I Found a Cache!!! But Why...WHY?!!?

[romeo-1]

I got out for a full day of detecting with a couple buds and our plan was to knock on doors and get on some new land. The first door knock was for an amazing looking site which had not been hunted and was old...and I almost convinced her to let us hunt. She did invite me back in a couple weeks so that she could think about it. No one was home on the next door knock but the third was a success...only problem was the sites had been detected before and they were pretty quiet today. Undaunted we hunted for a couple hours and after a bite to eat went searching for more new land. No one home on the next two door knocks so we threw in the towel and decided to hunt a site we had on standby...and I am glad we did.

After a quick chat with the landowners daughter we were off and hunting. I went right to the back end of the field where there is a patch we hadn't hunted much. At the bottom corner of the field I got a strange and deep signal. I dug it out and saw a cut copper in the dirt. I thought that was weird and checked the hole and saw more cut coppers! Then the first large silver came out and I knew I was on something good...and very strange! All of the coppers are 1864 New Brunswick One Cents! The Silvers are an 1854 US Half Dollar, a Victorian Half Crown, a Victorian Florin and a Victorian Shilling...all in the same hole and buried deep...below the plow line.

My question is why would someone cut up all of those coppers and bend and smash those silver and then bury them? Very strange...but despite the condition I could not be happier...everything is still easily identifiable so I am thrilled with that.

Also found a 1932 2 Ore and an1894 large cent in another part of the field.

Props to Iron Patch for assisting with the British silvers...I texted him from the field!

 

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[Chizzy]

Stunned!! Those cut copper edges look to be very clean.........and the pieces also seem to be fairly equal in size. That would indicate to me premeditation of intent.
A proud "quiet man" rejected the dowry..........??
In any case, that is an outstanding find and one to talk about for years to come. Congratulations, romeo-1!!

 

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[romeo-1]

Stunned!! Those cut copper edges look to be very clean.........and the pieces also seem to be fairly equal in size. That would indicate to me premeditation of intent.
A proud "quiet man" rejected the dowry..........??
In any case, that is an outstanding find and one to talk about for years to come. Congratulations, romeo-1!!

Thanks! The coppers were definitely cut with purpose and I was even able to mate several of them with their opposites!

 

[romeo-1]

What are you still doing here ! ! !

? Charge yer shiznat and get back on that property... kiss ass... rake leaves... fix leaky gutters... sweep dog turds for the owner if ya have too.

Ask them if they have a room for rent... A shed you can live in ... a doghouse... sheesh a sleeping bag in a pile of leaves, heh

Duty calls but I'll definitely be back there this weekend to dig a nice deep hole! These were found right in the corner of the field so it's possible that there may be more in the wooded area...but I suspect that if there is more to find it will be deeper than my detector can reach...thus the deep hole!

 

[Argentium]

What an interesting find ! My relationship with silversmithing , has me thinking that these coin bits may have been apportioned for melting in a crucible. These remnants seem to show contact with hammer and anvil - which is strongly suggestive of deliberate metal work .Much of domestic silver was fabricated with circulating coin prior to 1870. If such a workshop was evacuated suddenly due to a fire (another ingediant of metal working ) there could be more nearby .

 

[releventchair]

Congrats on a great recovery!

Coins could have been altered to allow being sewn into a seam?
They would not have jingled as well in a purse/poke either....

 

[Jason in Enid]

What an interesting find ! My relationship with silversmithing , has me thinking that these coin bits may have been apportioned for melting in a crucible. These remnants seem to show contact with hammer and anvil - which is strongly suggestive of deliberate metal work .Much of domestic silver was fabricated with circulating coin prior to 1870. If such a workshop was evacuated suddenly due to a fire (another ingediant of metal working ) there could be more nearby .

Very good thought! A small crucible would have required the items to be small to fit efficiently without bottle-necking. Maybe the enemy was getting close and items were hastily buried for safe keeping

 

[CRUSADER]

What an interesting find ! My relationship with silversmithing , has me thinking that these coin bits may have been apportioned for melting in a crucible. These remnants seem to show contact with hammer and anvil - which is strongly suggestive of deliberate metal work .Much of domestic silver was fabricated with circulating coin prior to 1870. If such a workshop was evacuated suddenly due to a fire (another ingediant of metal working ) there could be more nearby .

That was my second best guess. I've found coins cut down in prep for melting, but why not do that to the silver as well? Not sure why you would beat the hell out of them. (Although may soften them a little in readiness)

 

[Argentium]

Yes, it is odd that the silver coins seem to be folded in half or nearly so - while all the coppers (bronzes? ) are sheared - hmmm?? perhaps we look for reason where it doesn't exist ?

 

[Jason in Enid]

Yes, it is odd that the silver coins seem to be folded in half or nearly so - while all the coppers (bronzes? ) are sheared - hmmm?? perhaps we look for reason where it doesn't exist ?

Hahaha, I think most of us do this with everything!

 

[etex]

Maybe they preferred folding money over coins

 

[Isaac]

One of the weirdest finds I've ever seen. INCREDIBLE!!! Banner IMO

 

[digger460]

Yes very strange, but nice haul! Congrats

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

So cool, and so cruel.
I can imagine the fun with so many coins coming from the same hole. For the record I have yet to dig more than one old coin in a single hole.

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

That is such a fantastic but weird cache of finds.
My theory is that possibly the money was thought to be cursed.
They tried to break the power of the curse by cutting or folding each cursed coin. That's why the "halving" or breaking, if you will.
Then, when things like this were done, burial is always required.
A more thorough way, however, was to melt them down, but perhaps they had neither the means nor the time.
They wanted to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

Anyway, now you have a great cut coin collection. All together as a pile, the "cursed coins" is still a neat story.
And yes, this stuff was really done.
Congrats on the mini horde, love to find something like that myself. HH!

 

[ARC]

I like this idea…either that or witchcraft…haha! They are definitely legit so if someone thought they weren’t they would be sorry to know what they did…

Quit typing and go back digging ! sheesh

I am waiting for another post.

My logic is.. ... something that weird has GOT TO BE... only the beginning. heh

 

[romeo-1]

Quit typing and go back digging ! sheesh

I am waiting for another post.

My logic is.. ... something that weird has GOT TO BE... only the beginning. heh

Patience grasshopper...will be spending some serious time there with the big shovel this weekend!

 

[Prairie Prowler]

Super discovery nonetheless ..Congrats..I would sure be heading back for another Hunt!

 

[romeo-1]

As an aside...this NB One Cent also came from this site and only about 50 feet from where I found the cache. The vandals missed one!

 

[Jason in Enid]

As an aside...this NB One Cent also came from this site and only about 50 feet from where I found the cache. The vandals missed one!

Wow!!! That thing is B E A UTIFUL!! I think you need me to bring my CTX and 17" coil to help search this site!

PS, I also own a shovel and a strong back.

 

[btjbtj]

Strange, but very cool! Congrats! -Lisa & John