lordmarcovan
Hero Member
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
- Messages
- 553
- Reaction score
- 29
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Golden Isles Of Georgia
- Detector(s) used
- Many models over the years, mostly Garretts
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Monday, January 15th was a perfect day to go out diggin'. It was sunny and the temperature was easily in the high 70s.
I had intended to hunt the old Dover Hall plantation site near my home, which has produced a number of early coins dating back to the late 1700s. All of these were found by another detectorist, however- my personal best on that site is just a 1918-D Mercury dime that was probably lost by a hunter, much later. Speaking of hunters, while I was out there, removing my detector from the van, a fella in a pickup truck drove up and stopped. I asked him if he was working on the site, since logging crews often do. He said no, he was a member of the hunting club that leased the site and mentioned they were hunting there.
"Then I guess I have no reason to be here," I said, and put the detector in the van. He nodded politely. Not wishing to detect with bullets whizzing past me, I drove on to another rural site near my home. I have had my eye on it sometime but it was totally unproven- I wasn't sure of whether there'd be anything there or not. It had been recently cleared.
After walking around for a bit, I noticed two large links of old rusty chain in the dirt. They could've been old or modern- it was hard to say. Then I noticed a tight concentration of oystershells in one of the furrows. That's always a good sign of human occupation. Some pottery sherds, including what might have been a piece of a big chamberpot, were the next to be spotted, lying on top of the ground. The pottery was plain white and unornamented so it was impossible to date, but it was obviously old. It looked to be late 19th/early 20th century, at least. So I got out the detector.
The first target I dug was a ring. No, not a gold or silver ring. It was a big, well-rusted iron ring, larger than my hand. Obviously old. But not really good enough to be considered a nontrash target.
Target #1 was... an old fork!
Judging from its design, it dates from the late 1800s or the first decade of the 1900s. I think it was once silverplated but the plating had long since disappeared in the ground.
The next target was two big clumps of rust held together with a short length of rusty chain. At first I thought one of the rustballs at either end of the rusty-crusty chain might be a padlock, but no- just a big ol' rustball. Didn't count this target, for obvious reasons.
Well, this site bears further investigation, anyway. It might have some Indian cents or other goodies (I dug a couple of 1880s Indians at another site on the same road, years ago). However, like many rural relic hunting spots, this one was rather sparse, target-wise, and I began to think it might take me a whole day to dig twelve nontrash items out there. Besides, I was starting to sweat from hiking up and down the humps and troughs of those furrows. It was actually getting pretty warm outside! And I wanted to get some more urban coinshooting in. So I drove into town, which in my case is the seaport city of Brunswick, Georgia.
On my way into town I saw a time-and-temperature sign that said it was 82 degrees. Wow. That's unseasonably warm even for down here in the Sunny South! No wonder I broke a sweat out there on that rural site. When I got into Brunswick, I headed towards the Old Town District on the south end of town. The city was laid out by Oglethorpe in 1771 but was relatively sparsely inhabited until after it was incorporated in 1856. "Old Town" is Brunswick's Victorian district, and its sidewalks, median strips, and squares (small parks) have been good to me in the past.
Here is the median strip (traffic island) in the middle of Prince Street, looking west towards Union Street. I've hunted the Prince Street median near Halifax Square, but that's two blocks east of where I hunted today. Having once dug high-grade Barber coins including a 1912 dime and a shallow 1894-O quarter in these medians in the past, I knew they had potential. Apparently a good bit of older stuff got pushed into the middle of the roads back in the old days before they were paved, and still sit beneath the grass in the medians. Of course there is no shortage of more modern trash in them, as well, not to mention fire ants, dog poop, and broken glass. Today's median strip was one I had only briefly checked in the past. Two of the nearby houses were built in 1886 and 1907, respectively.
So the potential was there. Soon, my first coin find of 2007 appeared.
Target #2 was a... a 1987 Memorial cent!
Oh, well. Sorry it wasn't anything more exciting.
The next find was nothing spectacular, either, but it was old. The first thing that appeared when I cut the plug of sod was a big oyster shell. Then the target popped out.
Target #3 was an... old oil lamp mechanism!
Well, at least we're finding hundred-year-old relics now, anyway. These are ubiquitously-common finds on late-19th century sites. This was the mechanism of an old kerosene lamp, with the knob that would adjust the length of the wick. Many of these have patent dates on the knobs, and most that I've found were patented around the 1880s. I would guess that this particular one is no exception, though like the fork I found for Target #1, I suppose it could date as late as the first decade of the 1900s. It's Victorian. This one has some lettering on the knob but I can't quite read it. Gotta get a loupe...
...Ah, yes. I see, now. It says "MANHATTAN BRASS Co., NY" on it. Too bad it isn't dated like so many of those are. But it counts as a semi-interesting relic find, anyway.
Soon I had company. A kid on a bicycle was following me. I'm used to being the Pied Piper when I'm out detecting in Old Town. Sometimes one can draw a crowd of curious kids, which is not always a good thing, because they can get loud and grabby and in the way. This young man was giving me my space, though, so I answered some of his barrage of questions. Then he wanted to borrow my detector. I told him it was heavy and expensive, and mentioned (truthfully) that I have owned some used cars that were worth less than this metal detector. Of course he continued to pester me. I did let him hold the detector while I dug up the next target.
Target #4 was an... an earring!
But it's just a gold-plated costume jewelry earring.
I let my tagalong "helper", whose name was Bubba, pose with it.
Bubba got really excited when I dug the earring and I told him I would let him dig a target. I was searching for a shallow, obviously-modern coin signal that I could pinpoint and let him dig up, since letting him swing the GTI-2500 was out of the question. But before I got the chance to let him have his fun, he had to go. "My auntie is calling me," he said, and got back on his bike and tore off down the block, leaving me in peace at last. Thank you, Bubba's auntie. He's a nice kid but I'm not sure I wanted a shadow for the entire afternoon.
On down the median.
*BEEP!*
Aha, a solid coin signal.
(dig dig)
Target #5 was a... 1997-P clad dime!
Out onto Union Street, and the median there.
*BEEP!*
Hey, look at that. Right on the surface.
Target #6 was a...modern car key! ... AND...
Wait, hang on a sec... I'm still gettin' a signal, beneath where that car key was... in the ground!
Another solid coin signal. Kinda deep, too. Good.
(dig dig dig)
Ahh, blast it. It's... ...a big piece of heavy-gauge copper wire, still anchored to something in the ground. Can't get it out. Gotta leave it there. As a "trash" target, that one doesn't count, anyway. Well, it counts as part of the same target since it was within a foot of the car key. Not the sort of "cache" or "hoard" you hoped I'd find, though, eh?
Out on Union Street, looking west, you can see some of the sidewalk strip I hunted next, in the picture below. I found a 1939 Mercury dime in that little strip between the sidewalk and the street, some years back. A cool 1920s token, too. But that was a long time ago. Still, maybe there are some remaining goodies yet to be found there.
As it happened, there were. The next target came up on that same sidewalk strip, near the street corner, just outside the left frame of this picture. (By the way, the house you see in the picture is about 100 years old and its twin next door yielded me some nice goodies a few years back. I plan to ask the owner of this particular house permission to hunt that yard soon. We'll see if I can get in there!)
*BEEP*
(dig dig dig)
Hey, wow... what IS that?
Oh, yeah, baby! Cool find!
Target #7 is a... World War II-era sterling silver US parachutist's badge with bronze service star!
I need to research it further, but I am told they stopped making these in sterling after WW2. The bronze service star is apparently a "battle star", indicating that the serviceman who was awarded this medal made at least one combat jump, I believe. Perhaps it was over Normandy, during D-Day? It's interesting to speculate on. This definitely ranks as a "keeper" in my book, though the pinback is gone. I also accidentally broke off the little star when I was rubbing the dirt off the badge, but I plan to put it back on.
Cool. Now I've been "silvered". Maybe we can add a silver coin to the tally, next.
Two blocks down, as the sun got low in the sky, I came to Hanover Park. Hanover Park is probably one of the hardest-hunted pieces of real estate in southeast Georgia. Detectorists have hammered the place for around thirty years, now. In fact, Steve Smith, my first detecting mentor, has found coins dating back to the 1600s in this park. I don't have anything that noteworthy from there, but I have managed to coax the occasional Mercury dime or silver Roosevelt out of the place. Last year's first silver coin for me, a surprisingly-deep early-1960s silver Roosevelt, came up on the west side of the park, roughly a year ago.
So, with the shadows lengthening as the day grew short, it was to this part of the park I went. Moving slowly and carefully, I dug a tiny piece of wire that had corroded into a clump. (Doesn't count.)
Then there was a faintish coin signal... at six to eight inches! Yeah! I think this was the general area where Steve found a scarce 1811 half cent a few years ago, too, so you can bet any clear-but-faint, deep coin signals get my attention here.
Here is a shot of what I found, with Hanover Square's recently-restored 19th century fountain in the background. Look closely in the foreground. Do you see something shiny?
Here, let's look a little closer. Yeah, baby, that's right! I love the sparkle of silver in the twilight! This sucker was deep, too- about seven inches down!
Target #8 was a...1947 silver Roosevelt dime!
As with last January's find on the same end of this park, the first silver for 2007 is a silver Roosevelt, and a surprisingly deep one for a coin only sixty years old. It is not an earthshaking thing and I consider Target #7 (the paratroop badge) to be a slightly better find, but this IS a silver coin. So I am pleased. I only found two silver coins last year. I need to get out more, I guess.
Man, I saw that silver dime shape come up from seven inches and I though for sure I had a Seated Liberty, at least. Ah, well. Interestingly, the obverse of the coin was grey-toned while the reverse was quite bright. Though this isn't quite as old a coin as I'd hoped, I am still happy, and encouraged. Not only is this my first first silver coin of 2007, it is also the first silver coin I have dug while using the Garrett GTI-2500. I am getting more comfortable with the machine.
Anytime I can find deep silver left behind by the Mighty Steve Smith, I consider it a minor coup.
With the remains of the day fading fast, I briefly paused at a median strip just north of Hanover Square, and the sidewalk strip along Newcastle Street there.
Several obvious coin signals came up, not in the median strip, but in the sidewalk strip nearby.
Target #9 was a... 1992 Memorial cent!
Target #10 was a... 1974 Jefferson nickel!
Target #11 was a... 1970-D Memorial cent!
At three and a half to four, maybe even five inches, these were also surprisingly deep for such relatively modern coins.
I decided to head over to another sidewalk strip on the edge of the business district near Hillary Square, to find my last target.
In front of a circa-1890 Victorian house, on the sidewalk strip, I dug an "iffy" signal that was about four inches down, which bounced between the pulltab and coin ranges on the meter.
Target #12 was a... 1918 Wheat cent!
There you have it, folks. My first "dirty dozen" for the year. I consider this outing a success by my standards, even if it wasn't grand and spectacular. I had fun.
There was a similar "iffy" signal near that 1918 Wheatie that I didn't dig, because I was tired and it was time to go home. I plan to go out and get it later. It might be another early Wheatie or maybe an Indian cent. But we won't know that until later.
I had intended to hunt the old Dover Hall plantation site near my home, which has produced a number of early coins dating back to the late 1700s. All of these were found by another detectorist, however- my personal best on that site is just a 1918-D Mercury dime that was probably lost by a hunter, much later. Speaking of hunters, while I was out there, removing my detector from the van, a fella in a pickup truck drove up and stopped. I asked him if he was working on the site, since logging crews often do. He said no, he was a member of the hunting club that leased the site and mentioned they were hunting there.
"Then I guess I have no reason to be here," I said, and put the detector in the van. He nodded politely. Not wishing to detect with bullets whizzing past me, I drove on to another rural site near my home. I have had my eye on it sometime but it was totally unproven- I wasn't sure of whether there'd be anything there or not. It had been recently cleared.
After walking around for a bit, I noticed two large links of old rusty chain in the dirt. They could've been old or modern- it was hard to say. Then I noticed a tight concentration of oystershells in one of the furrows. That's always a good sign of human occupation. Some pottery sherds, including what might have been a piece of a big chamberpot, were the next to be spotted, lying on top of the ground. The pottery was plain white and unornamented so it was impossible to date, but it was obviously old. It looked to be late 19th/early 20th century, at least. So I got out the detector.
The first target I dug was a ring. No, not a gold or silver ring. It was a big, well-rusted iron ring, larger than my hand. Obviously old. But not really good enough to be considered a nontrash target.
Target #1 was... an old fork!
Judging from its design, it dates from the late 1800s or the first decade of the 1900s. I think it was once silverplated but the plating had long since disappeared in the ground.
The next target was two big clumps of rust held together with a short length of rusty chain. At first I thought one of the rustballs at either end of the rusty-crusty chain might be a padlock, but no- just a big ol' rustball. Didn't count this target, for obvious reasons.
Well, this site bears further investigation, anyway. It might have some Indian cents or other goodies (I dug a couple of 1880s Indians at another site on the same road, years ago). However, like many rural relic hunting spots, this one was rather sparse, target-wise, and I began to think it might take me a whole day to dig twelve nontrash items out there. Besides, I was starting to sweat from hiking up and down the humps and troughs of those furrows. It was actually getting pretty warm outside! And I wanted to get some more urban coinshooting in. So I drove into town, which in my case is the seaport city of Brunswick, Georgia.
On my way into town I saw a time-and-temperature sign that said it was 82 degrees. Wow. That's unseasonably warm even for down here in the Sunny South! No wonder I broke a sweat out there on that rural site. When I got into Brunswick, I headed towards the Old Town District on the south end of town. The city was laid out by Oglethorpe in 1771 but was relatively sparsely inhabited until after it was incorporated in 1856. "Old Town" is Brunswick's Victorian district, and its sidewalks, median strips, and squares (small parks) have been good to me in the past.
Here is the median strip (traffic island) in the middle of Prince Street, looking west towards Union Street. I've hunted the Prince Street median near Halifax Square, but that's two blocks east of where I hunted today. Having once dug high-grade Barber coins including a 1912 dime and a shallow 1894-O quarter in these medians in the past, I knew they had potential. Apparently a good bit of older stuff got pushed into the middle of the roads back in the old days before they were paved, and still sit beneath the grass in the medians. Of course there is no shortage of more modern trash in them, as well, not to mention fire ants, dog poop, and broken glass. Today's median strip was one I had only briefly checked in the past. Two of the nearby houses were built in 1886 and 1907, respectively.
So the potential was there. Soon, my first coin find of 2007 appeared.
Target #2 was a... a 1987 Memorial cent!
Oh, well. Sorry it wasn't anything more exciting.
The next find was nothing spectacular, either, but it was old. The first thing that appeared when I cut the plug of sod was a big oyster shell. Then the target popped out.
Target #3 was an... old oil lamp mechanism!
Well, at least we're finding hundred-year-old relics now, anyway. These are ubiquitously-common finds on late-19th century sites. This was the mechanism of an old kerosene lamp, with the knob that would adjust the length of the wick. Many of these have patent dates on the knobs, and most that I've found were patented around the 1880s. I would guess that this particular one is no exception, though like the fork I found for Target #1, I suppose it could date as late as the first decade of the 1900s. It's Victorian. This one has some lettering on the knob but I can't quite read it. Gotta get a loupe...
...Ah, yes. I see, now. It says "MANHATTAN BRASS Co., NY" on it. Too bad it isn't dated like so many of those are. But it counts as a semi-interesting relic find, anyway.
Soon I had company. A kid on a bicycle was following me. I'm used to being the Pied Piper when I'm out detecting in Old Town. Sometimes one can draw a crowd of curious kids, which is not always a good thing, because they can get loud and grabby and in the way. This young man was giving me my space, though, so I answered some of his barrage of questions. Then he wanted to borrow my detector. I told him it was heavy and expensive, and mentioned (truthfully) that I have owned some used cars that were worth less than this metal detector. Of course he continued to pester me. I did let him hold the detector while I dug up the next target.
Target #4 was an... an earring!
But it's just a gold-plated costume jewelry earring.
I let my tagalong "helper", whose name was Bubba, pose with it.
Bubba got really excited when I dug the earring and I told him I would let him dig a target. I was searching for a shallow, obviously-modern coin signal that I could pinpoint and let him dig up, since letting him swing the GTI-2500 was out of the question. But before I got the chance to let him have his fun, he had to go. "My auntie is calling me," he said, and got back on his bike and tore off down the block, leaving me in peace at last. Thank you, Bubba's auntie. He's a nice kid but I'm not sure I wanted a shadow for the entire afternoon.
On down the median.
*BEEP!*
Aha, a solid coin signal.
(dig dig)
Target #5 was a... 1997-P clad dime!
Out onto Union Street, and the median there.
*BEEP!*
Hey, look at that. Right on the surface.
Target #6 was a...modern car key! ... AND...
Wait, hang on a sec... I'm still gettin' a signal, beneath where that car key was... in the ground!
Another solid coin signal. Kinda deep, too. Good.
(dig dig dig)
Ahh, blast it. It's... ...a big piece of heavy-gauge copper wire, still anchored to something in the ground. Can't get it out. Gotta leave it there. As a "trash" target, that one doesn't count, anyway. Well, it counts as part of the same target since it was within a foot of the car key. Not the sort of "cache" or "hoard" you hoped I'd find, though, eh?
Out on Union Street, looking west, you can see some of the sidewalk strip I hunted next, in the picture below. I found a 1939 Mercury dime in that little strip between the sidewalk and the street, some years back. A cool 1920s token, too. But that was a long time ago. Still, maybe there are some remaining goodies yet to be found there.
As it happened, there were. The next target came up on that same sidewalk strip, near the street corner, just outside the left frame of this picture. (By the way, the house you see in the picture is about 100 years old and its twin next door yielded me some nice goodies a few years back. I plan to ask the owner of this particular house permission to hunt that yard soon. We'll see if I can get in there!)
*BEEP*
(dig dig dig)
Hey, wow... what IS that?
Oh, yeah, baby! Cool find!
Target #7 is a... World War II-era sterling silver US parachutist's badge with bronze service star!
I need to research it further, but I am told they stopped making these in sterling after WW2. The bronze service star is apparently a "battle star", indicating that the serviceman who was awarded this medal made at least one combat jump, I believe. Perhaps it was over Normandy, during D-Day? It's interesting to speculate on. This definitely ranks as a "keeper" in my book, though the pinback is gone. I also accidentally broke off the little star when I was rubbing the dirt off the badge, but I plan to put it back on.
Cool. Now I've been "silvered". Maybe we can add a silver coin to the tally, next.
Two blocks down, as the sun got low in the sky, I came to Hanover Park. Hanover Park is probably one of the hardest-hunted pieces of real estate in southeast Georgia. Detectorists have hammered the place for around thirty years, now. In fact, Steve Smith, my first detecting mentor, has found coins dating back to the 1600s in this park. I don't have anything that noteworthy from there, but I have managed to coax the occasional Mercury dime or silver Roosevelt out of the place. Last year's first silver coin for me, a surprisingly-deep early-1960s silver Roosevelt, came up on the west side of the park, roughly a year ago.
So, with the shadows lengthening as the day grew short, it was to this part of the park I went. Moving slowly and carefully, I dug a tiny piece of wire that had corroded into a clump. (Doesn't count.)
Then there was a faintish coin signal... at six to eight inches! Yeah! I think this was the general area where Steve found a scarce 1811 half cent a few years ago, too, so you can bet any clear-but-faint, deep coin signals get my attention here.
Here is a shot of what I found, with Hanover Square's recently-restored 19th century fountain in the background. Look closely in the foreground. Do you see something shiny?
Here, let's look a little closer. Yeah, baby, that's right! I love the sparkle of silver in the twilight! This sucker was deep, too- about seven inches down!
Target #8 was a...1947 silver Roosevelt dime!
As with last January's find on the same end of this park, the first silver for 2007 is a silver Roosevelt, and a surprisingly deep one for a coin only sixty years old. It is not an earthshaking thing and I consider Target #7 (the paratroop badge) to be a slightly better find, but this IS a silver coin. So I am pleased. I only found two silver coins last year. I need to get out more, I guess.
Man, I saw that silver dime shape come up from seven inches and I though for sure I had a Seated Liberty, at least. Ah, well. Interestingly, the obverse of the coin was grey-toned while the reverse was quite bright. Though this isn't quite as old a coin as I'd hoped, I am still happy, and encouraged. Not only is this my first first silver coin of 2007, it is also the first silver coin I have dug while using the Garrett GTI-2500. I am getting more comfortable with the machine.
Anytime I can find deep silver left behind by the Mighty Steve Smith, I consider it a minor coup.
With the remains of the day fading fast, I briefly paused at a median strip just north of Hanover Square, and the sidewalk strip along Newcastle Street there.
Several obvious coin signals came up, not in the median strip, but in the sidewalk strip nearby.
Target #9 was a... 1992 Memorial cent!
Target #10 was a... 1974 Jefferson nickel!
Target #11 was a... 1970-D Memorial cent!
At three and a half to four, maybe even five inches, these were also surprisingly deep for such relatively modern coins.
I decided to head over to another sidewalk strip on the edge of the business district near Hillary Square, to find my last target.
In front of a circa-1890 Victorian house, on the sidewalk strip, I dug an "iffy" signal that was about four inches down, which bounced between the pulltab and coin ranges on the meter.
Target #12 was a... 1918 Wheat cent!
There you have it, folks. My first "dirty dozen" for the year. I consider this outing a success by my standards, even if it wasn't grand and spectacular. I had fun.
There was a similar "iffy" signal near that 1918 Wheatie that I didn't dig, because I was tired and it was time to go home. I plan to go out and get it later. It might be another early Wheatie or maybe an Indian cent. But we won't know that until later.
Amazon Forum Fav 👍
Upvote
0
