Marathon Dig: SEVEN early Silvers and ANTEBELLUM GOLD!

[BuckleBoy]

Hello All,

Shagalang and I both had Friday afternoon, Saturday, and Sunday off (which is RARE!) so we did what sensible people would do--we went digging for three days!! Had no idea when we started our marathon hunt that we would break our personal records for an individual hunt, and I'd end up bringing back some ANTEBELLUM GOLD!

Here's a video of the weekend, which you'll want to see!



We decided to hunt a field where targets are thin but payoff is high when something is dug. We'd hunted the site last several years ago with success. Friday afternoon we got busy digging and Shang got a nice 1798 Spanish Silver Half Real!



After that excitement, we dug a few flat buttons, melted brass, and lead bits and called it a day.

Yesterday started with us back out scratching the earth, trying to scare up some more coins. Shang dug two nice civilian "flower buttons" and then yelled "Hi Ho!" when he dug a second silver. I ran over to see him grinning and hold up an 1807 Half Real!





My only consolation prize was a beautiful English Gun Flint which I eyeballed.



This morning we got up and out early, inspired by the previous digs. My wife, diggergirl, decided to join us since we were digging goodies

First thing, Shang eyeballed a nice, larger-than-normal trade bead. I thought I might get skunked for the third day in a row, but then I dug a nice mid-range signal and out popped an 1839-O Seated Half Dime!



Circled around and got another nice signal and BOOM, a second Seated Half Dime! 1841! Was sticking straight up and down in the row!



I decided to move out of the area and let Shang have a go, so I got way out of the iron patch and hunted the fringe area a while (I do this a lot when I've made some good finds and need to let my pulse lower some LOL). Well in this case my pulse got MUCH faster as I got a nice mid-range beep and looked down to see GOLD STICKING OUT OF THE TOP OF THE GROUND!!! My friends, one thing you NEVER see when hunting the types of sites I hunt, is GOLD. I yelled at Shang and DG to come see, and got down on my hands and knees to see.



Gently prying it out of the hard dirt, it was the top of a pre-Civil War Gold Ring!! I'm completely shocked that the stone has stayed intact. Unfortunately, the loop is not intact--but I feel certain that it is in the field somewhere waiting for us.



After searching around for about an hour for the missing loop, I decided to join the others. On my way toward them, I got another nice, mid-range signal and popped out a THIRD silver for the day--1842-O Seated Half Dime!!



Now--let me just say that we have never dug more than three silvers in one day. Well, we weren't done. Shang then goes and digs himself a BLAZING 1839-O Seated Half Dime!! Seriously, one of the finest condition Seateds we've ever dug here.



It starts to get to afternoon, and DG had to go home to go to a meeting--so we reluctantly left and Shang decides to stay another hour or so. Then I get a video from Shang on the way home--silver AGAIN! 1814 Half Real!

Five silvers in one day is just crazy. Add the gold to it and I'm just in a state of shock. Here are photos of the 5 silvers dug today, for a total of 7 for the weekend.











And the GOLD! I'm STILL shocked that this was in the ground, and survived intact for 180 years! Looks like the inner piece (around the stone) was put in, bent and shaped, and braised together. Then the outer, decorative piece was bent and braised together (note the seams), then the loop portion would have been braised onto the bottom of the ring. Any ideas what era this dates from? My hunch is Federal Era. I'm still on cloud nine over this find!







Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,



Buckleboy, Shangalang, and Diggergirl

 

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[BuckleBoy]

Always impressed with your posts, and this one even kicks it up a notch with that crazy gold. Congrats on a legendary weekend of hunts with the gang!

Thanks so much my friend. Today made up for the two long days with few finds for me!

 

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[BuckleBoy]

WOW Look at the spectacular Gold! You won't sleep much tonite I know I wouldn't. FYI judging by how the ring was made I am pretty sure the loop was a full circle and stayed on the losers finger. No loop to be had here I think.

Darn! Say it ain't so! Well we will still try hard to find it, just on the off chance that it could turn up. Seems like finds like that are always made years apart for us. I just dug a piece of Shang's Enfield trigger guard, in the same field he found the rest of it in, 5 years later. Go figure!

 

[BuckleBoy]

I don't think I have ever seen a more beautiful ring.

Me either! Seeing it poking out of the dirt was like reliving something I have only dreamed many times!

 

[CRUSADER]

The blank Gold Seal Fob is early 19th C. Its not unusual for them to be blank, they were more bling than function.

Congrats on a great bunch of finds & a new record.

 

[Ahab8]

Fantastic group of finds. 3 Spanish for Shang is off the charts man. And that gold is killer. I have found exactly one piece. And it was a natural klinker in a riverbed. Great post guys

 

[pepperj]

First of all, congrats to your record breaking weekend. Digging the old silvers the way that you folks manage to do is dream hunting for me up here, as it seems that the ratio for copper/silver is a 180 degrees from yours-sadly. The Half Dimes are so crisp they must of been lost soon after being put into circulation.
You smashed it Buck with the gold, getting see it sticking out of the dirt must of been the best feeling. Heck I get stocked seeing a copper or Crotal bell laying on the top not even close to what you have. It's a find that will have that special spot in the memory bank as it should.

 

[JeffInMass]

Simply amazing!! All those half-dimes and Spanish silver too- huge Congrats!!

-- Jeff --

 

[Trezurehunter]

Outstanding ! Great hunt.

 

[Diggin Dude]

Great finds!! Truly incredible, Spanish silver, seated, called what more can you ask.

Well done, congrats and HH

 

[Carolina Tom]

Congrats sir.

My mouth is hanging open... wow...

 

[against the wind]

How did that happen. I have a total of 2 half dimes that I have dug over the years and you dig 3 in one hunt!! That is Super Incredible,, and let's not forget the Gold. Unbelievable,, CONGRATULATIONS

 

[tanz 82]

Wow dream hunt ! Amazing

 

[VOL1266-X]

You guys had a great day BB. I'm surprised that it was dry enough to hunt after the hurricane rains. HH, Q.

 

[BuckleBoy]

The blank Gold Seal Fob is early 19th C. Its not unusual for them to be blank, they were more bling than function.

Congrats on a great bunch of finds & a new record.

Thanks for the information, Crusader. And congrats on that BEAUTIFUL Roman Silver you recently dug!

Cheers,

Buck

 

[BuckleBoy]

Fantastic group of finds. 3 Spanish for Shang is off the charts man. And that gold is killer. I have found exactly one piece. And it was a natural klinker in a riverbed. Great post guys

Yeah, I'd never found gold out hunting old sites. (although i've dug modern rings in yards--which is interesting but not anywhere near as much fun!)

 

[BuckleBoy]

First of all, congrats to your record breaking weekend. Digging the old silvers the way that you folks manage to do is dream hunting for me up here, as it seems that the ratio for copper/silver is a 180 degrees from yours-sadly. The Half Dimes are so crisp they must of been lost soon after being put into circulation.
You smashed it Buck with the gold, getting see it sticking out of the dirt must of been the best feeling. Heck I get stocked seeing a copper or Crotal bell laying on the top not even close to what you have. It's a find that will have that special spot in the memory bank as it should.

Thanks so much, pepperj. I do wish we dug more coppers down here. I've always wanted to dig a KG copper. Each year I go back to VA and do a bit of detecting and visiting with friends. But in the Appalachian mountains, that was the Frontier when those colonial coppers circulated, so they're much harder to find there than further east. It really just boggles the mind how affluent Louisiana was before the Civil War.

 

[BuckleBoy]

How did that happen. I have a total of2 half dimes that I have dug over the years and you dig 3 in one hunt!! That is Super Incredible,, and let's not forget the Gold. Unbelievable,, CONGRATULATIONS

Seems like half dimes were the main currency down here. Out of 225 silvers we've dug down here, I bet close to 200 of them are half dimes or half reales.

 

[BuckleBoy]

You guys had a great day BB. I'm surprised that it was dry enough to hunt after the hurricane rains. HH, Q.

You'd be amazed at how quickly it dries out down here. The fields are all calibrated to "draw the water off," and plowed and rowed with a laser guided plow to make sure they're sloped the right way to not hold water anywhere. Normally in the summer it rains every dang day, which of course means mud. They had a foot of rain from the storm, but it was all gone in about a week in the fields.

Cheers,

Buck

 

[Subterranean]

These are the days men dream of...congratulations BB!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

That's quite a haul of silver and gold - congrats on an extremely productive hunt. Wish we had some bare ground to hunt around here, or any ground for that matter.