Detecting farm fields in Tennessee

[NHBandit]

North East TN to be specific. I lived most of my life in NH where farm fields could be fairly productive since the area has been inhabited by us for nearly 400 years. Not so in East TN. Other than stumbling across an unknown Civil War camp site can I expect to find much detecting the local corn fields ? Across the street from me is a 200 acre field that should be easy to get permission for but is it worth the effort ? Nearly 70 today. Time to start thinking about where I want to look. My main areas of interest are OLD coins, Civil War relics, and of course Colonial if that's even possible here. No interest at all in spending the entire day in a park to come home with 37 cents worth of crusty clad. Thanks.

 

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[relicmeister]

Do the fields by all means. Won't know what's there till you swing over it, but I'm sure what you find will surprise you.
Have fun out there. We're still locked in the dreaded "polar vortex"

 

[NHBandit]

Do the fields by all means. Won't know what's there till you swing over it, but I'm sure what you find will surprise you. Have fun out there. We're still locked in the dreaded "polar vortex"

I'm in what my retired weatherman friend in the next town over refers to as a "sweet spot". He retired here from CT about 5 years ago and chose this area because of the weather patterns. Usually the nasty stuff misses us for whatever reason. We are 30 miles from the South West VA border but they will often get a bunch of snow and we get none. Nasty stuff coming up the coast is blocked by the mountains. Because there's usually a nice breeze in the Summer that time of year seems no hotter than when I was in NH and not as humid. Another odd, but pleasant thing about this area is there are no mosquitos, no Black flies, etc. We can sit outside on a nice Summer night and not be bothered by things like that. Coming here was a good move. Just need to get out & about and swing my detector now that we're settled in.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

No Mosquitos or black flies? Now that's a plus!
You ever visit a place there were the fire flies all blink in unison?

 

[NHBandit]

No Mosquitos or black flies? Now that's a plus! You ever visit a place there were the fire flies all blink in unison?

lol.. can't say I've ever seen that but we do have a bunch of fireflies. How's the weather up there in MA ? Getting ready for mud season ? I lived in the Western part of the state for a good many years.

 

[longcut]

NH , I am down south of you in Mississippi farm country ........... I hunt the fields a lot down here ............ I target mostly old house sites along some bayou or small river ........................ I usually get 3 or 4 pre 1900 coins every year ........lots of wheats ........... but one thing that has always befuddled me , since the 1980s I have only found one Indian head and it was in a church yard ............. East Tn should be loaded with CW sites ,,, not much Revolutionary Era stuff down here ...................Good Luck and I suppose I should say Welcome to God's Country ....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I would not just hunt random fields. Even if they've been under continuous cultivation for 400 yrs. I mean, sure, there's the random fumble fingers losses over time, but ........ wouldn't you be much better off finding out where habitations/homes used to be, but are now gone ? Or better yet: gathering locations like if a store, saloon, camp, stage stop, or something like that had been there?

Maybe in Europe (like in England) where they've had 2000 continuous years of cultivation, might it be possible to just randomly go into any cultivated field, and eventually find old coins. But here in the USA, seems we're just too new for that. Well, at least here in CA anyhow, where about the old furroughed fields we have is perhaps 120-ish, maybe 140-ish tops. Prior to that it was mostly cattle and free-range. Not sure if your "400" there would still amount to that much more.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Black flies? They sound ominous but not as ominous as those black green flies that light on...well you get my point,lol. If the field is near a water source like a creek ed it might be worth a look, you never know.

 

[deadeye 22250]

I would not just randomly swing the detector in the field. If you can find bricks or pottery then something had to have been there. That is where I would look, not just anywhere.

 

[Old Dude]

If you don't hunt it, you'll always imagine the relics you think are there. Of course if you can establish there was old habitation on the property, that would be the place to start. If it is close at all to any troop movements from the CW era, I would definitely hunt it. I hope you find something great to share.


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[NHBandit]

Black flies? They sound ominous but not as ominous as those black green flies that light on...well you get my point,lol. If the field is near a water source like a creek ed it might be worth a look, you never know.

LoL.. "Black flies" are the New Hampshire state bird I think. Also called May flies. Tiny little buggers that bite, fly in your mouth when you least expect it, etc. Fortunately they are only around for a short few weeks in the Spring but while they are it makes it miserable to do anything outdoors. Still not as bad as getting a big fat Junebug in the forehead at 70mph on a motorcycle.... We had no helmet laws in NH and when that happens you think you've been shot.