Bill D. (VA)
Silver Member
After a long time in the making, we finally got everybody together for a 3-day hunt. The group consisted of me, my regular hunting partner Dan, and our good friends Joey and Beau who both drove in from out-of-town. Hadn’t had a chance to hunt with Beau for over a year, and it was a pleasure to hook up with him again for some digging. Beau, Dan and I got out for half days on both Friday and Sunday, and Joey joined us for an all-day hunt on Saturday.
The first site we hit on Friday was one where Dan and I had hunted just once before, and where I dug a sword belt plate on my first target. Well, the site wasn’t nearly as productive this time as all I had to show for my efforts were a few flat buttons and a couple of IHs. Later in the afternoon we moved on to a nearby site that has been very productive for Dan and I recently. But other than an ornate early thimble, and a few buttons and buckle pieces it was a non-spectacular hunt. Near the very end of the day we made a quick stop at another spot on the same property that has given up 100+ buttons and several colonial coins in just 2 short trips, but again the finds were lackluster. But Dan did score a nice coin right before we departed.
All 4 of us met up early on Saturday to hit a huge and very historic site that Dan and I hit hard last year, and where nearly 20 colonial silver coins have been recovered. Joey started things off nicely with an 1831 capped bust dime on his very first signal. Dan later made a nice colonial coin find while excavating a shallow pit. Later in the day I was taking my time slowing swinging in the area that produced multiple hammered coins last year when I finally was able to scrounge out a piece of cut silver that was hiding beneath the iron. And Beau found a nice 3 cent piece near the end of the day so we all went home with a nice keeper coin along with other early relics.
On Sunday we only had the morning to hunt due to Beau having to return home as well as the impending rain. Right when we were approaching the site we had intended to hunt I noticed that a nearby field we hunted last year (and that was extremely productive) had just been deep plowed. That’s very unusual around here, and we quickly changed our plans. When we arrived in the back of the field in view of our favorite knoll we could tell that not only had it been plowed, but it had been graded smooth. So we jumped in and started finding a few things that had been brought into detecting range by the plow. Dan, who’s been incredibly proficient at locating pits recently, quickly located another one that was producing some pottery, bones and charcoal, and he asked me to join him to help dig it out as we usually share these spots. But I had just recovered a cut silver about 15 ft from where he was digging so I opted to surface hunt instead. That would prove to be a huge mistake
. I’ll let Dan tell you what happened next in his post, but I will say that later in the dig I finally joined up with him and was able to eyeball a Virginia halfpenny plopping out of the pit wall. Soon we had to fill the hole and leave but we’ll definitely be back to finish digging this spot out and do some major sifting to see what goodies we might have missed. What an awesome way to cap off the weekend hunt. My overall take included 3 colonial coins, 3 IHs, 2 chinese coins, about 35 buttons, and numerous tacks, buckle pieces, and other tidbits. Can't wait to get back out again.
The first site we hit on Friday was one where Dan and I had hunted just once before, and where I dug a sword belt plate on my first target. Well, the site wasn’t nearly as productive this time as all I had to show for my efforts were a few flat buttons and a couple of IHs. Later in the afternoon we moved on to a nearby site that has been very productive for Dan and I recently. But other than an ornate early thimble, and a few buttons and buckle pieces it was a non-spectacular hunt. Near the very end of the day we made a quick stop at another spot on the same property that has given up 100+ buttons and several colonial coins in just 2 short trips, but again the finds were lackluster. But Dan did score a nice coin right before we departed.
All 4 of us met up early on Saturday to hit a huge and very historic site that Dan and I hit hard last year, and where nearly 20 colonial silver coins have been recovered. Joey started things off nicely with an 1831 capped bust dime on his very first signal. Dan later made a nice colonial coin find while excavating a shallow pit. Later in the day I was taking my time slowing swinging in the area that produced multiple hammered coins last year when I finally was able to scrounge out a piece of cut silver that was hiding beneath the iron. And Beau found a nice 3 cent piece near the end of the day so we all went home with a nice keeper coin along with other early relics.
On Sunday we only had the morning to hunt due to Beau having to return home as well as the impending rain. Right when we were approaching the site we had intended to hunt I noticed that a nearby field we hunted last year (and that was extremely productive) had just been deep plowed. That’s very unusual around here, and we quickly changed our plans. When we arrived in the back of the field in view of our favorite knoll we could tell that not only had it been plowed, but it had been graded smooth. So we jumped in and started finding a few things that had been brought into detecting range by the plow. Dan, who’s been incredibly proficient at locating pits recently, quickly located another one that was producing some pottery, bones and charcoal, and he asked me to join him to help dig it out as we usually share these spots. But I had just recovered a cut silver about 15 ft from where he was digging so I opted to surface hunt instead. That would prove to be a huge mistake
. I’ll let Dan tell you what happened next in his post, but I will say that later in the dig I finally joined up with him and was able to eyeball a Virginia halfpenny plopping out of the pit wall. Soon we had to fill the hole and leave but we’ll definitely be back to finish digging this spot out and do some major sifting to see what goodies we might have missed. What an awesome way to cap off the weekend hunt. My overall take included 3 colonial coins, 3 IHs, 2 chinese coins, about 35 buttons, and numerous tacks, buckle pieces, and other tidbits. Can't wait to get back out again.
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He has a knack for finding coins in pits. Nice digs and look forward to the follow up post after you finish that pit.
