Thick woods produce two firsts!

bearbqd

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2006
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1,273
Location
Shenandoah Valley
Wow, today turned out to be a surprising day. I started off by the river near where an artillery battle had taken place. Having not found much but a lot of railroad iron and a cool cave, I took off to a different spot I haven’t tried before. There was a lot of civil war activity in the area and that’s what I’m always on the hunt for. The woods here are super thick and I felt at times like I was in Vietnam with all the vines and thorns and what not, and I had to do a lot of crawling, but boy did it pay off.

Pretty soon in I found my first civil war bullet, then bullied my way through the undergrowth and found a bunch of iron stuff. About half hour in I was coming back up this little ravine but a few feet to the side from where I initially came down. Suddenly I had that high pitch sweet tone that I usually only dream of. I’m so unuse to hearing it that I thought my machine was falsing for a second. But there it was, a high flutey, unwavering tone of silver with numbers to match.
I better get my camera out for this I thought. I dug my plug, heard that same sweet tone with my sunray pinpointer pointed at the plug, broke the plug in half and there it was...the edge of my first, yes first, silver half dollar. I was a little shocked to say the least. Here I am in non descript, thick woods with no known house site nearby and this little jewel pops out.
I’ve detected for about 11 solid years now and this is my first big silver. So, very happy with that.

My next coin was about an hour later and was just deep enough that I barely heard it. Dug a deep plug and thought I had a large cent. It was too crusty to make out so I just stuck it in my pocket. After a slight cleaning I can make out that it’s a Connecticut copper. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m super happy that I found it, it’s just that Connecticut coppers are all I’ve ever found as far as colonial coins go; I think I’ve found five now. I love them, I just wish I’d find a different colonial now and then.

Ok, sorry for being long winded but the best is yet to come. After digging another bullet I dug a tool that I recognized, but wasn’t sure what it was. I got home and looked through my civil war artifacts book and realized I had found a blood letter tool, also called a fleam. How cool is that? The brass parts are in really good shape too.

Found some other unknown iron things and a cool rock. Oh, also found two golf balls which is amusing to me because it seems that every time I detect I either find at least one golf ball or one civil war bullet. Today it was two of each. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. :)
 

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Congratulations and nice finds there !
One place I love to detect out in the woods.
Hope to see some pictures of that square bell cleaned up ?
 
Wow, 1942 Dollar and Colonial copper plus other goodies. That was a good hunt.

I too would like to see the bell and a few other items cleaned up.
 
Congrats on a nice variety of finds man, really like the blood letter a nice piece of history bud, and a nice hunt.
 
Congratulations on that hunt and Thanks for taking the effort to do a wonderful write up and pics about it you shared with us! Cheers!:hi5:
 
Awesome hunt ! Congrats on all your cool finds and especially your first Walker Half ( she's a real beauty ) ! Speaking of Golf balls on my last few hunts I've found four golf balls , a nice pair of non prescription women's sunglasses ( which I gave to my daughter in law ) a Dollar bill , and a probe I lost on a previous hunt . I'm not finding many coins though !:lol: Nice story and great pictures . Keep up the good work!:yes:
 
Thanks everyone. Yeah, the big silver was a shocker. I gotta get back out there in the fall when most of that thick foliage will be dying off, gotta be some more goodies out there.
 
There surely must be -

more goodies awaiting you out there. I love to dig history & hold it, esp like the blood letter.

Thanks for all the work to put together this post, Steve in so la
 
A CW era Surgeon medical "Fleam" is a cool find! Some "talk" and some walk about hunting relics but few crawl through vines and overgrowth.

Your Album which speaks highly for Minelab FBS relic capability says that you've been there done that and obviously have paid your dues.

Very nice finds:D
 
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great finds!

That was a great day for you. Congrats

on golf ball. I find them in almost every wooded area that I hunt and not a golf course or driving range within 5 miles. But I suspect that most woods have some fields nearby and I have noticed golfers practice in these fields. Plus any flooding moves the golf balls around.
 
What exactly is the blood letter tool? What was it for?


Bounty hunter - treasure hunter - cabelas
Best find to date - 15g platinum ring
 
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