Yesterdays fun hunt - lot of balls and mystery silver

[CASPER-2]

I call it a fun hunt cause I had no great expectations - hit off of Rev War fort -
it was a popular early 1900s spot for swimming
few swim there now - bottom is rocky and not ideal (ive gotten a few newer coins but never any new gold or silver)
- it is popular for fishing too
been hammered by many over the years but I go out at low farther than most here
unlike some - I like finding musket balls here - I consider them relics (lot of others find them annoying)- don't get me wrong
like most would like to find gold and silver - which ive done okay here too - but if
I cant get those - would rather dig musketballs than trash - most of them are a foot to 2 feet down
and test your skill - deep ones are faint and real deep ones will go off as a low tone but I know to dig
anyways - not much junk here - once you make first scoop - they will change to a high tone
I did not bring my floating sifter and lost a few pistol=small calib. balls that fell thru scoop - normally I would drop down and pluck
but had my 7mm shorty suit on and it is too buoyant to stay down -
so I'm out real far and then got a louder shallower hit - scoop and was surprised to find mystery caked coin in my scoop - 95%
sure its a silver half - super encrusted - found it way out in middle of musketball patch - little later found the Bulava watch
another surprise - as tide came in I worked around a large rocky area - usually only get sinkers in them - really tough scooping
but did pull out a few musketballs too and then got 2 silver dimes - one is a merc - the other super crusted
viz was really bad here too - could not see my coil or where I had been but had fun - nice to cool off and get some exercise

 

[Diggin Dude]

I agree with you regarding musket balls, they are relics and part of our history. I never found one in the water. Congrats on the silver, Great finds and HH

 

[Gitschlag]

Very cool! Finding that silver coin out in the middle of all those musketballs would make me think it could possibly be shipwreck flotsam? That would make that cookie of a coin much older. It looks similar to encrusted Spanish pillar dollars that I have found.

 

[trapperart]

Nice bunch of finds congrats

 

[CASPER-2]

its the exact size of a half
- musketballs are off of a Rev war/CW war fort in Ma. - they are usually found 50 yards plus from the fort
it was attacked by a small band of British from sea at least once and quickly repelled - of course never saw any CW action being in Ma. but ive found 3 ringer
CW minie balls also off of here - mostly likely from target practice - shooting at seagulls maybe
have never found any colonial coins here - one guy said he got one diving off the fort proper
- oldest coins have been from late 1800s - most of the gold rings ive gotten here have been from the late 1800s early 1900s - of course many other hunters hammered the shallows here years before me - I have to wonder if any of them have gotten any colonials in the shallows

no shipwrecks here

Very cool! Finding that silver coin out in the middle of all those musketballs would make me think it could possibly be shipwreck flotsam? That would make that cookie of a coin much older. It looks similar to encrusted Spanish pillar dollars that I have found.

 

[Tuberale]

Really like your musketballs, Casper. So much more historical than my junk.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I'd be very happy with all those musket balls! They never get old to me.... and at a rev war fort they're even more special. Great hunt man. Do you do electrolysis or anything to ID those crusty coins? Or are they pretty much toast?

 

[CASPER-2]

I used to - but ones like these - you end up with half or less of the coin left - some times razor thin - so waste of time
I'm willing to bet its a walking lib. - I like to leave some like this to show people what they look like when found in saltwater in some places

I'd be very happy with all those musket balls! They never get old to me.... and at a rev war fort they're even more special. Great hunt man. Do you do electrolysis or anything to ID those crusty coins? Or are they pretty much toast?

 

[CASPER-2]

I gotten musket balls from the water from at least 6 saltwater beaches along the New England coast - Ct.,RI., and Ma
those are just as they came out - they sometimes have a black residue powder on them but they come out that deep grey usually
have gotten over 100 from waters now - have tons from land - farm fields mostly - I still like finding those too

I agree with you regarding musket balls, they are relics and part of our history. I never found one in the water. Congrats on the silver, Great finds and HH

 

[against the wind]

Well done Casper,, not fun getting pushed around when the tide changes.
Rocky bottoms are tough. I use a 5mm full wetsuit. The water temps down here in NYC are still in the lower 60's.
I would bet that the larger coin is a half dollar.
Congrats buddy and be careful on that rocky bottom

 

[CASPER-2]

I'm in my 7mm shorty with long sleeves - wear 7mm high top boots - thick soles - rocks are no prob
just better when the viz is good - if I wear my kayak/dive jacket when it water warms - and viz is good - I can drop down and retrieve finds in the rocks better fanning -
sometimes they are sitting right in the rocks - key is having real good visability

Well done Casper,, not fun getting pushed around when the tide changes.
Rocky bottoms are tough. I use a 5mm full wetsuit. The water temps down here in NYC are still in the lower 60's.
I would bet that the larger coin is a half dollar.
Congrats buddy and be careful on that rocky bottom

 

[A2coins]

Grat finds I always like reading your posts I'm going to water hunt this weekend first time. very excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Loco-Digger]

 

[Sooper Dave]

Great hunt! Yeah I love all the lead too! Lots of history in those. Will you try to clean the big coin to see if you can ID it? It would eat me up not to know what it was.

 

[ScubaDetector]

Look like it is still a promising place to play. With all that lead, coins had to have been missed. I really hate dropping bullets back into the water, you know you will be chasing them again. That is why I don't wade at bullet beach very much.

Congrats on the musket balls and the silvers.

 

[The Rebel]

WTG on the musket balls! I like finding them if nothing else is popping up. Did the ocean keep them so clean and not with the normal white patina because they were so deep?

I used to be a CW Re-enactor before we had kids. I used to camp out over at Ft. Warren for about a week and we had the run of the place after all of the tourists had left for the day. We left Hull via an old LCM. One year we were finding musket balls out on the beach at low tide.

One year they moved a 12pd mountain howitzer inside one of the bastions & fired it out one of the gun ports. Man you would go deaf if a fort was in full action firing everything they had.

 

[qaela4]

Anytime you are on a "fun" hunt and manage to find anything is a good day. Nothing wrong with saving the history with those musket balls. As far as I'm concerned if it ain't trash, it was worth it.

 

[CASPER-2]

that is how lead comes out in salt water - just like the sinkers - dark grey 95% of the time
when first recovered - they will have a blackish oxidation that rubs off at the touch - but ive found prob close to 200 balls in salt waters
and bout dozen assorted minie balls
I must have close to 1000 balls on land

WTG on the musket balls! I like finding them if nothing else is popping up. Did the ocean keep them so clean and not with the normal white patina because they were so deep?

I used to be a CW Re-enactor before we had kids. I used to camp out over at Ft. Warren for about a week and we had the run of the place after all of the tourists had left for the day. We left Hull via an old LCM. One year we were finding musket balls out on the beach at low tide.

One year they moved a 12pd mountain howitzer inside one of the bastions & fired it out one of the gun ports. Man you would go deaf if a fort was in full action firing everything they had.

 

[CASPER-2]

this is bunch from one year a few years back - 2 brown from ground

 

[frogmaster-riviera]

Very nice balls Caspers