Wow—I’ve heard said before that “you can’t top your best times”, but that really doesn’t make a lot of sense, because there are always more “best times” that come along, so I guess in essence that statement is really kind of silly.
Yesterday was one of those new “best times”—I attended the hunt at The Norton Farm in Cheshire, CT, hosted by Nor’easters Metal Detecting club. The weather was superb, the people were awesome, and the attitude all day long was one of fun and the kind of excitement that only a fellow detectorist can really comprehend.
lot silver half
The hot spot seemed to be by the peach trees, with folks pulling out buttons, large cents, shoe buckles, and a lot of colonial doo-dads. The apple orchard produced some silver, and the parking lot proved pretty lucky for Rich W., who as some of us we were joking that the parking lot was probably full of stuff, promptly dug a plug right there, pulling out a silver half dollar. Kudos Rich!
A long time friend, Joe M. found a Fugio, it was his his first, so congrats to you Joe! Joe was also kind enough to gently remind me that it’s been a while since I’ve put a post out on my blog. Obsessive as any hobby may be, sometimes you need to put relationships and other obligations first, and to know when, exactly, it’s necessary to do that. But, it was just enough of a reminder for me to get my butt in gear, and find the time, so here we are. Thank-you Joe.
The Fearless Leader of the Yankee Territory Coinshooters club, Matt D., was slamming it all day, finding a neat counterfeit Half Guinea, a bunch of Dandy buttons, and a lot of other cool stuff. Quite a few counterfeit coins have come out of that farm in the past two years, so it kind of makes you wonder just what the heck was going on there back in the colonial days.
Jeff P. had a nice surprise when he got a nice solid tone while going over someone else’s hole. Apparently that person was either too lazy to dig down an extra inch, or lacked the patience needed for this hobby, because they left a beautiful 1868 Two Cent coin just sitting there for Jeff to find—classic.
CT Todd’s finds included a Hibernia, buckle, copper coin bit?, and a Merit Award pin that he seemed to be quite amused with, and he gave us all a good laugh proudly showing it off. Of course it was all in jest, but I have to wonder if that was really the best find of the day for him, ‘cause it would have been for me. Sometimes it’s fun to find something unusual among the every day colonial coin and miscellany.
As for myself, after doing a walk-a-bout around the perimeter, and not finding squat, I finally made my way to the peach trees. After a discouraging half hour suffering from the dreaded lack-of-finding-anything-itis, I finally pulled out a decorated colonial thingie, and then a large cent. It was an immediate cure for the occassional flare up of this (very real) disorder, but I was still a bit puzzled that I wasn’t finding a bunch of flat buttons like everyone else. Usually my machine is a button magnet, but that’s the way it goes in this hobby.
After a trip to the farm store to purchase some of their delicious cider donuts, maple flavored popcorn, and apple fritters, we decided to leave the farm and meet some of the group who had gone to hunt another farm field permission in a neighboring town.
That field was rockin’! The farmer had just plowed earlier in the day, and the finds were everywhere. The soil was better than butter, you didn’t even need a shovel, when you got a signal, you just stuck your pinpointer in the ground, and either used that to move the target to the surface, or just reached down and pulled it out with your hand. Omg, I wish every day of digging could be like that.
We hunted it for about an hour and a half, and all of us came out of there with a bunch of stuff, and my “find of the day”, which the folks on the FB group “ID Me” were quick to respond was a World War II collar disc. Love that group—Thanks for the info.
Sadly, the sun was setting, so we had to pack it in, but not before a stop at Saints, in Southington, CT, for some of their famous hot dogs with meat sauce. Yummy.
It was definitely one of my new “best times”, and mostly because of the company. The finds were good, but the folks I spent the day with were the best!
More pics below.
Happy Hunting!
Great finds. Glad too to see you back here on the blog.
Ah well, sometimes life intervenes, but I always find my way back.
Allyson, excellent story. Wish I would have gone to ghat hunt but as you say it’s the luck of the draw with this hobby. Keep up the great blog. I always enjoy getting new stories. Happy hunting
JoJo
Thanks JoJo, wish u could have gone too, but I’m sure we will have many great hunts together in the future. Go easy on your foot so we can get out again soon.
It was a great time. We all need to get out again soon !
Absolutely! You guys are the best.
Really enjoyed your article and all the finds. I live in Oregon an may never find items as old as you all tend to find. Can you recommend a good site for collar buttons? I have one that I don’t seem to be able to find. Just not sure of the war, date, etc. It may be one of my best war discoveries to date. I am not at home so I am not able to describe it at the moment. Will be back home late tomorrow.
Thank you Marty, glad you liked the article. I’m not sure if you mean a site for digging or for identifying collar discs. Either way, I’m afraid I won’t be too helpful,as I don’t find many of them myself.
I’m not too familiar with Oregon either, but if you ever get a chance to hunt in New England go for it. You never know what you’ll find in these parts.
You can try posting pics of your disc on the Facebook group ID me, someone can usually look it up or knows what it is, and they’re pretty quick with responses too.
Happy Hunting!
What a day with so many finds. Plus the food, cider donuts, maple popcorn, apple fritters … your second career could be as a food blogger!
It was great to meet you up in New Hampshire. Thanks for stopping by the booth. Keep up the great blogging!
— Daniel
Daniel Bernzweig
Hi Daniel-
Not sure about food blogging, but I’ll keep it in mind.
I’m dying to get my hands on one of those Deus’s. A lot of folks are laying down their Minelabs for them, and from what I’ve seen finds wise, it’s for good reason. Hoping to find the extra cash for one sooner rather than later.
Was great meeting you too. Don’t think you’re too far away from me, maybe if you can break away from selling all those machines we can get a hunt in one day– Until then…Happy Hunting!