🥇 BANNER Low hopes and an entry level detector but I still ended up finding an awesome relic!

coinman123 · Jun 7, 2015

Anyways, Today I headed out to a place that did not look that good. I have tried with my T2 before but never found much but shotgun shells and pulltabs but gave it a try today. I decided to bring someone along and let them use my T2 while I used my old Fisher F2 from two years ago (did I mention that it goes crazy and will frantically beep due to the coil cable being lose). Anyways, I was not expecting much when I got a signal right in the middle of the biggest patch of poison ivy in the whole place. I figured it was worth it and dug. I battled through roots and leaves (which unfortunately were poison ivy leaves) after some digging the find was out. I let my hunting partner use the pinpointer which is already not much use considering it was a freebie that came with the metal detector (I'm getting my Pro-Pointer in the mail this Thursday

). Anyways, I dig out a weird piece of metal, I quickly can tell it's a sundial. I figure it's not much and probably 1930's garden. I finish the hunt with a handful of pulltabs, some shotgun shells, beer cans, a cool 1980's coke bottle which I kept

, and a nice pair of hedgeclippers that were on the surface laying against a log that are sure to go to good use. Anyways, after I got home I saw that sundial looks to be colonial and made of pewter and made best relic of the year on some website. I was thrilled after reading that what looked like a poor find is really something great. I guess that what I have always told people I metal detect is true, it does not matter how bad a place is or how poor you may think your metal detector is, good finds can still pop up out of no where.

It's in very bad condition, to the point of where parts of the edge are crumbling in my hand but it is still all there.

Update: Here is a better photo

I just put the glue and water solution on it, it looks pretty good. I will post photos of it's

Here it is during elmer's glue cleaning...
display case soon.

RelicDude · Jun 14, 2015

Holy wow what an amazing find. Congrats on the banner. I just added an other item to my wish list.

mangum · Jul 10, 2015

Congrats on making banner, definitely a worthy find!

46Wheat · Jul 10, 2015

Not sure how I missed this the first time . That is an amazing piece of history that has been brought back into the light

NEPADIGGER7 · Jul 10, 2015

My buddy used to kill it with his F2 he used it for years and always prevailed! Great find could you imagine carrying that around to tell time hahaha they had it rough back then we sooo take it for granted!

Back-of-the-boat · Jul 11, 2015

Not sure how this works for poison ivy but I know it works for poison oak, Boil manzanita leaves then use the water to wash off with it gets rid of it in days.And you aren't pink like you are with caladryl. For future reference.

coinman123 · Jul 19, 2015

Update guys: After a few phone calls with the local museum, I am going to the museum today to put my sundial and some more artifact on loan there.

screwynewy · Jul 19, 2015

That is a great thing to do. It will be somewhere that people can see and appreciate instead of sitting at your your house in your personal display. Be sure to use the opportunity to make some connections with people that might be able to give you access or information about new hunting sites.

corpsman · Jul 19, 2015

congrats!

coinman123 · Dec 14, 2015

Sorry to bump up this old thread but I thought you would be happy to know that my sundial is on display at the town hall, along with a bunch of my other finds in which I put on loan. I just checked out the display today and was very pleased. The curator put a date of 1740-1780 on the plaque card. Also saying that it was also most likely made by Miller or the Miller family. I will try to upload photos of the plaque and the display soon.

I also wrote an article about sundial a while back, which was finally published in Western and Eastern Treasures, in the January Issue. I got an envelope in the mail with a copy of the magazine and a check today. I had forgotten all about my article, having not heard back, and was surprised to see it in the mail today. Today has been an exciting day

DFW_THer · Dec 18, 2015

Well done. A model detectorist!

TheCoinKid · Dec 18, 2015

Congrats!

choppadude · Dec 19, 2015

Congrats! It is great to see these items displayed in public rather than hid in a drawer or box. Hats off to you Sir!

coinman123 · Dec 19, 2015

choppadude said:
Congrats! It is great to see these items displayed in public rather than hid in a drawer or box. Hats off to you Sir!

Thanks, I'm sure that many people will see it too, considering the fact that the glass display case, embedded into the wall, is right next to the line in which people form to speak with the representative at the town hall. That means that people will have something to look at while waiting in line. It is also the place where you go to get your dog licence, and with some early dog licences from my town on display, including the oldest known for my town, it seems kind of cool. I also sent the curator a photocopy of my article, which he wants to put on display with my sundial, the article pretty much tells the story of the find and how it was found. He also contacted the local newspaper and asked if they wanted to interview me, which they were interested in doing and hope to find a time. In awhile my artifacts will be moved from the town hall to the museum.

I agree with you, for me it seem that what's the point of having a very cool artifact that you discovered if it is not being enjoyed by anyone and just sitting in a dusty drawer or box. In this case it will be viewed daily by many people, along with the many other of my artifacts.

coinman123 · Jan 11, 2016

Here's the card from it in the museum, I blocked out the town for privacy reasons.

neodetectorist · Jan 15, 2016

Go F2 and congrats on the find.
I too have replaced the freeby pinpointer with a Xpointer but will keep the freeby so the grandkids can follow or search for stuff in the sand.

steelheadwill · Aug 4, 2017

Bump on this awesome recovery! Congrats on the great find and hats off to you for the highly visible informative display donation :cat:

coinman123 · Aug 12, 2017

Since I have moved to a new town, after 12 years of live in my old town. I am going to probably move my sundial to my new town, that has the nicest historic district I have ever seen, to the town museum and library. I talked with the curator for a couple hours about the town's history, and what I found out about my house's history. I gave her the long lost lot map of the town, which I discovered after months of searching. She told me that it would be great to have my sundial on loan at the library or museum, along with a blacksmith tool tag with the name of my town's blacksmith in the 1870's (who was very interested in history, and made many frames in the museum back in the late 1800's). I will keep you guys posted!