Isaac
05-24-2014, 12:48 PM
Hey all,
Just posting some interesting JEWELRY I have dug up in the past. Here we go... :detecting:
4/3/14
This was my first gold for this year... just a beauty. Dug it at a house dated back to 1870, the oldest house in my town. This was my best house site to date. You'll see why...
I was digging a lot of trashy signals pulling out various pieces of aluminum and other crusty metal. I got another trashy tone, a bouncing signal... it was bouncing from 40-60, I almost skipped it, but it was bouncing in the nickle range some of the time and I was hoping to find my first V nickel. I dug a nice oval shaped plug; that's I saw something glistening yellow through that soft brown dirt. I took it out and the dirt came off almost instantly as the dull yellow began to show through. I scan it over the coil and it reads as a solid 45. I knew it had to be, I just knew, it was GOLD. It was a golden football pendant. It is inscribed with "BCS Clarendon Lyons Champs N.Va 1924"... 1924! Couldn't believe it when I saw the date. I'm very pleased to have a piece of jewelry with so much information on it... let alone it being gold! :yahoo:This was my first gold in 9 months!
http://i.imgur.com/OAOWEUY.png
Same day... same 1870 house... 4/3/14
This next find I am about to show you honestly blew my mind...
I got another deep signal... bouncing from 69-75 mostly, was thinking it was going to be another Indian Head! At 6", I saw a glint of gold chain appear on my Lesche... again? Could I have gold again? :shocked04: I pull it out, and find that the gold chain is connected to a tiny coin shaped silver item monogrammed with a ornate looking "M" on the back... The back of it had the most tiny writing I had ever seen. Written on it was the Lord's Prayer. It shocks me how much effort was put into such a tiny piece! This find was probably attached to an old charm bracelet at one point, and was so frail that it eventually fell off. They must've been very upset after losing this! :shocked02:
SageGrouse from another forum told me this information, thank you so much for your help! ...
The Lord's Prayer coin is Victorian. Back in Victorian times, engravers used to create these. Tiny gold or silver disks on which one side would be sort of a "sampler" of designs, wavy lines, flowers, an initial, what-have-you, and the other side would hold the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm. The idea was to show just how tiny and meticulous an engraver could be. they were created as "show off" pieces, and given as love tokens or luck pieces.
Most of them would be worn on watch fobs, or as necklace charms. I have one that is very thin low-karat gold but the craftsmanship on that tiny piece takes my breath away. Yours is a rare find and probably meant the world to whoever lost it.
and...
sometimes they were made from dimes or other small coins, with one side smoothed off and engraved. They could also be "tramp art" or "trench art" or "prison art". A hobo, with only a dime to his name, might engrave the lord's Prayer in his copious spare time, and give it to a hosuewife in exchange for a meal and a night's lodging. Soldiers waiting in the trenches, with nothing to do between battles, would make them as a way to keep safe. Prisoners made them to send home to family.
Could this have been a trime smoothed off? If only it can talk... it's just breathtaking how meticulous the engraver was...
http://i.imgur.com/gPxTNiC.png
4/10/13
First Gold Ever... probably my best find ever... a 14K Gold Pocket Watch with the Gold Fob Chain!
Here's a story...
It was a sunny, hot day on April 10th, 2013. "A" and I were looking forward to another one of our metal detecting expeditions. Five days earlier, we were looking for our first gold jewelry at a local soccer field. We managed to find a broken silver bracelet and a crushed silver ring; we were thrilled to find some silver. On the same day, another metal detectorist, "B", stopped by to introduce himself. We decided to meet him on the 10th at the soccer field where we met.
After school, we immediately went back to the soccer field. B was already there hunting with his Whites MXT. I turned on my Garrett AT Pro. B was already finding some clad and scrap copper, and later, he finds a cheap aluminum ring. After searching for two hours and finding only some clad and trash, we finally decided it would be best to go to another park before dark fell upon us. B regularly hunts here; I have never been to this particular park before.
When we arrived, there was a crowd of people from the neighborhood at the park. B and I went our own ways hoping to find at least a pouch full of clad. I stay in a trashy area and I get another coin signal in between the bottle caps and get a tiny silver band, I’m already on the board, but what I really wanted was gold. I begged for gold, complained and whined about all the pull tabs and can slaw and foil I was digging up, instead of the elusive gold. B and I were pulling out coin after coin as the sun slowly started to set. It was almost dark and I headed toward the soccer field. B and A were about ready to head on home, but I continued swinging.
B and A were tired and ready to pack up as I was digging my last signal of the night. It had a VDI of 80-81 on my Garrett AT Pro. Even though it sounded large, it had a cleaner sound than a can. I thought it could have been a penny close to the top, but the Pro Pointer was It was too solid of a signal to be trash so I kept digging deeper, hoping for at least a piece of scrap copper or brass. The hole was seven inches deep when we finally got a hit with the Pro Pointer; we are able to see the target. “Is that a copper wire?” A asked.
I took what we thought was some dumb old wire at first out of the hole and rub the dirt off. A dull yellow glow I had never seen before appears. All the dirt easily came off like it would with silver, but this was yellow. It was a thick curb chain, with an odd piece at the end. Could this be my first gold? It rang up as a 40 on the VDI after I pulled it out of the hole, so I knew that couldn't be all that was in there. I re scan the hole and get the same signal. B gets his folding army shovel and cuts another plug on the side of the hole and we saw a humongous piece of round gold, bigger than a dollar… :omg:
It was big, round, and gold colored. I immediately knew what this object was! I was trembling as I pulled this out from the hole. It turned out to be a beautiful gold pocket watch. Everything was perfect with it, even the glass was intact. We learned the chain that we found next to the pocket watch was originally on the pocket watch. The person lost the pocket watch because part of the chain that attaches to the pocket watch broke off. It was eight inches deep, so we knew it had to be old.
I was not expecting something incredible and rare, such as a gold pocket watch, to be my first gold item. I was in absolute disbelief to find this beautiful item in such a new park. I had finally found my first gold, and much more. We stared at it for the next fifteen minutes in amazement and disbelief. I had only been metal detecting for three months, and this is probably my best find to date. :loveit:
We finally opened up the pocket watch about a month later, and found out that this has a Swiss Squirrel Hallmark which indicates that this watch is made out of 58.5% or 14K gold. We estimate this watch is from the late 19th century, but the park we found it in was completely modern. One of my favorite things about this hobby is being surprised, finding something you would never expect for the location it was in. I was able to transform the gold fob chain into a gold bracelet, and gave it to my Grandmother.
Don't have a picture of the chain or the pocket watch BEFORE the glass broke right now...
http://i.imgur.com/1qPnQiz.png
http://i.imgur.com/fOXrWZF.png
GL and HH! :beerbuddy:
Just posting some interesting JEWELRY I have dug up in the past. Here we go... :detecting:
4/3/14
This was my first gold for this year... just a beauty. Dug it at a house dated back to 1870, the oldest house in my town. This was my best house site to date. You'll see why...
I was digging a lot of trashy signals pulling out various pieces of aluminum and other crusty metal. I got another trashy tone, a bouncing signal... it was bouncing from 40-60, I almost skipped it, but it was bouncing in the nickle range some of the time and I was hoping to find my first V nickel. I dug a nice oval shaped plug; that's I saw something glistening yellow through that soft brown dirt. I took it out and the dirt came off almost instantly as the dull yellow began to show through. I scan it over the coil and it reads as a solid 45. I knew it had to be, I just knew, it was GOLD. It was a golden football pendant. It is inscribed with "BCS Clarendon Lyons Champs N.Va 1924"... 1924! Couldn't believe it when I saw the date. I'm very pleased to have a piece of jewelry with so much information on it... let alone it being gold! :yahoo:This was my first gold in 9 months!
http://i.imgur.com/OAOWEUY.png
Same day... same 1870 house... 4/3/14
This next find I am about to show you honestly blew my mind...
I got another deep signal... bouncing from 69-75 mostly, was thinking it was going to be another Indian Head! At 6", I saw a glint of gold chain appear on my Lesche... again? Could I have gold again? :shocked04: I pull it out, and find that the gold chain is connected to a tiny coin shaped silver item monogrammed with a ornate looking "M" on the back... The back of it had the most tiny writing I had ever seen. Written on it was the Lord's Prayer. It shocks me how much effort was put into such a tiny piece! This find was probably attached to an old charm bracelet at one point, and was so frail that it eventually fell off. They must've been very upset after losing this! :shocked02:
SageGrouse from another forum told me this information, thank you so much for your help! ...
The Lord's Prayer coin is Victorian. Back in Victorian times, engravers used to create these. Tiny gold or silver disks on which one side would be sort of a "sampler" of designs, wavy lines, flowers, an initial, what-have-you, and the other side would hold the Lord's Prayer or the 23rd Psalm. The idea was to show just how tiny and meticulous an engraver could be. they were created as "show off" pieces, and given as love tokens or luck pieces.
Most of them would be worn on watch fobs, or as necklace charms. I have one that is very thin low-karat gold but the craftsmanship on that tiny piece takes my breath away. Yours is a rare find and probably meant the world to whoever lost it.
and...
sometimes they were made from dimes or other small coins, with one side smoothed off and engraved. They could also be "tramp art" or "trench art" or "prison art". A hobo, with only a dime to his name, might engrave the lord's Prayer in his copious spare time, and give it to a hosuewife in exchange for a meal and a night's lodging. Soldiers waiting in the trenches, with nothing to do between battles, would make them as a way to keep safe. Prisoners made them to send home to family.
Could this have been a trime smoothed off? If only it can talk... it's just breathtaking how meticulous the engraver was...
http://i.imgur.com/gPxTNiC.png
4/10/13
First Gold Ever... probably my best find ever... a 14K Gold Pocket Watch with the Gold Fob Chain!
Here's a story...
It was a sunny, hot day on April 10th, 2013. "A" and I were looking forward to another one of our metal detecting expeditions. Five days earlier, we were looking for our first gold jewelry at a local soccer field. We managed to find a broken silver bracelet and a crushed silver ring; we were thrilled to find some silver. On the same day, another metal detectorist, "B", stopped by to introduce himself. We decided to meet him on the 10th at the soccer field where we met.
After school, we immediately went back to the soccer field. B was already there hunting with his Whites MXT. I turned on my Garrett AT Pro. B was already finding some clad and scrap copper, and later, he finds a cheap aluminum ring. After searching for two hours and finding only some clad and trash, we finally decided it would be best to go to another park before dark fell upon us. B regularly hunts here; I have never been to this particular park before.
When we arrived, there was a crowd of people from the neighborhood at the park. B and I went our own ways hoping to find at least a pouch full of clad. I stay in a trashy area and I get another coin signal in between the bottle caps and get a tiny silver band, I’m already on the board, but what I really wanted was gold. I begged for gold, complained and whined about all the pull tabs and can slaw and foil I was digging up, instead of the elusive gold. B and I were pulling out coin after coin as the sun slowly started to set. It was almost dark and I headed toward the soccer field. B and A were about ready to head on home, but I continued swinging.
B and A were tired and ready to pack up as I was digging my last signal of the night. It had a VDI of 80-81 on my Garrett AT Pro. Even though it sounded large, it had a cleaner sound than a can. I thought it could have been a penny close to the top, but the Pro Pointer was It was too solid of a signal to be trash so I kept digging deeper, hoping for at least a piece of scrap copper or brass. The hole was seven inches deep when we finally got a hit with the Pro Pointer; we are able to see the target. “Is that a copper wire?” A asked.
I took what we thought was some dumb old wire at first out of the hole and rub the dirt off. A dull yellow glow I had never seen before appears. All the dirt easily came off like it would with silver, but this was yellow. It was a thick curb chain, with an odd piece at the end. Could this be my first gold? It rang up as a 40 on the VDI after I pulled it out of the hole, so I knew that couldn't be all that was in there. I re scan the hole and get the same signal. B gets his folding army shovel and cuts another plug on the side of the hole and we saw a humongous piece of round gold, bigger than a dollar… :omg:
It was big, round, and gold colored. I immediately knew what this object was! I was trembling as I pulled this out from the hole. It turned out to be a beautiful gold pocket watch. Everything was perfect with it, even the glass was intact. We learned the chain that we found next to the pocket watch was originally on the pocket watch. The person lost the pocket watch because part of the chain that attaches to the pocket watch broke off. It was eight inches deep, so we knew it had to be old.
I was not expecting something incredible and rare, such as a gold pocket watch, to be my first gold item. I was in absolute disbelief to find this beautiful item in such a new park. I had finally found my first gold, and much more. We stared at it for the next fifteen minutes in amazement and disbelief. I had only been metal detecting for three months, and this is probably my best find to date. :loveit:
We finally opened up the pocket watch about a month later, and found out that this has a Swiss Squirrel Hallmark which indicates that this watch is made out of 58.5% or 14K gold. We estimate this watch is from the late 19th century, but the park we found it in was completely modern. One of my favorite things about this hobby is being surprised, finding something you would never expect for the location it was in. I was able to transform the gold fob chain into a gold bracelet, and gave it to my Grandmother.
Don't have a picture of the chain or the pocket watch BEFORE the glass broke right now...
http://i.imgur.com/1qPnQiz.png
http://i.imgur.com/fOXrWZF.png
GL and HH! :beerbuddy: