Unbelievably Lucky Find and I’m Still Outdone by the Dog

Meadow

Full Member
May 27, 2014
214
250
Detector(s) used
Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
After buying a MD earlier this summer I had so little spare time that I was able to search my own backyard exactly once, and at that only for a few minutes. It wasn’t especially fun - constant beeps (no, I don’t know how to use the machine), heavy clay mud, and a complete inability to locate any object in the trenches I was digging. Before I had to get back to my real work in the house where I belong I did find one roofing nail, which made me ecstatic. My first find! I still have it on display.

But finally we were able to go to my in-laws’ farm. It’s been in the family about 100 years, my brother-in-law still owns it but no one lives on it now. He and hubby had some things to do there so I had a chance to fire up my MD. I figured I’d look on the path between the garage and the house. I got signals so I’d dig but not find anything (no, I still don’t know how to use the machine). Husband walked by and said something husbandy, like, “You sure are digging a lot of holes”. Brother-in-law walked by and said what I thought was, “You know, you should try under the maples where Billy and Doug dug up the purse of coins.” Whaaaat!? Doug is a relative with a metal detector so I was cursing Doug…and Bill, whoever he was...before I realized he’d actually said “...where Billy the dog dug up the purse of coins”!

He said that many years ago Billy the collie had been digging under the maples and brought him a leather purse with a few coins. He didn’t remember the dates, they weren’t terribly old, but it was all a bit of a mystery. On the way to the maples the brother-in-law said, “Watch out for the droppings…” I thought, yeah, yeah, I’m not bothered by a few bits of cow… “...they’re bear.” Oh. Okay then. I avoided the bear signs and walked under the maples and immediately got a very strong signal. I hacked through dried grass and roots and pulled out a large piece of iron. My initial thought was that it was a bit of farm equipment, which is what I’d been hoping to find. It’s a knife. I was, and still am, completely astonished. It’s iron, hand made, heavy, double-edged, doesn’t seem like something the family would have had. :icon_scratch: I’m thinking it may be a Hudson Bay Company trade knife. Does anyone have any thoughts??

That was the second thing ever that I’d found with my metal detector! Incidentally after that I did get better, and have since found more nails and bits of wire, but now have to pack things up, the ground is freezing today. By the by, after reminiscing about the dog finding the purse of coins the in-laws found my rusty knife a bit of a letdown.

I’m not even sure how I feel about this, on the one hand I can’t wait to get out next spring, on the other hand I know I’m unlikely to find anything this awesome ever again. :D

Knife 1.jpg
 

Upvote 11
That's cool
 

Very good post, Meadow. The knife looks to these untrained eyes to maybe have been forged since the tang doesn't look to be uniform in width. I would consider that to be a very good find indeed. Once you've gotten some more experience with your machine, read the manual again and search YouTube for videos of your machine. If you're like me, tech manuals are pretty dry reading and things may click after you become a bit more familiar with the controls, tones and visual readings.
 

A lot better than a nail. Congrats!
 

Wicked cool find. I'd be tickled to pull that out of the dirt.
 

That's a super find, Meadow!
Like they said above.........watch some video's on using your machine & you will start finding some coins!:thumbsup:

Iowa Dale
 

I'd say that knife is from the fur trade period! Any sort of F.T. history out where you were digging? Must have been out in the country side if there's bear scat all around.
I wouldn't say that knife was manufactured for trade (HBC) but could have been made by a local blacksmith or even a Native person.
Not sure if it was forged that way or cut out of scrap material.
Either way, it's a super cool find and NO, you weren't outdone by a dog!
That find is much better than a few coins in purse that "weren't terribly old." :thumbsup:
You're off to a great start with that being only your second find!
Cheers,
Dave.
 

I think the knife blade is a wonderful find. If you would like to clean it up you can take some white vinegar and put the blade in it to soak for a couple months. Change out the vinegar when it turns black. Buy a small brash brush and once a week take out the blade and give it a light brushing. Eventually you'll get all the rust off and have a very nice clean trophy.
 

That knife is definitely very old, it looks to be hand forged. I have to admit, when I first saw the photo, before I read the post I thought you found a bronze age spear point, it sure looks like one lol.

110414-0927001.jpg
When I was 5 or 6 I decided to dig a hole in my parents backyard. I wanted to find "Pirate's Treasure". At the bottom of the hole was a bag full of coins, they were most likely there from the last person who lived there, for he had a lot of kids. My parents came outside and were pretty mad at me for digging up their yard, but still very impressed that in such a big yard I dug in exactly the right area of the yard and found something. As far as I remember the coins were all modern, but still kind of cool to find, especially for a 5 year old with out any metal detector or anything.

Coinman123,
 

That is a really cool find. May i say, i've read your post and you never once mentioned anything about a pinpointer. Do you have one and if not i would highly recommend getting one. It seemed you were digging a lot of marks and coming up empty. I own an ace250 and it's extremely rare for me to get false marks. Many times i dig and "see" nothing in the hole or the plug but when I get my pinpointer in there, sure enough, there is something there. HH.
 

Meadow... You've found your first relic. A nice one too. Now, figure out and learn your machine. What MD is it? There are many here that can help you through the learning curve. Learning to pin point your target with your MD is a must. Also, do you have a hand held Pinpointer? An essential tool for dirt fishing. HH
 

You may well have outdone the pooch on this one - depends on what the coins were in the purse , and on what the consensus is
about your blade . (I think you and Billy ought to partner up for a few hunts !)
 

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