started on two new field sites, got some keepers today

[Goes4ever]

Today I started on two new sites, they are right beside each other in the same field. One is an old homesite and the other is the site of a one room school site. Here is where I was today.........

first good target of the day was on the school site, and it was an 1892 Indian penny, always a good start

next was another interesting piece, it is this ultra tiny statue of liberty, not sure what it is, perhaps a small piece of jewelry?

got another indian shortly after that, this one was a 1900.......here are both of the IHC all cleaned up, they are a lil rough from all those years in the field fertilizer

Next I thought I'd move down to the homesite to try it out a bit, I kept getting solid penny signals and every one was those copper things that they used to hold on slate roofs, man those give a good signal!

I got an odd looking buckle, ...........then the find of the day for me, 1951 Ohio Chauffeur badge. This is a find I was real happy with.

here it is all cleaned up, turned out real nice!

and here is everything all together.............pretty good day, going back tomorrow, hopefully get some more goodies

 

[Lizardchaser]

Great digs....awesome sites....I realy like your badge

That stubble might be a little tuff, but good luck next time out!!

 

[utmike]

I really like the chauffeur badge. Congrats!!
Mike

 

[KurtB]

A great day is anyones book. Contratulations and good luck on future hunts.

Kurt

 

[Beale]

Congrats on the great hunt! I really like the badge! That is a great find for sure, Beale.

 

[Crocket]

Real nice Finds. What coil were you using?

 

[Goes4ever]

I was using the stock coil

 

[Crocket]

Thanks, You seem to be a Indian penny magnet. Still waiting to find my first! What number do they come at?

 

[Goes4ever]

I have had them come in as low as 24, and as high as 32. That is why I try to dig everything above iron when on an old site

 

[slowswing]

How deep were most of your finds?

 

[Goes4ever]

in a field most finds are fairly shallow I'd say most are in 3-4" deep, seems that with farms constantly turning up the fields each year most items never have the chance to get down very far

 

[slowswing]

Nice finds, what methods do you use to locate sites of this nature?

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[Goes4ever]

I bought 2 platt maps, a current 2009 one and the oldest one they had in stock one from 1886. I locate one room school houses and home sites on the 1886 map, then match it up with the new one to see the current owner, call em up and ask for permission. I have not yet had one farmer turn me down for permission

It is much easier to get a farmer to let you dig in a field than to get a homeowner to give you permission to detect in their yard. The best thing is most all coins in the field are OLD!

Research isgolden for finding spots like this, and best thing is, most are virgin spots, if people are not doing research they have no idea about these spots I am locating

 

[surfman]

Man,really great finds. Bet you had a blast. The question i have is what are platt maps and where do you buy them? I live in south east Delaware, lots of farm land in this area. Would love to do some research.

 

[Goes4ever]

Man,really great finds. Bet you had a blast. The question i have is what are platt maps and where do you buy them? I live in south east Delaware, lots of farm land in this area. Would love to do some research.

go to your local courthouse and ask them for platt maps, they show all the land around your county and has the owners name in them

 

[BarnacleBill]

First place I go is to the UNH(University of New Hampshire) online maps collection as they cover the North East. They have the USGS maps that were taken at different times over the years. Your area may have a similar resource so look around your region.

Below is an example of Cohoes, NY area with surveys done in:

1898
1929
1949

http://docs.unh.edu/nhtopos/Cohoes.htm

In this instance my method would be to start with 1898 and print out a village/hamlet area that I am interested in. Then take the other two maps 1929 & 1949 and do the same. What I am looking for is what has changed as far as buildings, roads, old schools, old churches etc. These maps provide a development snapshot over time. Keep in mind that the population of an area may have shrunk dramatically over time or increased dramatically over time.


I also use TerraClient a predecessor to Google Earth because it has a colored overlay map from about 1959. It also conveniently has contours/topo features, very nice distance measuring tool, and doesn't have the nasty computer resources overhead needed for Google Maps. And it's FREE!

Here's one of the places to download TerraClient:

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Home-Education/TerraClient.shtml

Therefore continuing in this example I now have a fourth snapshot in time "1959".

Then the Sanborn maps can fill in more detail, plus any other historical maps you can dig up online.

The Sanborn Maps are a collection of insurance maps to determine risk in different locations, they can be very useful if your locale is included.

http://sanborn.umi.com/

User Name: sanborn
Password: welcome

Then there's your local Historical Society, generally run by a bunch of old codgers. There is information that you are never going to see on a map that these folks know through oral tradition. Family histories, oral histories, collections of photos, yarns & tales etc. etc.

Now how to approach them, depends on the local cultural norms and who's running the Historical Society. Maybe a little ol' donation, helping paint the old church it's housed in, a jug of squeeze....
These people will know that the Dot/Square on the map wasn't just a house throughout it's history. Could have been a Boarding House, Inn, Speak Easy, Tavern, Bordello etc.etc.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[surfman]

Thanks Goes4ever, BarnacleBill. Thats just the info i needed. Really love this forum, very new to this hobby. Everyone is very helpfull. Thanks again for all the help, hopefully i can post some cool finds this season. Xterra 70 user. So far i love it.