I Need Some Advice...

[maggiemacpoe]

Hi Everybody,
Sorry if this is a duplicate post.

I haven't been on in a LONG time. This page to post a new topic is totally different than than it was the last time I used it. I am not computer literate and was afraid to press the submit button until I had my daughter save the text for me. After I did press submit it asked me for my login name and password. After I entered them the screen went back to the post a new topic page but my post was gone. I checked the metal detecting forum but my post wasn't there so I had to get my daughter to retrieve it from wherever she saved it and move it here for me. It's a good thing I had her save it because the way I type it took me about two hours to write it. It would have been a real pain to have to do it all over again. I would much rather be out treasure hunting for the two hours instead!

I have been detecting for about 15 years and live in a PRIME treasure hunting location. The first settlers arrived here in the 1600's, my oldest
find so far, with a legible date, is a 1/2 pence lead cloth seal dated 1688.
It was in a friend's corn field, a two minute walk from my house.

Last year another friend invited me to detect on his 150+ acre property. The problem I need help with is where to detect first. This gentleman is in his 70's and is VERY interested in seeing what is in the ground. He is hard of hearing so is not really interested in using one of my detectors, preferring instead to do the digging. The first house was built on his land in the 1630's across from an island with a trading post on it. There were also two ferry crossings, and a garrison on his property as well as a portion of the King's Highway. There are at least 6 cellar holes dating back to the late 1700's and early 1800's that he is aware of. There is also an old apple orchard, and part of the land was farmed at one time but not for over many years.

Quite a few people have asked for his permission over the years to bottle hunt or metal detect on his land but have been turned down. I am not allowed to detect on the property without my friend right next to me. You can see from the above description that it is a treasure hunter's dream spot. Then throw in the fact that pirates were known to have frequented the area, and also that a cache of coins was found in the area many years ago.

I did some research this past winter but I still have no clue as to the location of that first house, the ferry crossings, garrison, farm fields, or the King's Highway, although each are mentioned in many of the books I have read.

My friend wanted to start with a couple of the cellar holes since he knows where they are. In the five times went out we found nothing more than a bunch of rusting cans, nails, barbed wire and the remnants of old farm tools. He was very excited and took everything back to his house to show his wife. I was pretty disappointed because in the thousands of times I have detected in the farm fields near my house I have NEVER come home without finding at least one coin prior to 1900. I can't walk two feet over there without finding something and the digging is SOOOO easy.

Although my friend was excited by our meger findings, his energy waned
after about an hour each time we went out. I am the type of person that no matter how tired I am, I am not leaving until I find at least one coin, bullet, button, toy etc. It is the same when I look for sea glass, I don't leave until I find a blue piece. Bottle hunting, I have to find one in perfect condition even if I have to stay long enough to turn on my flash lights.
Unfortunately, as I said, I am only allowed to detect while my friend is with me so it is agonizing to have to pack up and go after a hour or so.

I am hoping that once I find the right spot, and we find the first coin, my friend will want to keep going even if it means bringing a folding chair so he can sit and watch me when he gets tired.

I would appreciate any advice you can offer on how I can determine where the old house, garrison, ferry crossings and kings Highway were located. In which order do you think I should try to find and detect them? Until I do, where on my friends property do you think I should detect for enough coins to keep him motivated. He called last week to say that he just sharpened his shovel and is ready to go.

Sincerely, Maggie Macpoe

 

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[bakergeol]

Hi Maggie
It appears you have access to an area most people would dream about detecting in. The issue which has not been discussed is the disposition of the finds. Who gets what? He does not trust you to reveil what you will find by yourself? Does he expect anything of value to be turned over to him? These questions should be asked before you do find something of value.
If you can not develop trust with this gentleman an hour a day is not going to get you ahead of the game. Perhaps doing some detecting around his house for shallow coins(no shovels)and you doing the digging would help establish a friendship here. It you find a silver coin or two it would also reveal what he expects to receive.

There is the possibility that he regards your visits as social. A lot of old-timers who don't get out much welcome regular visitors.- I am sorry if I have offended you with this suggestion.


Just my 2 cents worth
George

 

[maggiemacpoe]

I Need Some Advice....

Hi George,

If we find a cache we split it otherwise I can have anything I want. My friend and his family own almost 1/4 of the land in the town where I live.
They are very wealthy, and are very private people. His wife told me that she has spent the past 40 years trying to keep people away from her family.

It is not that my friend doesn't trust me, he is just afraid that if I am seen detecting without him, there will have all kinds of people digging up his property without his permission.

I am not offended by your suggestion. I am sure my friend enjoys my company almost as much as he enjoys detecting with me. He is a very active man and is involved in several local organizations. He does not seem to be the least bit lonely.

His house is fairly new so I don't know if we will be able to find very many coins around it but I will give it a try.

Sincerely, MaggieMacpoe

 

[MDnoob]

Well, since you are pressed for time you want to hit the spots where most of the old traffic was. Generally, this means where children once played, where people were getting into/out of cars or carriages. Near old sidewalks. Houses back in the old days had seperate kitchens, and the walkway between the two building was often used.

The problem is, many of these things are difficult or impossible to determine their present location. Also, in places where people were more often, if something was lost, there was more likely to be someone there to find it a week later or whatever.

Basically, I think you can overanalyse these things, and alot of people blow off good hunting spots cause they are out of the way, or "don't look like a good spot", or they jump around because they get impatient. I have done this myself. If people have set foot in a spot, then they could have lost something there. Who knows? Maybe the annual town coin-throwing competition was out in the middle of a field way away from all houses?!!

Most of the really hard core detectorists know that if you really want to find everything in an area, you have to search systematically. People use grids with markers and everything, and cover most areas more than once. I would just pick a random spot near one of the old cellar holes and search it well, really well, and concentrate on a small area one hour at a time.

Hope my rambling post helps you make a decision!!

Good luck!

 

[lab rat]

One thing you can try is reverse archaeology...

In a prime hunting spot like that, it may not matter much exactly where you start. If you can map out the area as it is now on a decent sheet of paper, make a grid outlike. Each time you hunt, focus on one part of the grid, and make records of everything you find. After awhile, you should have some idea what to expect to dig from each area, and you may be able to figure out from that information how to get a rough approximation of where the house, road, etc. used to be. Then apply a new search based on the approximation to see if you are correct.

Something to watch for is signs of non-metallic artifacts. If you find really old glass bottles, for instance, they can be worth big bucks undamaged. A lot of broken glass and pottery in a small area can be an indication of a trash heap-- 'pay' dirt!

Best of luck and hope you'll be posting pictures of your finds!

 

[Thonolan]

Wow, that location sounds like dream come true... But it sounds as though it could take years to do a complete search. I also think you should try to convince your friend to let you search by yourself.

Good luck.

 

[Slingshot]

I would hunt with your friend as much as possible. Eventually you might be allowed to search on your own, and put in more dirt time than you can now, which could result in some spectacular finds.

 

[coinshooter]

I would ask him if it was ok to hunt alone if he gave you a signed note (ie permission slip). You could convince him to put in the note that you are the only Authorized TH'er allowed on his land and that anyone else who is found hunting there is Trespassing. That way you could tell him you would show this to anyone who happened to show up. It would convince him you are serious and you could say that you would be in a sense, the protector of his land while he was not there to oversee.
As far as hunting goes, see if he has one of those canes with the little three legged stool attached. That way when he got tired, he could sit and watch and you can dig. My suggestion would be to cover as many different spots as you can fast. Learn where they all are. People in their seventy's may not be around for as long as you like them to be and if you are in good with the wife, then if someday this guy passes on to the other side, you may still have free access. At that point it will have been a good thing that you were able to locate all of the best spots earlier. Also, when you sample this many spots, you will obviously find the best ones and know where to concentrate your hunts in the future. Hope you have a a good digital camera and can get your daughter's help to post some pics of your finds. Post it all, we don't even care if it's rusted or not! Good Luck! 8)

 

[Ocean7]

150+ acre property - you really need help! LOL
Start with cellar holes and 30 feet around cellar holes.
Find the garrison and do that area real well.
Find two ferry crossings and and do that area real well.

The old guy probably doesn't trust anyone to hunt by themselves. maybe he's heard that a cache exists on his property and if it gets dug in his lifetime - he intends to be there to claim it!

Take note of wherever you find any valuable target!!!!!

realize and resolve that in one hour - sometimes/many times you'll leave with just iron junk!! So have another place close by to go to that will satisfy your appetite for acceptable day's hunt.

You're probably lucky to be female in this situation. He probably likes 'the company' - regardless of what you think. Sometimes doors get opened because you are female or male dealing with the opposite sex. May not be the case here, but I know from experience that sometimes this does play a role. Best of luck and go find the big one!
HH!

 

[another _novice]

Ask your friend for any old copies of building permits, deeds, etc. He may have old papers showing old landmarks. Also, with respect to ferry crossings and old buildings that may have marked the spots where traffic was, I'd look for places where you detect iron, for the old nails. You may be able to mark off some foundations of old buildings where the ferry docked. People would have walked from there.

If there was a ferry, the library may have some records of that. If you can detect for only an hour a day, maybe the rest of the time has to be used for research.

God luck.

I would appreciate any advice you can offer on how I can determine where the old house, garrison, ferry crossings and kings Highway were located. In which order do you think I should try to find and detect them? Until I do, where on my friends property do you think I should detect for enough coins to keep him motivated. He called last week to say that he just sharpened his shovel and is ready to go.

Sincerely, Maggie Macpoe

 

[Rich]

I say your in upstate NY-kings highway?....or outside or in Albany/Schdy County?......


if so you are in the relic hunters spot!!!!!!!,coins also!.....

i havent detected a field yet,but a detecting friend who hunts somtimes with me tells me those are some of the best spots!!!,but detect before crops are planted or after thier harvested.....

good research is to check out to see if your county has a local historicl socitey,......or friends with land that date to what you say "there all over up here"....
libary of congress is a start to find info,or if maps are needed....
go by instincts,if your from the area and lived there your whole life then youll know where to go...
if you dont know the person whos land you want to detect then just go and knock!...some people will not let you on thier land or will be litterly up your A$$ while detecting or somtimes people wont give a crap if you wanna detect,......never show finds to the land owner,but if you do get afew good targets dug,give afew things to the owner to get a relationship down to where ya can go hunt anytime.....,what i mean by never show is that if you find a 1700's copper the owner might say Hmmm,well i guess ill take that from you since your on my land and now you wontever beable to go back.......,
Farmers will usually be glad that somone will till thier earth after or before a harvest,......

but presnt yourself as a MD'st,and be polite...,ask questions about things on his/her land,also the history....
plus if in the countys i mentioned pass a PM along.....ill share a few spots to you that were kinda passed to me to research and hunt,some spots though you have to research to be rewared........so get out there and dig as one oerson i know would say to me-lol ......