We Took A Trip To New York And All We Found Was...

[Againstmywill]

Last fall, I sold my E-trac to a gentleman who comes down to FL for 6 months and returns north for the next 6. He had never done any detecting and was interested to see what he could find on his land in NY. I asked if he wanted to buy a pinpointer as well. He agreed, and I threw in a Lesche digger as well. He mentioned that he owns some property in upstate NY and that I should come and stay in one of his cabins in spring or summer and detect in the area which is rich in history from the French and Indian War. I didn't think much of it, but this year my wife and I were going to celebrate our 25th. The dates happened to work for all of us, so off we went to NY in June for a week.

We detected his property, but found only modern coins and lots of bottle caps. He took us to a number of places around the area at which we found just a wheat penny and a silver Roosevelt dime. I was really hoping for some colonial coins, but that was not to be.

He had work to do while we were on vacation enjoying the surrounding Adirondack Mountains. When he was able to get away, we went to another property that he knows well. He detected with my wife and me for a while, but he had to get back to work. We didn't find anything of immense value, but the Deus II was great picking through the iron-littered soil. We found some interesting items, but there was one that made the entire trip worth it. 

The signal was strong and the TID was 85. I dug down for a while on the hillside close to a river, and about 12-15" down was a heavy object that last saw daylight over 250 years ago. The best part about pulling the cannonball from the ground was that my wife was right by side when it came out of the ground, one day before our anniversary. It was a special time that we will remember for many years to come.

Upon getting back to our cabin, I arranged the finds on a table and called the other gentleman to come and take a look at what we had found. He was excited for us, but when he saw the cannonball, he had a smile from ear to ear. He knew that find had made the trip worth it.

The following day (our anniversary) was rainy, so when we went back to the same spot with him, I offered that he use my Equinox as his E-trac was not waterproof. He hunted with the 10x5 in all metal and dug some amazingly deep iron nails. He had probably detected a total of 2 hours in his lifetime at this point. He dug a hole and was working it for about 20 minutes when we came over by him because we needed to leave so we could go out to eat on our anniversary. I told him that it might be okay to just fill the hole back up at this point. He said there was still something down there. As we were just about ready to leave, he pulled up something that put an instant smile on his face...a cannonball! We had each found one of the same size on the same property a day apart and about 20 feet away from the other. I believe he is now hooked on detecting for life.

After researching if a cannonball could be taken on a plane, we decided it was best if we didn't find out that it wasn't. A Google search result mentioned a diver in FL attempting to take one on as a carry-on after he had found it while diving. I think his was 12 pounds and still live, however. That didn't end well for him. I believe the one we found, with 99.9% certainty, is a solid iron cannonball

The gentleman agreed to bring the 3-pounder down when he drives to FL in the fall.

The picks show the relics that were worth showing. Two of the pics show a lead bar that was folded and an ingot that looks like it was melted in a shovel. Not sure if those may have been used for making musket balls.

 

 

 

[Valens Legacy]

Looks like you had a nice hunt with some great finds.

Congrats to your wife for sticking with you for so long, and may many more years be in your future with her.

Good luck on your next hunt.

[F350Platinum]

Great story, and cool finds. It's nice to go somewhere completely different and get an opportunity to explore its history. Also great your wife goes with you detecting.

Happy Anniversary to you both, and good on the person for inviting you to his place. Upstate New York is really beautiful! 👍

[Againstmywill]

1 hour ago, F350Platinum said:

Happy Anniversary to you both, and good on the person for inviting you to his place. Upstate New York is really beautiful! 👍

Thanks! It was my first time in NY, so it was an adventure and not at all what I think of when I hear NY. It is certainly a history buff's place to go; Fort Ticonderoga was very insightful.

[Tom_in_CA]

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

 

[Old Line Paul]

That dog-like figurine looks amazingly like one I made out of clay in grade school! I had long forgotten about it, but when cleaning out my late father’s stuff, I found he had saved it for over half a century.