Recent random finds

Zot

Here's some random stuff I've been finding recently. Finds have been hard to come by lately, but I thought I'd at least post something..

1. Looking for old stuff in Northwestern Finland

Back in July, I had a chance to hunt some private land, the owner being Zot-family no less.
The centerpiece was a house built in the mid 1700's (still standing), which is the oldest building in the area.

Unfortunately, I had limited time, which would have been needed as the ground was loaded with iron junk.
I didn't find any coins, but got these two relics:

A bullet casing. Note the firing pins on the sides rather than center. The caliber is an odd large one too (10mm+). Still have to check up on this one in more detail.


???. Not sure what this is. The other side looks identifical. Maybe bronze(?) (at least it's not magnetic). Part of a belt perhaps?




2. Misc. hunts for pre-1917 coins

This part includes several hunts. I've suffered from very unproductive sites recently. Strangely enough, two of them yielded an old coin within minutes I first hit them long ago and got me really fired up, but later hunts have been unproductive. I've dug around 50 junk targets and 1-2 modern coins per hunt on average..

One of these sites I've now almost declared finished. Last time I hit it for several hours I got only one sweet signal (deep and coin range) during the whole time, and that was junk too.
To at least show something, here's a Pepsi bottle cap Some quick research shows it's from 1950-1962. It's the fifth logo in Pepsi's history.


I was so short on finds that I even flattened this one and put it in a 2x2....


* * *

Through some research, I'd identified another area a short distance from where I live. This area should provide a good chance for finding pre-1917 coinage and I haven't hit it before.
I've been surprised how scarce these Grand Duchy-era coins are compared to later, post independence years. Finding a bunch of coins from the 1920's is easy, but prior years are quite another matter..

I arrived at the site and was pleased to find that there were plenty of promising signals. There was quite a bit of trash too, so I was only digging signals that were around 3 inches and deeper, plus a few really promising shallow signals. I was only finding junk though, mainly screwcaps from vodka bottles, which are my single biggest enemy on most sites. They are everywhere, and the worst thing is that they give signals ranging from about a cent up to around a quarter dollar - so they often have to be dug.

I got a bit frustrated after a while after having dug a bunch of these from between 4 and 7 inches. They're typically more shallow than this, but here they seemed to sink quickly, or maybe the area had been filled with fresh soil. I was getting worried that any old coins must be in China by now..

After a while (it was late evening) I saw a red fox! It didn't seem to notice me at first, and was heading straight for my gear bag I'd left some 20 yards away. I already had an image in my head of it having a quick sniff and then peeing into it... At the last moment it turned and headed towards me instead - it was obviously an "urban" fox, normally they don't behave like this. It walked past me at a distance of less than 10 yards - that's the closest I've ever been to a fox before. It was very slim, and its fur was in bad condition. It was probably quite old.

* * *

[I didn't have my camera with me, so you'll have to imagine a fox picture here, walking from left to right in the evening light between some old apple trees]

* * *

I was thinking to myself that this was a good sign for finding old coins: no camera, and a fox already sighted.. maybe a coin will be next so I won't get a picture of that either...
And miraculously, the very next signal I got was a very loud signal, rock solid at VDI +83. This was unusually high to be a spirit bottle cap, although they occasionally go this high.
It was only two inches down, but was such a super signal that it was a no brainer dig. I recovered a Czar Nikolai II 10 penniä, a large copper coin (30mm, 12.8g). Hum! What's this - all junk at 6" and good stuff at 2 inches ?!?
This was a sweet find, as these buggers have eluded me until now (I've found a few 5 penniä coins of the same era, but the mintages of these larger coins are quite low, and being large in size they may not be as frequently lost either), so it was a new "mission accomplished" for my dug type set. There's still the task of adding Czars Alexander II and Alexander III for this type, which will be more challenging still.

Here it is as dug. I thought the obverse might have a die crack going up to the rim at 3 o'clock, but it was just packed dirt


Coin cleaned. Condition couldn't be much better! A bit porous surfaces, but otherwise in quite collectable condition - no distracting damage whatsoever


Size compared to a quarter dollar (New Hampshire, in honor of the mighty Phut )


Here's a picture of the area, taken the next day. The coin was found close to the front edge of the picture


It got dark before I got home. Here's a really bottom-of-the-barrel furry animal picture taken enroute. A hare.


That is all. Happy hunting!

-Z

goldrush00013

Nice post Zot!

That 10 penniä is sweet! Congrats!

It is strange how coin depths can vary. I once dug a Statehood quarter at almost 8 inches! Talk about being befuddled and dissapointed!

HH

phut

Cool stuff Zot!!

Geez.... Where's the tall grass, thousands of sapplings, and dense poison ivy? You hunt in dreamland.

dcamp78

Nice find. Very nice coin.

Keeping on diggin...

Dave

HKnJ

It's great to see those European coins. Interesting casing found there too. Good work.

lordmarcovan

Nice cleanup on the 10-pennia! I do love a "breakthrough" when I find a new type for my dug set! The cartridge looks late-19th century to me, or pre-WWI, anyway. The little buckle thingie looks Victorian-era, of course. Perhaps from a garter belt or other lady's garment?

You're a sick man, to put a Pepsi cap in a 2x2, but I gotta admit I am impressed that you researched its date, and it's in pretty good shape for a dug bottlecap that's 40-50 years old!

Too bad you missed a fox shot, but I am still impressed at your critter-picture taking ability and luck! Whenever I encounter a critter while out detecting, I always miss the shot, since I leave my bulky camera in the van and have to walk back to get it when I want to take a picture. One of these days I will start carrying a smaller digicam in the field.

Keep it beepin', Zot! I eagerly await the next installment!