Marathon Dig: SEVEN early Silvers and ANTEBELLUM GOLD!

BuckleBoy

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Moonlight and Magnolias
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4
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Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
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All Treasure Hunting
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!! :D 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!

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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!

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

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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! :headbang:

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

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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.

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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.

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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!!

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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.

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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.

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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!

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Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,



Buckleboy, Shangalang, and Diggergirl
 

Last edited:
Upvote 54
That's a dream hunt, four seated half-dimes a reale AND gold, well done! I usually average about one seated half-dime and one reale a year, so to get four half-dimes in one hunt is spectacular!

That ring top is really nice, it's a shame it wasn't complete, but it is what it is, and hopefully the ring part shows up at some point.

hh,
Cal
 

Man what great finds! Never gets old! Thanks everyone for the replies and of course BB for making the great posts of all our treasures!!! Ready to hit it again!!! Shanegalang- The Cane Field Bandits
 

WOW!
BB & Gang Y'all had the 'Good Condition' god's or your side as most of the Silvers look to be F -or Better.
The Reals are sweet also holes & all.

The Ring to ...'speechless'.
Thanks for posting.
 

I never be disappointed reading your posts. You had a weekend... :hello2: Big congrats to the Bandits!
 

Amazing! Simply Amazing!
 

WOW !!! what a dream hunt ! congrats
 

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.

That's one thing I remember all too well about hunting in VA, KY, NC, WV, and IN: waiting impatiently for harvest time! With the crop rotations in and out of soybean and sugarcane here, the only thing stopping one from hunting year round would lack of a site in "seed cane," which is basically 1/4 to 1/3 of the fields during July through October of any given year... well...that and the extreme heat and mud. I've hunted up to "103 degrees, feels like 127 degrees" before--and I don't think I'll do that again!

Best Wishes,

Buck
 

That's a dream hunt, four seated half-dimes a reale AND gold, well done! I usually average about one seated half-dime and one reale a year, so to get four half-dimes in one hunt is spectacular!

That ring top is really nice, it's a shame it wasn't complete, but it is what it is, and hopefully the ring part shows up at some point.

hh,
Cal

Thanks so much for your kind words and congrats, Cal! I'm so happy anytime a silver turns up--but this was just an anomaly in terms of the number of coins dug. Didn't even feel real--and likely not to be repeated. (Although I've learned never to say "never" in this hobby!)

Cheers,

Buck
 

Man what great finds! Never gets old! Thanks everyone for the replies and of course BB for making the great posts of all our treasures!!! Ready to hit it again!!! Shanegalang- The Cane Field Bandits

Yep! Can't Wait! Wanna have a "sick day" at work this week? :laughing7:
 

WOW!
BB & Gang Y'all had the 'Good Condition' god's or your side as most of the Silvers look to be F -or Better.
The Reals are sweet also holes & all.

The Ring to ...'speechless'.
Thanks for posting.

Heya Davers,

Great to hear from you! Yeah, I think those coins were all lost right around the time the site was occupied. Wear on the coins there seems to indicate roughly 1830 to mid 1840s occupation exclusively, really narrow time frame (judging from the lack of items--including very, very few buttons even!).

Best Wishes,

Buck
 

I never be disappointed reading your posts. You had a weekend... :hello2: Big congrats to the Bandits!

Thanks so much, Westfront! It's long been a dream to see some old gold. Gives me hope for a gold coin or complete piece of jewelry at some point!

Best Wishes,

Buck
 

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