Advice on detecting old farmstead?

[abbynormal]

I just got my first premission to detect on an old private property in my neighborhood. The original house was built in 1823 and there is a house built in 1873 there, as well as an old barn of the same era.
There is also a lot of woodlands and pasture as the man owns 73 acres. Any suggestions or tips that you more experienced folks can give me would be much appreciated. I've been given the OK to detect anywhere on the property.

 

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[mamabear]

sounds like it could be a great place to hunt. Firts I would ask the owners if they have any old pics of the present house. lots of times there is evidence that is gone now. so you might get clues from that. ask them if they know the history of the property. sometimes you can get a wealth of info from them. & usually it is fun. then do your research at library in the "geneology/history" section, then of course historical society.
Good luck, have fun & be safe

 

[Gold Maven]

most of my coin finds from houses come from high traffic areas, front door, back door, sidewalks, parking areas.

As for caches.....that's a little tougher to pinpoint.

 

[abbynormal]

Thanks for the advice everyone. Now I need a day it's not raining to go over there In the meantime, the old gentleman who lives there is alone, so my hubby and I baked him an apple pie to take over there as a thank you. Might be a good conversation starter to discussing the history of the house. He seems to like to talk, so I don't think I'll have trouble finding out some stuff. He is a very nice man.

 

[kayden]

Slow & dig everything!

 

[paulm777]

Nice! I'm still searching for old homesteads in my area. I see your an I.T. Person. I'm a network admin. Hope you find a gold mind!

 

[Gator01]

These are what I hunt mostly. Heres what I have success with. Like someone stated, try to figure out the high traffic areas.
Even if the house is gone, you will find it when you get into all the nails. But this is what happens in this spot, beds of nails, masking. I find very little in these beds of nails because of masking, not saying you cant find anything, its very difficult, and I have found coins and artifacts in places like this, and I still hit em.BUT, areas away from the house can be productive and much easier to hunt,you just have to search for them. So after I find what I think was the house spot, I start moving away from it. Later after I have exhausted my search around the house, I move back to the house spot with a small coil. Also, this isnt just a single day hunt, sometimes I work these spots many hours/days.
Main thing, get a strategy to work the spot and stay with it.
Best of luck,
John

 

[cudamark]

Grid search the area so you don't miss anything. Check under any large trees, outside well, privy/outhouse (dig and sift those), and barn area too. If you start finding good stuff, I'd remove every target that makes a sound.

 

[TerryC]

Trees in front of the house GOOD!Trees in back BAD! The back yard trees may be where they fixed cars and tractors so MANY iron parts,nuts,bolts. They didn't call them SHADE TREE mechanics for nothing! TTC

 

[CWhunter76]

Abby i am hanging out to learn what the posters give you because i am new to this. I have a question for anyone. Is there any question when you contact a property owner as to if you get to keep whatever you find? Do you feel obligated to tell them what you find?

 

[abbynormal]

CWhunter, that is a good question! That might depend on the owner and the circumstances, I guess. Since I am new to this also, I am learning as I go along and would love to hear what others have to say on this issue.
I think if I found a lot of interesting/valuable stuff, I'd tell the owner. Also, he was outside in his vegetable garden yesterday when I was searching, so he noticed some of what I found. He was interested but didn't want anything except I found a socket that he had lost and was looking for because it was part of a set, LOL, so he was happy to have that.
So far I've found some interesting things but no silver or high value items. Kind of odd stuff, really. I only had about 2 hours yesterday and then it started raining. Spent part of that time speaking with the owner as he wanted to tell me where he had found interesting things on the property, such as that there was a bottle/trash dump across the road from the original house in the front of a field. And that there were often arrowheads found in the back of his wooded area near a creek. He also told me where there used to be some other old buildings on his property and some nearby properties in the neighborhood.
I plan to spend many days on this property as there is a lot of area to search. Some places are pretty trashy but I think clearing it out will be worthwhile. I was working along a stone wall that edges what would have been the stableyard/paddock in front of the barn and on the backside of that wall folks had randomly heaped more stones over the years. I was getting hits all over the place under the small stones. Further investigation turned up old broken glass and a lot of things that look like they might be old milk bottlecaps or something. It looked like someone was dumping trash as well as stones in that area. The owner said I could move any stones I wanted, just to put them back. It started to really pour rain while I was still looking for whatever was ringing silver in/under those stones. I will be returning as soon as I can. I think it could be worthwhile to search all along that rubble at the edges of that wall.
I found a piece of costume jewelry that was a charm bracelet with, of all things, a charm shaped like a city bus, under a tree on the side of the front yard. Some clad. Lots of trash of course, including some old tractor parts (at least, that's what the farmer thought they were).
Gator01, both houses are still standing. The 1823 stone house is being used as a wood shop (it is very small) and the larger stone house is where the owner is living. The barn is very old as well.
Once I'm done with the wall, I'm going to hit all around the original home to see what can be found.
What does everyone think about the various trash heaps? There is the old one across the street where the owner found bottles, and there is an area in the back where they drag trash to burn and it looks like stuff might have been dumped years ago.
Thanks again to everyone for all of your advice. I don't have a smaller coil yet, but where I was getting multiple hits I was just using my pro pointer and it was going a good job of finding the multiple targets.

 

[Bum Luck]

Trees in front of the house GOOD!Trees in back BAD! The back yard trees may be where they fixed cars and tractors so MANY iron parts,nuts,bolts. They didn't call them SHADE TREE mechanics for nothing! TTC

Terry - you're showing your age! (Of course, you might ask how come I know this too~)

Don't forget where careless kids could have played - the woods next to the house, a cornfield, etc.

Here's a Morgan find from a cornfield:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/todays-finds/315884-my-first-silver-dollar.html

 

[Bum Luck]

.
What does everyone think about the various trash heaps?

They get better as you dig down, oldest stuff on the bottom.

 

[abbynormal]

Wow, I was wondering if the fields were a good spot. Thanks, Bum Luck! I love seeing all the cool stuff everyone finds!
And of course I should have thought about the fact that the oldest stuff would be at the bottom. I'm already fascinated by what I've seen and can't wait to get back and do more.

 

[Dihren]

Good luck hitting up that old house!

 

[Gator01]

Keeping what you find. That is what you need to discuss with the owner in the beginning. Lot of folks are curious what is underneath their soil, especially if they have old property and especially so if it has some sort of history. I hunt with some friends in an older town with some very old and historic places. At the end of the day, we drop the tailgate on one of our trucks and lay out what we have found, junk and all, for the property owner to check out, and let them have their pick. Showing the junk is important, lets them know its not all treasures and also lets them know you are sort of helping cleaning their property up. Most of the old farm fields and vacant town lots, we usually keep what we find. I havent run into an owner that wanted to keep everything, but I have heard of some MDers that have. My worst luck has been getting turned down for permission to hunt a place.
Both buildings still standing, thats very good,less nails in the ground plus helps you get a better handle on the property. But, still be alert for areas of heavy old nails,some sort of structure once was there.
Good luck with your hunts,
John

 

[abbynormal]

Thanks, Gator, I like that advice regarding showing the owner everything I find. I will be sure to give him the chance to see what I find if he is interested. So far he's seen pretty much everything because he happened to be around and outside while I was digging .

Thank you everyone for all your help and advice. This forum has been very welcoming and helpful to a beginner and has helped to make this hobby even more enjoyable.

 

[dholland02]

Abby i am hanging out to learn what the posters give you because i am new to this. I have a question for anyone. Is there any question when you contact a property owner as to if you get to keep whatever you find? Do you feel obligated to tell them what you find?

I never show what I find, u do all the work u starting sharing what u find u might find a landowner who thinks it belongs to them JMO

 

[Grizzly13]

I have gotten alot of good advice from folks on here, everything helps. I personally love the old farmsteads. The most fun I have at these places is figuring out how they where laid out back then. use your imagination and think where you got your water, where you would've hung your clothes up to dry is the sun, where you would have had the outhouse, tree swing , ect. When friends, vistors and neighbors came where did they park their horses and buggies, use your imagination ! The front yard is the honey hole, for what ever reason. I guess back in the day it was peaceful there, maybe the kids played there after dinner. Whatever the reason that is usually where the goodies sleep. The outbuildings and barns are second on my lists. I have a place now that I have been there 5 times now and everytime I have come home with goodies. Each time I think there is nothing left but go back and find more on ground that I know I have gone over before. Don't quite understand it maybe the weather or the soil moisture. I try and change up with my sensitivity on Man and Auto I also go from my larger coil to my small coil. GO SLOW and from DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS each time ! This door yard is only 30'x50' but it has yielded, 3 silver Merc Dimes,1 silver Standing liberty Quarter,1 Buff, 1 War Nickle, 1 reg Nickle, 7 Wheaties, a broche with 3 flowers and three diamonds, a pendent with a phonograph logo and a compass ! Its amazing and fun. Another old farm house I seen a spring in the back yard with steps hidden by overgrown grass, against the step was a 178? HC and in the front yard I found a 1820 LC and a couple of wheats but not a silver piece yet! You just never know with Old farm Houses sometimes have great surprises. The barns usually are littered with nails and tractor parts so spend your time along sidewalks under shrubs in flower gardens every inch in the front door yards, the goodies can be anywhere there. Then try the out buildings. good luck

 

[adaminnh]

I too am new here and to the addiction of swinging. I have gotten some very good tips from you folks. The one that stands out from all is GO SLOW. Its kinda hard though. Like when your in an old field with lots of ground to cover and its already past supper time. Your brain might say''crap, its getting late''and tell your limbs to go faster. You have to remind your greedy, hungry for old coins brain that the fields not going anywhere. Cover every single square inch slowly. And dig everything. The only silver ive dug is a 1893 barber dime. 3'' down and was chimming in as pull tab. I have ace 150. Was gonna skip it but said hell, its only 3'' deep, might as well. Glad I did. Good luck hunting.