OutdoorAdv
Bronze Member
- Apr 16, 2013
- 2,457
- 3,350
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- XP Deus,
GPX 4500,
Equinox 800,
AT Max
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Two Thousand and Fifteen was a killer year for me! The majority of this post will be 90% of my finds which came from a single site. The other 10% came from various "normal" types of sites and I will put some of those pictures at the bottom.
I have been doing this for about 6 years, broken up into 3 years in the mid 90's and then the last 3 years. Of those 6 years, this year blew them all out of the water. My typical year would be a few Large Cents, a hand full of barber and later silver, a pile of IH's and wheat cents, CW bullets and various other relics. Last year I got more serious about doing some research to put myself on sites older than my typical Victorian Era house site.
I got my oldest copper this year which was a 1719 KGI and my oldest silver this year which was a 1722 cut Pistareen. But my favorite finds from this year are the relics.
My favorite coins for this year are:
My favorite relics this year are:
I met some really great people on t-net this year who I owe a lot of my success to. One person, who I really look up to, nudged me to try sifting a possible trash pit. Sifting was something I would have never tried and I honestly thought it would be a waste of time. Within the first hour of sifting I was covered in sweat and dirt and having the most fun I've ever had hunting. 50% or more of my finds this year have come from that trash pit. It turns out that when a pit is producing, it is (no joke) 10 times more fun than metal detecting. Opening my mind to the possibility of sifting has completely expanded this hobby for me.
Once I realized that my primary site was something a bit extraordinary (for me at least), I decided that all of the stuff I found there had to be isolated and displayed separately as a display of the history of one site. Best I can tell, this site existed from the early 18th century, through the Civil War, with the majority of activity from 1790-1840. After searching for some display case options, I decided to just build my own (another hobby of mine).
So, here is my custom case that houses 90% of what I found from April 2015 - Dec 2015.
It got to this point in two stages.
Stage 1 - the bottom.
Stage 2 - a month later, oh crap, I ran out of room = the top.
The main part of my top shelf has mostly Colonial Era relics. My favorites are the War of 1812 Bayonet, the Rev War Brown Bess Bayonet, Colonial Stirrups, (a lot of my favorites are iron) then my Complete Shoe Buckle (lots of complete frames, partial frames, chapes\tongues) the hand engraved colonial patch box plate, the 1600's bone\ivory violin bow frog, reconstructed 1820's Davenport bowl.... and a ton more. Just stare at the pictures... its what I do!
Left to right close up:
The very top has a bunch of slate pencils and various pottery and glass, including the Cannon Flask side
The lower case:
Left side - Right side
Lower case, top shelf: Left - Right: Mostly buttons and coins. Partial plate reconstructions in the background. A nice sickle is back there too.
A Closeup of how I have the coins displayed. They are propped up against a huge iron spike that I dug a couple of.
Lower case, middle shelf: Left - Right: My Civil War section, which is my second favorite to the Colonial Section. More plate reconstructions and some nice iron back there as well.
Lower case, bottom shelf: Left - Right: Mostly Iron since its the heaviest. I have 5 or 6 Colonial - 1800's Hoe Blades, a really nice Adze Head, some ax heads and a ton more. There's so much its just piled on top of itself.
And some choice finds of the rest of my 10% from other sites. This isn't everything, just the things I like. There's a handful of silver and IH's and lots of other relics that I don't have in here. I especially like the Rev War Sling Buckle, musket balls and lead flint holder dug next to the buckle, my nicest 1857 FE, and my nicest KG2 - 1734.
No clue how I can come close to having another year like this one, but I will certainly try... and it'll be a ton of fun regardless.
Thanks for looking and Happy New Year everyone.
I have been doing this for about 6 years, broken up into 3 years in the mid 90's and then the last 3 years. Of those 6 years, this year blew them all out of the water. My typical year would be a few Large Cents, a hand full of barber and later silver, a pile of IH's and wheat cents, CW bullets and various other relics. Last year I got more serious about doing some research to put myself on sites older than my typical Victorian Era house site.
I got my oldest copper this year which was a 1719 KGI and my oldest silver this year which was a 1722 cut Pistareen. But my favorite finds from this year are the relics.
My favorite coins for this year are:
- 1722 Cut Pistareen
- 1824 Bust Half
- 1784 2 reale
- 1816 2 reale
- 1776 1 reale
- 1787 1 reale
- 1773 Virginia Half Penny (times two)
- 1787 Connecticut Copper
- 11+ KG's
- 12 LCs
- 1857 Flying Eagle Cent
My favorite relics this year are:
- Springfield Pattern 1810 Bayonet
- Brown Bess Bayonet
- Revolutionary War Cartridge Box Buckle
- Complete Colonial Shoe Buckle
- Engraved Colonial Musket Patch Box Plate Cover
- Colonial Bone Violin Bow Frog
- Colonial era Stirrups (times two)
- Davenport pearlware bowl c.1805-1830 (reconstructed)
- US Cartridge Box Plate
- US Bit Boss (times two)
- US Shoulder Scales
- Rare "Pilgrim Hat" Telegraph Insulator
I met some really great people on t-net this year who I owe a lot of my success to. One person, who I really look up to, nudged me to try sifting a possible trash pit. Sifting was something I would have never tried and I honestly thought it would be a waste of time. Within the first hour of sifting I was covered in sweat and dirt and having the most fun I've ever had hunting. 50% or more of my finds this year have come from that trash pit. It turns out that when a pit is producing, it is (no joke) 10 times more fun than metal detecting. Opening my mind to the possibility of sifting has completely expanded this hobby for me.
Once I realized that my primary site was something a bit extraordinary (for me at least), I decided that all of the stuff I found there had to be isolated and displayed separately as a display of the history of one site. Best I can tell, this site existed from the early 18th century, through the Civil War, with the majority of activity from 1790-1840. After searching for some display case options, I decided to just build my own (another hobby of mine).
So, here is my custom case that houses 90% of what I found from April 2015 - Dec 2015.
It got to this point in two stages.
Stage 1 - the bottom.
Stage 2 - a month later, oh crap, I ran out of room = the top.
The main part of my top shelf has mostly Colonial Era relics. My favorites are the War of 1812 Bayonet, the Rev War Brown Bess Bayonet, Colonial Stirrups, (a lot of my favorites are iron) then my Complete Shoe Buckle (lots of complete frames, partial frames, chapes\tongues) the hand engraved colonial patch box plate, the 1600's bone\ivory violin bow frog, reconstructed 1820's Davenport bowl.... and a ton more. Just stare at the pictures... its what I do!
Left to right close up:
The very top has a bunch of slate pencils and various pottery and glass, including the Cannon Flask side
The lower case:
Left side - Right side
Lower case, top shelf: Left - Right: Mostly buttons and coins. Partial plate reconstructions in the background. A nice sickle is back there too.
A Closeup of how I have the coins displayed. They are propped up against a huge iron spike that I dug a couple of.
Lower case, middle shelf: Left - Right: My Civil War section, which is my second favorite to the Colonial Section. More plate reconstructions and some nice iron back there as well.
Lower case, bottom shelf: Left - Right: Mostly Iron since its the heaviest. I have 5 or 6 Colonial - 1800's Hoe Blades, a really nice Adze Head, some ax heads and a ton more. There's so much its just piled on top of itself.
And some choice finds of the rest of my 10% from other sites. This isn't everything, just the things I like. There's a handful of silver and IH's and lots of other relics that I don't have in here. I especially like the Rev War Sling Buckle, musket balls and lead flint holder dug next to the buckle, my nicest 1857 FE, and my nicest KG2 - 1734.
No clue how I can come close to having another year like this one, but I will certainly try... and it'll be a ton of fun regardless.
Thanks for looking and Happy New Year everyone.
Seriously, not worthy! That is REALLY impressive for one site.
Was a really nice surprise. Loved every minute of the ride this year.
