Skip to content

Detecting Diva

Because Women Detect Too

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • DEFINITION
  • PHOTO GALLERY
    • BONE 23 Pics
    • Miscellaneous
    • Finds
    • Funny Metal Detecting pics
  • IDENTIFICATION CHARTS
    • Buttons
    • Shoe Buckles
    • Bullets
    • Spoons
    • Horse Shoes
    • Buckles
    • Masonic Symbols
    • Poisonous & Dangerous
    • Miscellaneous
  • CONTACT
  • Toggle search form

Detecting Diary: Weekend 2

Posted on May 11, 2017November 24, 2020 By Detecting Diva

Detecting Diary–Weekend 2, April 2017:

I started preparing the night before for our clubs “Fun Hunt” which was secured by one of our club members.

One of the club’s goals this year is to have at least 5 fun hunts.  After forming a hunt committee, there are already a few hunts scheduled, and we are only a few weeks into the detecting season.  So I’d like to say a big thank you to the hunt committee, your efforts are appreciated–Thank you!

For this hunt, my friend Jo Jo was kind enough to offer me a ride (hence the night before prepping).  I didn’t want him to have to wait for my slow self in the morning, so I gathered all my gear together for a quicker than usual getaway in the a.m.

I was up at 5am, with him pulling in the driveway, punctually, at 7am (Oh how I wish I could be like that). We packed my gear, made a quick stop and Dunkin’, then we were off.

Mike C. & Alan H.

The hunt was at a Boy Scout Camp in Ashford, CT, about an hours drive north, and close to the Massachusetts border. If you’re not from CT, you probably don’t realize how awesome Ashford is, so I’ll tell you:  just think colonial, with cellar holes, farms & rock walls everywhere–On top of that, I think they said the camp was about 1200 acres, so it was sure to be clad & silver city with a bunch of jewelry and scouting paraphernalia mixed in.

We were also informed there were a bunch of cellar holes on the property, which could possibly produce some nice old coins & relics. This is what we were going for.

It was overcast, with rain predicted, but no one cared–we just wanted to hunt. We were given the rules and then free reign of the property. A group of about 8 of us immediately started the trek to the cellar holes

When we arrived at the site, it was obvious it was an area that had seen some heavy use in the past. There was an old enclosed cemetery, and the cellar holes from an old church, and some other buildings. There were stone walls everywhere, as well as a river with what looked like the remains of an old mill.

My first signal was some type of round decorative item, and I happily popped it in my pouch. My next few signals were nails. Huge square nails that read high silver on my machine, but turned out to be huge disappointments.  It was raining, and my VDI was useless, so I was just digging everything, ’cause you never know.

Jo Jo dug up a bell, and then I got an oxen shoe–hurray!  I was happy to be able to keep my expert oxen shoe finder status intact. Shortly thereafter, I pulled out some rusty nail clippers??  I decided to move to an area near the river while thinking about where I might sit to have my lunch (or trim my nails?) a few hundred years ago.  I spied a small rock ledge that looked like a good spot, and moved toward that area. I got a nice solid signal, and pulled out a coin. I thought it might be an Indian, it was thick–maybe a fatty, but I couldn’t make it out (forgot my glasses again), but it was a coin nonetheless, and it made me happy. I re-scanned the hole, and got another signal–I was like, cool, as I dug up another coin which looked just like the first one. I called Jo Jo, to tell him I found two coins in the same hole down by the river, so he said he would make his way down to have a look (he didn’t need glasses).

I took pictures of the coins while I was waiting, then before I covered my hole, I scanned it again and got another signal. I thought, no way, and stuck my pinpointer in the hole, only to have another coin come out. It was bigger than a nickel, smaller than a quarter, and because of my now common eyeglass forgetfulness issue, I wasn’t sure what this was either.

The guys showed up, and confirmed the fatty Indians, and as the larger coin dried the number 2, as in 2 Cent showed itself.  I couldn’t believe it–in all the years I’ve been detecting, I’ve only found one 2 cent piece, and less than a dozen coin spills, so this was like an epic detecting day for me.  After that, I didn’t care what else I found because my day was made.

We hunted the area a bit more, and someone found another Indian, and some Dandy buttons were also found. We decided to go back to the main field of the camp where we had started. There were a bunch of people hunting it, and I heard some gold rings, tons of clad, a large cent, and a lot of Boy Scout items were found.

We hunted that field for the last hour, and I came away with a beat up religious medal, a Boy Scout neckerchief holder (not sure what they call them), some clad, more clad, and a bunch more clad.

It was time to leave, and after stopping at the local pizza place, we headed back home. It was still early when Jo Jo was dropping me off, and there were at least a few good hours of detecting left in the day. I offered up our yard for hunting, and it’s in the historic district, so most people are happy to dig there.

I tried to explain the best I could, the trickiness to hunting the yard. It’s 3 acres, with an old barn, and surrounded by homes from the 1700’s, but the soil is fickle, only giving up finds when it feels like it, no matter the size of your coil, speed of your swing, or how many times you grid an area.

We weren’t having any luck, so I suggested we go into the nearby woods. This is also a similarly strange area to detect. I told Jo Jo I had found a few half reales, some large cents, a seated half, and a lot of colonial knickknacks in there, but it depended on the day. I can hunt there 3 or 4 times without finding anything, and then suddenly out will pop a half reale or a copper.

The ground was very quiet, with a rare signal here and there. I didn’t care if I found anything, but I was really hoping that Jo Jo would find something. I was about to give up and tell him we should head over to the barn to hunt when he said something I couldn’t hear, so I turned around and said “What did you find?”, and he says “A Spanish half reale”. I thought he was teasing me until he showed it to me. OMG I was so thrilled for him! I knew there was still a lot of stuff to be found there, but what I thought was going to be another one of those skunkings turned out to be an awesome day. Congratulations Jo Jo–you deserved it!

Jo Jo holding his find of the day!

So the weekend ended with great finds for both of us. It doesn’t always happen that way, but when it does, it is simply, in a word, Awesome.  Happy Hunting!

Uncategorized

Post navigation

Previous Post: Detecting Diary: Weekend 1, April 2017
Next Post: A Recap of the 24th Annual Best of the Northeast Hunt (B.O.N.E.)

Archives

  • November 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • October 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Comments

  • Ron on Contact
  • John Howland on Is Metal Detecting your Passion?
  • Detecting Diva on Is Metal Detecting your Passion?
  • Laura G on Is Metal Detecting your Passion?
  • Detecting Diva on Is Metal Detecting your Passion?

Copyright © 2023 Detecting Diva.

Powered by PressBook WordPress theme