First hunt of 2014 produces colonial silver and copper coins

[Bill D. (VA)]

Dan and I finally had an opportunity over the weekend to get out for the first time this year. We hit a new site in an area where I had researched a few 1600s land patents hoping to stumble across an early homesite. We did our usual "divide and conquer" in an attempt to find a nice hotspot, but it seemed all we could dig was aluminum can slaw. While we were returning to the truck along the far side of the field we started noticing a little brick and iron. Soon after Dan dug a little chunk of pewter, and I soon followed with part of an early pewter button. We decided to slow down and when a few buttons and buckle pieces started showing up we decided to grid the area. It wasn't long before I surprised myself with a nice colonial silver coin - half of a 1737 one reale pistareen. Dan wasn't having any of that, and only about 10 min later he called me over to witness him recover a possible piece of silver after hearing that nice high-pitched squeal on his AT Pro. I watched as a silver coin fell out of the plug, and it looked identical to the one I just dug. We put them side-by-side, and it appeared they came from the same coin. How cool would that be!! I took some pics in the field, but later we both noticed a few subtle differences that proved they came from separate coins. Too bad as that would have been a very rare occurrence. I also recovered a couple of coppers including a Va halfpenny and a slick colonial, a few buttons, several buckle pieces and musketballs, plus an interesting lead seal with the letters "B?". I was also pleased with the end of a trifid spoon handle which dates to 1650-1700. We also got into a small fire pit but it proved to be mostly unproductive. Dan made a bunch of nice finds as well which I'm sure he'll post later. Even though we did not duplicate our banner day from the first hunt of last year, it was still a great way to start the new year and will hopefully be an omen for the remainder of the season.

 

[dig kzoo]

Awesome finds.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Man, that's an excellent hunt. Would've been a real thrill if those two cut pieces went together. Man, they are close!

 

[gwdigger]

I have cabin fever so bad and looking at this stuff doesn't help. Nice hunt.

 

[ironhorse]

That's pretty cool'


Whoever cut those coins had the same line on both , good site you got going!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Man, that's an excellent hunt. Would've been a real thrill if those two cut pieces went together. Man, they are close!

Thanks Buck. I've only been able to find matching cut pieces once, and that was a real fluke (see in pic below). It was at my coin spill site a couple years ago. I found the matching piece about 2 months later at a great depth with my new GPX-5000. I'll never do that again.

 

[matt092079]

What a great hunt, bill! Awesome detail on those cut silver. Too bad they weren't a match. Really cool you have found matched cut silvers before. That's almost impossible it would seem.

 

[flyinryan2]

Awesome hunt guess. Great coins.

 

[CRUSADER]

Agreed, if you got the matching pair I would have bannered it!

Still a great day!

 

[wvwildman]

nice finds congrats Bill HH

 

[joeyfresh]

Sweet finds Bill! Just like clockwork...hunting season ends and you start pulling old silver. The bale seal and trifid handle are really cool too. Good thing you checked that side of the field!

 

[joeyfresh]

.......also, you dig more Va halfpennies than anyone in this state. They're not as common as you claim they are.

 

[Old Dude]

Another great hunt for you. Any of those finds would be welcomed here. Thank you for posting such nice pics too!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[mikefromIllinois]

Nice variety of old finds. By the way just received my american digger mag. and see you have another great article in there. Congrats.

 

[johnnyblaze]

Bill D that is one hunt to get you motivated for 2014

Sweet how that Pistareen almost lines up perfectly..Probably the same person who cut both..

Those our some sweet buckle frags to we just dont see them around here much..

That should get the Colonial Nectar flowing..

Blaze

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

.......also, you dig more Va halfpennies than anyone in this state. They're not as common as you claim they are.

Thanks Joey. I've lost count on my Va halfpenny total, but I think its somewhere in the 30-35 range. Its strange how I seem to dig those all the time, but almost never find a British copper. That one I found with you a couple weeks ago was my first in quite a while.

BTW - I've been trying to contact you for several days via email but haven't heard back. Wasn't sure if you were having problems with that or what. Hope to chat with you soon.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Awesome finds Bill - man that was a fun way to start the season off. The AT Gold was humming, but I do appreciate you not mentioning the couple of dandy finds you sniffed out behind me - opps I just did that.

Had a good time as usual - it is funny how we seem to always sniff out the right site on a piece of property.

 

[mangum]

Great finds Bill! As usual, I'm drooling....

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Very nice hunt Bill.
Find two halves of the same coin once was beating the odds for sure.
I once found two halves of an arrowhead at least a couple of weeks apart, so I don't think we should expect that sort of thing to happen again, but it surly could...what a hobby.

Glad you are able to hunt.

 

[Flex68]

That should get the Colonial Nectar flowing..

[slight gag]..... I'm okay, just got a little reflux in the back of my throat.

Awesome finds, Bill !