Great day at new colonial site. Spanish cob and 1/3 cut of big Dutch coin!

[gwdigger]

Got out for a half day on a new site - a large set of fields on a local river. I thought a little field directly on a small creek coming from the river would be the place to start. Nothing. Not even a stray relic. I wandered around the woods line and came off the higher area and started to see shell. My detector started to pick up iron so I knew something was coming. Found a small button, then a piece of cut lead and then the ornate buckle. After finding the buckle I figured anything could come up here. Weird how some of the older sites are in the low areas and not on the hills. One section, where I found the 1/3 cut Dutch coin, is so loaded with iron my detector blanks out. I can read PARVAE on the cut piece. May be a silver rider but its got a lot of corrosion on it. Found a halfpenny and the Philip V cob on the outer edge of the site. Some neat cast buttons and relics came out. I plan to go back for a few hours on Friday. Can't wait!

 

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[Old Dude]

Now that's quite the haul! Thanks for the pics.

 

[thrillathahunt]

Some good digs there. I especially like the Spanish cob! I always wondered myself why the good sites are always below a hill instead of on it.

 

[Ahab8]

That is one awesome site and those are some fantastic finds. I love that buckle!!!! Great job on the persistence and finding the hot spot when it's not where you think it's going to be. Never seems to be exactly where we imagine it should be. Great job on those items!!!!

 

[ironhorse]

What a day out you had!

Superb finds! I like your site

 

[Jeff H]

Great digs! That buckle is nice!

 

[gwdigger]

I hit this place for about 4 hrs. The farmer wants me in after 9:30 and out by 3 for the hunters. I still have most of the fields to investigate too. There could be another site. Anyway, I'll start at this site for a few more hrs. There's got to be another piece of silver here.

 

[GioTheGreek]

Fantastic coins! Keep 'em coming and keep us posted!

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Certainly a old site that you've discovered. Good luck on Friday. It's there for the taking.

 

[screwynewy]

Great coins and relics. All that in 4 hours of hunting. Looks like you have a lot more to find there. Nothing but early stuff, that's my kind of site.

 

[gwdigger]

Great coins and relics. All that in 4 hours of hunting. Looks like you have a lot more to find there. Nothing but early stuff, that's my kind of site.

There must be 2 dozen pieces of cut lead still in my jacket pockets that I didnt photo. Every other target was lead. But that comes with these early sites it seems. I'll def be hitting this one a lot over the next few years.

 

[jewelerguy]

love the cut coins and buckle in the last pic. what is the phallic looking thing?

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Looks like you have a great colonial site GW with a nice mix of 1600s and early 1700s artifacts. I'd be excited with all that iron showing up. Definitely need to slow way down with reduced sensitivity, and maybe drop down to a small coil. But I'm sure you know that already. You should probably dig some test holes in the heaviest iron as you might end up discovering a loaded trash pit. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Mackaydon]

Good looking cob .
Mexico City mint.
Don..

 

[gwdigger]

Looks like you have a great colonial site GW with a nice mix of 1600s and early 1700s artifacts. I'd be excited with all that iron showing up. Definitely need to slow way down with reduced sensitivity, and maybe drop down to a small coil. But I'm sure you know that already. You should probably dig some test holes in the heaviest iron as you might end up discovering a loaded trash pit. Good luck and keep us posted.

Bill, the center of this site is so thick I can barely get a shovel through the shells and glazed brick. If it wasnt planted in wheat I'd definitely get my screens out and start sifting. I dug the 1/3 cut piece out of where the iron was and was shocked it was something worthwhile. It sounded terrible really. I have to stay off this area because I could easily ruin this guys crop. In all metal mode there are signals on top of signals among the iron infestation. The soil is really dark here and deep. I did one test hole about 18" down and came to some yellowish sand. I'll be exited if the farmer plants soybeans next year so I can dig until my hearts content after he harvests.

 

[gwdigger]

love the cut coins and buckle in the last pic. what is the phallic looking thing?

I think it is an ornament. I found 3 or 4 today but this one is the most interesting.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Bill, the center of this site is so thick I can barely get a shovel through the shells and glazed brick. If it wasnt planted in wheat I'd definitely get my screens out and start sifting. I dug the 1/3 cut piece out of where the iron was and was shocked it was something worthwhile. It sounded terrible really. I have to stay off this area because I could easily ruin this guys crop. In all metal mode there are signals on top of signals among the iron infestation. The soil is really dark here and deep. I did one test hole about 18" down and came to some yellowish sand. I'll be exited if the farmer plants soybeans next year so I can dig until my hearts content after he harvests.

I think you're definitely onto a pit. In almost every one I've dug the primary components are brick, oyster shells and iron. And the yellow sand might be a cap covering up deeper areas of the pit. The big, early pit my buddy Stan and I have been digging in for years has a yellow sand cap about 8-12" thick that starts about 12-18" down followed by the actual trash pit. You should dig your test hole down through that yellow layer to confirm if the pit extends down below it. And I know what you're saying about the farmer. Me and a buddy got kicked off from an early-to-mid 1600s pit at my hammered silver site last winter for digging into his 1/2" tall wheat crop. I calculated the value of the wheat over the disturbed area and it was less than 20 cents. But that doesn't matter to them. They just don't like any digging in a planted field. Hopefully you can work out that situation.

 

[gwdigger]

I think you're definitely onto a pit. In almost every one I've dug the primary components are brick, oyster shells and iron. And the yellow sand might be a cap covering up deeper areas of the pit. The big, early pit my buddy Stan and I have been digging in for years has a yellow sand cap about 8-12" thick that starts about 12-18" down followed by the actual trash pit. You should dig your test hole down through that yellow layer to confirm if the pit extends down below it. And I know what you're saying about the farmer. Me and a buddy got kicked off from an early-to-mid 1600s pit at my hammered silver site last winter for digging into his 1/2" tall wheat crop. I calculated the value of the wheat over the disturbed area and it was less than 20 cents. But that doesn't matter to them. They just don't like any digging in a planted field. Hopefully you can work out that situation.

Thanks for the tips Bill. If I had any sense I'd just wait until next year to go back. I'd really be heart broken if I ticked off this farmer and he gave me the boot. But I'm already biting my nails to the elbow in anticipation of returning.

 

[cache-cow]

real nice finds! here's a tip. find the oldest tree in that area, start at the base and work your way out in a circle covering every inch. someone at some time in the past probably
picniced and or camped under it. not only that, it could be a marker, in which case you might find something more significant as you move further out from it! it has worked for me
in the past on old plantations.

 

[gwdigger]

real nice finds! here's a tip. find the oldest tree in that area, start at the base and work your way out in a circle covering every inch. someone at some time in the past probably
picniced and or camped under it. not only that, it could be a marker, in which case you might find something more significant as you move further out from it! it has worked for me
in the past on old plantations.

I dont see any original trees in the vicinity. Looks to have been harvested completely - probably many times. Now just vast farm fields on the river with some younger tree forest between the fields and marsh.