🥇 BANNER Eighteen one troy ounce silver bars recovered underwater. Still doesn't feel real.

[RatherBeDigging]

On the 20th I posted about detecting a waterway with mid 1800s homes along it. Bridge however is later 1800s I believe. It is not part of a state park, national park or protected historicly. It is public. Would describe it as sort of in middle of nowhere. Lots of 1970s clad, fishing lures, weights and bullets in general. On the 20th it was the usual and a wheaty. Then I found a troy ounce bar under water in the rocks of the rapids. I joked in that post about going back for the rest of them. Boy did I not expect there to be any more of them let alone eighteen. I thought the first find was just a fluke.
After the first bar was recovered on my 2nd trip there the area flooded. The water was too high and fast moving to get to. The area I wanted to be in was past well past knees and impossible to even swing the detector back unless you used both hands. Five days later after the water went down ten bars were recovered on one trip this week. Yesterday I went with my detecting friend and we recovered another seven bars. He found three. I found four. One was filed and tested with nitric acid. File spot turns white. I also tested them for paramagnetic behavior which they do exhibit. Also they melt ice pretty fast. My detecting friend and I are completely gobsmacked by this hoard. Unsure yet on purity.

As of this post 18 bars have been recovered. we cannot locate any more in area where 17 of the bars came from. And there are no more in the rapids for now..... at least until it floods again. Were they tossed off the bridge and then slowly burieded and the unburied by the floods? That's seems most likely at this point. After the flood they were only 2 to 3 arrows deep on the equinox. All jumping between 33 to 38 target idea. Very loud signals. They seemed to settle in the lower divits in the rocky bottom often with big iron. Two were stuck together with water. Three were visable by eye site. Two shown in photo with red circle. They all definitely have patina and pits from nocking around in the rocks and gravel for a long time. No markings left that I can tell. My guess is 20th century because they are so uniform and they are pressed bars? Anyone have any idea? My detecting friends mother an ultrasound tech believes she found some writing on one of the three my detecting friend found. Waiting on update and photo. Would be great to date these roughly.
Any updates will follow. Now where are the gold ones? Lol. Group picture only shows the 15 I've recovered myself. Three of the 18 my detecting friend found. He helped me with a bottle site and a park I found my first one reale and first large cent so figured I'd share. We definitely are going back after heavy rain. Really ought to buy waiters because the water is on the colder side and I keep flooding my boots.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Stunned!

 

[Vermont treasure hunter]

That banner worthy! I remember when you found the frirst one I thought that was pretty impressiv, but 18?!? Mabey someone stole them but had to get rid of them so they three them in a River? I have heard about that happening.

 

[Heavygold4me]

Outstanding find! If I had a spot like that I would probably lose my job from calling in sick to much.
my guess is they were stolen and tossed.

 

[jewelerguy]

that's crazy. keep us updated if you find any more

 

[Lenrac2]

Truly amazing!! Congrats!!

 

[CreakyDigger]

Congratulations!

 

[RatherBeDigging]

Thanks everyone. Was pretty stunned when I found a second identical signal. Then they kept coming. Stolen and dumped is logical. No evidence of their origin yet. No canvas Wells Fargo bags or anything just bars.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

WOW !!!

 

[jboomer]

On the 20th I posted about detecting a waterway with mid 1800s homes along it. Bridge however is later 1800s I believe. It is not part of a state park, national park or protected historicly. It is public. Was out with a few fisherman yesterday. They all said I've probably found a lot of fishing weights. Sure have. Would describe it as sort of in middle of nowhere. Lots of 1970s clad, fishing lures, weights, two cool hand made ones, a few wheats, a nice brass buckle, a less nice brass buckle and a sterling ring. Then I found a troy ounce bar under water in the rocks of the rapids. I joked in that post about going back for the rest of them. Boy did I not expect there to be any more of them let alone eighteen of them. I thought the first find was just a fluke.
After the first bar was recovered on my 2nd trip there, the ring was on first trip, the area flooded. The water was too high and fast moving to go back for a few days . Ten were recovered after the water went down on one trip this week. Yesterday I went with my detecting friend and we recovered another seven bars. He found three. I found four. One was filed and tested with nitric acid. File spot turns white. I also tested them for paramagnetic behavior which they do exhibit. Also they melt ice pretty fast. My detecting friend and I are completely gobsmacked by this hoard. Unsure yet on purity.

As of this post 18 bars have been recovered. we cannot locate any more in area where 17 of the bars came from. And there are no more in the rapids for now..... just memorial pennies and clad dimes. Were they tossed off the bridge some time ago? Were they washed down stream during this weeks flooding there? Is there a mother hoard? How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop? The strange thing is they were all right around where I found the ring two weeks prior and I really worked that area on two hunts before the flood. They definitely weren't there. After the flood they were only 2 to 3 arrows deep on the equinox. All jumping between 33 to 38 target idea. Very loud signals. They seemed to settle in the lower divits in the rocky bottom often with big iron. Two were stuck together with water. Three were visable by eye site. Two shown in photo with red circle. They all definitely have patina and pits from nocking around in the rocks and gravel for a long time. No markings left that I can tell. My guess is 20th century because they are so uniform and they are pressed bars? Anyone have any idea? My detecting friends mother an ultrasound tech believes she found some writing on one of the three my detecting friend found. Waiting on update and photo. Would be great to date these roughly.
Any updates will follow. Now where are the gold ones? Lol. Group picture only shows the 15 I've recovered myself. Three of the 18 my detecting friend found. He helped me with a bottle site and a park I found my first one reale and first large cent so figured I'd share. We definitely are going back after heavy rain. Really ought to buy waiters because the water is on the colder side and I keep flooding my boots.

Amazing!

 

[WG2020]

On the 20th I posted about detecting a waterway with mid 1800s homes along it. Bridge however is later 1800s I believe. It is not part of a state park, national park or protected historicly. It is public. Was out with a few fisherman yesterday. They all said I've probably found a lot of fishing weights. Sure have. Would describe it as sort of in middle of nowhere. Lots of 1970s clad, fishing lures, weights, two cool hand made ones, a few wheats, a nice brass buckle, a less nice brass buckle and a sterling ring. Then I found a troy ounce bar under water in the rocks of the rapids. I joked in that post about going back for the rest of them. Boy did I not expect there to be any more of them let alone eighteen of them. I thought the first find was just a fluke.
After the first bar was recovered on my 2nd trip there, the ring was on first trip, the area flooded. The water was too high and fast moving to go back for a few days . Ten were recovered after the water went down on one trip this week. Yesterday I went with my detecting friend and we recovered another seven bars. He found three. I found four. One was filed and tested with nitric acid. File spot turns white. I also tested them for paramagnetic behavior which they do exhibit. Also they melt ice pretty fast. My detecting friend and I are completely gobsmacked by this hoard. Unsure yet on purity.

As of this post 18 bars have been recovered. we cannot locate any more in area where 17 of the bars came from. And there are no more in the rapids for now..... just memorial pennies and clad dimes. Were they tossed off the bridge some time ago? Were they washed down stream during this weeks flooding there? Is there a mother hoard? How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop? The strange thing is they were all right around where I found the ring two weeks prior and I really worked that area on two hunts before the flood. They definitely weren't there. After the flood they were only 2 to 3 arrows deep on the equinox. All jumping between 33 to 38 target idea. Very loud signals. They seemed to settle in the lower divits in the rocky bottom often with big iron. Two were stuck together with water. Three were visable by eye site. Two shown in photo with red circle. They all definitely have patina and pits from nocking around in the rocks and gravel for a long time. No markings left that I can tell. My guess is 20th century because they are so uniform and they are pressed bars? Anyone have any idea? My detecting friends mother an ultrasound tech believes she found some writing on one of the three my detecting friend found. Waiting on update and photo. Would be great to date these roughly.
Any updates will follow. Now where are the gold ones? Lol. Group picture only shows the 15 I've recovered myself. Three of the 18 my detecting friend found. He helped me with a bottle site and a park I found my first one reale and first large cent so figured I'd share. We definitely are going back after heavy rain. Really ought to buy waiters because the water is on the colder side and I keep flooding my boots.

On the 20th I posted about detecting a waterway with mid 1800s homes along it. Bridge however is later 1800s I believe. It is not part of a state park, national park or protected historicly. It is public. Was out with a few fisherman yesterday. They all said I've probably found a lot of fishing weights. Sure have. Would describe it as sort of in middle of nowhere. Lots of 1970s clad, fishing lures, weights, two cool hand made ones, a few wheats, a nice brass buckle, a less nice brass buckle and a sterling ring. Then I found a troy ounce bar under water in the rocks of the rapids. I joked in that post about going back for the rest of them. Boy did I not expect there to be any more of them let alone eighteen of them. I thought the first find was just a fluke.
After the first bar was recovered on my 2nd trip there, the ring was on first trip, the area flooded. The water was too high and fast moving to go back for a few days . Ten were recovered after the water went down on one trip this week. Yesterday I went with my detecting friend and we recovered another seven bars. He found three. I found four. One was filed and tested with nitric acid. File spot turns white. I also tested them for paramagnetic behavior which they do exhibit. Also they melt ice pretty fast. My detecting friend and I are completely gobsmacked by this hoard. Unsure yet on purity.

As of this post 18 bars have been recovered. we cannot locate any more in area where 17 of the bars came from. And there are no more in the rapids for now..... just memorial pennies and clad dimes. Were they tossed off the bridge some time ago? Were they washed down stream during this weeks flooding there? Is there a mother hoard? How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop? The strange thing is they were all right around where I found the ring two weeks prior and I really worked that area on two hunts before the flood. They definitely weren't there. After the flood they were only 2 to 3 arrows deep on the equinox. All jumping between 33 to 38 target idea. Very loud signals. They seemed to settle in the lower divits in the rocky bottom often with big iron. Two were stuck together with water. Three were visable by eye site. Two shown in photo with red circle. They all definitely have patina and pits from nocking around in the rocks and gravel for a long time. No markings left that I can tell. My guess is 20th century because they are so uniform and they are pressed bars? Anyone have any idea? My detecting friends mother an ultrasound tech believes she found some writing on one of the three my detecting friend found. Waiting on update and photo. Would be great to date these roughly.
Any updates will follow. Now where are the gold ones? Lol. Group picture only shows the 15 I've recovered myself. Three of the 18 my detecting friend found. He helped me with a bottle site and a park I found my first one reale and first large cent so figured I'd share. We definitely are going back after heavy rain. Really ought to buy waiters because the water is on the colder side and I keep flooding my boots.

RatherBeDigging,

Outstanding hunt, definitely one you won’t be forgoing soon - nor will the folks on the forum. The bars could have been from a cache that someone buried and that were washed out in the springtime flooding. Good luck with your hunts. Walt

PS, definitely don’t like the new format

 

[RatherBeDigging]

Went back today before work. The usual finds. No more bars in water area the majority were found in. Did find an extremely nice 1916 mercury dime. Sadly not a Denver minted one.

 

[Proolio]

Very nice finds!

 

[Digger RJ]

On the 20th I posted about detecting a waterway with mid 1800s homes along it. Bridge however is later 1800s I believe. It is not part of a state park, national park or protected historicly. It is public. Was out with a few fisherman yesterday. They all said I've probably found a lot of fishing weights. Sure have. Would describe it as sort of in middle of nowhere. Lots of 1970s clad, fishing lures, weights, two cool hand made ones, a few wheats, a nice brass buckle, a less nice brass buckle and a sterling ring. Then I found a troy ounce bar under water in the rocks of the rapids. I joked in that post about going back for the rest of them. Boy did I not expect there to be any more of them let alone eighteen of them. I thought the first find was just a fluke.
After the first bar was recovered on my 2nd trip there, the ring was on first trip, the area flooded. The water was too high and fast moving to go back for a few days . Ten were recovered after the water went down on one trip this week. Yesterday I went with my detecting friend and we recovered another seven bars. He found three. I found four. One was filed and tested with nitric acid. File spot turns white. I also tested them for paramagnetic behavior which they do exhibit. Also they melt ice pretty fast. My detecting friend and I are completely gobsmacked by this hoard. Unsure yet on purity.

As of this post 18 bars have been recovered. we cannot locate any more in area where 17 of the bars came from. And there are no more in the rapids for now..... just memorial pennies and clad dimes. Were they tossed off the bridge some time ago? Were they washed down stream during this weeks flooding there? Is there a mother hoard? How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop? The strange thing is they were all right around where I found the ring two weeks prior and I really worked that area on two hunts before the flood. They definitely weren't there. After the flood they were only 2 to 3 arrows deep on the equinox. All jumping between 33 to 38 target idea. Very loud signals. They seemed to settle in the lower divits in the rocky bottom often with big iron. Two were stuck together with water. Three were visable by eye site. Two shown in photo with red circle. They all definitely have patina and pits from nocking around in the rocks and gravel for a long time. No markings left that I can tell. My guess is 20th century because they are so uniform and they are pressed bars? Anyone have any idea? My detecting friends mother an ultrasound tech believes she found some writing on one of the three my detecting friend found. Waiting on update and photo. Would be great to date these roughly.
Any updates will follow. Now where are the gold ones? Lol. Group picture only shows the 15 I've recovered myself. Three of the 18 my detecting friend found. He helped me with a bottle site and a park I found my first one reale and first large cent so figured I'd share. We definitely are going back after heavy rain. Really ought to buy waiters because the water is on the colder side and I keep flooding my boots.

Wow!!! That's Stinking Awesome!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[Aureus]

Awesome find! Congratulations on the banner!

 

[pepperj]

Wow!
What a great find.
Congratulations to you both on the recovery and you getting the Banner.

 

[xaos]

Nice!
Since they show up after flooding...I would be definitely tracking that upstream...

 

[RatherBeDigging]

Nice!
Since they show up after flooding...I would be definitely tracking that upstream...

Thank you. Wasn't expecting there to be more at all. The section all 18 were in is a downward slope with biggest rocks at the bottom and getting smaller as you go up hill. Seems all the heavy object higher tones get trapped towards the middle to bottom especially after heavy rain. All rather swift current. Then it flattens out and becomes still. Still section was only can part signals yesterday. Could be no stragglers up top, they could be washing off the island directly next to the site or the main concentrate is in the chest deep hole on the slope. I have yet to explore it. For those interested in the hunt video finally edited it early this morning

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Incredible find for sure, would be interesting to know the backstory behind these bars.
Congrats on achieving your first Tnet BANNER!
Dave

 

[The Rebel]

WOW, that's crazy! Work your way upstream to see what else may have washed down. They were probably there but the flood washed the sediment away. Any historic floods back in the day that washed houses out?