1600s maravedis copper (my oldest coin), two other coppers + relics

Ridirtdigger

Greenie
Oct 28, 2014
19
97
South County, RI
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 350
Garrett AT Pro
Garrett AT Gold
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
1600's maravedis copper (my oldest coin), two other coppers + relics

I was in California for the past week (fun time) so I was not able to do any detecting. I got back Thursday evening and knew the first thing I was gonna do on Friday was head out into the woods and hit a few cellar holes. I headed off into CT into an area that has been hammered over the years but I knew there had to be a few less obvious sites that have been hit much less over the years. My first site was pretty hammered and also trashed, managed one button there. My 2nd site looked very promising, until I saw an active path right near it. No targets around the cellar hole but I found a few relics away from the hole. Weird site was built right at the edge of a steep hill. On to site number three... This site involved some serious bushwacking, I started out on an old abandoned road but soon cut into the woods following a very overgrown path. That path soon disappeared and the rest of the y was bushwacking through some thick mountain laurel. I crossed a river near the remains of an old dam, hiked up a hill and then I saw her, a nice big cellar hole with a massive chimney that was still pretty much intact at the base. I started swinging right away, first target was a lead bullet but after around 10 minutes I get a classic high tone on the AT Pro right on the cellar hole lip. I said "Yup that's a copper" and indeed it was. 1797 Draped bust large cent, my oldest US large cent. Reverse of the coin is in very good shape. I left soon after that as I was low on fluids and beginning to feel dehydrated. I told my buddy Jarrod that I have a site for us to hit for the next day. Saturday morning we headed back to the site. We start digging buttons right away before I get one of my favorite relics, a ramrod guide to a Brown Bess! Thank you Isaac P for identifying this piece for me. About a minute later I get a high tone and call Jarrod over to listen to me. He said "coin" and of course it was, 1818 matron head. I've found more 1818 matron heads than any other date. Weird. Not too long after that I get a 70's signal, and pull out a very thin copper disc but with no shank. We then notice it has roman numerals all over it. On one side are the numbers "16" and "XI (with a small 8 below XI)" and on the other side are "VIII" and "VII". Jarrod tells me he thinks its one of the Spanish copper piece of 8 coins and that's what it is. A Spanish maravedis, the roman numerals being countermarks for revaluations that had occurred over the years. I do not know the exact age of this coin but I am assuming it is on the earlier side of the 17th century rather than the later side. Any additional info would be appreciated. Any ways after tha IMG_6272.JPG IMG_6311.JPG IMG_6310.JPG IMG_6307.JPG IMG_6306.JPG IMG_6282.JPG IMG_6281.JPG IMG_6303.JPG IMG_6291.JPG IMG_6290.JPG IMG_6295.JPG IMG_6294.JPG IMG_6289.JPG IMG_6298.JPG IMG_6292.JPG IMG_6276.JPG IMG_6273.JPG IMG_6312.JPG t Jarrod calls me over and tells me he has a buckle with nice silver gilt. Little did he know he had a complete silver applied knee buckle! The pins do not move but it is still one of the nicest looking knee buckles I have seen. Big congrats to him on that awesome find. Eventually the finds started to slow down and we made the decision to hike deeper into the woods in search of another site I knew was out there. Well, we found the site but we will have to wait until winter on this one. Its an oldie for sure but so overgrown there's probably no more than 10 feet of open swinging room. It also had some turn of the century farm junk dumped in it being that it is in the woods behind a massive farm (farm is private property) and would likely have been still open back in the day. Oh well. But another great hunt and great site. Hoping for many more weekends like this. Happy hunting all!
 

Upvote 16

digging440yrs

Gold Member
Dec 5, 2012
5,946
4,410
UPSTATE NEW YORK
Detector(s) used
1970 COMPASS-
WHITES SILVER EAGLE-
WHITES DFX, 4X6DD COIL, 6X8DD COIL, 950 COIL, 10X12SEF COIL-
GARRETT PRO POINTER AT, GARRETT AT PRO , MINELAB EXPLORER SE with 8.5x12.5 Cors coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great finds !!! The buckle is sweet :occasion14:
 

Ahab8

Gold Member
Oct 15, 2013
8,408
8,288
Topsham, Maine
🥇 Banner finds
2
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Teknetics T2 SE w/15' SEF Coil/ Minelab GPX 4500/2 Garrett Pro Pointers/3 Sets Killer B Headphones/ Koss Headphones/ Detekniy Wireless headphone Adapter
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Fantastic finds! What are the chances of 2 1600s Spanish coppers from the US being posted so close to each other? Very nice indeed my friend
 

Scrappy

Gold Member
Mar 6, 2014
9,204
14,019
17th century
🥇 Banner finds
7
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Minelab CTX 3030 & XP Deus
Primary Interest:
Other
Holy CRAP that is a beautiful knee buckle!!! Looks like a great spot you found can't wait to hear about more in the winter.
 

Isaac

Hero Member
Oct 11, 2013
773
1,335
Fairfax, Virginia
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3
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Whites MXT All Pro, Garrett AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
What an insane day Jim! That brown bess ramrod guide is super! You thought it was a calligraphy pen? Hard to find them as whole as that one. Awesome coppers too.. especially the early copper cob. Your friend's knee buckle is absolutely superb! Can't wait till we hunt together soon brotha!!!
 

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,153
19,933
NEW ENGLAND
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1
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WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
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All Treasure Hunting

Jyverb64

Hero Member
Oct 30, 2012
951
1,184
Upstate NY
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800
Minelab Explorer Se Pro
Garrett Pro-Pointer
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Awesome coppers and a beautiful buckle, congrats
 

Diggin Dude

Silver Member
Apr 6, 2014
2,750
3,834
New York
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Tarsacci MDT 8000
XP DEUS II
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Awesome finds!!!! That Spanish copper is a dream find! Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to your winter report when you get back out there. Congrats and HH
 

tomhighland

Bronze Member
Sep 26, 2015
1,419
1,511
In MI woods
Detector(s) used
AT PRO
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Great finds! You deserve finds like those after all that effort. Congratulations and good luck on the return trip.
 

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,123
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
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4
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Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
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Absolutely killer finds. The Spanish Copper is a first rate recovery--and that buckle is stunning!
 

Rick (Nova Scotia)

Silver Member
May 8, 2008
4,098
2,711
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3
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3
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Omega, F75, AT Pro
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Fantastic copper, and buckle. A good hunt for both of you.
 

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