Spanish Silver, British Copper and American Nickel

[OutdoorAdv]

I dug a freaken "Piece of 8" yesterday

Now for the story. Due to family and friend obligations, it had been 4 weeks since I was able to get out. It was killing me, but I was stopping by tnet from time-to-time to get my fix and tie me over. I was finally able to get a few hours yesterday morning to get out and hunt. We got a ton of rain, so sifting was not an option. Instead I charged up my T2 batteries and put on the 5" coil with the plan to see if I could snipe something in the iron, in the wet ground, that the 9" coil on the Deus couldn't get. I also wanted to try my new 405lb magnet, that is twice as strong as the 250lb one I've been using.

This is the area I've been sifting and its been gone over for 100's of hours, with many machines, with many coils. Everything left is masked which is why I sift. I dug a few nails with the T2 and got a crappy iron signal, popped the plug and there was a KG copper. I noticed some glass in the plug and since it was only feet from where my last sifting section ended, I decided to open up a section. I switched over to the Deus. Since it was too wet to sift, I basically did all the same things I would normally do, with the exception of sifting the dirt back in. After removing the sod and breaking up the dirt, I started using my machine and magnet to remove the iron. I got a nice signal and expected a button, but was surprised when I saw the 5 of a shield nickel... I couldn't believe the condition of it. A couple minutes later, after removing more dirt, I got a slamming signal in the bottom of the clay and popped out another copper with a piece of pottery. My day was made!

I had a bit more time, so I expanded the section a couple feet over. After breaking up the dirt I had a booming 92 on the Deus. That's a high number and the signal was so loud I was nearly certain it would be a piece of flat iron or tin. I'm used to that type of signal when sifting, and its always a piece of iron. I kicked the pile of loose dirt to see if the signal stayed as incredible as it was... it disappeared and I was left with iron grunts from all the nails. So I was certain it was a piece of flat iron. A couple minutes later I heard it again, in a small clod I kicked off the pile that had rolled to the side wall. So now I was excited.

I locate the tiny clod making the signal, flip it over and see a piece of cut Spanish... not just any piece, but a THICK piece.



I enjoyed this clod of dirt for about 5 minutes. Taking pictures with a couple cameras and texting a few friends. It's one of the best feelings ever and I was all smiles. I finally grabbed a bottle of water, soaked the clod and popped it out.

It was a 45 degree slice of an 8 reales, or 1/8th of an 8, or "a piece of 8"... with the value of 1 real.



I have an 8 reales at home (bought) and lined the slice on it to photograph where this piece came from on the coin.



I cut and rotated the image of my slice to show how the complete coin would have been sliced up into 8 pieces.



What a great hunt to end a month long period of obligations and chores! A piece of an 8 reales wasnt even on my radar... so far fetched for me that I never even wished I'd dig one. What a great surprise!

The group shot included some buttons, one is a nice etched tombac, some glass and a young buck antler. Another interesting piece is a broken lead comb that is very thick. Nothing great in terms of iron turned up, but I did get a few nice hammered nails, none of which I have tumbled yet.





This is a little "modern" for this site, but the condition of this nickel was incredible. It came out of the dirt looking just like this. A light dry brush and a little skin oil is all I did. It looks like its 1868. But for a while I thought it was 1881, which is a key date, but the junk after the last 8, that looks like a 1, is not part of the date!



The KG is crusty and holed, but it looks like a KG2 based on the left facing silhouette I think I see on the front. I hate electrolysis on coppers, but there appears to be a scale on this one and it might actually be in okay condition under all that verdigris. I'm torn on trying to clean it anymore, but I may get bored and see if light electrolysis will break off that scale for me.



The other copper is thicker and smooth. I cant really see any identifying marks on it.



The etched tombac is identical to another I found here in the past. It still need some more cleaning to remove the verdigris.



The buckle fragment matched another broken piece from a previous hunt. I have over a dozen broken shoe buckles from this spot and I have started to find matching pieces to the breaks. Hopefully at some point I will complete a couple of the broken frames.



The 4 coins before cleaning.



And the bowl of iron and glass.



Thanks for looking and Happy Hunting!

[Scrappy]

Wow Brad. That piece of 8 is the ultimate of cut coins! I'm happy to see that the long dry spell of not detecting was broken by a killer hunt.

Congrats brother!

[trapperart]

That's a great hunt right there, congrats on some great finds

[vpnavy]

Nice!

[OutdoorAdv]

Wow Brad. That piece of 8 is the ultimate of cut coins! I'm happy to see that the long dry spell of not detecting was broken by a killer hunt.

Congrats brother!

Thanks a ton Steve! Sorry I had to ruin your morning by sending you all those dirty coin pictures. I know you have a Scrooge McDuck Money Bin full of KGs and LCs that you swim around in, but a two copper day is a rare one for me. Haha. A fat piece of Spanish put that hunt over the top!

[CRUSADER]

[OutdoorAdv]

That's a great hunt right there, congrats on some great finds

Thanks a lot art! It was a great time digging those coins.

Nice!

Thanks a ton vpnavy!

[OutdoorAdv]

Thanks Cru! Still trying to decide how to remove more crust from that KG.

[joeyfresh]

Great hunt B-rad. Just when I think you had to have pulled everything from that site, it just keeps giving. I would love to be able to scrape away some of the sites I've hunted in the past but the farmers wouldn't be too happy. A site I've hit a lot in the past recently had a new gravel driveway installed and before they brought in the gravel, they scraped down 4 inches the entire length and it was like a new permission! It's actually depressing to think what removing only 4 inches of topsoil will do.

Awesome "piece of 8" and as for the copper, it's already toast so some short zaps of electrolysis won't make it worse. Try one of those low voltage setups.

[johnnyblaze]

Nice cut silver man and the condition of that shield nickle is rare!!


~Blaze

[OutdoorAdv]

Great hunt B-rad. Just when I think you had to have pulled everything from that site, it just keeps giving. I would love to be able to scrape away some of the sites I've hunted in the past but the farmers wouldn't be too happy. A site I've hit a lot in the past recently had a new gravel driveway installed and before they brought in the gravel, they scraped down 4 inches the entire length and it was like a new permission! It's actually depressing to think what removing only 4 inches of topsoil will do.

Awesome "piece of 8" and as for the copper, it's already toast so some short zaps of electrolysis won't make it worse. Try one of those low voltage setups.

Thanks a ton Joey! You and me both man... even though I've seen it time and time again, I am still amazed at what I keep beating out of this place. Honestly, when my alarm went off at 5am, I had a hard time getting out of bed... it was 33 degrees and windy out and I thought 'why do I do this to myself for a couple buttons'! ha But I'm sure glad I dragged my butt out there and hit it. Not only just great to be outside, but it turned into a fantastic day of hunting.

It is depressing and also motivating at what we leave behind when we stop going to a site. It is incredible at what 4" of topsoil will do. I've posted this link before, but its such a great read, I'll post it again. This article is what opened my eyes to the extent of the masking Behind the mask experiment He estimates in his experiment that we get about 20% of the stuff that's down there... and over the last couple years I have to say I agree with him! That article, along with sifting, is what really changed the game for me.

Nice cut silver man and the condition of that shield nickle is rare!!


~Blaze

Thanks JB! When I saw it I thought 'damn, its a nickel'... then I wiped the dirt off and was thinking 'WOW'! Its only the second shield nickel I've dug and the first one you can only identify with the light just right.

[pepperj]

Congrats on the piece of eight, really cool the way you segmented around back complete. Really nice mitt full of finds.

[BTV Digger]

Fantastic finds and a great story. The MD gods shined on you after the long wait. Congrats!

John

[toasted]

Congrats on the awesome cut 8. Ive dug an insane amount of late 19th century coinage from onesite this year. I could go there now and dig big iron all day. If the farmer would just turn it over im confident it would be like a new site but he practices no till I still go there on ocassion to dig iron and sometimes still make a good find

[Bill D. (VA)]

I'm surprised this post hasn't gotten more attention. Finding a cut 8 reale is an outstanding accomplishment, and one very few can brag about. And add in all the other excellent finds and I'd say you had quite a day. Nice job Brad!!