artifacthunter
Jr. Member
- Jul 12, 2008
- 34
- 19
- Detector(s) used
- White's Spectra V3
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
A hunting buddy invited me to detect a property in northern Maryland that had been hunted several times over the years. The 2nd Corps had passed through this location on their way to Gettysburg. I could tell right away that there was still a good chance to find something since there were many good reading targets in the ground. Previous hunters must have been trying to focus on buttons, bullets, and coins.
After a few hours I had found several brass items including a ring, a badge shaped frame that might have held a photo, a brass knob from over 8" down that sounded fantastic, a gold plated button, and a single modern penny. One item of interest was a silver plated decorated sheet wrapped around an iron rod
. The grounds had been in use for nearly 200 years, so there were many targets with signals overlapping making discrimination and pinpointing a bit of a challenge.
Towards the end of our time to hunt, I moved to a side yard and got a strong hit. Thinking I had a possible coin, I called my friend over and began to dig. I was surprised when the signal was still in the hole after clearing out 5" of soil. In fact, using the pinpointer I found that the signal was coming from under a root to one side of the hole. I kept digging and at about 7" saw a gray disk. My friend yelled out "plate!", and I began to dig more carefully. We finally slowly pulled my first eagle breastplate from its 149 year resting place!
The plate was on edge, under a root, 7" down. It is amazing thinking that the last person to hold that plate was heading on to Gettysburg within days! I've posted photos of the plate as recovered and after brushing off some of the dirt. Also photos are included of many of the other targets recovered to give some perspective of what we were finding in the same yard. Thanks for looking and allowing me to share one of the most exciting days of hunting I've had in about 25 years of detecting!
After a few hours I had found several brass items including a ring, a badge shaped frame that might have held a photo, a brass knob from over 8" down that sounded fantastic, a gold plated button, and a single modern penny. One item of interest was a silver plated decorated sheet wrapped around an iron rod
. The grounds had been in use for nearly 200 years, so there were many targets with signals overlapping making discrimination and pinpointing a bit of a challenge. Towards the end of our time to hunt, I moved to a side yard and got a strong hit. Thinking I had a possible coin, I called my friend over and began to dig. I was surprised when the signal was still in the hole after clearing out 5" of soil. In fact, using the pinpointer I found that the signal was coming from under a root to one side of the hole. I kept digging and at about 7" saw a gray disk. My friend yelled out "plate!", and I began to dig more carefully. We finally slowly pulled my first eagle breastplate from its 149 year resting place!
The plate was on edge, under a root, 7" down. It is amazing thinking that the last person to hold that plate was heading on to Gettysburg within days! I've posted photos of the plate as recovered and after brushing off some of the dirt. Also photos are included of many of the other targets recovered to give some perspective of what we were finding in the same yard. Thanks for looking and allowing me to share one of the most exciting days of hunting I've had in about 25 years of detecting!
Attachments
Upvote
0
