off for some restoration work. I won't go into anymore detail here, but thought I'd just post a few pics of some of my finds from the 2014-15 season. As I usually do, I've put most of the better items in a nice wooden display case which is shown below along with a few close-ups. And BTW - the boxes pictured are finds grouped by individual site. Not sure how I'm going to survive the next 5-6 months, but hopefully between writing some articles, doing research, rearranging my displays, and getting out for a little water hunting, I should be able to keep myself occupied. Looking forward to getting back into the fields in the fall and continuing to pursue the discovery of undocumented colonial sites and revealing their secrets. HH to all.

 

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[TheCaribbeanDigger]

Wow! Simply amazing!!

 

[Carolina Tom]

Thanks Bill. You give all of us something to strive towards. Congrats!

 

[metalev4]

A fine season to say the least Bill. Glad I was able to share some digging time with you and witness that beautiful Pistareen just out of the dirt. Good luck with the research and water hunting, fall will be here before you know it.
-Evan

 

[cjon455]

Bill hats off to you for a great season, that lord baltimore 6 pence is phenomenal!, you hit sites most of us DREAM of on a regular basis, looking forward to your posts this fall hh!!

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

Very nice Bill, but you drive me crazy.
Except for the very special things you run into, like the sword hilt, I don't think you really get excited about much else than Colonial silver. Now, don't get me wrong, colonial silver is worth getting excited about. When (if) I ever find some, I will be extremely excited.
But, personally, I would be driving everyone on Tnet crazy with the stuff you have in the boxes! I'm sure part of that is that I have not been doing this very long, but man! I would be floored to find that many coppers.. half that... a quarter!
Anyway, my arthritus has kept me from going near as much lately, and I haven't done too well, when I have gone. So, what you have looks even better than you may know!
Congrats! If you can't go in the fields, can't you still hit the yards? or not interested? Just curious. HH!

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

The many boxes full of stuff on the floor, is how you make your way to the goodies, that's a LOT of holes.
I like to keep my finds organized by site too, for the most part anyway.
A dozen OLD Silvers is a really good 14-15 season in my opinion. We just got started, but the spring season is going to be VERY short.

 

[Steve in PA]

By any standards that was a great year Bill. Although your overall quantity was down, you made some of your top ten all time finds this year.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Very nice Bill, but you drive me crazy.
Except for the very special things you run into, like the sword hilt, I don't think you really get excited about much else than Colonial silver. Now, don't get me wrong, colonial silver is worth getting excited about. When (if) I ever find some, I will be extremely excited.
But, personally, I would be driving everyone on Tnet crazy with the stuff you have in the boxes! I'm sure part of that is that I have not been doing this very long, but man! I would be floored to find that many coppers.. half that... a quarter!
Anyway, my arthritus has kept me from going near as much lately, and I haven't done too well, when I have gone. So, what you have looks even better than you may know!
Congrats! If you can't go in the fields, can't you still hit the yards? or not interested? Just curious. HH!

Dang Chris - we haven't known each other that long, but it looks like you know me pretty good. You're absolutely right - if its not colonial silver or an early 17th century artifact it's hard for me to get overly excited. Guess that comes by being spoiled from years of digging in maybe the most historical area of the country. And to answer your question about yards, no, I don't plan to hunt any as around here they rarely produce due to the sandy soil and where even memorial pennies have sunk beyond the range of the detector. That one yard site I hunted recently used to be a cultivated field until about 30 years ago which is a totally different situation. But hard to find anything like that. Anyway, hang in there and things will eventually fall your way. You live in another awesome historical area and I can guarantee there are plenty of colonial relics and coins to be found within a short driving distance. Just keep pounding the pavement, and good luck!

 

[Iron Patch]

You are extremely lucky to live in an area where there is so many good early sites.... and it definitely shows with your results.

 

[coinman123]

Plainly incredible, between this year and last year I probably have only found 5% of what you found! Just curious, what was your copper count for the season? You had one heck of a year with silver and relics including an ultra rare Lord Baltimore six-pence.

Congrats on another fantastic season bill!

 

[Iron Patch]

Dang Chris - we haven't known each other that long, but it looks like you know me pretty good. You're absolutely right - if its not colonial silver or an early 17th century artifact it's hard for me to get overly excited. Guess that comes by being spoiled from years of digging in maybe the most historical area of the country. And to answer your question about yards, no, I don't plan to hunt any as around here they rarely produce due to the sandy soil and where even memorial pennies have sunk beyond the range of the detector. That one yard site I hunted recently used to be a cultivated field until about 30 years ago which is a totally different situation. But hard to find anything like that. Anyway, hang in there and things will eventually fall your way. You live in another awesome historical area and I can guarantee there are plenty of colonial relics and coins to be found within a short driving distance. Just keep pounding the pavement, and good luck!

Makes sense because that type of item tends to be your best finds. If you had many Rev War buttons and a couple belt plates, I bet you'd look at things a whole lot different. It's a wild thought for me that you don't have a shot at the early military on many of your sites because they are too old.... where here it's a struggle to get back into the best era for them.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Plainly incredible, between this year and last year I probably have only found 5% of what you found! Just curious, what was your copper count for the season? You had one heck of a year with silver and relics including an ultra rare Lord Baltimore six-pence.

Congrats on another fantastic season bill!

Thanks man! My copper count was 14 (7 Va halfpennies, 3 coronet LCs, 1 KG3, 1 slick, 1 17th century half penny token, and 1 1580s jetton). One of the Va halfpennies was missing when I took the group coin pic, but I found it and it was included in the pics of the wooden display case.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Makes sense because that type of item tends to be your best finds. If you had many Rev War buttons and a couple belt plates, I bet you'd look at things a whole lot different. It's a wild thought for me that you don't have a shot at the early military on many of your sites because they are too old.... where here it's a struggle to get back into the best era.

You're right IP - I'm probably eliminating or greatly reducing my chances to find Rev War and later stuff due to the age of the sites I like to hunt. But artifacts and coins from the 17th century are so much more interesting and exciting to me that I prefer to exert all my energy into finding the earliest occupied areas, but I'm certainly not going to turn down a late 18th century site. And I did find a nice military relic this season, that rattlesnake and stars button, although that could have seen civilian use.

 

[sutphin]

Damn Bill did you leave anything for later hunts?,my god man that's a heck of a collection if I could find just a little bit of colonial artifacts like this I would be happy . Just awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!vanzutphen

 

[Ahab8]

Bill, as good as you are at finding amazing stuff you're a better representative and ambassador for this great hobby which helps us out. There's certain people that we know are out there doing thinGS the tight way and treating property owners with respect and being completely honest. Your finds....well you already know how I feel about those. Too notch as always and considering that you didn't get out as much as normal it's d en more amazing. I appreciate the friendship we've developed buddy. Great year you had

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Phenomenal finds= phenomenal year! You are a master of finds!

Down time for you must be really hard. Are the perimeter of the fields off limits?
You need an old spot that is undergoing a make over AKA a lot of dirt moving! You'd be surprised what's under sidewalks and roadways when they dig them up. Who knows maybe you will find a section of really old road that no one knows about?
It will be fall before you know it! Enjoy the down time and relax a little, makes the senses sharper!

 

[Vino]

Hey Bill if I had to emulate my detecting hobby after anyone, it would definitely be you..
The time and effort you put in shows..
The education you have giving me by your finds is priceless.
Way to go on a great year, and your 3 banners..
Look forward to the fall, to see what else you can recover from that new site..All the best.
George

 

[The Patriot]

Yes lucky to hunt such early sites…have a few 17th sites but are french and they have produced a few early cobs and other coins…but not to your extent…Congrats and enjoy you post!

 

[joeyfresh]

Amazing group of finds. You find such great stuff all year long that I forget about half of it until I see your year-end roundup. Your iron finds were especially amazing this year....I love looking at the hilt basket and the andiron is cool as heck.

Let's get our ducks in row so there's no idle time next winter. I'll be all moved in and ready to go so let's get our research ready!!