Bavaria Mike
Gold Member
- Feb 7, 2005
- 8,340
- 177
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab XT70, Fisher 1280, Garrett Ace 250 and MH5
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Was having a great weekend up until Sunday afternoon. Saturday, my friend Ray invited me down for a hunt. Spent most of the day detecting, chatting and having a great time. His wife made us some awesome ribs that fell off the bone for dinner, after that good food, I was through! We only found the usual German finds of mid 1800s to early 1900s but it was great fun and thatās what it is all about. Sunday afternoon was another beautiful day so I went out for a drive through my area in search of the perfect spot. Found myself at a medieval castle at the edge of my permitted detecting area, an area where I suspected a watch tower just had to be! I parked, got my gear ready and made the hike up this hill. Very steep and not easy to access, easier on the other side where I made the climb than this picture shows. To the left is a valley with a river, to the right is the castle where a small town once was at the base of the castle, it was washed away by a flood in the late 1700s.
After hiking to the top, I took a quick break then snapped some pictures. Started looking for areas I can detect, my detecting permit limits me so I have to find the areas that fit within the law, sometimes those areas have me dancing on the edge but, I can back it up, provide argument and justification. Hereās the castle.
I was looking for natural eroded areas to detect around the mountain sides and also looking for a watch tower base of sort. Just off to the side where I took the castle picture was an area I could detect, a few meters away was a cliff, 100 meter drop. I swung the coil over a few rocks not expecting anything and got a good signal, repeated several times so I dug. A shovel is no good in this environment so I was using a small trowel and a screwdriver between this crevice where the target was. The forest is alive and very noisy as it is autumn here, leaves and acorns falling, leaves rushing with small wind bursts, I saw several squirrels jumping limbs making a loud whoosh. Then I thought I heard foot steps behind me and turned around in time to see someone coming up on me. I said hello as I picked up my shovel. The stranger says hello, what are you doing? I explained metal detecting, history interest, archaeology. He comes back with saying I need a permit to do this. I said I have one. He wants to see it, I say itās in the car. He says if I have a permit I should have it with me, that is true by law, but it is in the car far down the mountain side. I agree to show him the permit after I finish the dig as I am required by law, I make him wait 15 minutes even though I realized soon the signal is under another rock I can not reasonably dig out. Walking down the hill, I interrogate him as he was doing to me, he would not give me his name and I stopped and said if he did not give me his name I will show him nothing and asked what he was afraid of. He gave me his name, no ID, and stated he was a court Judge. I did realize he was smarter than the average bear and continued to the car. He made a few snide comments along the way like why a foreigner was interested in German archaeology and why a foreigner could have a permit. I had really bad thoughts walking down the small path along a cliff with a shovel in my hand. Arrived at the car, showed him the permit, he was very happy to see the sentence that states I have to have the permit with me. Asked to see my passport/ID to verify who I am on the permit, I show him and ask if he is happy that he ruined my day! Words exchanged between us as I put my documents away. Then he had the nerve to ask to see my permit again as he did not notice if it is up to date. I stepped towards him, said that is enough, we are done and you need to move on. Any other questions should be directed to the archaeology department. This will never happen again as I will be even more prepared next time. The only reason I allowed this jerk to get so far with me is because my actions affect every detector, half this German state prohibits detecting. Had this dumb jerk came upon someone else illegally detecting, he could have been easily pushed over the edge of the cliff, it was that close! If I hear anything from the archaeology department, I will go to the police with harassment charges however, I donāt really know if that is his real name but I did look up his name in the phone book and it is there. I eventually found the base of an old tower after the fiasco.
Hereās the finds, most were found detecting with my friend Ray. 3 lead seals and 3 musket balls.
A few relics. A watch winder, thimble, brooch that was gold plated with 4 green stones that look like glass, a fancy hinge, a clock winder and a button.
Some coins, late 1800s to early 1900s. Upper right are two French coins, bigger coin is a 1947 aluminum 1 Franc.
A 100 gram bowl weight I found in Bavaria last weekend, dates to the mid 1800s. You can see the 100G at the bottom of the weight, there are 3 hallmarks or quality marks in it as well, one can be seen near the āGā. These were shaped like a bowl so other weights could be stacked inside each other saving space, I have almost two complete sets now, missing a few to complete the second set. I think my friend Ray found the top from a weight container this weekend.
Believe it or not, this outhouse is rare in Germany. I have looked and asked around but they are hard to find and really are not old by German standards. I am researching this house and trying to gain permission to detect it. Doubt I get permission to dig the outhouse and not sure I would want to as it was probably used even after WWII.
Here is the house I am trying to gain permission to detect, the out house is also seen in this picture in the middle. I saw a sketch of the house in the townās history book that dates to 200 years old, it has not changed at all. Around the whole house the owner has a garden and where this picture was taken was a town well, note the dug garden to the right. Behind the house was part of the townās market place or center of town, it is also a garden ready to detect. This is in front of my apartment beside a church, hard to explain but it is somewhat hidden. Tried to keep it short, LOL. HH, Mike
After hiking to the top, I took a quick break then snapped some pictures. Started looking for areas I can detect, my detecting permit limits me so I have to find the areas that fit within the law, sometimes those areas have me dancing on the edge but, I can back it up, provide argument and justification. Hereās the castle.
I was looking for natural eroded areas to detect around the mountain sides and also looking for a watch tower base of sort. Just off to the side where I took the castle picture was an area I could detect, a few meters away was a cliff, 100 meter drop. I swung the coil over a few rocks not expecting anything and got a good signal, repeated several times so I dug. A shovel is no good in this environment so I was using a small trowel and a screwdriver between this crevice where the target was. The forest is alive and very noisy as it is autumn here, leaves and acorns falling, leaves rushing with small wind bursts, I saw several squirrels jumping limbs making a loud whoosh. Then I thought I heard foot steps behind me and turned around in time to see someone coming up on me. I said hello as I picked up my shovel. The stranger says hello, what are you doing? I explained metal detecting, history interest, archaeology. He comes back with saying I need a permit to do this. I said I have one. He wants to see it, I say itās in the car. He says if I have a permit I should have it with me, that is true by law, but it is in the car far down the mountain side. I agree to show him the permit after I finish the dig as I am required by law, I make him wait 15 minutes even though I realized soon the signal is under another rock I can not reasonably dig out. Walking down the hill, I interrogate him as he was doing to me, he would not give me his name and I stopped and said if he did not give me his name I will show him nothing and asked what he was afraid of. He gave me his name, no ID, and stated he was a court Judge. I did realize he was smarter than the average bear and continued to the car. He made a few snide comments along the way like why a foreigner was interested in German archaeology and why a foreigner could have a permit. I had really bad thoughts walking down the small path along a cliff with a shovel in my hand. Arrived at the car, showed him the permit, he was very happy to see the sentence that states I have to have the permit with me. Asked to see my passport/ID to verify who I am on the permit, I show him and ask if he is happy that he ruined my day! Words exchanged between us as I put my documents away. Then he had the nerve to ask to see my permit again as he did not notice if it is up to date. I stepped towards him, said that is enough, we are done and you need to move on. Any other questions should be directed to the archaeology department. This will never happen again as I will be even more prepared next time. The only reason I allowed this jerk to get so far with me is because my actions affect every detector, half this German state prohibits detecting. Had this dumb jerk came upon someone else illegally detecting, he could have been easily pushed over the edge of the cliff, it was that close! If I hear anything from the archaeology department, I will go to the police with harassment charges however, I donāt really know if that is his real name but I did look up his name in the phone book and it is there. I eventually found the base of an old tower after the fiasco.
Hereās the finds, most were found detecting with my friend Ray. 3 lead seals and 3 musket balls.
A few relics. A watch winder, thimble, brooch that was gold plated with 4 green stones that look like glass, a fancy hinge, a clock winder and a button.
Some coins, late 1800s to early 1900s. Upper right are two French coins, bigger coin is a 1947 aluminum 1 Franc.
A 100 gram bowl weight I found in Bavaria last weekend, dates to the mid 1800s. You can see the 100G at the bottom of the weight, there are 3 hallmarks or quality marks in it as well, one can be seen near the āGā. These were shaped like a bowl so other weights could be stacked inside each other saving space, I have almost two complete sets now, missing a few to complete the second set. I think my friend Ray found the top from a weight container this weekend.
Believe it or not, this outhouse is rare in Germany. I have looked and asked around but they are hard to find and really are not old by German standards. I am researching this house and trying to gain permission to detect it. Doubt I get permission to dig the outhouse and not sure I would want to as it was probably used even after WWII.
Here is the house I am trying to gain permission to detect, the out house is also seen in this picture in the middle. I saw a sketch of the house in the townās history book that dates to 200 years old, it has not changed at all. Around the whole house the owner has a garden and where this picture was taken was a town well, note the dug garden to the right. Behind the house was part of the townās market place or center of town, it is also a garden ready to detect. This is in front of my apartment beside a church, hard to explain but it is somewhat hidden. Tried to keep it short, LOL. HH, Mike
Upvote
0