Fun in the Snow
With a bit of snow expected this weekend, I decided Saturday looked the better option than Sunday. I think I made quite a good choice, because as I sit here writing this (on Sunday) The snow is falling quite heavily. Whereas on the Saturday we only had a slight dusting.
I made the plan of leaving quite early for my standards, as when I finished defrosting the car, the time was 8:30am. By the time I arrived at the site, and applied 50 layers of clothes, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks and all the rest, I was walking onto the field and the time was 9:15.
The farmer had recently ploughed a field next to his house which hasn't seen a plough for years. And whilst I was at work during the week I was thinking of a good action plan on where to concentrate my first efforts. With a light dusting of snow I would be able to see where I have been by using my footprints as a guide, and could give an area a concentrated search.
The field was still quite deep ploughed and walking on it was quite difficult. After an hour my only find of note was a broken three piece button, possibly a livery or military type. With no crop or weeds on the field, the ground was frozen solid. With the field next door still with a bit of weed in, I was hoping the ground would be a little softer. I trundled my way over a iced bridge connecting the two fields and set about plan B.
I have been very lucky on this certain field, and recently found a Philip and Mary hammered, and have also found Henry III coins here before. I still had the idea of using my footprints as a guide of where I had walked and this proved a good plan as I was soon getting signals that was easier to dig. As I was taking small steps and my swing speed was slow, I could effectively rule out this area on my next visit.
My first find in my chosen area was a William III silver coin, but a fake version. You could slightly make out the Monarchs head and there is a fair bit of silver wash on the coin still. A few feet away and I was digging again, and this time a very small and very worn seal matrix showed itself. Unfortunately it so very worn and eroded, there is no chance of making an impression, to see what it would have once shown.
The snow was starting fall more heavily and after a couple of cups of coffee to warm my self up a touch, I re-started my search. This field has never failed to throw up a number of buttons and on this occasion it was no different. As I dug up a number of tombac buttons and also those small four holed buttons we detectorist's regularly find.
The next find to put a smile on my face was a small bell. At first I thought it was a furniture fitting, but once I wiped some of the mud away and saw the top hole, I noticed it was a bell. What it was for, I have no idea, but will get on the net and see if I can find out any information on it.
A few more buttons and bits of dross later, my next find was a huge lead weight, it has a iron loop remaining, so you can see it was a weight for something or another. A couple of steps away saw my lifting out another lead weight, this one in the shape of a thimble. I have read somewhere that our ancestors used to use thimbles as a mould to cast their own weights.
I had been out now for three and a half hours, and my hands and feet was starting to feel the cold. Even though I was wearing muck boots, with a thermal liner, I still couldn't feel my feet!!!
I decided to have another coffee and a quick bite to eat, to try and warm up a little before having another swing of things for an hour or so!
After my quick lunch, I resumed detecting in the same area I had spent most of the morning, trying to winkle out what I could. I had found a few bits worthy of a mention, including a nice lead cloth seal. Its a shame that it has lost its detail, as I wont be able to have it identified. but its still a nice find to be happy with. I had also unearthed a small buckle and a tiny hammered coin fragment. When I found it I had a felling it was silver and after a clean and the silver foil test at home, I realised it was in fact a fragment of a hammered coin.
Time was getting on and I made a pact with my self. I would stay for another hour or if I found a nice find before, then I would leave. The detecting gods must have felt how cold my feet were, because literally 5 minuets after thinking this I found a find good enough to send me home.
The clods were still very hard to break open, and as I was trying to find the target in the clod, the piece of mud I was left with was very small, and VERY hard to break open. I was thinking of just taking home the clod and defrost it at home, when it finally gave and opened up. As it parted, out fell a small dark disc into the snow, and I had to use the Garrett Pointer to find it again. I had a horrible feeling it was going to be another small button with the loop broken off, but when I re-found it, I gave an involuntary YES as I realised I had found a hammy. I could see a shield and I set about giving it a clean with the snow. I had seen this image before, a had a inkling it was a Commonwealth. I had to wait to look in the Spinks book to confirm my initial thoughts, and when I did I learnt it is a Commonwealth Penny. To think this is a Oliver Cromwell coin is unbelievable and another wish list find crossed off!!!
Sticking to the pact I made my self, I set off for the car. With the buzz of finding the hammy, I forgot about my cold feet and walked back with a huge grin on my face.
As always, thanks for taking the time to look at my site and have a read,
Happy Hunting
Dan
Time was getting on and I made a pact with my self. I would stay for another hour or if I found a nice find before, then I would leave. The detecting gods must have felt how cold my feet were, because literally 5 minuets after thinking this I found a find good enough to send me home.
The clods were still very hard to break open, and as I was trying to find the target in the clod, the piece of mud I was left with was very small, and VERY hard to break open. I was thinking of just taking home the clod and defrost it at home, when it finally gave and opened up. As it parted, out fell a small dark disc into the snow, and I had to use the Garrett Pointer to find it again. I had a horrible feeling it was going to be another small button with the loop broken off, but when I re-found it, I gave an involuntary YES as I realised I had found a hammy. I could see a shield and I set about giving it a clean with the snow. I had seen this image before, a had a inkling it was a Commonwealth. I had to wait to look in the Spinks book to confirm my initial thoughts, and when I did I learnt it is a Commonwealth Penny. To think this is a Oliver Cromwell coin is unbelievable and another wish list find crossed off!!!
Sticking to the pact I made my self, I set off for the car. With the buzz of finding the hammy, I forgot about my cold feet and walked back with a huge grin on my face.
As always, thanks for taking the time to look at my site and have a read,
Happy Hunting
Dan
Commonwealth Penny
From the Reign of
Oliver Cromwell
From the Reign of
Oliver Cromwell