The Day Turned Around (Updated)

[F350Platinum]

I went back to finish up the area my last post came from, it was a beautiful day, perfect weather for detecting. Today I brought my Deus 2 out for a swing. 

I am confident in my settings on that machine, but the day started out not so great. Ya have to have a bad day sometimes...

Got out there at 9 am, and searched for almost 4 hours in the area I got all those great things in my last post, and ended up with this:

Just a small handful of non-ferrous but non-desirable targets, mostly lead and junk brass. 🫤

I decided to return to a small, nondescript hill nearby, I discovered it last year and got quite a few buttons and even my first 2 Flying Eagle cents there, seems there was a house or barn there that is not on any old topographic map, but the hard sandstone rocks I find both on and below the surface belie the real story. It's just a bit of high ground, I thought there had to be something I missed because my settings are much more accurate than they were last year.

I was right, as soon as I got out of my golf cart I dug a button, then another, and even got an old 4-hole on the surface. I was also rewarded with a barely legible V nickel:

One shard of Tombac or pewter as well. 

As always I saved the best for last, at one point I got a 99 on the Deus. I dug and dug and still heard it, but big iron is never a consistent 99, not really  much else except a Morgan Dollar or something would do that!

After digging down over a foot, I got this: 

A very old silver brooch or hat pin. 🤯

I can't find hallmarks, but I'm pretty sure nothing but silver would sound off that high. 

Because I started late in the day, I'll have to return for more, but a bad day turned satisfying.

Total trash was not much more, no iron except for the lead disc pierced with a nail.

The Deus 2 is still a powerhouse relic machine to me.

🍀

[Joe D.]

Great job again Bob, but you were missing a certain notification today, before posting! Now all's right with the world!😆🍀👍👍

 

[Earl]

Yes, I think  brooch. And silver or silver-plated, hard to tell with a photo. But good find and old!

Nice finds, I see you like lead!

[F350Platinum]

3 hours ago, Joe D. said:

Great job again Bob, but you were missing a certain notification today, before posting! Now all's right with the world!😆🍀👍👍

 

Thanks! 😅 Guess it was kind of exciting as I usually find items at more like 4-8" down, to have to dig over 12" for something here is unusual. I was pressed for time so I skipped the usual announcement. 

Definitely a "King Bob" moment! 🤣

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, Earl said:

Yes, I think  brooch. And silver or silver-plated, hard to tell with a photo. But good find and old!

Nice finds, I see you like lead!

Thanks Earl, 😅

Lead buckshot, old and new, is plentiful in my permissions. It is a necessary evil to dig and pinpoint, as I'm sure you're aware. 👍 The large lead disc with the hole in the center was close to it and at the same depth. I can only wonder what I'm not hearing 😬

The varying sizes and compositions of buckshot put it in many valuable ranges for those not familiar. It is almost imperative to dig it.

Digging out all or most of it has produced some incredible finds for me, particularly a ~22k gold mourning ring that is nearly 300 years old from the dates on it. That's a rarity for any American! 🙂 Doing historic research even identified the person who lost it.

This area is one of the first extended settlements from Jamestown in 1607, some as old as ~1630. Luckily for me it hasn't been developed much so there are random finds that can date back 400 years. To say I am fortunate would be putting it mildly.

I've only been doing this since 2020, but I have learned a lot, particularly a sense of where to look. Love it! 

[Ripcode]

Jewelry, coins and buttons! That is my trifecta of happiness! 😊 Awesome hunt! 👍🏼

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, Ripcode said:

Jewelry, coins and buttons! That is my trifecta of happiness! 😊 Awesome hunt! 👍🏼

Thanks Ripcode, 

Just getting one of each is fine with me. I was really surprised at the amount of nothing I found in the other spot 😅

[Lodge Scent]

Well F350, now thanks to you I need to think about paying more attention those occasional 99s. 😉  I've never had a repeatable 99, always turns to an iron grunt. But I best not get complacent. 

[F350Platinum]

I always dig anything in the 90s to the bitter end, but will quit if it goes to iron. Turning doesn't always help. This was a solid but faint-ish consistent signal all the way, all the more reason to go after it. Silver is the easiest metal to find next to aluminum, the dreaded beer can bottom 93/94. 😬 Dig 'em, get rid of 'em.

I'm always impressed with my D2, especially how deep it can nail a target. Even the tiny stuff is no match for it. I have a Manticore now, but apparently the Australians don't have 300 year old forged nails 🤣