Well, here we go again - more hammered silver!

[Bill D. (VA)]

Made trip #2 today back to the hammered site with the GPX-4000. Worked the area where the 2nd scattered cache was found 3 years ago for at least 2 hours, and had nothing to show for my efforts. Then I ventured back to the area where I found the 2 sixpences a few days ago, and swung slow and perpendicular to the direction I hunted before. Wasn't long before I got a nice signal, but it was a little too strong and I suspected iron again. But after shoveling out the hole to about 15", out popped a huge Charles I shilling (31 mm diameter). The triangle mint mark indicates the coin was made at the Tower Mint in London during 1639-40. Not quite as old as some of the others, but I'll definitely take it. This increases the total number of hammered coins to come from this site to 26. I've hit both areas pretty hard, and I'm not that optimistic that any more will come out, but I'm going to hit it a few more times while I still have access to this extremely deep machine. Video and pics below......

 

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[Bill D. (VA)]

Re: Hey DMN

Another nice find. Have you been able to map your findings to see if there is some direction to the spilled coins? Perhaps by the plowing the coins have distributed and you may be able to work back or forward to find the stragglers.

The coins have been found in 2 distinct areas not far from each other (maybe 150 ft apart). In the first area there were 8 found (now 11 with the recent finds), and they were within a 100 ft long by 50 ft wide area. These were all found one at a time scattered about within the zone I described. They have been found anywhere from 22" deep to laying on top of the ground. The others were found in a tighter area - maybe a 50 ft diameter - and 8 of those were dug from a single hole. I was just barely able to detect one coin, but when I opened the hole up I discovered there were 7 more buried deeper right under the first. A couple have been found randomly outside these 2 areas. My thoughts are that they were deliberately buried, and that at some point a deep plowing pulled some up to the surface. If not for that I doubt we would have ever found them. My strategy now is to hit these 2 areas very hard and slow, digging every signal, then expand out to adjacent areas. Its possible another hoard or 2 that was too deep to detect (before I started using the GPX) was missed. Anyway, I've got another 5-6 weeks to use the borrowed GPX, so I'd better get busy. Thanks for your comments ..... Bill

Just intrigues me. Maybe when you dig the holes for the first find you can open it up enough to get your coil in there so you can see if it gets a signal from that point. I have done it with some reasonable results. This way you can exploit the digging you made with the first pass. Hopefully you have latitude to do some excavating (not like digging a pit....). Good luck, and keep the pics coming. Just makes my imagination kick in to high gear to understand what people were spending time in breeches and buckle shoes at that time; especially in the pre colonial America.
Have you found anything else there other than the coins?

We found lots of other stuff including artifacts dug from an early trash pit. If you're interested, send me your email address and I'll send you a copy of a magazine article I wrote that documents all the finds we've made here, including pics.

 

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[Bugsterx2]

Hi Bill,

Don't know you, but with all of those here on the forum that do, there's no doubt in my mind this is the real deal. Absolutely amazing finds! It's almost as if you stumbled upon a "Mini Atocha" except you don't have to pay thousands to participate in the hunt!! Please,Please keep the pics coming so the rest of us believers can enjoy the history! Thanks!

P.S. I would like a copy of that article!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Look if most people want to believe that coin in the video was just unearthed after 300 years in the ground looking that good, be my guest. But that coin was not in the ground for any length of time. By the way I got a bridge for sale real cheap.

How much
Is this a figurative bridge spanning the dark waters of distrust & conspiracy but leads to a land of believing, reasoning, and common sense? If so, maybe let him keep it.

Well said

 

[hikeinmts]

Again, I am livid with jealousy......but am hoping that you keep popping those chunks of silver out of the earth.
Bill, I am a "Bill" too. My hunting area is in S. Korea. Many times I am in areas that have hundreds of years of accumulated
leaves/brush/etc that have added many inches to the depth that I have to get through to find the older coins.
So, I scrape the tops of mountain trails......scrape maybe 1/2 or 3/4 of a foot of leaves, topsoil off the top.....that gets me down
to the deep deep coins that I find. Maybe, after you think that you have all the coins out of the ground that you can reach with your machine, you might go over those two areas that are producing, and spend a couple of hours hoeing/raking/removing a foot of topsoil, and then go back over the areas. Might produce some that are just out of reach. Just a thought......don't know if you want to go to that much trouble. I think, if I were you, that I would.
Just a thought, from a fan. Keep it high!!!!

 

[1235CE]

Wow, thought I would chime in here as well.......I often get frustrated with "fake posts", (such as a questionable recent cache) and have made my feelings known in the past because it is absolutely insulting for someone to try to pass of something as "dug" when it is clearly not.........

With that said, I have been following these posts by Bill for a while and never for one minute did I think any of his finds were "fake". These are absolutely dug coins, no question about it.

Bookfisher, I really do understand your frustration but just take a look at the first picture of the coin in Bill's hand underneath the video.........surely you must see the dirt on, and in the crevices of that coin..........also, please notice that his hands are dirty at this point............then.........take a look at the next picture where you see that the coin has been rinsed with water and notice also that Bill's hands are clean..........not a rocket scientist but one can safely assume that his hands are clean because he cleaned the coin in the field.......really, enough said here........keep up the great digs Bill and congrats to you and your hunting buddies!

HH all!

Greg

 

[bookfisher]

Here's what I find troubling: Why is it that many of the most incredible and rarest finds posted either have come from sandy soil, or are in near uncirculated condition with no toning or staining, or have mud stuck on them or fresh dirt poured on them. Why aren't any incredible, mind blowing finds coming from Massachusetts, which is the second oldest area in the country. Why? Because there is no sandy soil to try to explain the undug condition, so nobody bothers to post one. Yes there have been plenty of great finds from the Northeast, but nothing compared to the sandy soil area. And now the sandy soil stretches from South Carolina to Virginia. Also, the hammered from Virginia was dug at 15 inces, why is it still kind of moist at that depth and the soil doesn't look that sandy. Now to the condition of the coins, that all are pretty worn and not valuable from a collector's point of view. They all could be bought fairly inexpensively. Wouldn't you think there would be a fairly valuable one or a coin that didn't have alot of circulation which is usually the case in find a hoard. One of the coins in the hoard is a hammered Elizabeth. One of our members from the UK who has dug many, many coins over 20 years has never found a hammered Elizabeth, but lo and behold one is found in Virginia. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Now to many of you I may be the biggest creep and A hole on this forum, and if I am wrong about this hoard, and it was truly dug, all I can say is I'm sorry and I am an A hole, but after six years on this forum looking at hundreds or thousands of posted coins (some dug and some not) my gut tells me somethings not right.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Here's what I find troubling: Why is it that many of the most incredible and rarest finds posted either have come from sandy soil, or are in near uncirculated condition with no toning or staining, or have mud stuck on them or fresh dirt poured on them. Why aren't any incredible, mind blowing finds coming from Massachusetts, which is the second oldest area in the country. Why? Because there is no sandy soil to try to explain the undug condition, so nobody bothers to post one. Yes there have been plenty of great finds from the Northeast, but nothing compared to the sandy soil area. And now the sandy soil stretches from South Carolina to Virginia. Also, the hammered from Virginia was dug at 15 inces, why is it still kind of moist at that depth and the soil doesn't look that sandy. Now to the condition of the coins, that all are pretty worn and not valuable from a collector's point of view. They all could be bought fairly inexpensively. Wouldn't you think there would be a fairly valuable one or a coin that didn't have alot of circulation which is usually the case in find a hoard. One of the coins in the hoard is a hammered Elizabeth. One of our members from the UK who has dug many, many coins over 20 years has never found a hammered Elizabeth, but lo and behold one is found in Virginia. The whole thing just doesn't make sense. Now to many of you I may be the biggest creep and A hole on this forum, and if I am wrong about this hoard, and it was truly dug, all I can say is I'm sorry and I am an A hole, but after six years on this forum looking at hundreds or thousands of posted coins (some dug and some not) my gut tells me somethings not right.

Now that you've simmered down a bit, let me give you some additional details on how the coins happened to end up at this site. Here's something I previously posted about what my research revealed:

"I've done a bunch of research on this site, and have uncovered some very interesting info. The owner of the property where the coins were found (who I cannot name for obvious reasons) was a supporter of Charles I of England who was overthrown and beheaded in 1649 during the English civil war. Many of the king's supporters fled the country and some headed to America to escape punishment or death. Some of these folks were quite wealthy and brought their hoards of gold and silver coinage with them. So I'm quite sure the coins were buried at the site for safekeeping. Additional research (from an actual article in a colonial newspaper from the early 1700s) revealed that a slave found an extremely large hoard of gold and silver coins in an abandoned home across the creek from where I found my coins. The owner had apparently died unexpectedly, and nobody knew the whereabouts of his fortune. This person had also come to Virginia as a result of the English civil war. (I actually have permission to hunt that site too, but have found only one 17th century cob so far.) And he married the daughter of the owner of the property where I found all the hammered coins. Anyway, based on this, I feel there could be many more coins at the site where I found the others, and that is why I've borrowed a GPX-4000 so I can go much deeper and maybe find more coins or even a larger hoard(s). Gonna be fun to try anyway."

 

[metalev4]

All the hammered coins were dug and are legitimate...

I was there when the first Cache was found. I was the first to see the initial hammered dug and witnessed the second one lying on top of the ground. We proceeded to dig several more. Most came out shiny with loose sand attached, a few had black tarnish, the soil is very kind to early silver at this site. Bill is one of my best friends and we have been hunting together for 4 years. His research skills and integrity are bar none. I would be glad to post the 2 shillings and six pence that I dug from this site in like condition.
-Evan

 

[Woodland Detectors]

WOW!!!!


Amazing Again Bill

 

[gwdigger]

Re: All the hammered coins were dug and are legitimate...

I was there when the first Cache was found. I was the first to see the initial hammered dug and witnessed the second one lying on top of the ground. We proceeded to dig several more. Most came out shiny with loose sand attached, a few had black tarnish, the soil is very kind to early silver at this site. Bill is one of my best friends and we have been hunting together for 4 years. His research skills and integrity are bar none. I would be glad to post the 2 shillings and six pence that I dug from this site in like condition.
-Evan

I would love to see them. I have no doubts whatsoever that you fellars dug this stuff.

 

[Steve in PA]

I stand behind Bill D. I know the man personally and he has no reason to fake these type things. He lives in one of the most history rich regions of the country, he knows how to research, and he knows how to follow up on his research with a metal detector in his hand. Furthermore, here in western Pennsylvania, colonial silver usually needs no more than a rinsing with warm water. It usually comes out of the ground with little more than some light tarnish. I have dug enough of it to know as you can see by these coins.

Sorry Bookfisher, your comments were out of line and I think you owe Bill an apology.

 

[bookfisher]

I stand behind Bill D. I know the man personally and he has no reason to fake these type things. He lives in one of the most history rich regions of the country, he knows how to research, and he knows how to follow up on his research with a metal detector in his hand. Furthermore, here in western Pennsylvania, colonial silver usually needs no more than a rinsing with warm water. It usually comes out of the ground with little more than some light tarnish. I have dug enough of it to know as you can see by these coins.

Sorry Bookfisher, your comments were out of line and I think you owe Bill an apology.

Okay, I was wrong and stand corrected. To Bill D, I do owe you an apology and I'm sorry for my off base accusations. In the future there will be no more accusations or negative posts from me.

 

[gwdigger]

I stand behind Bill D. I know the man personally and he has no reason to fake these type things. He lives in one of the most history rich regions of the country, he knows how to research, and he knows how to follow up on his research with a metal detector in his hand. Furthermore, here in western Pennsylvania, colonial silver usually needs no more than a rinsing with warm water. It usually comes out of the ground with little more than some light tarnish. I have dug enough of it to know as you can see by these coins.

Sorry Bookfisher, your comments were out of line and I think you owe Bill an apology.

Okay, I was wrong and stand corrected. To Bill D, I do owe you an apology and I'm sorry for my off base accusations. In the future there will be no more accusations or negative posts from me.

Awesome

 

[Don in SJ]

WTG again Bill, loved seeing another hammered coming from that historic site! That sure is a big silver, about inch and quarter, wow! I do hope even more will come from there before you finally consider it done with the borrowed detector. Of course if that cotton field gets plowed deep that sure would be a bonus in the future(not being a field hunter anymore so lacking in some knowledge there, other than I know disturbed ground can reposition a coin that was previously on edge and more easily missed). It seems like deep plowing of years gone by is going bye bye.

Don

 

[Captn SE]

I stand behind Bill D. I know the man personally and he has no reason to fake these type things. He lives in one of the most history rich regions of the country, he knows how to research, and he knows how to follow up on his research with a metal detector in his hand. Furthermore, here in western Pennsylvania, colonial silver usually needs no more than a rinsing with warm water. It usually comes out of the ground with little more than some light tarnish. I have dug enough of it to know as you can see by these coins.

Sorry Bookfisher, your comments were out of line and I think you owe Bill an apology.

Okay, I was wrong and stand corrected. To Bill D, I do owe you an apology and I'm sorry for my off base accusations. In the future there will be no more accusations or negative posts from me.

BF, your comment just put a smile on my face!!

I was hoping for a similar comment from a couple of folks after a series of posts I made on another forum was challenged, but it never happened. You have a lot of integrity to admit you stand corrected, and I commend you for that!

I've dug over 1500 silver coins out of the ground in just over 3 years of dedicated detecting. I can tell you there's no 'ONE' way a silver coin should look like after being dug. Most of my silvers have been dug within an 80 mile radius of my home. I have found barber dimes down to 9" that looked as good as the day they were lost, while also digging mercs/rosies from 6-8" that had so much oxidation on them, I could barely make out a date and mintmark. The soil, fertilizer, and moisture can vary greatly from one area to the next(even from park to park in the same city), and the dug shape of silver coins/jewelry will also be just as diverse.

Bill, your finds from VA are truly amazing!! Just awesome recoveries!! You have us all drooling!! I do have a request from you, if it's not too difficult. I'd love to hear what a super deep target from the GPX sounds like. If you could record a deep signal before you dig, I'd really appreciate that! I made quite a few detecting videos, and I know the viewing audience loves to hear the tone of a pre-dug "deepie"!!

Don't ever give up looking for finds like that. I've gone back to the same productive areas countless times, and am always pleasantly surprised at what I can find on successive trips there. Persistence, persistence, persistence!!

Congrats,
CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[AlaskaAng]

Congratulations, I'd love to find a hammered silver, it would be a dream come true! I guess I'd need to get closer to the east coast!
Keep up the great finds!
HH,
Ang

 

[Eric Willoughby]

Congratulations, I'd love to find a hammered silver, it would be a dream come true! I guess I'd need to get closer to the east coast!
Keep up the great finds!
HH,
Ang

Truly this is where the expression "the pasture is always greener on the other side" comes into play. There are many of us on the east coast that would do absolutely anything for a chance to be in Alaska for a shot at the gold that you all have there.

 

[AlaskaAng]

Cap'n,

You got it! I'll be doing more gold dredging, sluicing and highbanking than metal detecting up here this summer! I just ordered a 2.5" highbanker to play with when I'm not in the water with my dredge...can't wait to get it!

We're planning on a vacation with the camper to the east coast and hopefully find some real old stuff next summer! I was stationed in NC from 96' to 2000 and did some CW relic hunting and also worked the beaches after the hurricanes! I love to work the farm fields, that's were I found these CW beauties!

Have fun!
Ang

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

I stand behind Bill D. I know the man personally and he has no reason to fake these type things. He lives in one of the most history rich regions of the country, he knows how to research, and he knows how to follow up on his research with a metal detector in his hand. Furthermore, here in western Pennsylvania, colonial silver usually needs no more than a rinsing with warm water. It usually comes out of the ground with little more than some light tarnish. I have dug enough of it to know as you can see by these coins.

Sorry Bookfisher, your comments were out of line and I think you owe Bill an apology.

Okay, I was wrong and stand corrected. To Bill D, I do owe you an apology and I'm sorry for my off base accusations. In the future there will be no more accusations or negative posts from me.

Apology accepted BF. Now we can all get back to enjoying this wonderful hobby. Good luck to you ..... Bill

 

[traverdog]

Excellent!!!