Went Tresure Huntun' (Metal Detecting) around an old farmstead. Returned with the spoils of conquest
71 replies, posted
I don't think I've had a haul this good in a while!
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0890.jpg[/IMG]
Over the weekend I went out metal detecting around an old farmstead that's near my house. I've been putting it off because I've been.
A. lazy
B. unmotivated
C. unable to get permission to go on the land.
Finally on Thursday I got a hold of the land owners (A real-estate development team or something) and I got permission to 'hunt' on the land as long as, and I quote from the lady I spoke to, "You don't do anything stupid like smoke marijuana there." (lol)
The spread I'm talking about used to have a working farm on it. I vaguely recall the house being torn down around 2003-ish. It was a large, maybe mid 1800's built home that had been abandoned for some time. I think they tore it down because a tree fell on it or something.
There are still a few buildings left, most of them are falling down already. You can see where the house was from the foundation posts that are still there.
So Saturday afternoon I set out, armed with a metal detector I borrowed from a friend and a small bag I set out to find treasure!
Now, I spend Saturday and Sunday looking, so I'll post things relative to the days I found them, the stuff on the right was mainly found Saturday, the stuff on the left I found on Sunday.
[b]Saturday[/b]
Saturday I didn't even go NEAR the main house because of all the nails and bits of metal that I would pick up, so I spent a majority of the day scanning the area around where the house was. It was pretty uneventful other than a small stash of coins I found.
They were buried under a stump (I'm assuming it was a tree at one point). Mainly consisting of old pennies and a few nickles and dimes. I think they might have been buried in an old jar or something because I dug up lots of broken glass and a rusted-out metal lid.
The coins in question. Lots of them are from the 1940's-1950's. The pennies are all wheat-back pennies and 2 of them ate steel pennies. The coins are pre 1970's.
I washed and cleaned all the coins, they had no collector value as far as condition wise so it doesn't hurt the value to clean them. Each one had to be soaked in soapy water for an hour and scrubbed just to get the dirt and what looked like oil off of them. They look shinier in the picture for some reason, all of them are still pretty grungy and black.
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0894.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0896.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0897.jpg[/IMG]
In total:
A bunch of old pennies. 2 steel pennies. 3 dimes. 5 nickles.
[b]Sunday[/b]
I decided I would try to tackle the area where the main house was. I was dreading it because I know there were going to be piles of old nails and crap there.
So for 3 hours I didn't find a thing, it was slow going because every step the detector would go crazy. Just when I thought I wouldn't find anything I heard a funny little blip come from the metal detector.
While I dug to get whatever I found out, I actually uncovered that little glass bowl thing. I was confused to what it was because when I saw it, I just saw the base poking out of the side of the hole.
I'm not sure what it was used for, probably just decorative. When you hold the base and give it a flick it has a very high 'ping' sound, sorta like a glass bell. Makes me thing it might be some sort of lead crystal.
When I pulled the ring out, I had no idea what it was because it was [b]coated[/b] with crap (not literally). It looked like a small ring with just a clump of dirt stuck to it. It took me 4 hours just to wash all the grime out from all the engraving.
It looks to be 20-30's, art deco style. The workmanship it amazing, all the tiny details all around it, even the underside is engraved. You don't see this kind of work nowadays.
It has a big blue stone in the middle, diamonds all around it. The diamonds look real; the stone does not. It probably held a sapphire or something that was pillaged long ago and replaced with either a cheap stone or glass (looks like glass to me)
What's amazing about it, I thought it was some sort of white gold until I was able to clean off the inside of the band, inside of it is stamped "Platinum".
I'm not sure how it ended up under the house. Maybe it was hidden in a wall?
Anyway, pictures.
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0891.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0893.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0876.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0877.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/100_0865.jpg[/IMG]
That's all the booty I've found. The coins will be kept, the ring is an maybe and my mom loves the little glass bowl so we're keeping it.
Does anyone else like to go metal detecting? I haven't really seen any threads on it here, it's fun if you like a treasure hunt; and even moreso when you actually find something!
its FAKE
it is SCRATCHED
[QUOTE=DougButabi;30585015]its FAKE
it is SCRATCHED[/QUOTE]
The ring?
[QUOTE=Esrange]The diamonds look real; the stone does not. It probably held a sapphire or something that was pillaged long ago and replaced with either a cheap stone or glass (looks like glass to me)[/QUOTE]
Nice find on the wheaties! I love metal detecting. I found an old location in Pensacola that keeps spitting silver rings and tokens at me. I've made about $1000+ from this hobby.
[QUOTE=Esrange;30585054]The ring?[/QUOTE]
The stone looks fake. The ring itself could very well be real, but it would be better to have it checked out to be sure.
those pennies are really cool. I am such a nut for old historical US stuff.
-snip- broke my automerge
What the fuck, the ring's creepy. There's a face in it.
That ring is worth something..
and that is Sapphire, it just looks dented/dirty as hell. Sapphire is easy to scratch and wears off quickly. (I have a sapphire ring)
Sapphire is cheap too though. So don't count on that bringing the value up.
[QUOTE=johan_sm;30585254]What the fuck, the ring's creepy. There's a face in it.[/QUOTE]
The owner who lost it and long since passed away.
[QUOTE=johan_sm;30585254]What the fuck, the ring's creepy. There's a face in it.[/QUOTE]
There is? :ohdear:
[QUOTE=Esrange;30585339]There is? :ohdear:[/QUOTE]
2nd photo of the ring.
scratch a face on the ring and claim it's Jesus's face.
Instant fame
[QUOTE=l33tkill;30585357]2nd photo of the ring.[/QUOTE]
Hella creepy. I guess there's a photo under it maybe? If not, it's TOO creepy.
You know it kinda does look like a face.
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/hauntedRing.png[/IMG]
Reminds me of one of those chicks from this
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkDrIacHJM[/media]
Elongated, sharp face.
Weird.
Now I kinda want to go use a metal detector.
Awesome! I live on old English farm land - Do you recon I could find anything cool here?
I've always wanted a metal detector.
[editline]20th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=FreddiRox!;30585872]Awesome! I live on old English farm land - Do you recon I could find anything cool here?[/QUOTE]Is it on what was once a battleground?
[QUOTE=J!NX;30585607]Now I kinda want to go use a metal detector.[/QUOTE]
If you can find a good spot then go for it.
Don't expect to find vast riches, most of the time you'll just find loose coins or maybe a ring.
I'm still surprised how much stuff I found, I guess the place hadn't been searched before I got there
[editline]20th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=FreddiRox!;30585872]Awesome! I live on old English farm land - Do you recon I could find anything cool here?[/QUOTE]
Hard to say, though I'd expect you would find coins, buttons, and other small objects that you would expect someone to drop and not notice.
If there was a battle there then there's a greater chance of finding old bullets and stuff. If you can rent a metal detector then go buzz around for an hour or two, see if you can find anything!
[editline]20th June 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=stupidass;30585261]That ring is worth something..
and that is Sapphire, it just looks dented/dirty as hell. Sapphire is easy to scratch and wears off quickly. (I have a sapphire ring)
Sapphire is cheap too though. So don't count on that bringing the value up.[/QUOTE]
Well it had been sitting under a few inches of dirt for who knows how long. I'll see if I can find a gemologist or something around.
[QUOTE=Esrange;30585899]If you can find a good spot then go for it.
Don't expect to find vast riches, most of the time you'll just find loose coins or maybe a ring.
I'm still surprised how much stuff I found, I guess the place hadn't been searched before I got there[/QUOTE]
Thats the fun of it, you never know what you'll find.
I've gone treasure hunting a few times, here's my booty (not all from one trip, but cleaned and saved it all in a box):
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/snapshot_112.jpg[/img]
I did not find the logo on the trip though, I drew it shamefully
Now go buy yourself a chocolate bar, OP.
[QUOTE=Esrange;30585531]You know it kinda does look like a face.
[IMG]http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd365/Esrange/hauntedRing.png[/IMG]
Reminds me of one of those chicks from this
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkDrIacHJM[/media]
Elongated, sharp face.
Weird.[/QUOTE]
It's God.
I'm going to Heaven!
This sounds like fun, I just need a metal detector...
[QUOTE=Esrange;30585899]Hard to say, though I'd expect you would find coins, buttons, and other small objects that you would expect someone to drop and not notice.
If there was a battle there then there's a greater chance of finding old bullets and stuff. If you can rent a metal detector then go buzz around for an hour or two, see if you can find anything![/QUOTE]
I'm right near an airbase so according to my grandfather, I'm likely to find bullets from aircrafts in dogfights from WWII
This metal detecting adventures sound really fun. How do you pick your locations?
[QUOTE=Adbor;30588799]This metal detecting adventures sound really fun. How do you pick your locations?[/QUOTE]I tend to go to places people don't typically hang out, that's where I've found most of my stuff.
[QUOTE=Adbor;30588799]This metal detecting adventures sound really fun. How do you pick your locations?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it does sound fun and I guess knowing the area helps, e.g a WWII plane crashed nearby and another one also crashed 3/4 of a mile away.
Also can anybody recommend any decent metal detectors? I'm interested in doing this.
Most of those pennies aren't wheat-backs. All the ones facing upright have dates post-1957; which was the last year for wheat-backs.
How the fuck did you find a GLASS bowl with a METAL detector.. ?
Nice finds.
Damn, I need a metal detector.
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