🥇 BANNER AHABS WHITE WHALE: 1652 PINE TREE & 1664 COB

[Ahab8]

What a day! I woke up very early and headed out. Had to stop for a 9 volt at a local store. There was a cop car sitting there with the number 8 on the side. I am extremely superstitious and 8 is my lucky number. In fact, I'm so superstitious that if I set an alarm or the microwave it has to end in 8. And when I go detecting I won't get out of my truck until the time ends in 8. Ok now that you all know how psychotic I am I can get to the finds. I got into the woods and instantly got lost. Lost for about 2 hours and my phone had no reception so I couldn't use google earth. I finally got myself oriented and got into the area I wanted to be in. The finds came slow but there was no modern trash so that was nice. I got a couple of deep round balls the found nothing about an hour. I decided I was going to just get down by the water and walk the edge. I've had some luck doing this in the past. Barely any signals at all. At one point the edge of the bank gave way and down I went. Got myself back up the hill and realized my setting had gotten screwed up. So I got my machine set up again and a couple minutes later I got a deep signal. Not a very good signal. But I dug a couple inches off the top and scanned it again. It sounded much better after that. I dug a nice big plug and it was still down below. Finally I got ahold of the object and pulled it out. I don't want to sound over dramatic here but some dirt fell off the coin and I could clearly see the branches of the tree. I swear I couldn't breath for a few seconds. I knew I had just dug Lifetime #1. On my wish list. It's a feeling that I can't put into words and for anybody who's felt it....well it's just incredible. Put that baby in my keeper case and finally regained my composure. I took a few steps and got another deep signal. Once I fought through the roots for about 20 minutes I got my fingers on a very thin disc. I pulled it out and had no idea what it was. I thought I could see a design but just packed it into another keeper case and carried on. A few minuts later I found a copper coin and a very old button.
I know how stupid this is going to sound but I'm gonna tell you guys anyway. After about 20 minutes I honestly had to look in my case because I just could not believe what I had just found. After I got home I emailed IP for some advice. He graciously helped me with some advice and a bit later and put both of the coins in lemon juice. I could not believe that the other mystery disc was a 1664 cob, another lifetime wish list find. And I am so damn happy to have a hammered coin in my collection.
Today was an absolute dream come true and the pay off for tons of research and lots of hours hiking through the woods digging holes. I'm glad I was able to share this day with my Tnet friends. You've all been very supportive.

 

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[detectahead]

Awesome!!!!! Great banner find! No need to say more!

 

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[Scrappy]

Ahhhh yes i never get tired of seeing these coins..At the top of my list..And to find one in a short period of time is the "Luck of the Irish"......

~Blaze

And my only Irish luck is the Irish flu....

I was just telling Abe I never tire of this post. Its at the top of my list as well.

 

[Ahab8]

And my only Irish luck is the Irish flu....

I was just telling Abe I never tire of this post. Its at the top of my list as well.

It was funny after I found those I had only convinced myself that I could find a Mass silver every year....yes I'm an idiot and reality has put me in my place lol

 

[Iron Patch]

It was funny after I found those I had only convinced myself that I could find a Mass silver every year....yes I'm an idiot and reality has put me in my place lol

And as you know it can hurt you if you chase the big one too much and leave many smaller ones behind in the process. That is how I beat you! The problem is apart from the coins, their tends to be a pretty low ceiling for great finds pre 1760, so anyone who would only hunt that era could be missing out on so much.

 

[Ahab8]

And as you know it can hurt you if you chase the big one too much and leave many smaller ones behind in the process. That is how I beat you! The problem is apart from the coins, their tends to be a pretty low ceiling for great finds pre 1760, so anyone who would only hunt that era could be missing out on so much.

I've said many times that if you decide to chase 1600s finds you better be prepared to strike out on a regular basis. The late 18th early 19th century has far and away the biggest quantity of quality finds

 

[Iron Patch]

I've said many times that if you decide to chase 1600s finds you better be prepared to strike out on a regular basis. The late 18th early 19th century has far and away the biggest quantity of quality finds

It may be a blessing in disguise I don't have early sites to chase like that, and the earliest period I did have, have for the most part been found and are hit hard. That said, I have no complaints because the last few years has been quite similar to the success we had our first 5 years, only on a smaller scale because we don't hunt anywhere near as much.

 

[Scrappy]

It was funny after I found those I had only convinced myself that I could find a Mass silver every year....yes I'm an idiot and reality has put me in my place lol

Your reality to most others is virtual reality. The stuff you dig daily is bucket lister after bucket lister for many. The stuff you don't bother posting would make people's entire years lol.

And there's more tree coins in your future.

 

[Ahab8]

Your reality to most others is virtual reality. The stuff you dig daily is bucket lister after bucket lister for many. The stuff you don't bother posting would make people's entire years lol.

And there's more tree coins in your future.

Yeah I'm lucky to be able to consistently dig early coins and relics. I still consider them good finds but it just feels a bit mundane to post some of this stuff. At this point I am searching for those scarce finds or at least finds in great condition that will display well. I would love to dig a nice early military piece. The Rev War stuff avoids me like the plaque. It's tough when the maps go from 1776 to 1858. It's just hard to know which sites are in that very late 1700s-early 1800s sweet spot. You would be shocked at how many of these site are just way too old. Not complaining about that but the majority of really amazing finds are later. I've always got my shoe buckles and spoons to tide me over

 

[JerseyDigger19]

Jackpot!! You'll be reliving that dig for a very long time. Congrats on what is hopefully the first of several finds of a lifetime!

 

[fongu]

Fantastic finds. Research and persistence pays off. Those coins have me breathing hard and I can't even touch them. I missed the coin show early this year, but hope one day to make the large coin show in Atlanta and maybe see some coins like this in person. I thought the 8 after your name just meant you had 7 older brothers...lol We all have our little things we do and don't like to go against good luck and if finding coins like this is psychotic, I want to get crazy myself.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Still one of the best all time posts on Tnet.

 

[Ahab8]

Still one of the best all time posts on Tnet.

Thanks buddy. I know I will never forget that day

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks buddy. I know I will never forget that day

What's great is 10, 15, 25 years down the road you have quite a few great memories like that. Might be other tree coins, might not be... but still awesome memories. I know I could easily get to a dozen wow days I've had. That's what's great every Winter when I haul out all my finds to travel over to the Patriot's house for our show and tell... the memories rapid fire through my brain as I look all the stuff.

 

[Scrappy]

Jackpot!! You'll be reliving that dig for a very long time. Congrats on what is hopefully the first of several finds of a lifetime!

Nobody knows that better than his friends...

Lol.

I don't get tired of it...

 

[Gridwalker306]

What's great is 10, 15, 25 years down the road you have quite a few great memories like that. Might be other tree coins, might not be... but still awesome memories. I know I could easily get to a dozen wow days I've had. That's what's great every Winter when I haul out all my finds to travel over to the Patriot's house for our show and tell... the memories rapid fire through my brain as I look all the stuff.

I know, it's strange. When I look a at all my better finds (including even most of my pre 1940 silvers), I can remember digging them. I remember where, what the weather was like, and the excitement of finding it. I wish I could remember other things like that, my general forgetfulness drives my wife crazy.

 

[Iron Patch]

I know, it's strange. When I look a at all my better finds (including even most of my pre 1940 silvers), I can remember digging them. I remember where, what the weather was like, and the excitement of finding it. I wish I could remember other things like that, my general forgetfulness drives my wife crazy.

I wish I had kept some notes because I've lost track of so much. Some things are easy to remember, but after a while 15 or so Artillery buttons all start to look the same! I finished getting my relics very organized last Winter, and this time will do the coins... might even do it before then, but this coming Winter I'm going to log every possible thing I can remember and start keeping better track from now on.

 

[Ahab8]

I wish I had kept some notes because I've lost track of so much. Some things are easy to remember, but after a while 15 or so Artillery buttons all start to look the same! I finished getting my relics very organized last Winter, and this time will do the coins... might even do it before then, but this coming Winter I'm going to log every possible thing I can remember and start keeping better track from now on.

I have logged every hunt since I started. My memory sucks and I figured it would be nice to know what came from where and see what time frames the pieces were from. I'm probably a bit overboard with it as I wrote down duration of the hunt, weather, where at the site I found the item and how deep. But as J said I can remember basically exactly where I've found my best stuff. I figure in ten years I can look at three log books and go back to these sites to see what's there. Ground erosion and frost and many other factors can make new finds available

 

[Gridwalker306]

I wish I had kept some notes because I've lost track of so much. Some things are easy to remember, but after a while 15 or so Artillery buttons all start to look the same! I finished getting my relics very organized last Winter, and this time will do the coins... might even do it before then, but this coming Winter I'm going to log every possible thing I can remember and start keeping better track from now on.

I wish I had kept some records too, although the vast majority of my hunting spots are relatively common areas very close to town. If I was hunting places like you and Abe and many others, remote locations that may be hard to remember exactly, keeping records would really help. Especially when your 90 years old and your grandkids have the latest and greatest metal detectors and want to revisit your legendary spots. Plus, like Crusader says about exporting dug items, the museum and coroner place the most value on what was found where.

 

[Gridwalker306]

I have logged every hunt since I started. My memory sucks and I figured it would be nice to know what came from where and see what time frames the pieces were from. I'm probably a bit overboard with it as I wrote down duration of the hunt, weather, where at the site I found the item and how deep. But as J said I can remember basically exactly where I've found my best stuff. I figure in ten years I can look at three log books and go back to these sites to see what's there. Ground erosion and frost and many other factors can make new finds available

Well I'm impressed, sounds like you keep excellent records.

 

[Ahab8]

Well I'm impressed, sounds like you keep excellent records.

Knowing the local history so well and having several ancestors that settled locally I also enjoy logging all of that information. It's fun when the finds and history of the site start to paint a clear picture about the people that lived there and what they were all about