Tom_in_CA

31 minutes ago, deathray said:

.... You got any aluminum jelly?

You mean naval jelly, right ?

On 11/12/2022 at 6:07 AM, Rick N. MI said:

 ....  How did the ebikes do?

Worked great.  There is a .75 mile walk from where we had to park the car, to where we actually wanted to hunt.  In the past, that would be a 10 or 12 minute walk.  The Ebikes made that a 2 minute whirl.  

This was just a practice run, for an objective we have coming up, where a few spots involve several miles to get to.  One of them over landscape terra firma (poor trails, at best).  So we got the "fat tire" variety.   Already I can tell that's a benefit at our practice run.  Because in the particular case of where we were, it was grass at one point that we were crossing (cow-pasture type grass).  And it had just rained HARD the previous days.   So :  If we'd had regular street tires, I'm guessing they would have been more prone to "cut into the mud" (get stuck).  Versus fat tire where you have a better chance of traction in loose- or wet- terra-firma .   

Also : At the current price of gas, I find myself using mine for round-town errands (bank deposit, post office, etc....).   So it's beneficial in other ways besides the detecting purpose.

a view of the rear of the buckle :

A view with the other period targets from this "buckle village" side of our site :  Camp lead, Toe-tap, keeper, pistol balls, gun part, thimble, underwear buttons, ball button, and 2 -piece button (nothing on either of them).    These are all fun history to our growing collection to the provenance of this site.   Nothing here has dated to after the mid to late 1850s, so :  Any find is an interesting find.   Even the junk is "fun junk", so-to-speak.

Hey Brian, that was a fun hunt.  You got more targets than me, d/t you got in that green-copper zone.  And I like your dagger hilt and your anchor button.   I realize the scads of green copper and copper spikes are probably 'ho hum' to anyone else, but you and I know that these keep-us on the edge-of-our-seats.  Thinking that a wickedly old coin is just around the corner @ the next beep.   But I have to admit, by the end of the hunt, I was starting to get annoyed by this otherwise "fun age-indicators".  🤪  We paid too much in, and are deserving of a period coin by now !!  haha

Yes, these buckles have become sort of a "goal unto themselves".   They have gained a cult following in the recent decade or so here in CA.   We love finding them ... so ... I'll take the title of having the "best find" of this trek.  And I'll be humble about it too !  😏    It was especially gratifying since we've dubbed this spot the "buckle village".  How fitting, eh ? 

The item to the right of the buckle is ... I think ... some sort of gun part. 

I know you say you are interested in "...  not so much avoiding iron junk ....", but .... you could be hating life.

A standard coin machine will get coins up to a foot deep these days.  Heck, the CTX or Sov. with monster bigger coils, perhaps to 14" with ease.   And yes:  Various nugget pulse machines can do 16 or 18" on a coin.  Woohoo, who can argue with a few more inches, right ?   But the devil is in the details :  When every birdshot or paper clip or nail 'rings the bells of notre dame', you may wish you had a regular machine .  JMHO

3 hours ago, Zincoln said:

.....Tom - you've had your share of gold.  More large cents or gold coins? .....

16 gold coins from CA and only 3 large cents here.  And I know many hunters here with 1 or 2 or 5 or 7 gold coins, yet with no LC's.   You're also more likely to get bust halves than LC's here,

I got a 4th large cent while on a trip to VA. But .... shucks .... LC's are a common as pulltabs over there on the east coast.  

3 hours ago, matt said:

You are correct! I guess Tom doesn't remember I told him my family settled his area in the mid 1800's and we own several ranches in the location of ...

I remember our conversation now !   Give me a holler if you ever visit this area.

26 minutes ago, palzynski said:

...., they are made of thin copper and .....

That's what threw me for a loop.  I could feel that it was seemingly dainty and light-weight.  Almost like you could bend it if you wanted.  None of our coins are like that .  Except if it's modern kids play money or modern token or whatever.   So I just assumed :  Modern.  Yet I couldn't deny it looked old.  And the holes are not a modern practice.  So .... it was confusing.

We *do* get foreign coins of the world at our colonial exploration Spanish period sites in CA, from time to time.  Go figure, they traveled the oceans to get here, and port-trading went on.   But this is the first of that type storied coin I've ever seen here.  

Hey Brian, I'll trade you my seated half for that.  Huh ?  Huh ?   🧐

8 hours ago, matt said:

Nice finds! Hope to get down that way to hunt with you one of these days Tom. When I have time we can meet up and walk around my family ranches to look for the signs of that old spanish settlement from the 1700's. I know one of them is right in the close proximity if not directly on it.

What state is your family ranch in, that you feel there was Spanish west colonial activity in/at ?

1 hour ago, F350Platinum said:

Top notch stuff guys, interesting rare token and that seated half looks like someone tried to fold it. ....

Yes, it was semi-folded.  Like a taco-shell.   I bent it back out in a vice, between two pieces of wood.  But .... still  bit warbled.  Doh ! 

Also Brian :  Great sleuthing work and great pix !

That was a fun hunt.   I think you got the most interesting find , of course.   Congratz !

I got this heavily damaged 1858 O seated half.   Also a common date, doh !   So this is nothing more than my $7-ish melt value of silver.   But hey, it's hard to argue with a seated half, eh ?  Also pictured is a Chinese cash coin, and some of the black-smithed green copper snippets that keeps us sitting on the edge of our seats there.

Good show !!

14 minutes ago, Rick N. MI said:

... I had to start detecting there on Sunday when the park worker wasn't there....

Exactly.  Why this notion that we need to please every-last -person on earth ?  If there's a singular lookie-lou busy-body that "doesn't like it", then ...... presto :  Avoid that singular individual.  Problem solved.   Kind of like nose-picking :  You can run around trying to get everyone to approve of you picking your nose, OR you can opt for more discreet times so as not to offend the squeamish  🙄  🤣

We had a park like that in San Francisco that was giving up silver years ago.   But a certain man in a business suit booted me one day.   Then a week or so later, my friend told me he too got scrammed.  We compared notes and realized it was the same fellow.   And we put 2+2 together and realized he worked in the public worker building that was next to the park (requiring him to walk through the park to get to-&-from his office).   So we merely looked up the operating hours of that particular office, and merely detected outside those hours.   Eg.: After 5pm, or on weekends, etc.... Problem solved.  

I do not interpret every single "scram" as necessarily meaning that it's illegal, or that I have to "fight the scram" or "seek clarification".  Instead it often simply means :  Avoid singular said individual.  😎

On 10/7/2022 at 6:06 PM, jim tn said:

There should be stuff there. If its part of the fairgrounds why would you need permission? HH Jim Tn

That's what I was thinking.  If they're public fairgrounds, then ..... why subject yourself to the potential of :  "no one cared UNTIL you asked psychology" ?    

I realize that a lot of fairground are only open (unlocked) at event times.  Ok, fine then :  Go the day after the fair, when the cleanup crew is there, and the gates will be open. 

I work in the street sweeper industry, and we do a lot of post-event cleanups .  Including at our local county fairgrounds, the local race-track, etc....  And .... I never once had the notion that I "needed permission".  🤔  Since when is md'ing so dangerous or risky that it needs someone else's princely sanction ?  🤔  The mere fact of thinking you need to ask, simply cast aspersions on you or the hobby, that you thought you needed to ask, in the first place.  Ie.:  No one "asks" to do benign harmless things.   So the moment you think you need to ask , is the moment you've already put your issue in a bad light.  Ie.: as if it's harmful or dangerous or whatever .  Lest .... why else would you be asking if it were benign and harmless ?    I happen to consider the hobby innocuous and harmless.   And I will not risk the "no one cared TILL you asked" phenomenon.

Congratz Troy !

That picture is oh-so what it's all-about, when hunting those western frontier fort sites.   Great show !!  Thanx for bringing us along.

Good show.   Thanx for sharing.

fun little story.   Thanx for sharing.

2 hours ago, Cal_Cobra said:

The button mystery has been solved, a forum member on another forum nailed it:

https://www.batesandhindmarch.com/product/william-iv-period-court-dress-button-fire-gilt-23mm/

Turns out to be a King William IV court dress button.  King William only ruled from 1830-1837, which dates nicely to this site.

 

 

I keep telling you that there's nothing left at this site.   But now that you've pulled this "one last button", I revise my statement to :  NOW (after this final button) the place is finally worked out.  🤔

So now that the site is cleaned out,  can we PPUULLEEAASSEEEEeee move on to other sites now ?   haha 

Great post Cal-Cobra.   And great feedback you got !

Gee, I wonder where you were hunting at ?  😇   And as for the 1896 date :  C'mon dude, that is too new for this site !  Tsk tsk.  😏

thanx for sharing the link.

Good story.  Good pix.  Thanx for bringing us along.

pix of the Dog license ?  What was the city name on it ?