NJKLAGT
Bronze Member
- Oct 18, 2014
- 1,118
- 1,913
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett Euro Ace 350
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Hey Everyone,
I originally posted this over in the Bottles & Glass forum, only because that's where I spend most of my time and I'm more familiar with the crowd there, but really I might as well go ahead and make my first real metal detecting post here. So here it is:
This past weekend I was a little ways up north at my sister's/brother-in-law's place. His family has lived on and farmed the same lot since the 1850s, and his dad still lives in the main half of the house, which I guess is passed down to the eldest son every generation. This main part of the house sits on the original stone foundations, and my sister and bro-in-law and two nieces live in a large addition that was built around the turn of the century.
I decided to bring my metal detector up because I learned a little more about how to use it since my last visit, when I pulled up nail after nail after rusty nail. My nieces followed me around the yard while I swung over a lot of trashy signals and dug up some bottle caps for them to gawk at. Some of these signals were coins though, and in the end we pulled up about a dollar in pocket change.
Only about 15 minutes into the first day, we found what we think might be the handle to an old cane. It is an ornate brass kind of knob that fits in the palm of your hand and has what looks like a hole for the wooden shaft of the cane (there was dense rotting wood inside this knob with no other wood around). All the way on the other side of the house we would find what might be the tip to the very same cane (the topsoil has been moved around a lot at this place, lots of pieces of things strewn about).
About an hour into the first day we made an astonishing find. About 20 feet from the house under an old lilac bush, I got a signal that I initially thought might not be that great, but it was chirping enough to be tantalizing, so I got the shovel out. My sister and nieces were standing right there when I flipped over the 6 inch thick plug and saw the coiled up sterling silver braid of chain. Luckily I didn't cut it with the shovel! I carefully removed it and was freaking out thinking it was monogrammed, but even better, it was engraved with a name - the name of their granny Betty! Her name was Elizabeth but they called her Betty, and she passed away only a couple years ago. She was an avid gardener, and the bracelet must have come off her wrist while working around the lilac bush. My sister was quiet with amazement while my nieces and I did our happy dances (these nieces have come bottle digging with me before and they absolutely love the thrill). When my brother-in-law came home from work, I told him that we had found his grandmother's bracelet, and he was blown away. He ran next door to the main house and showed his dad, who came over and shook my hand. I had found his mother's bracelet, and not him or anyone else had ever seen it before! I felt so warm and fuzzy to return this part of their family history. His dad suggested I keep digging and started pointing out every old structure or hot spot he could think of, haha!
On the second day I dug a big decorative letter P about a foot down near an old apple tree out front. His dad remembered being 10 years old and seeing this emblem on their front screen door! Their family name begins with P! So that was another great find, and it was something that he could remember. I also dug a Dinky car not far from the back of the house, and although he's really into trucks, he doesn't remember the toy.
On the last day near the front of the house on a gentle slope by the driveway, I got into a little coin spill! I think that someone could have been waiting on the grass for someone to pick them up, and these coins trickled out of their pocket. Each coin was about 6 inches deep and apart. Here we have a couple wheat pennies, a 1955 and a 1944D, a 1943 Canadian penny, and a 1947 Canadian silver dime! They insisted that I keep these coins and so I took them home and gave them to my Dad instead, who was really into coins when he was younger, and still very excited to examine these.
So that's my story. We had to dig a lot of trash, a few bent-up makeup compacts and toothpaste tubes, etc., but it was totally worth it! Thanks for looking, everyone!
I originally posted this over in the Bottles & Glass forum, only because that's where I spend most of my time and I'm more familiar with the crowd there, but really I might as well go ahead and make my first real metal detecting post here. So here it is:
This past weekend I was a little ways up north at my sister's/brother-in-law's place. His family has lived on and farmed the same lot since the 1850s, and his dad still lives in the main half of the house, which I guess is passed down to the eldest son every generation. This main part of the house sits on the original stone foundations, and my sister and bro-in-law and two nieces live in a large addition that was built around the turn of the century.
I decided to bring my metal detector up because I learned a little more about how to use it since my last visit, when I pulled up nail after nail after rusty nail. My nieces followed me around the yard while I swung over a lot of trashy signals and dug up some bottle caps for them to gawk at. Some of these signals were coins though, and in the end we pulled up about a dollar in pocket change.
Only about 15 minutes into the first day, we found what we think might be the handle to an old cane. It is an ornate brass kind of knob that fits in the palm of your hand and has what looks like a hole for the wooden shaft of the cane (there was dense rotting wood inside this knob with no other wood around). All the way on the other side of the house we would find what might be the tip to the very same cane (the topsoil has been moved around a lot at this place, lots of pieces of things strewn about).
About an hour into the first day we made an astonishing find. About 20 feet from the house under an old lilac bush, I got a signal that I initially thought might not be that great, but it was chirping enough to be tantalizing, so I got the shovel out. My sister and nieces were standing right there when I flipped over the 6 inch thick plug and saw the coiled up sterling silver braid of chain. Luckily I didn't cut it with the shovel! I carefully removed it and was freaking out thinking it was monogrammed, but even better, it was engraved with a name - the name of their granny Betty! Her name was Elizabeth but they called her Betty, and she passed away only a couple years ago. She was an avid gardener, and the bracelet must have come off her wrist while working around the lilac bush. My sister was quiet with amazement while my nieces and I did our happy dances (these nieces have come bottle digging with me before and they absolutely love the thrill). When my brother-in-law came home from work, I told him that we had found his grandmother's bracelet, and he was blown away. He ran next door to the main house and showed his dad, who came over and shook my hand. I had found his mother's bracelet, and not him or anyone else had ever seen it before! I felt so warm and fuzzy to return this part of their family history. His dad suggested I keep digging and started pointing out every old structure or hot spot he could think of, haha!
On the second day I dug a big decorative letter P about a foot down near an old apple tree out front. His dad remembered being 10 years old and seeing this emblem on their front screen door! Their family name begins with P! So that was another great find, and it was something that he could remember. I also dug a Dinky car not far from the back of the house, and although he's really into trucks, he doesn't remember the toy.
On the last day near the front of the house on a gentle slope by the driveway, I got into a little coin spill! I think that someone could have been waiting on the grass for someone to pick them up, and these coins trickled out of their pocket. Each coin was about 6 inches deep and apart. Here we have a couple wheat pennies, a 1955 and a 1944D, a 1943 Canadian penny, and a 1947 Canadian silver dime! They insisted that I keep these coins and so I took them home and gave them to my Dad instead, who was really into coins when he was younger, and still very excited to examine these.
So that's my story. We had to dig a lot of trash, a few bent-up makeup compacts and toothpaste tubes, etc., but it was totally worth it! Thanks for looking, everyone!
Amazon Forum Fav 👍
Upvote
0
