Well Tnet, today was a pretty wild day as I let my 10 year old niece and nephew run around the field with my metal detector as I dug signals for them. I set the detector to the most generic "all metal" setting with the sensitivity cranked all the way up and let them go to town. They took turns "making it beep" and having me dig up their "treasures". Along with half a bucket full of rusty iron farm equipment fragments, they also found a staggering amount of (I believe) copper alloy pieces and some of them were pretty interesting. They also made a number of impressive eyeball finds, proving that it can be worth it to look at the ground while you walk. This is our old coal-mining town site, and several of the items they found were related to the mining activities in some way. For example, my nephew managed to find an old rail spike, presumably from the mining track. I've got some pictures here to share. No real "treasure" in the monetary sense, but stuff that has real value to me from a historical standpoint (since my ancestors were born and raised in this camp).
This first thing though, I honestly have no idea what it is. My nephew found it with the detector. It's some kind of copper alloy I believe. Solid, quite heavy. All three holes in the back are threaded, but only one goes all the way through. I'm not sure if all those prongs on it were originally bent or not. Any ideas?
This "wheel" was an eyeball find by my niece. It is absurdly heaving for its size, leading me to suspect it may be made out of lead. What it is, I have no clue.
Another eyeball find by my niece. It's a spoon. Someone in the family tried bending it straight and almost broke it into two pieces.. yikes. Not sure what it's made out of. All I can say is, it isn't iron. It is VERY thin and flimsy, can't believe anyone could have actually eaten with it.
Something I actually found on my own. Not sure what it is, maybe a button cover. Seems to be "stamped" brass. Nice and shiny, at least on the side I'm showing you.
I continually find gears from what I believe to be a single clock at this site, but this find was interesting to me because it is the only bimetal piece I have found from it. Not sure what the silvery metal is.
SUPER cool face of an old lockbox or something. Also seems to be a copper alloy. Not sure if it was a post office box or what, but in any case, part of the mechanism in the keyhole is still intact and functional. My nephew found this with the detector.
A really big stake made out of bronze or something? Why?
One of my eyeball finds from today: a cool-looking door knob.
And lastly, here's part of a toy revolver I found with the detector, which I put next to a similar toy I had when I was younger that isn't so rusty.
All in all, the kids spent over three hours working me to the bone. They couldn't get enough of it and were really disappointed when I told them I was tired and ready for lunch. Got a nice sunburn and sore muscles, but made fun memories and found some cool junk.
Get outside and play. They're calling.
-mcl
This first thing though, I honestly have no idea what it is. My nephew found it with the detector. It's some kind of copper alloy I believe. Solid, quite heavy. All three holes in the back are threaded, but only one goes all the way through. I'm not sure if all those prongs on it were originally bent or not. Any ideas?
This "wheel" was an eyeball find by my niece. It is absurdly heaving for its size, leading me to suspect it may be made out of lead. What it is, I have no clue.
Another eyeball find by my niece. It's a spoon. Someone in the family tried bending it straight and almost broke it into two pieces.. yikes. Not sure what it's made out of. All I can say is, it isn't iron. It is VERY thin and flimsy, can't believe anyone could have actually eaten with it.
Something I actually found on my own. Not sure what it is, maybe a button cover. Seems to be "stamped" brass. Nice and shiny, at least on the side I'm showing you.
I continually find gears from what I believe to be a single clock at this site, but this find was interesting to me because it is the only bimetal piece I have found from it. Not sure what the silvery metal is.
SUPER cool face of an old lockbox or something. Also seems to be a copper alloy. Not sure if it was a post office box or what, but in any case, part of the mechanism in the keyhole is still intact and functional. My nephew found this with the detector.
A really big stake made out of bronze or something? Why?
One of my eyeball finds from today: a cool-looking door knob.
And lastly, here's part of a toy revolver I found with the detector, which I put next to a similar toy I had when I was younger that isn't so rusty.
All in all, the kids spent over three hours working me to the bone. They couldn't get enough of it and were really disappointed when I told them I was tired and ready for lunch. Got a nice sunburn and sore muscles, but made fun memories and found some cool junk.
Get outside and play. They're calling.
-mcl
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