Short hunt yields coppers, bell and one big smile

pepperj · Oct 13, 2015

Just a great day up here yesterday did the hike and it was 5 pm I decided I needed to end the day in the corn patch. Little less than 2 hrs it was dark and I had a few keepers and this morning I was rewarded with a very big discovery when I washed up the bell. The coinage was a burnt disk with maybe an image of something facing left and a 1900 LC. A small flat button and a huge 33mm thin button with a design of sorts and part of a spoon. What makes me just delighted is that the crotal bell has the initials of the original land grant holder, and the Great Grandfather of the present owner the one that gave me the permission to hunt all the lands. It's a first time(45yrs) I've found something randomly on someone's land that directly ties the find to their family tree as this crotal bell. It might not mean much to some but it puts a big smile on this mug!The bell has a hole on the other side but the steel ball is still inside, my mission is to find the chip and complete the bell, but in the mean time it'll be given to the landowner and that will put a smile on their face.

CASPER-2 · Oct 14, 2015

against the wind · Oct 14, 2015

Very nicely done.
I'm sure you will always be welcome in that field

Nepa-Will · Oct 14, 2015

Great finds! The Crotal is awesome.

park pirate · Oct 14, 2015

Nice..

Old Dude · Oct 14, 2015

Old cornfields are always good for a smile. I have yet to find anything in a yard or a public place that has given me something to smile about quite as often as a field. Sometimes the least little thing can make a person's day. I think giving the bell to the owner is a great thing to do :icon_thumright:

Rick (Nova Scotia) · Oct 14, 2015

That is a very cool relic.
Giving it to the land owner, and decendant of the owner of the bell is the right, and just thing to do. Good for you ! You don't hear of many finds being turned over to the owner, and face it without land owners, and permission to use them a Metal Detector is just a poor doorstop.

I found a bell on property where my father grew up, and his grandfather grew up, no initials on it, so no proof, but it "could have" belonged to my relatives, so for that reason it is more special than any other I found.

Well I must get ready, and out the door for some diggy diggy.

NEPADIGGER7 · Oct 14, 2015

like everyone says....sometimes the short quick hunts are the best!

pepperj · Oct 14, 2015

CASPER-2 said:
View attachment 1222892

Thanks Casper

against the wind said:
Very nicely done.
I'm sure you will always be welcome in that field

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm sure it'll buy a few brownie points and maybe another lead to other farms. He drove by in the tractor as it was getting almost too dark to see the big wave and smile, it's a warm feeling to feel welcomed as he knows what I dig, and one thing is the bits of steel fencing wires that can get into the feed stock and could kill his one of his prized dairy cows, that alone he's smiling that I'm helping make the field safer.

Nepa-Will said:
Great finds! The Crotal is awesome.

Thank you Nepa
It's a winner in my books.

Rick (Nova Scotia) said:
That is a very cool relic.
Giving it to the land owner, and decendant of the owner of the bell is the right, and just thing to do. Good for you ! You don't hear of many finds being turned over to the owner, and face it without land owners, and permission to use them a Metal Detector is just a poor doorstop.

I found a bell on property where my father grew up, and his grandfather grew up, no initials on it, so no proof, but it "could have" belonged to my relatives, so for that reason it is more special than any other I found.

Well I must get ready, and out the door for some diggy diggy.

Thanks Rick

It's one of those finds that are always a welcomed find, getting the initials on the bell is the best. Best of luck doing the diggy diggy today.

NEPADIGGER7 said:
like everyone says....sometimes the short quick hunts are the best!

Thanks NEPADIGGER

I seems to be working out that way, short and sweet is good.

Old Dude said:
Old cornfields are always good for a smile. I have yet to find anything in a yard or a public place that has given me something to smile about quite as often as a field. Sometimes the least little thing can make a person's day. I think giving the bell to the owner is a great thing to do

Thanks old Dude
I'm really comfortable digging the fields and bush, nobody asking questions or anything else that comes from urban hunting. Not that the urban hasn't been kind to me in the past, but it's the anticipation of what the shovel full of soils will turn over.

park pirate said:
Nice..

Thank you pp

Loco-Digger · Oct 14, 2015

Looks like you had a great day, and giving that Bell to the property owner is a great gesture and will go a long way in continuing to keep the permission for seasons to come. Kudos to you PP :notworthy:

OutdoorAdv · Oct 14, 2015

That's one awesome bell and the initials make it even more special. Its so cool to hear them ring after all that time in the ground. Great hunt!

Evolution · Oct 14, 2015

Awesome digs. The history behind the finds is just as great and sometimes greater than the finds themselves. Congrats!

pepperj · Oct 14, 2015

Loco-Digger said:
Looks like you had a great day, and giving that Bell to the property owner is a great gesture and will go a long way in continuing to keep the permission for seasons to come. Kudos to you PP

Thanks LD they were very happy to see the find.

pepperj · Oct 14, 2015

OutdoorAdv said:
That's one awesome bell and the initials make it even more special. Its so cool to hear them ring after all that time in the ground. Great hunt!

Thank you and you're so right, clean the dirt out and to hear them tinkle once again after hundreds of years is special.

Evolution said:
Awesome digs. The history behind the finds is just as great and sometimes greater than the finds themselves. Congrats!

Thank you Evolution and also I agree fully about the history behind the find is what it's all about.

pepperj · Oct 14, 2015

UPDATE ON THE RETURN OF THE BELL

I stopped off quickly to give the bell to the landowner and the Mrs came to the front steps to see what was up, I handed the bell over with the information written on the bag to her and explained what the bell was, and what it was used for. I showed her the initials on the bell and she said with a little gasp "Oh it belonged to Wallace C....." She went on to explain that Wallace had sold his farm to his brother and he had all the proceeds in his pocket and that night he disappeared never to be seen again ever! He was murdered for the money they figured because no trace ever showed up about him again. He had no reason to disappear into thin air, but being the 1800's the investigation skills of the law enforcement wasn't the greatest. Cool story, and it's the only thing (being the bell) the family has now that Wallace once owned, a little piece of history that's saved.

Silver Tree Chaser · Oct 14, 2015

Great post and an awesome job in identifying the connection between the bell's initials and the land owner. This is one of the best stories I've heard in a while. Giving the bell to the land owner was the right thing to do. I believe in karma, and your good deed will come back to you with good fortune - seven fold.

pepperj · Oct 14, 2015

Silver Tree Chaser said:
Great post and an awesome job in identifying the connection between the bell's initials and the land owner. This is one of the best stories I've heard in a while. Giving the bell to the land owner was the right thing to do. I believe in karma, and your good deed will come back to you with good fortune - seven fold.

Thanks for the kind reply Silver Tree Chaser

Like it doesn't happen often and I still wonder why things take so long to happen in this hobby. Swinging the plastic disc off and on for 45 yrs and this is a first-so I get to scratch it off the list. Truthfully I would have to write it down to scratch it off because it really never occurred to me that I'd find something that linked the owner and a find.