BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
Wow, what a week! Here's the video:
Now let me explain... I've been waiting on a certain field since I had a great day digging an 1809 half cent, seated dime, and a good many Civil War relics there. Every time I go to it, the farmers are messing with it--plowing, flattening, rowing, discing.
So I just bided my time, did turn rows and border areas, and made the best of the crappy hand I was dealt. Well those sparse finds got put up on my relic table "in the queue." So we had rain, rain, rain down here the past few weeks and I was not willing to deal with the heat AND the mud, so I waited patiently for things to dry out. Well the day came last weekend and I went to that same field again hoping that it had washed down. They had chunked it up again and it was in ankle-breaking clumps where I'd have gotten zero depth.
So I was officially out of a site to dig. I drove around scouting on the 80,000 acres we have permission for, looking for a field that was in just the right condition for this time of year to produce some finds. Then I remembered I'd run across a site where I'd pulled a 1930s green Scotch Whisky bottle about a month ago. I figured if I couldn't find a good field to DIG some finds in, I could at least EYEBALL some! So I got out in that site, which was chock full of broken glass, scrap iron, and can slaw/pull tabs/jar caps. The trash was intense and I decided to get further back in the field so I could focus better. Well, lo and behold I started seeing olive green glass, less trash, porcelain and china, and ginger beer bottle shards. This just might be the right age! I hiked the half mile back to my car to get my detector. By this time it was 91 feels like 97 degrees. When I got back to where I was seeing the ginger beers I eyeballed a hammer from a lock plate! I imagine it's from the left side of a double barrel shotgun.
I picked a random row and started detecting. White glass buttons were everywhere (I picked up 71 of them between one half and one full day of detecting). Within 15 feet, I had a half dime in my hands! A holed 1857-O!
Then I turned around at the end and came back through that same patch and picked up a shield nickel:
Then 20 inches away from the first Shield Nickel, I dug a second one! I now had two shields and a half dime:
I went to the end of the cane row and detected my way back into that same area again and picked up ANOTHER nickel! It was a THIRD shield!
The daylight was fleeting so I made plans to return early the next day. Shangalang decided to join me, and he came tearing up in his truck yelling "SURPRISE, MOTHERF(*&$(@!!!"
So we got right at it, as I now suspected that this could be a scattered cache, since all the coins were in a concentrated area.
It wasn't long until Shangalang dug his first Shield nickel of the day. Then I found my fourth one for a total of FIVE so far! We then dug a couple of large caliber round balls each and I got a carved minieball! So there was CIVIL WAR in here too!!
Then it got close to lunch time and I came up the last row before our break and dug a two piece button. Not knowing what it was, I assumed military since we seldom get two piece buttons that aren't military buttons here. When I turned it over, it was a tulip.
When I was almost to the end I hear Shangalang say "Hey, I think I've got a two-piece button too!" I walked over to him and through the mud I could see the tell-tale neck of a sleepy old Civil War Louisiana Pelican button!! It was his first ever coat sized pelican!
After lunch we didn't need any convincing to get into the fields again! Immediately once I got back in the area of the coins shangalang dug ANOTHER shield nickel! This was getting ridiculous. SIX SHIELD NICKELS so far.
During one of our "we don't want to die of heat stroke" breaks, I carefully cleaned his pelican button. Turned out to be a beauty!
Backmark is c.1860 * SCOVILL MF'G CO * WATERBURY
Then I got another 28 signal on the F75 and popped yet another nickel. I was expecting a shield but it happened to be an 1899 V Nickel. LOL
Then I turned around and got into the coin scatter again and dug ANOTHER nickel--our SEVENTH shield nickel. Ridiculous.
I got a neat little spur, a flat button that was right on top, and turned around to get on the next row and head back. Then on the way I picked up a plow-struck plantation token which turned out to be an unlisted one from a neighboring plantation!
MORE PHOTOS IN THE FIRST REPLY JUST BELOW:
Wow, what a week! Here's the video:
Now let me explain... I've been waiting on a certain field since I had a great day digging an 1809 half cent, seated dime, and a good many Civil War relics there. Every time I go to it, the farmers are messing with it--plowing, flattening, rowing, discing.
So I just bided my time, did turn rows and border areas, and made the best of the crappy hand I was dealt. Well those sparse finds got put up on my relic table "in the queue." So we had rain, rain, rain down here the past few weeks and I was not willing to deal with the heat AND the mud, so I waited patiently for things to dry out. Well the day came last weekend and I went to that same field again hoping that it had washed down. They had chunked it up again and it was in ankle-breaking clumps where I'd have gotten zero depth. So I was officially out of a site to dig. I drove around scouting on the 80,000 acres we have permission for, looking for a field that was in just the right condition for this time of year to produce some finds. Then I remembered I'd run across a site where I'd pulled a 1930s green Scotch Whisky bottle about a month ago. I figured if I couldn't find a good field to DIG some finds in, I could at least EYEBALL some! So I got out in that site, which was chock full of broken glass, scrap iron, and can slaw/pull tabs/jar caps. The trash was intense and I decided to get further back in the field so I could focus better. Well, lo and behold I started seeing olive green glass, less trash, porcelain and china, and ginger beer bottle shards. This just might be the right age! I hiked the half mile back to my car to get my detector. By this time it was 91 feels like 97 degrees. When I got back to where I was seeing the ginger beers I eyeballed a hammer from a lock plate! I imagine it's from the left side of a double barrel shotgun.
I picked a random row and started detecting. White glass buttons were everywhere (I picked up 71 of them between one half and one full day of detecting). Within 15 feet, I had a half dime in my hands! A holed 1857-O!
Then I turned around at the end and came back through that same patch and picked up a shield nickel:
Then 20 inches away from the first Shield Nickel, I dug a second one! I now had two shields and a half dime:
I went to the end of the cane row and detected my way back into that same area again and picked up ANOTHER nickel! It was a THIRD shield!
The daylight was fleeting so I made plans to return early the next day. Shangalang decided to join me, and he came tearing up in his truck yelling "SURPRISE, MOTHERF(*&$(@!!!"
So we got right at it, as I now suspected that this could be a scattered cache, since all the coins were in a concentrated area.
It wasn't long until Shangalang dug his first Shield nickel of the day. Then I found my fourth one for a total of FIVE so far! We then dug a couple of large caliber round balls each and I got a carved minieball! So there was CIVIL WAR in here too!!
Then it got close to lunch time and I came up the last row before our break and dug a two piece button. Not knowing what it was, I assumed military since we seldom get two piece buttons that aren't military buttons here. When I turned it over, it was a tulip.
When I was almost to the end I hear Shangalang say "Hey, I think I've got a two-piece button too!" I walked over to him and through the mud I could see the tell-tale neck of a sleepy old Civil War Louisiana Pelican button!! It was his first ever coat sized pelican!
After lunch we didn't need any convincing to get into the fields again! Immediately once I got back in the area of the coins shangalang dug ANOTHER shield nickel! This was getting ridiculous. SIX SHIELD NICKELS so far.
During one of our "we don't want to die of heat stroke" breaks, I carefully cleaned his pelican button. Turned out to be a beauty!
Backmark is c.1860 * SCOVILL MF'G CO * WATERBURY
Then I got another 28 signal on the F75 and popped yet another nickel. I was expecting a shield but it happened to be an 1899 V Nickel. LOL
Then I turned around and got into the coin scatter again and dug ANOTHER nickel--our SEVENTH shield nickel. Ridiculous.
I got a neat little spur, a flat button that was right on top, and turned around to get on the next row and head back. Then on the way I picked up a plow-struck plantation token which turned out to be an unlisted one from a neighboring plantation!
MORE PHOTOS IN THE FIRST REPLY JUST BELOW:
Attachments
Last edited:
Upvote
42
I also don't think new detectorists realize just how many 'eyeball finds' can be made by simply doing a field walk after a few days of rain. 
