Saturday was probably one of the best hunts I have ever had. After struggling for several months, I think luck is finally on my side once again. Saturday started out on a bad note as I slept through my alarm and woke up at 6:20 AM, the exact time I was supposed to be meeting Jarrod at a local parking lot and have him follow me to the site. Whoops.I had everything packed in my car so I basically got dressed and left the house. I apologized for being late but all was good. We headed up to Northern RI to hit a new spot I had found a few months back but never knew it was on public property and that it could be accessed without walking through someone's yard. After learning that there was public access to the area, off we went to find the cellar hole. We bushwhacked it for a while but eventually came upon an old cart path and followed it to the site. The site is colonial, not on any maps and is pretty close to an historic cemetery. The creepiest thing was there was a recently dug excavated hole in the middle of the small cemetery, looks someone dug up a grave. Some people are just messed up.
Anyway, I didn't do too well at this cellar hole. I got 2 buttons and a small fragment of a button, also a massive harmonica reed fragment. One of the buttons was tombac, which I dug on the cartpath as we were leaving the site. Jarrod did well here, he got 6 buttons, most of them near the cellar hole. He also got some broken pieces of a shoe buckle frame and a few other items. I had a backup site in mind nearby so we left this site and headed out. We stopped to take a break and I noticed a few out of place stone walls to the left of the cart path. I told Jarrod I was gonna check them out so I took my detector with me and took a walk. I didn't see any depressions just a lot of rock piles and walls. I meet up with Jarrod and he asks me what this is (Pointing at a stone pile). Its on the side of a hill which made me think it could be a center chimney pile. Jarrod then told me there was a barn foundation right next to it. We both decide to put the coils down and give it a quick go. Almost immediately Jarrod gets a loud "shallow" target which he expects to be a shot gun shell. It wasn't
It actually was a gold gilted conical shaped button with a star pattern. I move over to the right and get a nice mid tone, and pop out a big button. A foot over I get a mid-high tone and dig a beautiful colonial dandy button, all very obvious "Must dig" signals. At this point Jarrod and I start saying "This could be a virgin site" There isn't any cellar hole, just a barn foundation and only a rock pile built into the side of the hill. Clam shells and oyster shells in a lot of the holes. Only a minute or two later, about 5 feet away from the buttons I get a high tone with a VDI of 78-82. I had a good feeling it was gonna be a copper, which was confirmed when I saw a thick green disk in the hole. 1818 Matron. Great shape. A little bit later I get a 70's VDI signal and pull out what I originally thought was a shank less flat button. I was wrong. It was a little thick for a button and then I see a right facing bust. It's a small coin about the size of a US Half Cent. This wasn't a half cent though. . It is a 1694 William and Mary Farthing
! Its pretty corroded but I saw the two busts on the obverse and was able to identify the posture of Britannia on the reverse as the one that is used on the William and Mary. Thank you Isaac for helping me identify this coin. This ties the 1694 William and Mary halfpenny I found about a year ago for my oldest coin. I was very happy with this find. I then get a mid-high tone and there was a very fresh plug there. Apparently in his excitement Jarrod forgot to recheck the hole he found the gold gilted button in. Its a mistake we all make at some time, at least it wasn't a coin spill. I ended up pulling three identical ones out of that hole. No wonder the signal was so loud. I moved away from the chimney pile and toward a small rock lined pen. I got a very very faint high tone, almost the same signal deep iron will give off. I dug it anyway. Glad I did cause I pulled out another copper
. This copper is pretty corroded but after a little bit of research I was able to identify it. It has a bust on the front and a shield on the reverse. This copper is a 1770's French Louis XV Sol, as the bust on my coin is the type used on the coins during those years. I also was able to reveal the word "Franciae ET' on the reverse which matches the ones of that type of coin. I was pretty happy, I've never dug a French colonial copper before. That makes 18 coppers this year and three in 43 minutes. Only a short time later after digging two massive copper bullets that gave off screaming signals, I get a blasting high tone 84-85 VDI right next to a bunch of rocks near the barn. After digging the hole I realize the targets a little too big for a copper and I say to Jarrod it could be a shoe buckle. I was correct. Its my first ever complete colonial shoe buckle and the pins move like the day it was dropped!!!! Beautiful designed frame, I'm so glad I dug this buckle.
I dug a few buttons afterwords but we had to both get going. On the way out we noticed an old colonial quarry so we will check that area out as well. I can't believe we found a virgin cabin site, they are so hard to find. We only spent about 90 minutes of actual detecting there and we aren't even close to covering a quarter of the ground at this site. Anyway sorry for the long post but hope you enjoy the story and the photos. One of the photos is off Jarrods finds. Happy hunting everyone!!!
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Originally Posted by OxShoeDrew
Highs and lows my friend , metal detecting is no different then life . Enjoy the highs and endure and trudge on through the lows 
