george77
Greenie
Hi Folks,
Great to be here. Finally bought a detector and got out there. My first "find", aside from trash, ironically was not metal, but was a $20 gift card for Blockbuster Video, found at a playground.
The next time out, detecting in the woods where I played as a kid, I found my first coins, all clad, 28 cents. But then, my fifth coin was a real surprise--an 1897 Barber dime. It was just sitting out in the open on the edge of an eroded ledge, near what was probably an old train stop platform from long ago. Tragically, the coin is bent and gouged, probably by having been stepped on in this very rocky land.
In that same vicinity I found a lead musket ball, probably from colonial times, again sitting on top of the ground, just under a brush pile.
But some of the best finds were found just by watching the ground. I found a Native American shard of pottery with diagonal-horizontal-diagonal design (seemingly typical of the northeastern tribes of 1400-1650, or so), probably owned by the Susquehannock or Iroquois, or perhaps Delaware people. Also found a broken piece of stone jewelery, appearing to have been a pendant or gorget. The eyelet drill hole was a dead giveaway that it was Native American. It's made of a dull green rock. And finally, I also had found what might be a stone musket ball, as these were sometimes made and used instead of lead.
I've done a lot of local history research, which has paid off in a way. It's about my hometown, so I had several motives to learn about it. But anyway, this area I was searching in sits either nearby or right on top of a pre-colonial to colonial-times Native American town. However, I believe it also sits on top of what used to be the town dump of the pre-waste management time period. And then, to further complicate things, there's been plenty of partying, exploring and bike trail making going on for the last 30 years or so. Needless to say it is an extremely trashy site. But as we've seen, it does pay off to give such places a thorough look.
I'll try to get some pictures on here. My only digital camera is a cheap keychain camera, though. So, my apologies if they are not discernible.
Happy Hunting,
George
Great to be here. Finally bought a detector and got out there. My first "find", aside from trash, ironically was not metal, but was a $20 gift card for Blockbuster Video, found at a playground.
The next time out, detecting in the woods where I played as a kid, I found my first coins, all clad, 28 cents. But then, my fifth coin was a real surprise--an 1897 Barber dime. It was just sitting out in the open on the edge of an eroded ledge, near what was probably an old train stop platform from long ago. Tragically, the coin is bent and gouged, probably by having been stepped on in this very rocky land.
In that same vicinity I found a lead musket ball, probably from colonial times, again sitting on top of the ground, just under a brush pile.
But some of the best finds were found just by watching the ground. I found a Native American shard of pottery with diagonal-horizontal-diagonal design (seemingly typical of the northeastern tribes of 1400-1650, or so), probably owned by the Susquehannock or Iroquois, or perhaps Delaware people. Also found a broken piece of stone jewelery, appearing to have been a pendant or gorget. The eyelet drill hole was a dead giveaway that it was Native American. It's made of a dull green rock. And finally, I also had found what might be a stone musket ball, as these were sometimes made and used instead of lead.
I've done a lot of local history research, which has paid off in a way. It's about my hometown, so I had several motives to learn about it. But anyway, this area I was searching in sits either nearby or right on top of a pre-colonial to colonial-times Native American town. However, I believe it also sits on top of what used to be the town dump of the pre-waste management time period. And then, to further complicate things, there's been plenty of partying, exploring and bike trail making going on for the last 30 years or so. Needless to say it is an extremely trashy site. But as we've seen, it does pay off to give such places a thorough look.
I'll try to get some pictures on here. My only digital camera is a cheap keychain camera, though. So, my apologies if they are not discernible.
Happy Hunting,
George
