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!

 

[Ahab8]

Do whatever you have to my friend to keep that property owner happy. You will be kicking yourself for years if that relationship goes south. I offered to do a bunch of free tree work for a property owner just to put some good will in the bank with him. You have an amazing site there and I know I'd be dying to get back there, just be overly vigilant with keeping him happy and you will be fine. Can't wait to see what else you pull out of that place. Even if it's next year :-)

 

[Army of 1]

Congrats on your awesome finds .. cheers mick

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Not sure what state you're in but you might be able to research any early land patents in that area. That info plus anything else you can find out about the history of the property would be great to present to the owner and keep the relationship strong.

 

[gwdigger]

Do whatever you have to my friend to keep that property owner happy. You will be kicking yourself for years if that relationship goes south. I offered to do a bunch of free tree work for a property owner just to put some good will in the bank with him. You have an amazing site there and I know I'd be dying to get back there, just be overly vigilant with keeping him happy and you will be fine. Can't wait to see what else you pull out of that place. Even if it's next year :-)

Your right. I need to think of something to do for the guy. I'll find something.

 

[gwdigger]

Not sure what state you're in but you might be able to research any early land patents in that area. That info plus anything else you can find out about the history of the property would be great to present to the owner and keep the relationship strong.

I'm in Maryland on the Eastern shore. I tied down one old site thats in the middle of this same field to an old 1877 atlas (I still havent even hunted that site but really its too new for my taste). I discovered the name of the lane is the last name of the doctor who lived here at that time. I told him and he didnt know that. There's no doubt I want to try the land patent thing. I use old maps overlayed with new ones to find sites. Amazing how the roads are nearly the same as they were for hundreds of years. Anyway, google earth is my main way of finding colonial sites now. I cant tell you how many hidden fields I have discovered like that. Google Earth is a godsend for relic hunters.

 

[Steve in PA]

Wow, you have found a nice early site there. Very early! I like the cob and the ornate buckle. As you know, you are gonna have to dig a lot of iffy signals in the iron patch to get the goodies, and you sure don't want to do that if he has a crop in. I got kicked out of a colonial site in WV that I had hunted for 6 years just for parking off the farm road into a wheat field right after the farmer told me and my buddy that we could hunt that field (which obviously involves walking through the field and digging holes). I guess he felt we had disrespected him by parking where we did. I wouldn't risk pissing him off. Also consider that a hunter might see see you digging there and tell some other detectorist. As hard as it might be, maybe it would be better to wait until the crops and hunters have cleared.

 

[gwdigger]

Wow, you have found a nice early site there. Very early! I like the cob and the ornate buckle. As you know, you are gonna have to dig a lot of iffy signals in the iron patch to get the goodies, and you sure don't want to do that if he has a crop in. I got kicked out of a colonial site in WV that I had hunted for 6 years just for parking off the farm road into a wheat field right after the farmer told me and my buddy that we could hunt that field (which obviously involves walking through the field and digging holes). I guess he felt we had disrespected him by parking where we did. I wouldn't risk pissing him off. Also consider that a hunter might see see you digging there and tell some other detectorist. As hard as it might be, maybe it would be better to wait until the crops and hunters have cleared.

There were no less than 4 hunters there today putting up stands. They saw me swinging thats for sure. In fact, fearing I'd break the nice buckle somehow by just stuffing it in my pockets, I went to woods line and laid it on a stump for safe keeping. Guess where 3 hunters in a pick up went to work? You guessed it. lol. I went to the woods and got that thing in a hurry. But it was fate I guess because as I walked out of the woods 100' or so I got the cob. Anyway, I'll stew on whether or not to return this year.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

I'm in Maryland on the Eastern shore. I tied down one old site thats in the middle of this same field to an old 1877 atlas (I still havent even hunted that site but really its too new for my taste). I discovered the name of the lane is the last name of the doctor who lived here at that time. I told him and he didnt know that. There's no doubt I want to try the land patent thing. I use old maps overlayed with new ones to find sites. Amazing how the roads are nearly the same as they were for hundreds of years. Anyway, google earth is my main way of finding colonial sites now. I cant tell you how many hidden fields I have discovered like that. Google Earth is a godsend for relic hunters.

I agree Google Earth is a great tool. I like to scan the aerials to look for those very small patches of vegetation in obscure fields that many times turn out to be old cemeteries. I also use current topo maps and look for high spots near creeks and streams, although like you said they sometimes built homes in lower areas for some reason. I'm just starting to get seriously into land patent maps, but they're hard to come by and can be inaccurate. I've found sources for 3 different (partial) sets for my area, and in many cases they all show the same patent in 3 different locations. Not sure what's available for your area, but its worth checking out as they can be a valuable tool to help land you on an early site. And like you I'm only interested in the earliest sites, and am trying to stay focused on the 17th century as much as possible. And there's plenty of those around here as over 1700 have been documented in just the 3 counties I normally hunt in.

 

[Argentium]

Absolutely incredible coins / artifacts man ! I can't even imagine finding stuff like that .

 

[gwdigger]

I agree Google Earth is a great tool. I like to scan the aerials to look for those very small patches of vegetation in obscure fields that many times turn out to be old cemeteries. I also use current topo maps and look for high spots near creeks and streams, although like you said they sometimes built homes in lower areas for some reason. I'm just starting to get seriously into land patent maps, but they're hard to come by and can be inaccurate. I've found sources for 3 different (partial) sets for my area, and in many cases they all show the same patent in 3 different locations. Not sure what's available for your area, but its worth checking out as they can be a valuable tool to help land you on an early site. And like you I'm only interested in the earliest sites, and am trying to stay focused on the 17th century as much as possible. And there's plenty of those around here as over 1700 have been documented in just the 3 counties I normally hunt in.

Holy moly 1700 17th century sites? Thats remarkable. We have nothing remotely close to that here but we do have a lot of 18th century. No wonder you guys clean up.

Speaking of low sites. We had this site 15 years ago and we hunted the heck out of it. Multiple house sites but never much really old stuff. Some years later we went back and there was a mucky area we had never tried. Bang, 1668 cob, bang cut pieces and pillar coins. We missed this site because it seems no one in their right mind would build there....but they did. We had to wear boots just to hunt it but it was chocked full of goodies. I guess it was not so wet back then?

Anyway, I'm beat and hitting the hay. Take care.

 

[Mississippi Jim]

Very nice finds!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

That is so awesome! You found a real hot spot! Congrats! HH!

 

[Mackaydon]

Yes, it looks like this is your coin: The Kittredge Collection: Silver rijksdaalder, 16[25].
Don....

 

[BuckleBoy]

Yes, it looks like this is your coin: The Kittredge Collection: Silver rijksdaalder, 16[25].
Don....

Excellent ID! Man, you're good!!

GREAT finds too. That will be a killer spot for you.

 

[Tnmountains]

Great hunt and relics. I would love to have a site that old. Great stuff and be sure to post what you do on Friday. Wow!
HH
TnMtns

 

[Deepdiger60]

Those are some great old finds i love that buckle . Jim

 

[gwdigger]

Yes, it looks like this is your coin: The Kittredge Collection: Silver rijksdaalder, 16[25].
Don....

Thanks. I saw that Latin phrase and it was the only coinage that seemed to fit. Never found a big chunk of a daalder (I think this is a rix dollar Rix Dollar - Introduction) I also thought it could be a silver rider or DUCATON. I typed in RES PARVAE, of the phrase "Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt" and came up with this coin: 1676-1681 NETHERLANDS GELDERLAND 40 Stuivers, Ducaton KM# 50.1 value | NETHERLANDS Coin Price Guide

The truth is I'd have to clean the coin to really know and I dont know if I want to or not.

 

[Bubba65]

Awesome day of hunting CONGRATS on the GREAT FINDS

 

[pepperj]

Great looking cob and save on the cut silver. The buckle and the mount are really nice also with the patina and the age of them. It's sometimes hard to get any quality time on a site when it's shared with hunters, crops, and weather. Any of them can set the farmer off and it's a case of one just has to wait their turn to detect the site.

 

[Old Dude]

Thanks. I saw that Latin phrase and it was the only coinage that seemed to fit. Never found a big chunk of a daalder (I think this is a rix dollar Rix Dollar - Introduction) I also thought it could be a silver rider or DUCATON. I typed in RES PARVAE, of the phrase "Concordia Res Parvae Crescunt" and came up with this coin: 1676-1681 NETHERLANDS GELDERLAND 40 Stuivers, Ducaton KM# 50.1 value | NETHERLANDS Coin Price Guide

The truth is I'd have to clean the coin to really know and I dont know if I want to or not.

Ahhhhh......the million dollar question.....to clean or not to clean. Once done, it can't be undone. But, perhaps detail might be uncovered. It's a tough choice. It's your decision alone.