October 06 finds
Zot
Posts: 825 ✭✭✭
It’s been a while since I posted any finds. Here’s some of the loot from the last couple of weeks.
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First off, a beach find from Finland. I was detecting a beach at low tide with my water machine. This beach has been quite productive before, but has only produced 1900’s finds. That was to change now though.
I got a faint but still clear signal and started digging. The target was ridiculously deep, probably about a foot and a half.
Finally, right in the middle of the hole I was bending over (one leg on each side, digging with both hands) was a holed coin. There’s no way I would have found this one with the MXT.
It was a glowing pink color, like coppers dug on beaches frequently are, but the color became more bearable after sitting in olive oil for a month.
Here it is, Swedish 1/4 Skilling, 1809-1830. The legend around the obverse reads “Folkets kärlek min belöning” (The love of the people [is] my reward).
While I was delighted with this find, I can’t help being a bit grumpy about it not being a silver coin, holed and all..
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I’ve been traveling around in Europe for the last month, but have mainly operated out of Denmark, which has been the permanent location for my MD gear.
I was detecting in a forest that looked like this all over. Lots of old trees, with attractive looking and easy to dig areas throughout. Finds are quite scarce though, average hunting time between coins is approx one hour. It’s all about finding the right spots.. I’ve come up completely empty at times, while other hunts to identical looking areas have yielded several coins. On one hunt I got lucky and hit a good spot in the front left half of this picture:
I hit some silver straight away, a tiny Danish 10 öre coin from 1905, 6" deep
This is how I then started going over the area…
After I while I thought I found the 1905’s sister - from 1897 - also about 6 inches down. This coin looked strange from the moment I found it. It came out of the ground blast white, which is very odd for these 40% silver coins. I didn’t think more about it at the time..
Once back from the hunt, I had another look at it and was puzzled by the strange look of the surfaces and the details. It wasn’t really until I put it next to the 1905 coin that I realized what it was: a crappy aluminum fake! It only weighs 0.59 grams (genuine coin 1.45 grams).
This is the smallest silver denomination of its era, and I have no idea how common such fakes were. Nevertheless, it’s the first counterfeit coin that I’ve dug (that I know of at least!). I need to find out how common these are – I assume it could be a “better” find than the real thing…
Now the spooky part: I also weighed the 1905 example, and it's considerably underweight too, 0.92 grams. Huh?! I don't see how it could have lost this much weight through corrosion, so now this coin is suspect too. There's a raised lump of metal in front of the bust, some kind of planchet flaw.. Oh well, something more to look into during the winter months..
I got two additional older coins in the same area. First a 5 öre 1874-1906 (it will eventually show a date, but will need to soak for a long time).
Then a large and heavy coin, very deep:
Danish 16 skilling 1814
The rims had corroded away and were gone before I had the coin in my hand.
In the picture, it's already had a month of olive oil soaking, but will need a lot more.. There's actually quite a bit of detail left, and it could look much better in a couple of months.
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Another day, very similar area.
Right off the bat, my first signal was this button:
After a few weeks of soaking:
After a while, a nice faint coin signal…
. Out of the black soil comes a large coin..
Danish 5 öre 1874
Very nice details! I’m cheating by showing the oily coin shot at a slight angle. Head on, it’s a green monster and it’s hard to see the design
“Probably the best jewelry in the world”
Vintage lighter – Ronson Whirlwind
Edited to add:
Random finds: Glasses (a first..
), bottle openers, keys, buckle, etc.Also numerous copper and bronze coins 1910-1930 (not pictured).
That's all for now. Happy hunting!!
-Z
Minelab: GPX 5000, Excalibur II, Explorer SE. White's: MXT, PI Pro
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Comments
A lot of diverse objects found and wish your next outing is as successful.
I guess the slug is your crazed animal shot
That is weird about the weight of the coins.
It will be interesting to find out what's going on there.
How many countries have you MDed in, Zot?
I like the counterfeit(-s?). Pretty interesting. Surely those didn't have that much buying power back then? If they're fake like you say, that makes it an interesting riddle. And therefore as good a find as genuine pieces would be. (I have several genuine examples of those, and yours didn't ring any alarm bells when I saw them, though I suppose you would know from the weight, huh. Strange.)
PS- I would not consider "a foot and a half" to be ridiculously deep on a beach.