Post: #1

I wasn't sure if you guys would be interested in hearing about this or if anyone has any interest in learning.

For the last 15 years or so I have been a big military history buff.
Specializing in the American Civil War and also The American Revolution. Have visited many battlefields in Northern Virginia and the mid Atlantic region. New York and Delaware. Purchased my first metel detector and couldn't imagine all the fun, exercise and cool things I have found. Plus, have made a good chunk of extra money on the side. Let me explain.

Disclaimer: Do not even think about using your metal detector in a national battlefield or on battlefield property.

Note: If your not in good shape and over weight then this probably isn't for you. I have spent hundreds of hours deep in the woods and mountains hiking with full backpack.

One thing that I'm very fortunate about is the area that I live in. The American North East is rich in Colonial history. I'm surrounded by old farmhouses, mills and 200 year old stone bridges and things like that.

First, I just want to make this clear. I never did this for the money. Just love history, nature, exercise, fresh air, piece and quite and the excitement. But, after all these items were sitting in my closet for awhile I decided to sell them and was shocked how much everything was worth. $$$

One British regimental button with full shank on the back in good condition. 500$

One British breastplate in good condition 475$

One British waistbelt buckle with kings crown in good condition 600$. If it has kings crown and regt. Number the as high as 750$. I never found one of those.


Now, I will teach you how to find the valuable relics your looking for. This was my blueprint.

Following along in the footsteps of the British army. British General Burgoyne lead an army of 15,000 regulars all around the Hudson valley New york, all over Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware. General Howe also lead about the same number of regulars and Tory scouts.

Finding old colonial maps. Visit your local library or the library in an old city near you. Also, your local historical society. You can't take the maps home but you can take up close pictures on your phone. Then return home and print out copies. You will also need up to date modern maps and topographical maps.

Now, this is fairly easy. After awhile when your following the marching routes of the army's you can compare the old maps with your new maps. Example. If there is a pond there now. Guess what? That pond was almost definitely there during the war. These were my honey spots. Rivers, springs and creek crossing. If you find one relic, you can almost expect there is more in the area. Remember, these men were marching in think wool uniforms. Any areas with a water source is were they rested and camped. Plus, their horses needed water.
Again, I can't stress this enough. If you find one relic. Stop...hunker down and slow down your search speed. Concentrate on that area. Trust me.

My favorite places to hunt for relics was the state game lands. Scan over your old maps. Follow their routes to any kind of water source and alot of times just by looking at the lay of the land you can visualize were they would have camped. (Flat ground). Troops aren't going to camp on a slope of a hill. Do not concentrate on any battlefields. Just marching routes.

Equipment: White's XLT metel detector with headphones
Military style backpack
Digging tool
Waterproof boots

Books: The American Revolution in the Delaware valley
Battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution
World of the relic hunter
Relic hunter

Cleaning your relics: Do not even think about it. Hot water only.

Tips: when your out in the field with boots on the ground there is one HUGE piece of advice to remember. And, I can not stress this enough. You will be wearing head phones with your detector. Listen for those faint sounds. Those tiny whispers. Please read that again.....LISTEN FOR THOSE FAINT SOUNDS FROM YOUR METAL DETECTOR. Those are your deep objects.

Final thoughts: Do you guys know how cool it is to pull a valuable British coin out of the ground that hasn't seen the light of day in 250 years. Or finding a British 5th regiment of foote button with full shank on the back. Thinking about that soldier back home before he left for the war. Standing in front of the mirror admiring himself with his red jacket on and feeling proud. Sometimes after I would find a button of a certain regiment. I would return home to do research on the battles that regiment participated in, secretly hoping that the soldier that it belonged to made home to his loved ones.

Post: #2

Button from the 64th regiment of foot

Post: #3

Buttons from the 47th regiment of foote

Post: #4

Beautiful British Colonial coin

Post: #5

My old partner did that as a hobby in long Island. He found a few valuable items on the beach. He also found gold and diamond rings and a few watches.

Post: #6

This sounds like fun. I wonder what stuff I could find in the cascades.

Post: #7

I was afraid you were prematurely trying to be the old guy at the beach with the metal detector, though this actually sounds interesting.

The UK guys are the ones who really make out with the metal detectors, all they need is a farmer's field and permission, and sometimes it is like a dry land version of finding a Spanish galleon:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/m...n-england/



http://www.sfgate.com/world/article/Meta...216870.php



http://mentalfloss.com/uk/history/27932/...ever-found



http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/man...est-420813





Got to split the spoils with the owner of the field, but still, this stuff is like Pokemon Go for crusty old guys.

Post: #8

Post: #9

Very cool thread!

Schlep, is there a date on that British gold guinea you posted a photo of? I'm seeing that it was minted during the reign of one of the "Georges" but do we know which one?

Here's the closest thing I could find to it:

http://www.apmex.com/product/57068/1791-...aQodcYUMpg

Post: #10

British coins usually never have dates.

In all I found 51 British regimental buttons.
14 civilian buttons.
2 British breast plates.
1 British belt buckle
97 Spanish, British and American Colonial coins and trade tokens. 85 copper. 11silver and 1 gold.
Over 350 musket balls
I bayonet tip
Numous camp items. Forks, knives etc.
One 8 lbs cannonball from the french and indian war. Had the french simble ingraved in it.
1 really cool silver serving spoon with the 18th regiment of foote stamp.

Post: #11

Roughly where and how did you find the coins? Give us some good stories.

Post: #12

^ Honestly this was the most fun I ever had. I would pack my gear and head into the mountains on a 4 or 5 day trip. Spending every night sleeping under the stars and then at first light getting right back to work looking for artifacts. Just my dog and I. The only cool story I have was probably the scariest night of my life. One night while camping in the mountains of northeastern PA. I have no idea what it was but, something was circling my campsite. Now, I'm not one to get scared easily. I was an eagle scout and spent my life in the woods. But, something was fucking with me. My german sheppard was terrified. For 3 hours whatever it was would just circle around us. Slowly walking and trying to be quite. I could follow it's movements by watching my dogs ears. My dog always knew where it was. Lets just say I didn't get any sleep that night. The following morning at first light, I went out to investigate. Not a fucking track anywhere. Nothing..no deer tracks or any tracks at all. I have seen and encountered black bears, coyotes and have never been scared. I was scared and after that incident always carried my 9mm.

Post: #13

I guess what I'm asking is: how did you know where to search? Did you pick abandoned houses? Any random places?

Give us an idea of how a person goes about selecting spots.

Post: #14

In the book A battlefield Atlas of the American Revolution. You will find marching routes in PA, NY, NJ, DE, VA and MD.

Now compare those routes with modern maps. Find the stream and creek crossings. Those stream and river crossings and ponds never change over time. Thats where you want to focus your efforts. Some places will be on private land and some will not be. It's alot easier then you think.

Also, most relics were recovered at depths of about 7 - 10 inches.

Post: #15

What is the time investment-to-pay off? Obviously you enjoy doing it so getting a big ROI isn't exactly your game, but on average how much hunting do you have to do before you find something worth hanging onto? Are there whole days where you find nothing?

Post: #16

@ QC
If you get a chance pick up a copy of the book. World of the relic hunter by Ed Fedory. It's an excellent read and he puts his heart and soul into his searches. Lots of pictures and only about 100 pages. You'll be hooked.

@ GS
I haven't done any hunting in about 8 months. I have been busy buying apartments and fixing them up. But, to answer your question yes. I have had many of bad days and just found junk. But, what I have found is that ounce you find one item, you usually will find many. Like a campsite.

If I can give some advice. If this is something you may be interested in then they have metal detector clubs that meetup ounce a month. You will find like minded men like yourself and maybe find someone to go hunting with.

The best time to go out is after a good rain when the ground is still wet. Your detectors strength penetrates through the soil better.

Post: #17

I had a buddy who made a shitload of money in the summer hunting mushrooms and he said the same thing as you, get maps.

Without maps, he said, you are just a dude tromping around in the woods looking for free shit on the ground.

Post: #18

^ yeah, studying the maps is actually very interesting. And, after a while it gets to be easy to find the good locations. You just have to remember what I wrote about water. If an army has 15,000 men marching. How many horses are also with them and need water. Troops always camp near water. Natural springs are excellent locations. But, are usually not listed on maps. So if I think I'm in a good location and spot a natural spring. I immediately focus my efforts there.

But, one thing that I always see a new guy doing wrong is trying to cover to much ground at one time. Slow down......

If I find a regimental button. Then I know I'm in a good spot. I will search an area the size of your living room in 2 hours. Just going very, very slow. Listening......trust me, there is more there.

Post: #19

(07-27-2016 02:30 PM)Schlep Wrote:  ^ Honestly this was the most fun I ever had. I would pack my gear and head into the mountains on a 4 or 5 day trip. Spending every night sleeping under the stars and then at first light getting right back to work looking for artifacts. Just my dog and I. The only cool story I have was probably the scariest night of my life. One night while camping in the mountains of northeastern PA. I have no idea what it was but, something was circling my campsite. Now, I'm not one to get scared easily. I was an eagle scout and spent my life in the woods. But, something was fucking with me. My german sheppard was terrified. For 3 hours whatever it was would just circle around us. Slowly walking and trying to be quite. I could follow it's movements by watching my dogs ears. My dog always knew where it was. Lets just say I didn't get any sleep that night. The following morning at first light, I went out to investigate. Not a fucking track anywhere. Nothing..no deer tracks or any tracks at all. I have seen and encountered black bears, coyotes and have never been scared. I was scared and after that incident always carried my 9mm.

This is fascinating. Did you try and see what it was that was circling your camp at night by flashing a light in its direction?

Post: #20

(07-27-2016 01:39 PM)spokepoker Wrote:  This sounds like fun. I wonder what stuff I could find in the cascades.

Post: #21

Yes I thought of doing that. But, I was at the point that I'm not sure I wanted to know what it was. The strange thing about that night was it was always trying to have my back to it. Like I said before. All I had to do was watch my dogs ears. Whenever I thought I knew about the direction it was at. It seems like it was trying to get behind me. I would be sitting on a stump and it sounded like it was behind me. Then I would get up to put another log in the fire and change positions to face the threat and then it was behind me again. Whatever it was didn't want me to face it straight on.

Like I mentioned before. I have spent alot of time in the mountains. I know a deer track, coyote, fox and bear tracks. I can look at an animal track and tell you about how old the track is. Thats why I was shocked in the morning to find nothing. I never experienced a night like that.

My german sheppard was full grown. 110 lbs of mean son of a bitch. I have never seen that dog scared. That night, that dog was terrified. It just sat on the ground and didn't move all night.
But, he was on full alert just like me until the sun came up.

Post: #22

@ GM
They never did find him or the money. Good luck.
Hey, since I wrote this thread. If you find the money do I get a cut. Lol

Post: #23

I did this for a brief period of time. I never spent the time researching to find anything good. However, an acquaintance of mine did. He showed me some of his finds and they are mind blowing (He focused on coins). There is still good stuff out there.

Post: #24

(07-27-2016 04:14 PM)Schlep Wrote:  Yes I thought of doing that. But, I was at the point that I'm not sure I wanted to know what it was. The strange thing about that night was it was always trying to have my back to it. Like I said before. All I had to do was watch my dogs ears. Whenever I thought I knew about the direction it was at. It seems like it was trying to get behind me. I would be sitting on a stump and it sounded like it was behind me. Then I would get up to put another log in the fire and change positions to face the threat and then it was behind me again. Whatever it was didn't want me to face it straight on.

Like I mentioned before. I have spent alot of time in the mountains. I know a deer track, coyote, fox and bear tracks. I can look at an animal track and tell you about how old the track is. Thats why I was shocked in the morning to find nothing. I never experienced a night like that.

My german sheppard was full grown. 110 lbs of mean son of a bitch. I have never seen that dog scared. That night, that dog was terrified. It just sat on the ground and didn't move all night.
But, he was on full alert just like me until the sun came up.

Geez, this is why I never camp alone when I'm not at a campsite. Thanks for the reply.

Post: #25

(07-27-2016 04:43 PM)Penta Sahi Wrote:  

(07-27-2016 04:14 PM)Schlep Wrote:  Yes I thought of doing that. But, I was at the point that I'm not sure I wanted to know what it was. The strange thing about that night was it was always trying to have my back to it. Like I said before. All I had to do was watch my dogs ears. Whenever I thought I knew about the direction it was at. It seems like it was trying to get behind me. I would be sitting on a stump and it sounded like it was behind me. Then I would get up to put another log in the fire and change positions to face the threat and then it was behind me again. Whatever it was didn't want me to face it straight on.

Like I mentioned before. I have spent alot of time in the mountains. I know a deer track, coyote, fox and bear tracks. I can look at an animal track and tell you about how old the track is. Thats why I was shocked in the morning to find nothing. I never experienced a night like that.

My german sheppard was full grown. 110 lbs of mean son of a bitch. I have never seen that dog scared. That night, that dog was terrified. It just sat on the ground and didn't move all night.
But, he was on full alert just like me until the sun came up.

Geez, this is why I never camp alone when I'm not at a campsite. Thanks for the reply.

I found some photographic evidence of what you heard that night:






Great thread.