Old farm gives up Spanish Silver ...1775 Reale...Updated - Religious Medal!

[The Seeker]

Today is April fools… …but this day turned out to be a good one. I was on my way down to a site that I have hunted quite a few times over the past few years. These farm fields are HUGE…and have enough area to hunt for plenty more years down the road. We started in one area finding a few nice relics and then the sky opened up and drenched us for 20 minutes. Then it cleared up as fast as it came through. So as we started again in an area where there is plenty of glass and pottery shards.





I fired up the detector took one step and bam got a great hit. Dug down and what did I see. …SILVER … it was a Mercury dime and I only took one step.But the thing about this field is....... the finds are all over and as you can see in the pics, there is plenty of room. So when you get that hit dig it!!! When hunting plowed fields the coins, buttons, what ever is in that field, can be dragged by tractors for some distance. Making your area much larger than the normal small home site. The next nice item was this Gold Gilt plaid pattern Button. I will take Buttons like this all day long, this one was manufactured by: IVES KENDRICK & CO. From the 1830’s.



As we continued Tim and I decided to grid the area. …This is a technique that works well in most areas especially farm fields with no obstacles. What happened a short time later was a nice surprise…. I got a great hit and my first thought is ,this is some piece of aluminum or a piece of copper, but not this time. It was a 1775 Spanish Reale and only down 2 inches. This coin hit so good …..When I saw that silver sitting there, I prayed it was a U.S. coin. Finding the old ones are worth a few bucks if they turn out to be a key date.




Again this site has given up more nice finds and will most likely give up plenty more in the future. The small piece that looks like a Religious medal is dated 1846; I have it soaking in oil to preserve what detail I can.



Looking over at Tim and wondering how he is doing, guess what happened now. The rain returns and now its getting more steady and heavier..... Bummer!!! .....But thats the way it goes sometimes. So back at the trucks, Tim and I decide to call it quits and head on home. After a good day of digging and some nice stuff, the ride home feels good. I’m sure Tim will share his finds with the forum sometime soon. With all that said eveyone have a great April fools.!!!

Take care and happy hunting! John W.



After soaking the medal in oil, the piece cleaned up very nicely. On one side is a likeness of.....

Pope Pius IX
(GIOVANNI MARIA MASTAI-FERRETTI).
Pope from 1846-78; born at Sinigaglia, 13 May, 1792; died in Rome, 7 February, 1878.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12134b.htm



The other side shows the bust of one of the saints. Finding medals like this , always makes for a nice addition to any collection.

Thanks again John

 

[Ridley]

That's how you do it!!!!

Congratulations. This looks like a case of experience paying off big time!

Cheers!




Ridley

 

[ringfinder]

Wow John, that is some site you have found. Those are some really great finds.

I'm not sure that coins are spread out during plowing. I once found a ladies wedding band in a field at an old one room school house. The field had been plowed many times. I actually returned the ring to the owners son. He was eight years old when he lost the ring and he was 78 when I returned it to him. I asked him where he lost the ring and he said they had a play ground in a low spot of the field. I told him that was exactly where I found the ring.

Thanks again for those great pictures. HH, Ringfinder

 

[JerV3]

Those are some really nice finds Seeker. Glad to see you are back out hunting like there is no tomorrow.

I wish I had that many early sites around me. My area is old but the city is to built up for colonial hunting. All my foundations are out of the city. The good old one's.

Keep up the great finds. Glad to see you are healthy again man.

HH Jer

 

[dgaughan]

great finds john the medal is very cool good luck and hh

 

[Boobydoo]

Awesome John!! Congrats and I know if anyone does, you deserve it for all your hard work and great research.
Great medal!!!

Smiles!
BDoo

 

[The Seeker]

Wow John, that is some site you have found. Those are some really great finds.

I'm not sure that coins are spread out during plowing. I once found a ladies wedding band in a field at an old one room school house. The field had been plowed many times. I actually returned the ring to the owners son. He was eight years old when he lost the ring and he was 78 when I returned it to him. I asked him where he lost the ring and he said they had a play ground in a low spot of the field. I told him that was exactly where I found the ring.

Thanks again for those great pictures. HH, Ringfinder

Hey Ringfinder........What I have noticed over time is that most of the old homesites located in farm fields have a wide range of artifacts. When the farmers are plowing those fields, (example) say for the last 50 years and when there pattern is the same over and over again they tend to drag items farther away from there original location, the area close to where the house once stood. So in turn makes your range to detect that much larger. I kinda like detecting these areas because the plow is usually set at depths of 12 inches or more, so those coins last year that may have been very deep, are now on top of the ground. I know for a fact last year I detected that area and now this year the 1775 Spanish reale was only a couple inches down. I hope this info helps and when it comes to those farm fields , you can go back over and over again! HH and Keep on Digging!

John

 

[dr-quest]

Cant beat spanish silver for making a great day and a cool medal to boot
HH

 

[Nana40]

Seeker! 8) Look at you!!! So glad to see you out and huntin! Love those pictures and those finds! I always look forward to seeing your posts.

Congrats!!!

Nana

 

[trk5capt]

Seek, Very Nice, Congrats. trk5capt...

 

[paul1410]

Nice finds, Seeker! Love the reale and the medal.

What part of the country is this?

 

[fuji]

good hunt

 

[Farmer X]

Seeker
30 years of detecting and yet the Spanish reale eludes me.. excellent job and my compliments on the very nice medal


HH ---Farmer

 

[Natman]

Excellent finds! Good job.

Nat

 

[The Seeker]

Nice finds, Seeker! Love the reale and the medal.

What part of the country is this?

This site is located in Livingston County, NY. The farm fields in this area are endless. Miles of area to cover.........To many places and not enough time! lolol Take care and HH.................

John

 

[paul1410]

Nice finds, Seeker! Love the reale and the medal.

What part of the country is this?

This site is located in Livingston County, NY. The farm fields in this area are endless. Miles of area to cover.........To many place and not enough time! lolol Take care and HH.................

John

Thanks for the reply.

HH

 

[pgill]

John I just love the medal 8) I would love to see it when it has been fully cleaned up.... Wow what I would do to have what you have. The fields near me are full of nothing, not even a signal....
That silver reale is also a great find. Although all silver is great hey

Keep up the great work you are doing, and keep teaching us new guys the tricks of the trade

God bless
Peter

 

[The Seeker]

John I just love the medal 8) I would love to see it when it has been fully cleaned up.... Wow what I would do to have what you have. The fields near me are full of nothing, not even a signal....
That silver reale is also a great find. Although all silver is great hey

Keep up the great work you are doing, and keep teaching us new guys the tricks of the trade

God bless
Peter

Hey Peter...........It's always nice to hear from you. Thanks once again for the kind words, plus I'm sure if you dig a little deeper into the history in your area, you will find that there is some place well worth detecting. Take care my friend................

The Seeker