Bavaria Mike
Gold Member
- Feb 7, 2005
- 8,340
- 177
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab XT70, Fisher 1280, Garrett Ace 250 and MH5
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Went detecting in a gold mining town here in central Europe today. This area started mining gold in the late 1300s off and on until the early 1900s. It?s only a 20 minute drive from my house and is still a thriving town, but not in gold mining. The area is not known for gold nuggets, the gold was found in very thin veins through hard granite rock, I?ve seen an example in the form of a 3? cube of granite. I had the opportunity of a first class tour of this area from the retired Mayor of the town just over a year ago. He showed me some fantastic areas and explained each area and mine. I never made it back for a detecting hunt until today. There are several areas protected in this region and I stayed clear of them, some of the tailing mounds are 500-600 years old, there is a family house built on top of one of these mounds, built before the protection and Archaeologists got involve. I really wasn?t looking for gold although, it was a factor of the hunt. Was hoping to find some relics from the miners which I did find. I was able to drive into the region to a parking lot, geared up with a back pack full of everything necessary and started down a path looking for old trails. Found one deep in the woods and started detecting. Shortly into the hunt my first target was the buckle in the middle of this picture with a larger buckle found later. The larger buckle is probably pewter and my best buckle find, I guesstimate mid 1800s. I found it in front of what I think may have been a mine.
After hunting along through the forest, I found this area that looks like it may have been a late mining area. Found the pewter buckle in front of this structure. The area behind it looks like it collapsed.
Another picture of the area, farther up the hill to the left of this shaft was a huge sink hole, probably collapsed or possibly a test hole.
A few more finds from this area, A human shoe heal plate, a whatsit and two tags.
Also found this saw blade in the area, the nickel size button for reference.
I hunted this area for about 2 hours and was wondering where the other forgotten mines were I had seen last year so I went back to the car and went on an exploration drive trying to find these places, some of them are right off the trails. After driving in a few circles a miracle happened, I see the retired town mayor walking up the street towards me. I stopped and greeted him and we had a nice 20 minute chat. He gave me directions to the areas he had shown me and I was close but wrong path. A big difference in seeing a forest trail area in the spring versus the mid summer. I drove back to the area, got on track and found this complete harmonica shortly into the hunt near a mine shaft. I have found countless pieces of harmonics but never an intact one. It?s junk but I think it?s my best find of the day due to it?s history. I also found some ceramic dish pieces digging in this area and it looks like mid 1800s era to include the harmonica.
Some of the dish and pottery pieces I found digging targets, the handle looks very old and I can grip it and still see the ends. Near the lower part of the handle note the small indentations, I?m sure they are finger pokes from the maker as I can see the finger nail prints in them.
Found this ring shaped object larger than a silver dollar, it has a pin on the left side, it could be a brooch or an emblem from a tractor, looks like copper.
And the final find, a button, as I was digging it, the rain started. So I bagged the detector and got out the rain jacket only to realize it wasn?t rain but a bad ass storm brewing up over my shoulder. I was willing to stick out the rain but the wind picked up and the pine cones and branches started falling in this thicketed forest area. OK, time to run, by the time I got to the car it was pouring hard core, tossed the gear in the trunk, got soaked doing so and made it to the drivers seat. Sat there for a minute dripping wet and thought, what a great day, I?ll be back! HH, Mike
After hunting along through the forest, I found this area that looks like it may have been a late mining area. Found the pewter buckle in front of this structure. The area behind it looks like it collapsed.
Another picture of the area, farther up the hill to the left of this shaft was a huge sink hole, probably collapsed or possibly a test hole.
A few more finds from this area, A human shoe heal plate, a whatsit and two tags.
Also found this saw blade in the area, the nickel size button for reference.
I hunted this area for about 2 hours and was wondering where the other forgotten mines were I had seen last year so I went back to the car and went on an exploration drive trying to find these places, some of them are right off the trails. After driving in a few circles a miracle happened, I see the retired town mayor walking up the street towards me. I stopped and greeted him and we had a nice 20 minute chat. He gave me directions to the areas he had shown me and I was close but wrong path. A big difference in seeing a forest trail area in the spring versus the mid summer. I drove back to the area, got on track and found this complete harmonica shortly into the hunt near a mine shaft. I have found countless pieces of harmonics but never an intact one. It?s junk but I think it?s my best find of the day due to it?s history. I also found some ceramic dish pieces digging in this area and it looks like mid 1800s era to include the harmonica.
Some of the dish and pottery pieces I found digging targets, the handle looks very old and I can grip it and still see the ends. Near the lower part of the handle note the small indentations, I?m sure they are finger pokes from the maker as I can see the finger nail prints in them.
Found this ring shaped object larger than a silver dollar, it has a pin on the left side, it could be a brooch or an emblem from a tractor, looks like copper.
And the final find, a button, as I was digging it, the rain started. So I bagged the detector and got out the rain jacket only to realize it wasn?t rain but a bad ass storm brewing up over my shoulder. I was willing to stick out the rain but the wind picked up and the pine cones and branches started falling in this thicketed forest area. OK, time to run, by the time I got to the car it was pouring hard core, tossed the gear in the trunk, got soaked doing so and made it to the drivers seat. Sat there for a minute dripping wet and thought, what a great day, I?ll be back! HH, Mike
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