Geologyhound

Out of curiosity, is it just my device, or does it seem like the reactions to multiple post threads have been reset?  I am certain I thanked or liked multiple responses to some threads, but those posts now show either no reactions, or only 1-2 very recent reactions.

The mica flakes would indicate metamorphic rocks like schist or gneiss.  So you could have some quartzite.  Feldspars would also be common.  It is also possible you might have some marble.  Marble should react (fizz) with dilute acid like hydrochloric.

A gentleman on another website clued me in that the “tree tap” is actually a brass tent rope adjuster.  No idea of the age, but that style was in use during the Civil War.  I will have to examine it closely and see if there is a patent date or any writing.

2 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Excellent hunt, Ghound. 👍 Looks like a campground to me, for hunting and other activities. I've dug those aluminum tent pins before. Is that a big brass bell shard?

I found that brass chunk next to the old kitchen/dining building.  So you are probably exactly right!  

This area is having a celebration later in the year, and my contact was interested in any artifacts which might have historical significance to the site so they could display them.  I will have to ask and see if they had a bell there.  Thanks!

I recently obtained permission for my club to hunt a sizable piece of property with historical group usage going back over 100 years.  Over 40 of us showed up on the designated day.  I heard several people say their first signal of the day was a silver dime!  By the afternoon, I was getting a little discouraged with a wheat or two, some bullets, a fishing weight and a couple modern coins.  I had also found a 12 pound section of an old brass pot or urn.  Based on the radius of curvature, that thing must have been huge, not to mention extremely heavy!  I had to make a special trip back to the car for that thing, as it was too heavy to carry with me all day.

I finally broke the silver drought with a 64 Rosie after lunch.  A while after that, another club member hunting near me found a beautiful Ben Franklin silver half.  I told him it was gorgeous, and mentioned I had never found a half outside a seeded hunt - let alone a silver one.  He encouraged me and said I will find one sooner or later and it might be a Walker or even a Barber.

As he moved on, I hit a nail patch and decided to slow down and go over it.  I was using my Deus 2 with the 11x13 coil - not optimum for dense nails, but I wasn’t going back to the car for the 9” that late in the day.  After a little comparison, I switched to the Tekkna program.  From what I have read, it might not be the best program for a large coil and dense ferrous targets, but it was more stable and much quieter in the dense nails than my custom program.  After walking two lines through the nails, I had recovered four wheats and a worn cuff link (?), and figured there may be more hiding.  Sure enough, I hit a nice mid-90’s signal that was so strong it had to be a can lid or the like.  But, with multiple nearby wheats, I was digging it anyway.  About three inches down, I caught my breath as I saw a silver disk emerge.  Surely, it was an aluminum punch like another one I had found, but then I saw the reeding on the edge.  I was flabbergasted to see Lady Liberty emerge from the dirt!

Despite the dense iron (based on the stain, it would appear the coin was actually in contact with iron) using Tekkna and the 11x13 worked well.  I would say this is the best coin I have ever found!  In hindsight, I wonder what would have happened if my club member had said I would find a $20 gold piece…🤪

I also found a maple tree tap and what I think is a musket ball. The wheats range from 1911 through the 1950’s, with only the 1920’s not represented.  We are working on permission to go back again!

I’d say keep hunting there but I don’t think you need the encouragement…😊

Can’t knock that!

Still, one Barber is a good day for me.  Two is great!  Congrats!

Is it magnetic? If you scrap it across an unglazed porcelain plate, does it leave a streak of a particular color?

Can you scratch any of these with a knife blade?  My second question would be if you drip any dilute hydrochloric acid on them will it fizz?  Most carbonate rocks will react with acid and fizz and can be scratched with a knife blade.  If they won’t fizz and can scratch a knife blade, then I would guess at quartzite.

Almost looks like an old mile marker post. Do you happen to have a picture of a fresh broken - not cut surface?

1 hour ago, Rattlehead said:

Thanks! It’s something I came up with several years ago. I like to keep a hand free while detecting so that I can answer my phone, grab a drink or whatever else. Tried one of those holsters for long handled shovels, but it never really worked well for me due to the T handle being hung at belt level. With the full length of the shovel hanging below the belt line, it would start swinging and banging against my ankles as I walked. Since the hip clip can be mounted further down the shaft, it eliminates that problem.

Hope you patented it!

Looks like vein agate (cryptocrystalline silicon dioxide).  I suspect some of the  coloration may be due to surface iron staining, but yellow coloration is fairly common in agate.

It looks a little like carborundum (silicon carbide).  Still industrial byproduct or discarded product, but it would explain the color and the hardness.

On 4/1/2024 at 12:27 PM, rvpopeye said:

Edit by clicking on the 3 dots upper right of your post.

I did manage to edit the reply posts, or else there would’ve been three duplicates.   The real problem is I can’t figure out how to delete a duplicate post.

On 3/31/2024 at 8:51 PM, Rattlehead said:

More like a clip you’d see on an ink pen, but bigger. 🙂

Looks like a nifty design!  Is this something you developed or something you found somewhere?

On 3/30/2024 at 7:03 PM, Rattlehead said:

I have Hip-Clips on all of my shovels, which lets me carry them on my belt whenever I want to free up a hand.

Is this like a carabiner?

On 3/30/2024 at 6:13 PM, MD4V.org said:

I use a Grave Digger Tools Nemesis shovel. It's heavy, but I've used it on 3" diameter roots, prying out river rocks, and smacking a rabid raccoon! 

https://gravediggertools.com/ 

Hopefully I won’t have to deal with any of those!

This is another duplicate reply I am over writing because I can’t figure out how to delete it.

OK, I was having a problem finishing my post so I exited Safari and came back in.  I still couldn’t finish my post so I exited Safari came back in again and then cleared the editor and started from scratch.  This time I was able to finish my post and I submitted it only to find that it got submitted three times.

I can’t figure out how to delete a post and if I edit a post to have nothing it won’t let me do it.  So I’m over writing one of the duplicate posts with this question.  How do I delete a post?

On 3/30/2024 at 2:49 PM, F350Platinum said:

My vote is for Predator Tools, specifically the Ranger.

This thing is an absolute beast and won't break.

I've had mine for 4 years now and you know how much I get out. 🙂 It doesn't even creak.

I do like the notion of one which has some good longevity to it!

I normally hunt areas where trowels are required.  I have recently gained access to some more wooded areas and need to add a good shovel to my tool kit.   It preferably won’t weigh me down, but needs to be rugged enough to cut roots without falling apart in a year or two.  The next question is how do you forest hunters carry a shovel?  Do you have some sort of back strap carry pouch, or do you just carry it in your free hand and try to keep it away from the coil?  I would prefer to keep a free hand if possible, but also don’t want to waste a lot of time accessing a shovel for each target.

On 3/20/2024 at 3:53 AM, Valens Legacy said:

The better question would be, how they put the number on it without cracking it or breaking it.

Is it a man made diamond or is it a real one?

Would love to know the answer on this.

Diamond serial numbers are laser etched. But I’ve never heard of them being put anywhere other than the girdle.  If it’s a standard serial number, you might be able to make it out with a 10x hand lens.  However a stronger lens might be easier.  These serial numbers are registered in a database as TTT2866 mentioned.  So plug it in and see. You might be able to find the original owner.

Any multi silver day is good in my book! If you’re interested, there are a variety of sites which will give you an approximate date for the shotgun shell based on the headstamp.  https://cartridge-corner.com/shotgun.htm is one example.  This is sometimes useful for dating sites when I haven’t found any coins.

Hard to beat that! Any idea what the Indian piece is?