It pays to go slow as proven by a 24 button day + colonial copper & silver coins

Bill D. (VA) · Apr 9, 2015

After this morning's rain I was able to make it back out to my new site for the 3rd time. I wasn't expecting much as I had already hit the small iron patch area pretty well, or so I thought. I started out randomly scanning around the perimeter of the hotspot trying to dig a stray find but wasn't having much luck. At that point I decided to venture back into the area that had given up so many buttons and coins during the 2 previous trips, and immediately got an obvious hit that quickly put a button in my pouch. I got to thinking that during the first 2 hunts I had been a little anxious, and was probably swinging a bit too fast, especially considering that a lot of the targets were deep. So I decided to begin methodically hunting at 90 degrees to my previous passes, and slowed WAY DOWN. I couldn't believe all the signals I had missed, and the buttons and other relics started popping out left and right. About halfway into the hunt I thought I had unearthed another of those large buttons that usually read in the 60s, but got caught off guard when I saw another half reale laying there in the dirt. It was another 1772 just like I recovered on the last hunt. What are the odds of that? A bit later I thought I had a big green button, but got fooled again as it ended up being another Va halfpenny. I also dug a cool looking piece to a colonial watch winder. And near the end of the day I got fooled for the 3rd time when I was absolutely sure I was holding a tarnished piece of cut silver in my hand. But when I brushed the dirt away I quickly saw that one end had a long point protruding off to the side, and it was unfortunately just a broken button. I finished the day by zig-zagging around the entire perimeter of the site a bit more, but could only come up with one more button making my final count for the 4 hour hunt a whopping 24. Overall this site has produced 50-60 buttons and 5 colonial coins (see last 3 pics for site totals), but I'm even more proud of the research effort that led me to this totally undocumented and unhunted site. It's also interesting to note that the dates for all 5 coins dug at this site fall into an extremely narrow range (1772-1775) which is highly unusual.

Evolution · Apr 9, 2015

Stellar finds as usual Bill. Sounds like you did a great job on the research and were rewarded accordingly with some goodies. Congrats!

PaDirtDigger · Apr 9, 2015

Good thread to read before I start this year... And it's always nice to see people that put in the time to find sites and get rewarded for it! AWESOME!!!

retire05 · Apr 9, 2015

Way to go, Bill! Those are incredible finds. I live in VA too, Suffolk area. Where do you hail from?...Brad

Bill D. (VA) · Apr 9, 2015

retire05 said:
Way to go, Bill! Those are incredible finds. I live in VA too, Suffolk area. Where do you hail from?...Brad

Just down the road in Smithfield.

cjon455 · Apr 9, 2015

bill your research yet again has paid off, and slowing down and hitting that place at a 90 degree angle proved to be spot on!!, killer finds, great hunt!!

parsonwalker · Apr 9, 2015

Congrats on a great day, Bill! This Virginian hitting the battlefield tomorrow . . .

BuckleBoy · Apr 9, 2015

Well now that's fantastic! Seems like one has to go slow with the F75 at times to differentiate the good ones from the iron, if the iron is thick.

Congrats on your great finds,

Buck

70monte68 · Apr 10, 2015

Bill, another fantastic hunt. What I do at a good location is a grid and then 90's in both direction and the finds come alive. Again great stuff!

Dom

Scrappy · Apr 10, 2015

You're killing it Bill. Are you digging every target a this point?

Congrats and keep on it!

Bill D. (VA) · Apr 10, 2015

Scrappy said:
You're killing it Bill. Are you digging every target a this point?

Congrats and keep on it!

I always dig every non-ferrous signal at colonial sites. Many items such as tombacs, other small buttons, tacks, small buckle pieces and even a small gold coin can read quite low on the scale and should not be left undug. Of course, that means digging every little piece of buckshot, aluminum can shard and other junk, but its hard to make myself bypass any target as you just might miss something very nice.

pepperj · Apr 10, 2015

Well done on the return hunt Bill and an eye opener for many on how many targets that can be missed at a site. I've watched some folks that can just grid a site methodically digging every target over lapping the coil swing. But for me it's almost painful trying this method and I'm comfortable in the drunken sailor method of hunting and returning to do it all over again. What ever your method is Bill your ability to grab a pocket full of keepers works well, best of luck on the return hunt.

Bubba65 · Apr 10, 2015

That is one great day of digging Bill, CONGRATS :thumbsup:

CRUSADER · Apr 10, 2015

Good finds, but I still like to go fast...

CoinandRelicMan · Apr 10, 2015

Very nice Bill, pretty sure sites like that don't exist out here !!

Bill D. (VA) · Apr 10, 2015

CoinandRelicMan said:
Very nice Bill, pretty sure sites like that don't exist out here !!

Where is "out here"?

deershed · Apr 10, 2015

Sweet hunt!!
Wow, sounds like the old colonial site the boy and I found earlier this year. We didn't find near as much as you but, we hit it over and over and slow and low. We only got one old silver at our site, was hoping for more.
Great while the hits were coming, think the fun is over at our site.
Hope you can still pull some more goodies out of your spot!!