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Not too long ago I added a 550 acre permission to my "portfolio", one of the people I meet knew the owner and asked him if I could hunt his huge old farm, he doesn't visit it often. The person told me that the owner said it was fine, that the place had been detected but we were welcome to go there. Yeah, that's it in the distance, about a half mile away from where I had to park. Walking across bean stubble swinging a detector isn't the easiest thing to do, those stalks can actually hold your weight sometimes! There was a lot of walking to do. I invited Chase to hit this place for the first time with me, I wanted him to get a chance to hunt a permission I hadn't been to 😀 I got there early, he was running pretty late so I checked out one portion of this place that was off to the right, supposedly there was a house there long ago. I found some evidence of it but nothing of real interest was there. Ended up going to the top of this hill, and found a few things going up and coming back. Even though this farm has been hunted, the mass expanse of field leaves plenty of promise for cool random finds. By the time I got back to the other end of this field, Chase arrived and immediately got something great. We went for the prize, when we got to where the farmhouse and barns are, I called the owner directly and asked him if there was anything off limits. He said no, and we could keep everything we find! Man, the people here are so generous. 👍 Hunting around the farm was a chore, there was stuff everywhere. The fact that others had been there (the owner said about 25 years ago) didn't much deter us. The coolest place was around this cellar hole and foundation. This was just the Kitchen, the main house stood next to it but is long gone. We hunted all around it, and it into the field around it. Chase did quite a bit better than me, but I had a great time. Here's my stuff: A bit boss, a small piece of flatware handle stamped "ENT.", probably patent. An interesting button that says "Towers Wire Fastened" on it. A completely unmarked aluminum token about the size of a quarter, 3 wheats, 1909, 1912, and 1941, an IHP from 1890. I have no idea that the brass cap with the holes is, next to it is a stamped metal flower that decorated something with a clip on the back. Part of it is missing. Last but certainly not least is a huge dandy button! No fancy decoration. I hope Chase will drop in with his finds at some point, they were pretty awesome. Heck he can do a thread of his own with those! 👍 we didn't even explore half of this place. More like a fifth.

Not a great day today, never got much over 45 degrees but the wind was light enough to go hunting. Went to the big farm again. I was headed to the distant tree line, I found a hotspot there where a house stood long before recent memory. On the way I did a little random hunting where the barns and paddocks were behind the house, silver was found there last couple of trips. All I got there today was a button and some kind of gold plated broach. The button surprised me, haven't found too many here but that was going to change. It's kind of large, either held a big glass stone or maybe a timepiece. Went over next to the house, and dug a ~1930s lipstick case and a 1937 Canada penny. The penny wasn't in great shape, but again an odd find. I headed along what I thought was the "road" in to where the house was, and got some early stuff, a Tombac in pretty bad shape and a shankless gold plated button with backmarks: Also a tiny ladle shaped bit. The other side is a bowl, no idea what it might be used for but it's very old. Finally got to the spot I wanted to concentrate on, and the finds kept coming! Got 3 IHP's, 1881, 1887, and 1895. At last some old coins! These pretty much give the era of this house, the new one was built in 1903. Here's the total haul today, a mixed bag of stuff, mostly Victorian: I even got a ~.50 caliber 3 ring bullet. Great double D buckle with a brass pin, first time I've found one with an intact pin. An old spoon with no monogram or makers mark, a couple overall buttons and a four hole. Probably the most interesting bits I dug today were these two filigree objects: neither appear to be buttons, just stamped decorations. Pretty good day! I was hoping for a Barber or seated coin, the era is right, but nothing stood out. Maybe the residents at the time were very careful of their silver. 😀

Got out for a bit yesterday to see what I could find on some places I've hit hard locally. Started out fairly warm, but late the wind came up and that was the end of T-shirt hunting this week! 😵 The first place I went was this spot on the big plantation where a house once stood, it's grassy and full of trash. It rained the day before so I really didn't want to get all muddy, walking in grass is damp but better. 😀 I used the WS6 Master rig with both my relic program and a version of Silver Slayer that only finds objects ID'ing from 87-99, as you only get one notch. I hunted around here for an hour or so, got lots of high tones but they were mostly aluminum bottle caps and whole beer cans. Ended up with 5 coins, all modern. No Zincolns though! Next I've been meaning to hunt this field right near the old house that was built around 1740. I had been told that it was heavily hunted before, so I didn't expect much. Only spent about 45 minutes here, nothing but can slaw and deep cans. This time I used the 13", but the grass was kinda high for swinging the big coil. Finally went out to the big field and hacked around randomly. Here's the take: There I got the big D buckle, 4 buttons, some kind of knob, a buckle fragment and a very old syringe top, by far one of the odd finds so far. The buttons were one ball button, one two flat, medium and small, and the top part of a two piece that looks like a rose: The knob was a 93, and one of the stranger objects I've found: it has a square hole on the small end and a set screw hole. Very heavy brass. Last is the syringe top, kinda weird to find one this old! I had to be really careful cleaning it up. Trash was less than a handful in this field. Old pocket knife end and the usual metal junk, pistol and buck balls. Not even a handful. The relic program I'm using is pretty successful, if a few of you more experienced people are bored enough to want to try it, let me know. I doubt it will be great for mineralized areas, but in fairly clean farm hunting it is a killer. I'd like to get some impressions! Notice I dig almost no iron, the discrimination makes it stay where it should be for the most part. It is an "all metal" program using full tones, it will really sound off when you hit shallow targets, and reactivity is so low that you will have to investigate every medium to high "blip" you hear. 🙂

Days like today are rare in the winter, but I'm thrilled I get to take advantage of them. It was already t-shirt weather by the time I got out, it got into the 60s today, sunny and no wind. Perfect! I hit this field late last spring, got a lot of great buttons and a small brass cannon. There was a house here long ago, just a small two room shack probably inhabited by plantation "staff". I finally found the cellar hole for it. Searched around it a bit, but found nothing. On a hill nearby is a big iron patch, I think a barn burned there or the house was pushed there and burned. Today I wanted to see how the 13" did finding stuff in it. It did ok, but even Silver Slayer didn't produce anything, so I just hunted in my custom relic program that has been doing well for me. For a place I hit hard, I did ok. I had to park my truck at the entrance to this field, about 2 acres I don't have permission to but no one minded me parking there. They tell me the owner isn't worried about it, and the farmers are done for the year. Only got a handful of trash today, molten metal from the fire, copper nails, bullets, buck balls and the like. It really only is a handful 😏 Here's the take: A bit boss, 3 buttons - one overall, one silverwash and one small. 4 coins, 2 IHPs, 1888 and 1889, a 1963 memorial, and a silver 1950 Roosevelt dime! Got the dime heading back to my truck for a Coke. 😀 Got 3 pieces of what I think is an ancient fancy buckle, a parasol slide (thanks, JCR!) A large piece of cast brass that was attached to something and broke, a buckle fragment and an odd two headed bent copper nail. If anyone knows what that is I'd appreciate it! 😀 It's a curiosity for sure. I was glad to find anything at all here, and thrilled to yet again get a silver coin. Maybe this year I'll be luckier with that. Also found some old bottles, but left them there. There is a dump site on the edge of the ravine, the clear one says "Old Witch", apparently an ammonia brand. I don't think they are very valuable, and the ravine is dangerous, drops off almost 100 feet in some spots.

Over the weekend I took another look at some old topographic maps of the old farm I've been hunting. I found I had mis-marked the position of a house that was on the old maps up to 1944, but is now gone. It's kind of a good thing I did because I wouldn't have found all that 1600s stuff I've posted lately. 😏 In addition, I wanted to try Silver Slayer behind the existing house, the house, barns and paddocks completely bisect the farm in one straight line. Everything is gone behind the house now, it's all open field but there is a ton of junk left behind. I invited Chase to come down and check the new spot out. I got there early, it was cold this morning but warmed to to 50, albeit windy most of the day. This farm is about 100 acres, and we can only park on one side. While I was waiting for Chase I searched this area, we already hit it pretty hard. All I got was a musket ball and this tiny button. too bad the glass insert is long gone. I have found one with the glass intact. This is the first button we've found in this farm! After a while Chase arrived, and we headed across this field, just for the heck of it when we crossed the building line I changed over to Silver Slayer, swung a few times and got a 96. Dug this pretty beat up 1947 D quarter! My first silver of the year. 🥳 We finally got to where I had marked the new house position, and sure enough the relics and coins started popping up. The first one I got was this silver plated spoon handle with a "T" on it, I'll have to find out if anyone knows the name of who lived here in the 1800s. It's possible no one does. It ended up being late 1800s Gorham silver plate, I later found the bowl with the marks on it. The anchor indicates the era, according to this chart, but it's a bit confusing. Here's the haul for the day, we went back to the house but didn't find anything great using silver Slayer, last time we were here Chase got a silver dime, but that was it. Got 3 pennies, two IHPs, a 1900 and an 1890, both in pretty good shape. Got a 1910 wheat too. Dug an interesting two piece button: A heart locket that had been separated but I found both halves, a lock slide and some patented item that looks like some kind of lantern mantle: The thing on the right was connected to the thing on the left, you're looking at the back of it with the stamped stuff in reverse. It was the only way I could read anything, so I flipped a photo of it: 1890s patent dates. Got a big buckle and a lock slide, and while walking near the trees I got a very loud 95, and dug this matron large cent. All I can make out is the bust, I don't know the year or type. The reverse has nothing. The trash was pretty heavy today, most of the big stuff dug using Silver Slayer, I want y'all to know it's great for finding coins, but not a "magic" program, you're going to dig junk. 😀 It was a lot of fun, and I had great company. While we were talking to the farmers I got another 550 acres of permission! What a day.

Spent the day at the farm where I found the Scottish sixpence today, big farm with small hotspots. One of the most unusual things about this place is that despite finding a lot of really old relics in two places, not a single button has been found. This probably means it was detected by others. But, they did leave some interesting stuff behind! Got there early, it was about 30 degrees and there was a frost, but it was easy to dig, and by the end of the day it got up to around 50. I invited Chase down to see the place and give him a shot at what could be there, I only scouted it so it wasn't hammered by me. I did find some great stuff before but there was more. Used the RC and 13" for a while waiting for Chase, when he arrived I switched to the WS6 Master with the 9". What a difference. 😀 Just swinging the 13" for 2-1/2 hours got kinda tiring today, and I didn't find anything at all but buck balls. I also tested ground stabilizer a bit but quickly changed back to my original settings. Not here! We walked toward the hilltop where I found the sixpence and found some stuff on the side of the hill, here's my haul for the day: 2 spectacle halves that don't seem to fit together, a single buckle identical to my first find in this field. A pewter spoon handle end, some more buckle bits and a bag seal of some sort. The most interesting thing I dug today (not that 1600s buckles are uninteresting 😀) was the knob on the left, it's knurled and has a pin on the back. Exactly half the alphabet on the front from n-z. 🤔 I wonder what it was used for? Hope on a return visit I find the other one 🤣 probably won't. Gotta say it was a pretty trashy day too, buck balls and bullets mostly. A couple of square nails got me too. It was fun hunting with Chase, and he did pretty well. There really isn't much in these 100 acres.

I have 4 more areas I'm looking at quickly to get an idea of what is there, one 35 acre field next to the last one I scouted, an old farmhouse field a few miles away, a cellar hole deep in the woods in another area, and a possible war of 1812 landing site. Managed to get to two of them today anyway. Got out pretty early. The first was the 35 acre field across the road from the last field I posted, I didn't expect much of anything because there is no evidence of any house on it. I walked a long time crossing the field and checking the most likely spots, pretty much all I got was lead. Buck balls, bag seals, and one mangled pistol ball. It wasn't until I crossed the center of the field one more time from another direction that I found anything, but I'll tell ya later. 😁 Next up was a small field a few miles away that I suspect was used for subsistence farming, there was a house there but it is long gone. The house was on a bluff overlooking the road where I parked, after dealing with the power line EMI near the road, I finally got up on the hill and things got quiet but not for long. 😵 All of a sudden a couple trucks came down the road carrying digging equipment, and one of the guys asked me to move my truck because they had to dig in a fiber conduit "right there" 😀 I moved it and they got all their equipment running, the ditch drill added more EMI. 😡 Off in the distance I saw another truck, it seemed like the driver was watching me. I was wrong. A while later I heard dogs, and then the shooting started in the woods behind the hill. A bunch of hunters showed up. Dogs and blam blam blam! 😀 Glad I decided to wear my blaze orange vest. At one point I had to duck behind the hill because they got pretty close. That hill was loaded with relics, coins, tokens, hardware. Not a heck of a lot of iron! The stuff ranged from the early 1800s to mid 1900s, I had to change my "Relic Reaper"™ program to reactivity 2 to get more separation. 🤣 Probably could go to 3 next time, but I got enough stuff... First the trash: Not too bad, a little more than a handful. Threw out a couple of steel cans. Next, the hardware and large relics: A few cheap spoon handles, a fork, hinges and sinkers and stuff. A little compact tin with no markings, and an unmarked lipstick tube cover. Now the fun stuff. Got.37 in modern coins, 3 wheats from 1941 to 1958, one 1886 IHP It appears to be a "Type 2", I'm waiting on some cleaning pencils. Got 5 buttons, 2 aluminum, one Tombac but it looks newer, one copper flat. A small pendant thing with one chain link on it, it's brass and heavy. 2 belt buckles, the cheesiest brass one I've ever seen, and a nice decorated one with a "P" on it. This turtle shell thing I dug I have no idea what it was used for or came off of, but it's decorated and heavy. I got a couple pieces of decorated metal that again I have no idea what they were from, and 3 tokens, one broken. The coolest one is this: What the heck is a "Capers Check" ? It was made for a long closed local manufacturing company in town. It's copper and has a big 1 on it. Another is for Snow King Baking Powder, a company that was absorbed by General Mills in 1937: The only way I was able to read any of these tokens was to buff the snot out of them with steel wool. 😀 The third broken one was for a free car wash. And now the pièce de résistance, the object I found smack in the middle of the first field: Civil War eagle "I" button. I have no idea what it was doing in the middle of that field, but I pictured the farmer plowing with the only warm jacket he had, his Civil War wool coat. it finally did quiet down, the hunters got their deer and the diggers left for the day. Glad I didn't get shot. 😎

My wife wasn't feeling all that great this morning, so she said "why don't you go detecting?" Heh, don't need to say it twice. It was going to be another warm day but a bit windy. It's a new permission, a 100 acre farm that one of the landowners told me I could hunt yesterday. Before I left, I was trying to decide which detector to bring, the D2 RC with the CF shaft and 13", or the WS6 Master. I decided to just bring the WS6 rig to see what it would do. 100 acres is a lot of land, to walk across this field and back is a mile. I was going to scout the place and see if there were any hotspots, mark them and move on. A light detector was the ticket, and nothing is lighter than this one. 😀 3 digs into the day turned up this buckle, I'm pretty sure it's 1650s to 1750s. Right then I knew it was going to be an interesting day. 😀 The farmhouse was built in 1903 according to the owner, he is renovating it for his family, and doing a really nice job. He mentioned I could hunt the yard too, he is going to replace it with sod when the house is done. Another time perhaps. There are 35 more acres across the road too! I walked almost all the way across this field, I had looked at topographic maps and they suggested there was another house here much earlier than the farmhouse. I marked it in OnX Hunt. Had to park my truck on one side, the spot I was looking for was on the other. I found the spot on a small bluff facing south to a creek and marsh. The creek is loaded with waterfowl and fish, it was an excellent source of food for the early settlers. I wasn't sure what I'd find here but the prospects were good after finding that buckle. Started hearing a bit of iron so I looked around a bit and ended up on the highest point. I wasn't disappointed. Got an old brass boss, later and closer to the farmhouse a 1963 nickel and a 1908 IHP. Sadly the back is so toasted I can't tell if it's an "S" or not. 😵 I had no idea what the leftmost coin was that I found on top of that bluff, I sent pics to a few friends to see if they could find it. Well one of them did. My good buddy @dogodog sent it to a friend of his and they got me on track to finding this unexpected and extraordinary coin: Turns out it's a 1694 Scottish William and Mary Twopence. https://coinscatalog.net/great-britain/coin-copper-2-pence-km-130-scotland Here are some pictures of what it would look like if it wasn't in a farm in Virginia: I knew the coin was ancient, but not that old! 🥳 The Latin on the front is 'NEMO ME IMPVNE LACESSET’. "No one shall hurt me with impunity". Well I'll be. 🤔 Lots of different currency were used in the Colonies, this was a new one on me! Here's the logo for a very famous Virginia college: Look familiar? Yep. That William and Mary. 🙂 Only got a handful of trash today!

One last day of 2022, so out I went to a local ballfield next to a rec. center. As soon as I stepped out of the vehicle, the drops began with distant rumblings. Sensing a deluge was not imminent, I started with the playground that is padded with wood chips. The swing set gave up some coins as did the rest of the structures. I was almost under the monkey bars when I got a softish solid 6-7 ID in 50 tones. After taking a bit of time to locate the item, even with the pinpointer, the silver, sliver moon showed its face. About 3 feet away, the same numbers displayed which turned out to be the back of the earring; the 10x5 is amazing at finding small stuff! After that, I detected a bit in the turf as the rain intensified. I hit a strange signal that was about a 17 ID. The lapel pin, along with the two backing pieces, was about 4 inches down. Happy hunting to you all in the new year!

Winter is slowly coming here, it's going to rain tomorrow after about 5 days of dry weather. This morning started out at 26 degrees. Doesn't look too bad for a cold morning? It wasn't. No wind, and enough sun to keep warm. I had to ditch a lot of cold weather gear. It's been about 5 days since it last rained so digging was easy. The ground was not frozen and I could get a plug with one shot. It doesn't get better than this. 🥳 Had a good day, within 15 minutes I had a button and a clad dime, and it didn't stop. Guess I was looking in the right places today. Here's 7 hours worth of digging: Ended up with a steel or very heavy aluminum monogrammed tray of some sort, at first I thought it was a hubcap. Can't find it anywhere. Got a piece of big D buckle, and a very "trigger" looking piece, but not sure what it is. 11 buttons today. One big fancy two piece: It has backmarks but I can't get a read. Not military but very cool. Got 2 Tombacs, one has some decoration. The other buttons have the usual backmarks like "Treble Gilt" "Orange Colour", that sort of thing. A couple still have shanks. Got two IHPs today, an 1880 and an 1883: got one wheat that I think is 1917 but am not sure. Going to be a few days before I can get out again, another big permission is opening up. Here's the trash for today Looks like I got a brass wagon hub of some sort. Dug too much aluminum probably because I wasn't lifting on it. It never got above 45 but it was comfortable and great to be out.

Looks like I'm following a bunch of better acts today but hey. Got out for another day with the Deus 2 and the 13x11". It started out at about 44 degrees and just got colder, 10-15 mph wind and cloudy. 😵 Not a fan of this weather but I was at least prepared for it. I have some insulated digging gloves that I switch out for electric heated gloves when my hands go numb. At least the D2 can tune out the EMI from the gloves. My Equinox cannot. This is a different field than the one I've been hunting, I came here to try and test separation with the big coil. I went to a spot that's very trashy, and really didn't find anything worth digging! That means there was nothing worth digging for the most part. 😀 Using this coil in another spot showed me that using it feels kind of like using the 10x5 on my Equinox, despite the large size. Separation is quite good. This field was planted with corn, and they knocked down most of the stalks, but the big coil did manage to get caught now and again 😀 Got nothing but trash for the first 3 hours, so I went to a spot I knew would have something. Finally got some finds in the bag, not much for 7 hours but I'll take it: 2 D buckles, a "Merry Widow" prophylactic tin top. I've read people find these all the time, I found it just off the old road near a church, ironically. 🤣 Here's a link if you're interested 🙄 they're from the early 1900s: https://www.mnhs.org/blog/collectionsupclose/3-merry-widows-tin The next item to the left of the broken key I'm not sure of but it is pretty ornate: Could be part of a shoe buckle but it's really heavy. Bottom row is a cufflink, two buttons and an odd buckle fragment. The cufflink broke easily, the concave bottom was attached. It's not a rivet. Buttons were cool, one London warranted treble, and a fancy Scovill with some gold still on it. I've found these English buttons here before. I want to mention something I've noticed with this coil. I'm running reactivity at 0 for maximum depth, you would think I'd have to slow down. Gotta say you don't have to if the field isn't all that trashy. I'm using Full tones so every time I hear a high tone I investigate it, if it dives to low once centered for sure it's iron, if it still insists on remaining high with a low blip, I'll dig it. It seems quite accurate and I don't dig much iron at all. One particular scenario is an 81 around a low tone, every time it's falsing iron. Changing sweep angle gives it up immediately. You can "grab" signals with this coil. Most of my large pieces of trash today were sight picked, the rest were the usual suspects. Hope I get a few points for presentation anyway. 😁

Looks like I'm following a bunch of better acts today but hey. Got out for another day with the Deus 2 and the 13x11". It started out at about 44 degrees and just got colder, 10-15 mph wind and cloudy. 😵 Not a fan of this weather but I was at least prepared for it. I have some insulated digging gloves that I switch out for electric heated gloves when my hands go numb. At least the D2 can tune out the EMI from the gloves. My Equinox cannot. This is a different field than the one I've been hunting, I came here to try and test separation with the big coil. I went to a spot that's very trashy, and really didn't find anything worth digging! That means there was nothing worth digging for the most part. 😀 Using this coil in another spot showed me that using it feels kind of like using the 10x5 on my Equinox, despite the large size. Separation is quite good. This field was planted with corn, and they knocked down most of the stalks, but the big coil did manage to get caught now and again 😀 Got nothing but trash for the first 3 hours, so I went to a spot I knew would have something. Finally got some finds in the bag, not much for 7 hours but I'll take it: 2 D buckles, a "Merry Widow" prophylactic tin top. I've read people find these all the time, I found it just off the old road near a church, ironically. 🤣 Here's a link if you're interested 🙄 they're from the early 1900s: https://www.mnhs.org/blog/collectionsupclose/3-merry-widows-tin The next item to the left of the broken key I'm not sure of but it is pretty ornate: Could be part of a shoe buckle but it's really heavy. Bottom row is a cufflink, two buttons and an odd buckle fragment. The cufflink broke easily, the concave bottom was attached. It's not a rivet. Buttons were cool, one London warranted treble, and a fancy Scovill with some gold still on it. I've found these English buttons here before. I want to mention something I've noticed with this coil. I'm running reactivity at 0 for maximum depth, you would think I'd have to slow down. Gotta say you don't have to if the field isn't all that trashy. I'm using Full tones so every time I hear a high tone I investigate it, if it dives to low once centered for sure it's iron, if it still insists on remaining high with a low blip, I'll dig it. It seems quite accurate and I don't dig much iron at all. One particular scenario is an 81 around a low tone, every time it's falsing iron. Changing sweep angle gives it up immediately. You can "grab" signals with this coil. Most of my large pieces of trash today were sight picked, the rest were the usual suspects. Hope I get a few points for presentation anyway. 😁

Cold Sunday. Got out early, it was 37 and windy. 😵 I had to dress warm, if my hands and feet get cold I'm done. Reynaud's Syndrome is a detectorist's nightmare. Went back to the farm I've found so much good stuff at this week, I usually don't hunt on the weekends but had a social cancellation and nothing to do. This area is fairly sheltered in some places, so I figured I could warm up there. Luckily there were no hunters. Turned out to be pretty good, my hands and feet didn't get too cold because it was sunny and I was moving around and digging. I don't think it ever got above 41, but I was ok. I wore electric heated socks and brought heated gloves, from experience the Equinox can't handle the EMI from the gloves' pulse heat. I hoped the Deus 2 would be better. It was. 🥳 The socks didn't bother it at all, and I was able to tune out the gloves with one press of the frequency button. Ended up not needing either but it was nice to know! I don't think winter is going to be too warm. I was out there for 7 hours today, scouted around a lot. Wasn't finding much, but at random I got all this: Another half spectacle buckle, some small button bits including a lead one and a broken Tombac, and some farm/animal brass. Even got .27 in modern coins. 😀 That big D buckle was a 95. 🤬 Not that I minded getting a big buckle but the silver alternative would have been a bonus. 🤔 The big half circle is some sort of old snap ring, and the curve with prongs I've never seen before. Extreme right is a fancy buckle fragment. I was detecting across the field to a different spot, and on the way got a solid 73, I thought "cool, another fancy button". Nope. Size 5.5 or 6 14K wedding band, a little over 6mm wide or 1/4 inch. It weighs 4.1g. I'm trying to find the maker's mark, could be a sideways W or M, or an "Epsilon". As usual it fits my wife's finger perfectly, she prefers white gold but never turns down a gift. This is the 4th gold ring I've found this year, two at a beach in one hole, one at a campground, and now this totally unexpected one in a farm. It might be old, it might be new. 🤪 Only a small handful of trash again: What a great week it's been! I might get out next week but the holidays are upon us.

Managed to get out there today, only for about 6 hours but it was worth it as usual. This field is still producing, just not coins or jewelry very often. For a relic fan like me however, it has been a blast. It's so nice to have a place to go that stuff turns up every time you go there, but relic fields are finite. Each visit requires more finesse. Another great fall day, no wind and ended up about 56 degrees. I really only hunted a small portion here, and turned up quite a pile of finds: Got a couple of spur pieces, a few buckle fragments, one of which is Tombac. 6 buttons, two are Tombacs and again one was larger than a quarter: The bottom two button looking things are studs. I don't know what the flange was used for, it appears to be square threaded inside. I wonder if anyone can tell me what this thing is or is a part of? It's brass. Next, 3 of the buttons have backmarks, love that. This one is in the museum of American History: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1452437 One other curiosity, the octagon thing with the "K" on it, I'm not able to find, it's an aluminum cap for a tube, I usually call it "butt cream" 🤣 The spurs are old but as yet I can't identify them specifically. This hunt was not as spectacular as other days, but the mystery items caused me to post. I'm thrilled with the D2 program I'm using here, it's really accurate and keeps me from digging too much trash. No more than a handful again.

I was a bit worried after my last hunt that the field was planted with winter wheat, so I spent the morning checking out some of my other places. Looked like they were down with wheat, so I came back to the place I have been getting a lot of great stuff lately, but first I stopped by the landowner's house and gave him this: It's a 3x5 Riker case with a wide array of finds from his fields, stuff I've got over the last couple of years. I gave him a list of what everything was and where I found it. There's a bit of everything in that box, from a half/half Reale to a Tombac button. I even gave him one of the rare Virginia buttons I've found. The center object is a dog tag with his name on it and the name of a dog he had long ago. Kinda bittersweet. He couldn't have been more thrilled, and told me the current "crop" is just field cover grass. He said I was welcome to dig the hell out of it. 🥳 Went out to the field and the next 4 hours were pretty good. It was cold and windy today but sunny enough to stay warm. I don't think it got over 50. No coins today, here's the random stuff: Found that drawer pull way out in the middle of nowhere🤔, looks like a lock box escutcheon and a couple small fancy bits. Got one small bit of flatware. I was in one area where I got a couple of Tombacs, and leaving I dug a Tombac cufflink. The large convex one was over 10" down, the upside down one is concave. At first I thought the cuff button was a rivet but it occurred to me that they wouldn't make them out of Tombac. 😀 Also got some newer buttons, two flats and one ball with the back inside it. It's the third one I've found in this area, the other two don't have backs and one is much bigger. I also dug another spectacle buckle in 3 pieces, sadly not all of it: It was all in the same place. Really old. My favorite find of the day was this tiny two piece Navy button, it has backmarks but I can't read them. Also can't find it's age or use, but I'm thinking later 1800s Only a handful of trash again, the Deus 2 program I'm using is pretty accurate. I knew what the aluminum was, just dug it to get rid of it. Buck balls too, but some of the buttons are in the high 50s to low 60s, so you have to dig them all. The buckshot sounds a bit different and disappears after you dig it. Always keep your landowners happy!

Haven't posted in a bit! Hope everyone has been well,lucky and or productive in life/detecting! I've been out less then I'd like over the last 3,4 months! I have been out just short hunts here and there with 1,2 decent finds per 7/10 outings! Example like 1 bullet,1 button,1 100yr old coin nothing amazing but those kinda outings which are great if it's all ya got! Huh Today,same ol'union outpost I've hit many times and swung hundreds of hours no bull but facts! D2 setup with pitch,notch like a tnsquirellslayerwould! He's spot on as I've ran it getting the 07,08,09 and did great but today with squirrel slayers notch I liked what I saw! Last few trips maybe 5hrs seemed like I was starting to struggle whether from 07,pitch hitting thousands of swarps or just digging moronic idk but for sure struggled at this site! As you can see it has the carpet o nail,metal bits. Of course I was fooled on a few bigs,the big ass bolt and the bent 90° nails as I run it open with notch no silencer. When she locks on and I don't anxiously dig shitty signals on anticipation the D2 is king dingaling for sure! I saw some of those one fellers banging up they're tehons brand in iron and another talking of a explorer and boy if they have good sights I'd sure go out of my way to follow em around with this dues! Since getting this unit I've hunted same ol places I've hit from atpro,multikruzer and pounded with my eq800 and I've absolutely killed it this year since getting the D2! Luck,difference of 9" to 11" idk the correlation as absolute but I'm gonna land on D2 is a bad ass machine if one knows how to caress her properly! Yall take care and enjoy life,family and the upcoming holidays!

Well the weather sure changed! Two days ago it was almost 80 here, this morning started out at 40 and only made it to 50. Looks like Fall has finally settled in. Went to the big field today, had to wear heavier gloves for a while due to Reynaud's and a pretty stiff wind. Today I used the Deus 2 with a centering device on the 11" coil, it made it much more comfortable to use. In the first 30 minutes I got a faint 81/82, as I dug deeper it got better and better and settled in at 91 at about 10" down, and out came this Civil War Cavalry Bridle rosette, a total shocker for this field which dates back to the 1700s. It had a back plate or tabs, but all that is gone now. Probably popped off. Didn't get anything else but buckshot and bits of metal for quite a while so I changed spots, and stuff started coming up. Got quite a few buttons, the most interesting being the small jeweled button with a green stone: The stone is faceted but is probably glass or paste, it is heavily scratched. The lobed one may not be a button. Two of the above buttons have a basket weave pattern, are thin two piece, and say something about "superfine", but neither has any gilt left. I've found one or two of these here before. The next two were a surprise, although I'm on a streak of finding gold plated buttons with a lot of plating still there. One has a shank, the other does not. They both say "Scovill Superfine" on the back, and have an identical pattern on them. They are cast. And finally, my possibly second best find of the day due to the rosette: An 1857 Seated half dime, the second one I have found here. It was way out in the back. All this pretty much validates my thought that horse racing or some kind of exhibitions took place here. There is a spot in the front field where we have found many old buttons, and a place in the back where spectators or groups of people attended. Trash was pretty heavy today, a lot of lead 😀 I will have to speak to the owner, what I thought was just random grass may be winter wheat. 😵 Might not be able to come back for a while.

Looks like everybody had a good weekend! I really appreciate the folks who post finds from this fascinating hobby. Being one of the more prolific, it's nice to see others. 🙂 Some of you are tough acts to follow. 😀 Detected Friday and today, two different places. Friday I went to my oldest permission, only got to spend about 4 hours there. Didn't get much but got another huge Dandy button, always a thrill for me. Couple of wheats, drawer pulls, a thimble and a very tiny two hole button. The Dandy has a sun pattern, didn't notice it until I cleaned it up. Today, I invited a friend along, he wasn't feeling well but managed to get a few cool things. I, on the other hand, was on fire. Yikes! All small stuff but couldn't be more thrilled with the day. Got there early, it was kinda cold and cloudy. Part of my "luck" if you will is learned land reading, having detected in this area for a couple of years. Today I decided to start at the very edge of this field, and walk along it moving inward, the theory being that in early times when plowing, the farmer would turn at the edges, popping buttons and dropping stuff. It paid off. Got about 3 buttons, a Buffalo nickel (no date), and a small pierced medal exactly the size of a nickel that has a scene on it: Not sure what it is, nothing on the back. Could have some religious significance, but it's very old. One of the buttons looks like Tombac and has "Standard" on the back. Got a very tiny cuff button with a pattern: And a mangled flat button. Next we went to a previously searched area that turned up some cool really old stuff, last week I found a Civil War era button and a small Masonic medal. Thought we'd find a few more items. There is a lot of iron, so I switched to Silver Slayer for a bit, and got an 1875 IHP. Here I also dug this button: It says "Wellington London Made". Nothing on the front. Using Silver Slayer I got the strange object that I think is a rein guide, it seems to allow a rein to be drawn through but cinches it should it be pulled back or the reverse. The "Flapper" in the center appears to have been plated, either silver or nickel: I'm only assuming the use of this device. Any other ideas? We took a lunch break, and then headed over to the other side of the farm where the finds are more mid to late 1800s, buttons and such. I got a Cavalry "C" button and a Trime there not too long ago. Got a lock slide, a concave button, and an 1879 IHP: The concave button is odd, never seen one like this before. Right after I dug the lock slide I was going up the side of the hill to where the barn was, and got a solid 85, my best find of the day: Hollow back shankless Virginia button, probably pre-Civil War. I found two of these last spring, one was Civil War, the other like this one but badly corroded. This one is incredible. Edit: forgot to post the trash. Stuff like this doesn't come easy.

Another beautiful day here, pre-Nicole. Went back to the field I've been hunting lately to finish it up, got a couple of cuff buttons, a couple of odd ball shaped objects, one of which may be a half of a bell. There really wasn't much left to cover here, just about 20 yard strip. The next field I went to is huge, and we've found everything from Spanish cobs to dandy buttons, it's a very old farm. The first field is part of it but it's almost 3/4 of a mile away. I believe there were events in this field in the fallow months, possibly horse racing. Buttons and coins at each end kind of bear that out. There is very little in the middle. Heading out to the far end along the high ridge, I dug this magnificent but sadly broken spectacle buckle: That's as old as it gets here. Coming back I got one of the biggest Tombac buttons I've ever seen, in great shape, it's bigger than a quarter, it was a 63: I love the waxy feel of these and was amazed to find one this big that wasn't broken. Today I had the Deus 2 with the 9" coil, this field is so clean again I could run General at reactivity = 0 for max depth. I also turned discrimination to 0, and turned up iron volume. I really didn't have to use my Relic program at all. The trick with reactivity so low is to "grab" a target, while swinging if you hear anything, you stop and analyze. That is how I found the tiniest button I've ever found. It's the one near the half circle. It was about 6" down, a weak 42. Also got an 1882 IHP, and an object that may be a button, an English Farthing, or a shield nickel. 😀 It weighs 4.5g, is 20mm wide, and 2.5mm thick. Usually buttons are thinner than that, but the circle around the inside makes me think it's a button: It appears to be a bit melted. The other side is smooth: Got some other bits but not sure what any of them are. Really like finding those spectacle buckles! The trash was about average, if you're not digging buck balls, you're not getting buttons.

Today was supposed to be nice, started out at 53 and foggy. I went to a field not far from my house where I got a lot of nice relics and a half of a half reale back in the spring. This field was cleared and turbo tilled in two directions, wow! Really easy to detect. The other nice thing is it doesn't have a lot of modern trash, just iron bits. This is all the trash I got today, fits in my hand. Just some buck balls, percussion caps and odd junk. Hunted for 6 hours, ended up with 6 buttons and some other surprises. Two have visible gold plating, one is silverwash. 3 medium and 3 small. As I was detecting back to my truck, I got this nice 1903 IHP: One of the biggest surprises (well the biggest) was a large cent. Can't quite make out the date but it is there, and can't really determine which bust it is. I was once able to see the wreath on the back and "ONE". it's pretty worn. I also got a couple relics, a thimble and a whatzit. A couple days ago I did a scouting hunt and got these: My favorite is the small decorated concave button. Saved the best for last, got a solid 77 and dug this, I knew there was more Spanish silver here: 1/4 of a 1 or 2 Reale coin. Worn thin, but still heavy. Only got through half this field, I'm sure there is more.

It's been raining for the last 3 days, it was supposed to clear up but this pesky low has been sitting off the coast for far too long. Today I wanted to test something, I took my Tesoro Vaquero to the latest place I've been hunting, there is an iron patch there that hasn't yielded much but from what I've seen testing with the Vaquero, discriminating most iron will make even targets under iron jump out. Got out there to try, looked for quite a while and really didn't get anything but 2 "D" buckles. I was happy enough with those but sad the iron wasn't masking anything really great. Next I grabbed the Deus 2, and went off to find a barn that was way out back, I've seen it in aerials but never located it. I was determined to find it this time. On the way there I got a nice small button, very old cuff button with the word "Gilt" on the back. The barn is not visible at all from the field, an impenetrable hedge blocks it. The only way in is a deer path about 200 feet away, you have to walk in through that to get behind the hedge. A whole new world opens up. The first thing you see is this old iron hulk that looks like an early combine, it has a big chain on it and a lot of levers to operate different parts of it. Iron wheels date it as "very old" 😀 A little further in there is another one, a little more modern. Mind you these woods are pretty thick so you really can't swing a detector around. This one has pneumatic tires so it's a little newer. Finally, on top of a rise I saw the barn. Going inside, it looked like it had "good bones". A fairly large central stall with a smaller stall on each side. I started scanning the ground and immediately got a 94. 1964 silver quarter! Not two feet away from it I got a 91. 1960 D silver Roosevelt, my second. 🥳 These coins are crusty, I have no idea why but they've been sitting in the dry dirt for 50 years so who knows. Not the usual shape I find silver in, I'm not sure what to do to clean them up. Hacked around the rest of the barn and found nothing else, I'll have to spend some more time here when the leaves are down, and it's too cold for most creatures. But my day was made, or so I thought. Next I wanted to find a pond on the property to see if it was ever used as a swimming hole. Found it, had to use deer trails again, and when I got there I found the ground very untrustworthy. Most was simply bent over marsh grass. I searched around and found nothing but beer cans. 😵 I would imagine anything good sunk deep. On the way back I dug the rest of the items below: A broken Ford emblem, a brass tool of some sort, and the best two relics of the day: Small Gold plated Masonic pin, and the best one, albeit not one I can find anywhere: old two piece Scovill button with a Roman-esque head. If anyone knows what it is I'd be grateful. Long day, but good finds. 🙂

Gotta say CPT_GhostLight got me really interested in Rattleheads' Silver Slayer for the Deus 2. I mostly hunt old farms this time of year, we don't have parks in my county, but we do have one beach with a parking lot. 😀 Went there this morning, wasn't feeling too good but decided to power through. 😵 Stayed there about 2 hours, checked the beach for grins and only got one Zincoln, I was surprised to get that. Came back up to this little parking lot that only holds about 15 cars at best, it's full of pull tabs and flattened aluminum bottle caps. It also has lots of bottle caps. 🤬 I thought the SS program would be perfect here, I'd maybe even find some lost jewelry. Got 54 cents in modern coins, and relished the accuracy of the program. It really works well, had I put it back to original with the upper disc at 87 or 88 I probably would have missed those annoying flat aluminum caps. They came in from 86-88. The memorials were coming up in the low 90s today for some reason. I now see the value of that setting in public places! It was so nice to not hear all that crap, and not have to dig any falsing iron. Next I went to the farm I've been hunting to hit an iron patch. I was hoping to eke something out of it. The patch is about the size of a small barn, iron everywhere, I think Chase managed to get one silver out but that has been it. I went back and forth over the patch for a couple hours, it sure was a beautiful day. Had I felt better it would have been a joy. Silver Slayer allows iron to sound somewhat, and it's always accurate. Aluminum is almost not an issue, except that I still didn't expand disc as mentioned. 🤬 I dug some, and any time I tried another setting, which wasn't much, I immediately got more. Here's my take for today, illustrative as opposed to impressive. I did manage to get two "D" buckles, probably the most exciting but boring find you can get relic hunting. You get a high tone and an ID in the 90s, and go "aww" when you dig it up. Got one saddle rein guide with a bit of decoration on it. Trash was very light, except for the heavy zinc padlock and the odd brass thingy that both were in the 90s, as well as the twisted copper or brass. Large can bits still made it there now and again, but no false iron. Wow! I think this is a very valid and worthwhile program to set up on the Deus 2.

Went back to the permission Chase and I hunted a few days ago. Started out a cold morning, 38 degrees. I had set up the Deus 2 with the Silver Slayer program, and intended to swap it with the "Nero" program I got from Gary Blackwell. Got out there fairly early, it had warmed up a bit. I wanted to cover a small iron patch with the SS program hoping it might sniff out some coins. First I randomly walked around, enjoying how quiet the machine was. Ended up getting a token and a round flat lead weight with holes, I've seen these before but forget what they are. The token is aluminum, but was an 88 on the Deus. Pretty cool! The lead weight was high 80s too. I had backed off the SS notch to 84 as I didn't want to miss wheats and an occasional IHP. Well I didn't find anything else, as I was heading to the iron patch, I noticed the coil was almost discharged. 🤬 I went back to my truck and returned with the Equinox. Went to the area where Chase and I got buttons, it's a site that a barn stood on which has been moved. My first successful dig was a "D" buckle, I thought well better than nothing. My next target was a shocker, I got a 16/17/18, and thought I found a Merc... Nope. 1851 Trime! That's about as clean as I dare get it. This is my second and a half. 😀 Ended up with a small amount of cool stuff: Nice gold plated two piece button with shank still on it it has backmarks, I've found one here like this before, but not with as much plating on it. I dug two pieces of an extremely old buckle within 3 feet of each other, two pieces of a very old silver plated spoon, a colonial button with "B ST. X" for a backmark, a buffalo nickel with no date and a 1911 V nickel. This is as good as they get here. 😵 Also dug these 2 levers, not sure what they are for. The Trime is an 86 on the Silver Slayer program, so you'd need to back down the Disc notch a bit like I did if you want to find them. I would not have found it today if I didn't second guess that (maybe), so I'm glad I had the Equinox 600 and 10x5 in Park 1, 5 tones, 23 sensitivity, F2=3. If it's there, the Equinox will find it. The Trime was in the hole with a piece of perforated junk metal and an iron blob nearby. The 10x5 picked it right out. 🙂 I would be remiss if I didn't include the trash:

I drove by one of my permissions a couple days ago, noticed it had been cleared of corn and at least bush hogged. 🥳 Got in touch with Chase, and invited him down to hunt part of the place that was largely unexplored. For most of the morning we found nothing but aluminum and bits of cans. My trash was ridiculous: The baseball was a sight pick. 😀 We were both using the Deus 2, aluminum was unmercifully coming up anywhere from the 50s to the 80s. 🤬 Brutal! Got some steel and aluminum that even hit the 90s. 😵 I was switching between a modified general program and using a modified relic program to verify iron, so I didn't get too much of that. On aluminum I did it the other way. Still dug a lot of it. Here are most of the finds, a giant dandy button, an unusual rein guide, the toes of a bronze statue (hollow), two dimes, both modern, an unidentifiable large stud still attached to the leather, and some sort of whatzit that seems to be pewter: I have no idea what this is. The Dandy button is huge, shown with a dime for scale: Sadly no backmarks. Ok I put you through all this to get to my find of the day, I was walking up to talk with Chase, and got a 75. I don't find Civil war relics much, so this was a shock, and the justification for digging all that aluminum: Civil war lined "C" Cavalry button, no backmarks: Still has the shank anyway. Chase told me these are rare and a serious find, when I looked it up I found this page: I'm sure it's only worth a fraction of that due to its condition, but it sure made the day along with the big dandy. It's always fun to hunt with a friend, Chase got some good stuff too!