GOLD!! Finally after 14 years of relic hunting I found GOLD!

[Wes-N-VA]

Got out yesterday with fellow relic hunter and great friend Harvey. We decided to brave the high 90's with high humidity to test out a new field that the wheat just got cut in that held a lot of Civil War action in 1864. The field held the 6th Corps Army of the Potmac. So, we headed out into the brown stalks and started working a knoll of cedar trees. After walking for about 80 yards with no signals, I finally got a 11-10 on the E-Trac at 6" and pulled two small brass fobs . They looked nice and they looked about right for the time period we were searching for, but not what I was actually after lol. No sooner than I took one step I got a solid 11-08 and I thought I had found another one or some junky can slaw. I dug my plug and got the pin pointer out and to my eyes laid the pretty lady in GOLD. I could not believe my eyes, after 14 years of serious relic hunting all over the east coast I finally found the elusive GOLD. I yelled out to Harvey to come over. I pulled it out of the ground and no date ? I knew it was still a great and rare find regardless. I sent a picture to my trusty friend Nate and he was super excited and got me the I.D. I needed. It is a LOVERS TOKEN!! Date or no date, I had a smile the rest of the day. I finished off kinda slow due to the high heat but managed a few bullets and some small D buckles. After a couple of hours we headed over to Sgt. Rikers and he was very excited to see this coin and took a picture and sent it in to American Digger Magazine...SWEET! Thank you Ran!

The other pictures (white back ground) are from a local hunt a week ago. As you can see, I pulled a ton of Clad from this small Civil War camp that has been turned in to a soccer field. I amnaged a few nice keepers; flower button one piece, bullet, 69 cal round ball, thimble, some odds and ends, small brass items, etc... The old Minelab E-Trac has done me well the past few weeks. Happy hunting to all and stay cool! Vist my Youtube page under Wes-N-VA to see the footage of the past few hunts. Thnaks for looking.

 

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[Don in SJ]

Much better find that it is a love token instead of the coin itself. You and Bill D both have found the ultimate for love tokens. I posted this link before but you might appreciate gaining some more knowledge about your token.
Love Token Society

 

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[The Patriot]

congrats on the gold coin and joining the club...now to find one myself and join the same club...well deserved man!

 

[BuckleBoy]

A beautiful coin, that's a dream find.

 

[jewelerguy]

oh man that gold dollar love token is stunning. congrats! that is an awesome find

 

[I Dig Jesus]

Yeah, that would of been clean up in isle seven for me for sure! Gold and a love token, yup they are on the list. Good job, braving the heat paid off!

 

[Ronin29]

nice find
it s so good that you did not disappoint after 14 years , i hope you will find a big treasure next time

 

[Sovereignelite]

Aluminum shreds , wads of foil and or pulltabs/nickels. That's what I find with those Etrac numbers. Lot more junk than gold.

 

[onthespot]

That is a great looking Gold coin. Congrats on a awesome find!

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Here is picture of the 6th Corps of A.O.P.

 

[Wes-N-VA]

Don,

Thank you for the information and website. Very interesting indeed!!! I think since they do not have the $1 Gold Token posted that I will send them a picture for their site. Thanks again for your time!

Much better find that it is a love token instead of the coin itself. You and Bill D both have found the ultimate for love tokens. I posted this link before but you might appreciate gaining some more knowledge about your token.
Love Token Society

 

[yaxthri]

Great love token, congrats on the banner!

 

[pickaway]

Great find...

 

[Urban Grund]

Sweet Find!

 

[Breezie]

I've always been fascinated with 'love tokens,' and for you to find a GOLD one, that makes it even better!!! CONGRATULATIONS on an outstanding hunt, and for making a well deserved BANNER!!! Way to go!!! Breezie

 

[lordmarcovan]

Faaantastic!

I have collected love tokens for a while.

This was the date set of dime love tokens I was working on until earlier this year:

Collectors Universe Forums - ~*~*~ Lord Marcovan's Love Tokens ~*~*~

I have a couple of gold dollars on my signature "Holey Gold Hat", but only one is a love token. It is a Type 1 like yours.

Yours being a Type 1, the host coin would have been struck between 1849 and 1854. I wouldn't be surprised if the engraving was done a bit later. The 1870s and 1880s were the heyday of the love token craze, though it lasted up into the 20th century. If you are fairly sure of the Civil War provenance of your site, then I'd say that's a fair piece of evidence that your coin was engraved that early.

Congratulations on a superb find. I had a dig buddy who found a 1773 Spanish half real which had had its reverse carved into a love token much later. It was found on a Victorian-era site from the turn of the 1800s/1900s. He was disappointed to have found a "damaged" coin. I told him he was nuts. The love token was really neat and had HIS own first initial ("M") on it! I mean, how perfect is that? But he was (and is) more of a hardcore numismatist who only briefly flirted with detecting. He's a full time coin dealer now.

There are times when the two philosophies behind numismatics and treasure hunting can be miles apart, though they are quite similar fields and overlap a bit. As a coin dealer, I wouldn't look twice at some of the old coins I've found, but as a digger, they are priceless to me, and worth more than the much nicer ones I bought through regular numismatic channels.

I haven't dug that first gold coin yet. It's been 30+ years. Maybe when I get to England in the fall...

 

[Limitool]

Great job... couldn't imagine pulling something like this up out of the ground....!

 

[Rogerv]

Awesome find. I also think I'd go into shock if I ever found a gold coin. Congrats

All I seem to dig is love stones even had to buy the wife one for our 30th anniversary.
By the way if your wondering what a love stone is most people call them F---ing ROCKS

Great find

 

[Wes-N-VA]

The the lord of the golden isles of Georgia,

Very interesting post and thank you for the comments. I see you have a Irish Half Penny in your snap shot of pictures, I found one on my first trip out in 2013 that was dated 1692 and it was in incrediable shape and got me a banner on some other sites but not here Go to my profile and look up my previous post to see it she is a beauty. Anyway my Love Token was, without a shadow of doubt, found on a Civil War site that saw action and camps throughout the war but mainly from 1864. I have no documentation to support a colonial or civil war period structure on this site or nearby. I do have maps and reports to back up troop occupation of the site tho. I agree with your statements about finding old relics and old coins as a digger, they mean so much more than buying them from a dealer. Priceless when you do the research and go to the site and find a rare piece of American history. Truly is a great hobby we share. Thanks again!

Faaantastic!

I have collected love tokens for a while.

This was the date set of dime love tokens I was working on until earlier this year:

Collectors Universe Forums - ~*~*~ Lord Marcovan's Love Tokens ~*~*~

I have a couple of gold dollars on my signature "Holey Gold Hat", but only one is a love token. It is a Type 1 like yours.

Yours being a Type 1, the host coin would have been struck between 1849 and 1854. I wouldn't be surprised if the engraving was done a bit later. The 1870s and 1880s were the heyday of the love token craze, though it lasted up into the 20th century. If you are fairly sure of the Civil War provenance of your site, then I'd say that's a fair piece of evidence that your coin was engraved that early.

Congratulations on a superb find. I had a dig buddy who found a 1773 Spanish half real which had had its reverse carved into a love token much later. It was found on a Victorian-era site from the turn of the 1800s/1900s. He was disappointed to have found a "damaged" coin. I told him he was nuts. The love token was really neat and had HIS own first initial ("M") on it! I mean, how perfect is that? But he was (and is) more of a hardcore numismatist who only briefly flirted with detecting. He's a full time coin dealer now.

There are times when the two philosophies behind numismatics and treasure hunting can be miles apart, though they are quite similar fields and overlap a bit. As a coin dealer, I wouldn't look twice at some of the old coins I've found, but as a digger, they are priceless to me, and worth more than the much nicer ones I bought through regular numismatic channels.

I haven't dug that first gold coin yet. It's been 30+ years. Maybe when I get to England in the fall...

 

[dfx-kevin]

very nice, gotta love treasure and history after a find like that!

 

[creade]

I think I'll drop if I ever hit one.AWESOME!!!!!