M E T A L M A N 9

M E T A L M A N 9

Click the date link, then a photo to start larger photo gallery & see descriptions

December 3, 2023 Metal Detectorists Get Together

December 3, 2023 Metal Detectorists Get Together

December 3, 2023 Metal Detectorists Get Together. This was a fun get together. It’s what club type meetings should be like… Warm, inviting and open. A place to learn along with new faces to put a name to and to get to know. We ended up being 11 participants in all. Not all are active detectorists but all had an interest in attending and a link to the group in some form or fashion. There were two ladies there as well which is great to see as many clubs seem to have trouble recruiting women. It might provide a bit of comfort for other interested ladies to join in at the next Metal Detectorist Get Together. The group ranged in experience from a well-seasoned veteran that has been detecting for about 35 years to another person who has never metal detected yet but came out to gain insight into this popular hobby. My one and only regret is not taking pictures. Any time I go metal detecting, I take pictures. The location, the fields or beaches, the immediate find at ground level and the cleaned up finds, all nicely sorted out. I’d even left myself a big bold reminder on a yellow sticky note that said “Take Pictures” and... Oh well, I’ll leave it to having had too good a time. The pictures shown are stock from earlier this year. The Get Together featured an 8 foot “Finds” table well laden with a wide variety of treasures. So sorry, no picture. It included a large heavy serial number plaque from a steam tractor from the mid to late 1800’s. Two shadow boxes. One containing a variety of uniform buttons, clay pipe pieces and a few coins, the other shadow box featured stone arrowheads. Surface finds. Shown and passed around the table were horse shoe nails and a silver hammered British coin dating from the 1320. Yes, that’s right 1320, found in the Emerson area. Can you figure out the story behind that relic? Present was a patch from the former Bronx Park Treasure Hunters club from years ago. “Jim Fixed it for Me” is a direct reference to a truly charming British TV production called “The Detectorists”. The three season series can be accessed through YouTube. It’s well worth watching… the things that you learn at a Metal Detectorists Get Together Eh ! After an introductory presentation, we did the standard around the table introduction of ourselves. Then we went on to a 10 point agenda. Open for discussion were topics such as Research, Permissions and Obtaining them, Useful Techniques, Future guest speakers… Yes, we even had a guest speaker, a career archeologist who generously provided his time and knowledge and spoke in some detail about finding Native Artifacts. We burnt through two hours in such a hurry. I think it’s safe to say that we all feel like we kind of ran out of time. But new ideas were put forward for a possible second Metal detectorist get together. I’m hoping March or April, 2024 but prior to the start of next year’s metal detecting season. Even a group hunt was proposed. Permissions on two possible locations have already been granted. The Get Together was fun, entertaining and a lot of information was shared. Special thanks goes out to the Condo resident who provided us with a perfect meeting location. Thanks also to the person who brought the tray of “Wings” and to the person who brought Tim Bits and Banana Bread muffins. Coffee and tea were also provided. Thanks to all that attended. You made this first Metal Detectorists Get Together a success. See you next spring and bring a friend. Roger Reference: h t t p s : / / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / r e s u l t s ? s e a r c h _ q u e r y = t h e + d e t e c t o r i s t s + s e ason+1

December 7, 2023 A Gift. Detecting in December.

December 7, 2023 A Gift. Detecting in December.

December 7, 2023 A Gift. Detecting in December. Well here I was, in December, completely resigned to waiting until April or May to go out metal detecting again. Then I got a Text from my brother at the farm saying “You should get out here. It's 8 degrees and the fields are dry. The ground has freeze dried”. How could I resist such a call? My question was “How deep can you Dig”? The answer seemed to be 4 to 5 inches before you hit frost. It was not so long ago that I was scrapping and clearing snow off of my driveway. So I took my gear out of storage, charged the batteries in my metal detector and headphones, packed a lunch and set the alarm for 6:00 AM. I figured on getting there at sunrise and what a spectacular sunrise it was. I don’t remember ever seeing such colors in the morning. I choose to metal detect on a field that I’d been to before but with a goal in mind. There was a grist mill in this area back in the mid 1800’s. There is a building shown in that general area on the 1870 survey map but the exact spot may well be lost to history. I wanted to try to map out where the mill might have been. Judging from the many surface finds, square nails and other tell-tale artifacts from today and from a prior hunt, I think I have found the probable location. This would be a great area for a group hunt as the “Debris Field” is large enough to accommodate numerous detectorists all at one time. This is River lot # 154. See: October 21, 2021 - Further into Two Little Points. The finds that I picked up today were great but… the ground was FROZEN ! The top one inch of soil was loose and dry as bone and then solid frost. The field had been worked earlier in the fall so all of the plant chaff from harvest was mostly gone. It had snowed and rained over the tilled soil and that revealed lots of surface artifacts: glass, ceramic, pottery and metal too. I did detect some good targets but after a few excruciating digs through iced soil, I could only dig at shallow hits. One of the better but deep finds was a complete axe head. One surface find was what I initially thought to be a washer. It felt unusually thin to be an iron washer so I thought it might be a copper washer or possibly a barter token. It's only after I’d washed it clean at home and put it under a magnifier that I discovered what it truly was: the base of a No. 12 Eley London Shotgun Shell. Cir. 1896 – 1920’s . Such is the fun of discovery. First comes the thrill of the initial find, then the fun of guessing or assuming as to what the item is, then again, the thrill of actually being able to figure it out. After cleaning all of my finds, I was really quite surprised at how much of the ceramic shards carried markings. Few markings are ever complete; some have but a few part letters on the shard but again, some research can lead to the discovery of the maker and a probable time or era that these artifacts were made and used. A complete plate is shown. It was made in Britain, and dates between 1891 and 1904. With this hunt, certainly the last one of the year, I chose to photograph the finds by category or material type: Metals, glass and ceramics, rocks and brick. Most of the brick fragments were actually found at the Two Little Points School site, just a little ways around the river bend. The highlights of the day are as follows. See if you can spot them: - Axe Head. - Z 272 cap. ? - Lead Pipe - Ornate Metal with fasteners. Possible Stove leg? - Animal Trap Jaw - Rose Head Spike 6” - 2 foot Chain with snapped Link - A well-worn link for Harrow Panel. - Mouse Trap Spring - Jean Fastener - 12 Gauge Shotgun Shell bottom - Conduit Pipe with Bowl - Door Handle - Brick Fragments - Coal Lump - Flint Lump - Carnival Glass piece - Wheat Pattern on Shard - Ceramic Cup Handle - Marker Logos / Marks Roger References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gristmill https://cartridge-corner.com/shotgun2.htm https://geology.com/rocks/flint.shtml