I always envied folks who found something so amazing that it fit in this category. Well, I believe that now is my time to share here...
I've been in Germany for two weeks on a project for work. I am from Germany originally (Army dad and German mom), so I'm always happy to come back here, and quickly volunteered when the need for someone being here was positioned. Of course, I brought my Deus with me, hoping to find something old. And boy did I!
It's been quite a grind these past two weeks, with only last Sunday off, giving me time to drive east and visit family there. I arrived a little early, so I spent about fifteen minutes in the woods outside my uncle's village, and found a Pfennig. Not that old, but Germany has been on the Euro for quite some time, so not that modern, either! I was happy, and hoped to find some more. Maybe even, if I could, some WWII artifacts. Anything would be welcomed! However, work stood in the way, until today.
I was able to call it quits today at 3:00pm, and decided that I was going to find what lay out in the woods near the town in which I'm staying, in the few remaining hours of daylight I had. Germany has a ton of history, dating all the way back to the Roman period, so I figured I was bound to find something interesting. And yes I did! I found a lot of bits and bobs (trash, belt buckle that broke, broken Joe-Cool blue-lens sunglasses, etc.), some finds may even be from WWII, but the thing that first made this trip worth it was a bearded axe/hatchet I found in my wanderings. I don't know how old it is, but I suspect it's probably 100 years old. It wasn't deep in the ground, but I can picture some woodsman using the old axe that had been around in his family forever, when the head snapped off and he said, "Schade! Ich werde das weg werfen! Altes Abfall!" And he tossed it into the woods. I come along some indeterminate amount of years later, and excitedly pull this beauty from the earth! It's a find that I've been wanting to make for years, and I made it in the land of my forefathers!
But that's not all! Just prior to finding the axe, I had a shaky signal. It was faint, and didn't read high on the scale, but I figured I'd find out what it was. I dug down about 6 to 8 inches, and found a disk. It felt light, so I'd assumed that it was just another piece of aluminum trash. However, I know that Germany did mint some aluminum coins, so on the off chance that it was one of those oldies from the mid-1900s, I stashed it in my newly purchased coin box lined with sponges. Unfortunately, I forgot to add water to the sponges, but there was enough soft soil clinging to my prize that it was well protected.
When I got to my hotel room, I laid out my finds, and took a couple of unknown items - the disk included - to the bathroom sink, where I rinsed them off to try to get a better idea of what images, if any, they may hold. Imagine my surprise when an ancient image materialized on what I thought might be a coin from the 1940s! Below, you can see my prize.
For those that don't recognize it, it's a 4 Kreuzer Ludwig Martin coin, minted in 1524!!! They were only minted for 8 years, per my limited internet research, and this coin is in pretty stinking good shape, in my opinion!
I'm over the moon with my finds! I'm on Cloud 9! I'm chuffed beyond belief! Unglaubliche Glueck habe ich heute gehabt!!!
I'm going out again, tomorrow, but I can't imagine that I'll be able to top today's finds!
I've been in Germany for two weeks on a project for work. I am from Germany originally (Army dad and German mom), so I'm always happy to come back here, and quickly volunteered when the need for someone being here was positioned. Of course, I brought my Deus with me, hoping to find something old. And boy did I!
It's been quite a grind these past two weeks, with only last Sunday off, giving me time to drive east and visit family there. I arrived a little early, so I spent about fifteen minutes in the woods outside my uncle's village, and found a Pfennig. Not that old, but Germany has been on the Euro for quite some time, so not that modern, either! I was happy, and hoped to find some more. Maybe even, if I could, some WWII artifacts. Anything would be welcomed! However, work stood in the way, until today.
I was able to call it quits today at 3:00pm, and decided that I was going to find what lay out in the woods near the town in which I'm staying, in the few remaining hours of daylight I had. Germany has a ton of history, dating all the way back to the Roman period, so I figured I was bound to find something interesting. And yes I did! I found a lot of bits and bobs (trash, belt buckle that broke, broken Joe-Cool blue-lens sunglasses, etc.), some finds may even be from WWII, but the thing that first made this trip worth it was a bearded axe/hatchet I found in my wanderings. I don't know how old it is, but I suspect it's probably 100 years old. It wasn't deep in the ground, but I can picture some woodsman using the old axe that had been around in his family forever, when the head snapped off and he said, "Schade! Ich werde das weg werfen! Altes Abfall!" And he tossed it into the woods. I come along some indeterminate amount of years later, and excitedly pull this beauty from the earth! It's a find that I've been wanting to make for years, and I made it in the land of my forefathers!
But that's not all! Just prior to finding the axe, I had a shaky signal. It was faint, and didn't read high on the scale, but I figured I'd find out what it was. I dug down about 6 to 8 inches, and found a disk. It felt light, so I'd assumed that it was just another piece of aluminum trash. However, I know that Germany did mint some aluminum coins, so on the off chance that it was one of those oldies from the mid-1900s, I stashed it in my newly purchased coin box lined with sponges. Unfortunately, I forgot to add water to the sponges, but there was enough soft soil clinging to my prize that it was well protected.
When I got to my hotel room, I laid out my finds, and took a couple of unknown items - the disk included - to the bathroom sink, where I rinsed them off to try to get a better idea of what images, if any, they may hold. Imagine my surprise when an ancient image materialized on what I thought might be a coin from the 1940s! Below, you can see my prize.
For those that don't recognize it, it's a 4 Kreuzer Ludwig Martin coin, minted in 1524!!! They were only minted for 8 years, per my limited internet research, and this coin is in pretty stinking good shape, in my opinion!
I'm over the moon with my finds! I'm on Cloud 9! I'm chuffed beyond belief! Unglaubliche Glueck habe ich heute gehabt!!!
I'm going out again, tomorrow, but I can't imagine that I'll be able to top today's finds!
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