Good morning , i had no idea it was looked on as such LM , and again i beg your parden. I didn't intend to cut anyones grass so to speak , i thought we were a bunch of guys with metal detectors and with the encouragement i got in the cellar holes thread i thought i'd do a search with the prize as you were doing thinking we can get a lot more people involved in the MD forum etc etc Im rarely ever signed in , please excuse me for not having read PM's as yet. The cellar hole thread is worth the reading , it answers the question to if i have a neat old site : )
Oh, by all means, please DO go out and keep us posted! DO post an update on what you found!
(Just in its own independent thread, though, if you please.)
The VTH concept, like the now-lapsed monthly forum awards, were my personal brainchild, but they ain't copyrighted or patented or nothin' like that, so if you wanna do a separate event along similar lines, in its own thread, go for it! I'll cheer you on and participate as a player. (Just let me keep the "Virtual Treasure Hunt" name, if you don't mind. Call yours something else.)
It gets a bit messy if a new player enters an ongoing game or contest after the fact and is unaccustomed to its traditions, as I'm sure you obviously understand.
The more activity there is here, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned. That's one reason I think up these things, to give the place a boost. I'm only sorry I've been mostly absent these past few years.
I knew your intentions were honorable and enthusiastic, so no worries, mate. Keep 'em beepin!
I love happy endings, with that said "Let the VTH IV Begin" Am I to understand your going out tommorow Rob ? and if so best of luck, can't wait to see the take/results, I know you'll keep us all posted, but most importantley have fun as you know were all there with ya every step of the way.
And JM, can't wait to see your post and hope I can secure a spot, I'm truely envious with that spread you have and hunt.
<< <i>Am I to understand your going out tommorow Rob? >>
Yes, and not only that, I got permission on a potentially AWESOME site, just by freak chance today. The odds of me finding something good just quadrupled. This site has the most potential of any site I think I've hunted since The London Street site in December of 2007. It shares a lot of characteristics of that site, and is possibly in an even better location. It's also right on Hanover Square, about two or three doors down from this site, but with a bigger yard, on a prime corner lot.
If I can't find something good tomorrow, I might as well retire from diggin'. Just walking the site this afternoon, I kicked up all sorts of old glass and stuff. The sod has been removed so it's "nekkid dirt" just like I love. And the owner is supercool and friendly.
So my adrenaline has kicked up a notch, my fellow digpeople. I might even have trouble sleeping tonight, for all the visions of 19th century silver dancing in my head. The reality might turn out to be far less than the dream, but like I said... this place has HOT potential. The lot predates the Civil War. In fact, that square was the center of town and location of the courthouse, back in the 1700s.
I'll likely dig all day, until my arms fall off or my back breaks. So there will likely be more to it than just the VTH. I will do a full writeup so there may be a lag time of a few days before the results (VTH4 and Digs O' The Day story) get posted. Hopefully it will be worth the wait, though.
Woohoo!
PS- the owner said one younger fella was out there for maybe twenty minutes today, and found an 1886 Indian cent.
It looks as though we've got just three Round 2 slots left: #31, 35, and 36.
It's now about T Minus three hours to dig time on Round 1. I'll be suiting up and gathering my gear shortly.
You'll note I'm wearing my lucky "Swami" avatar. That's a piece I dug about three blocks south of where I'm going today.
It's a "Good Luck" token from the early to mid-1930s. Was only an inch or so in the ground near some Indian cents and Mercury and Barber dimes, and it gave an awesome signal. I was impressed with how well it was preserved, too. It's dark brown, but not corroded or anything.
You'll notice that there are swastikas on both sides. This was just before Hitler and the Nazis stole the swastika symbol and made it infamous. It used to be considered a lucky symbol and had ties to the old Zoroastrian religion, I believe. I think some Native American tribes used it, too. In any event, the swastika on the obverse of this piece runs counterclockwise, like the ancient symbol often did. The Nazi swastika ran clockwise, like the smaller one on the reverse of this token.
There are also other lucky symbols, like an "all seeing eye", four-leaf clover, rabbit's foot, horseshoe, wishbone, etc.
This piece should bring me plenty of good mojo today. I don't think I'll carry it in a pocket, but will leave it safely at home in my detector finds album. Might give it a light rub for luck before I take off, though.
Let's hope Leap Day brings some nice finds leaping into my pockets.
You'll have to wait for the results to be posted, though.
Tomorrow I'm going on a real archaeology dig, to Fort Frederica, with my daughter's fourth grade class.
As of this post we have only one slot left: Target 35 in Round 2. The next one to speak up who hasn't already got a Round 2 target will get it.
Then I'll post results after the pictures and video (yes, video- I'm trying to step up a little!) are ready. Might take several days just to give John time to prepare for and dig Round 2.
As goldrush said, Round 2 is now closed for entries.
All that remains is for me to finish my writeup and video and post the Round 1 results, and then John will of course be digging Round 2 and posting those results.
Man, I guess that's what happens when you have too many irons in the fire.
No worries. Guitarwes shall have my Round 2 slot. #32.
Edit: no, since he requested it first I've put him in #31 as originally requested. JaLP, I removed myself from slot #32 and that is now yours.
Hopefully that's it for the target assignment messes. Now I remember why in some past hunts we assigned them in numerical order rather than letting folks pick their numbers. Sorry for the mixup.
Nope, hopefully we're all fixed now. I gave up my own number. I don't need to be a contestant in this thing anyway. I'm glad I did pick a slot for myself initially, though, since it gave me the opportunity to correct my errors. Thanks, though.
One thing is for certain, folks. There will need be no poll to decide what the best target of Round 1 was. Though itself a relatively modest find, it was far and away the only "keeper" of the day. Sad to say, all of the other nineteen targets were either modern coins or junk.
But so it goes. It was still a beautiful day and I'm glad I got out.
Working on the final video tonight and then the writeup tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be announcing the Round 1 results before the weekend is out, but we'll see. John of course has to dig Round 2, and I believe he said that would happen on Saturday.
I'm sure you all join me in wishing him the best of luck with his hunting, and that his round will exceed my own in exciting finds!
OK LordM... the excitement is building. Your 'one great' find already has me guessing... 18?? coin? Mega shark tooth? Civil war artifact? AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH The suspense is too much... Cheers, RickO
Don't get TOO excited. It's a very common coin. In fact, I've dug four of this particular date already.
Round 1 was rather inconsequential in the big scheme of things, but at least 2012 will not be a silverless year for me like the last three were. Can you believe it had been four years pretty much to the day since I last found a silver coin? That was February 28th, 2008. I had no idea it had been so long until I looked at my binder. Oddly enough, that last silver coin was the same date and type as the one I dug Wednesday.
I've finished the full video and think it looks good (for a Windows Movie Maker novice, anyway), but the audio is giving me fits.
John should be diggin' Round Two tomorrow, so I'll do the final tweaks on my video and do the writeup and post the full video on YouTube and all that, whenever I can. I've got graveyard shift over the weekend.
Hope you are getting better Rob! My round is in the bag and we will have a for sure winner from it. No need to take it to a vote, so that should tell you I didn't have a stellar day of digging. Still need to photograph the cleaned targets and download the as dug photos.
Great to see a new VTH taking place, and with Goldrush back in business as well!!
I'm at the stage where I'm watching the weather forecasts and snow depth like a hawk, with a major itch for some digging. I figure it will be another 4 weeks before my season can start. I hardly posted anything last year... had way too little time for detecting, along with rotten luck. Needs to be corrected this year! I do have a gold prospecting story from last year that I need to post.
-Z
Minelab: GPX 5000, Excalibur II, Explorer SE. White's: MXT, PI Pro
Sorry 'bout that, folks. Lately if it hasn't been health issues, it's been 'puter issues for me. Though I'm OK overall, I'm gonna be more absent than not for the remainder of March.
Apologies if the audio isn't right- I have no speakers at home, bad headphones, and the 'puter here at work has no sound card at all. Also, I see I initially misidentified Target #10 as Target #11 in one picture, but the summary picture at the end should be correctly numbered.
It looks like no poll will be necessary to determine what the winning target was- that's pretty clear cut. #10 was a silver coin, as you'll see. This means Bochiman has won the Columbian half giveaway.
Yeah, I was worried about that. The sound was fine on my speakerless home PC after I plugged in the earbuds from my iPod, but I had the same problem with low audio levels when I listened on my laptop.
Fortunately this particular video is not entirely dependent on the sound, since it's really more of a slideshow than a video. Oh, well, I'm still struggling up the learning curve.
Nice video. Glad you had fun with it, Rob. I'm glad I won, but I was really wishing you had hit something BIG all the way through the video....I have a detector but have only been able to go out a few times and really was looking forward to living vicariously when I saw there was a video
"Big" finds don't seem to be my destiny these last few years. Funny how all of my better or more interesting finds seem to have taken place long before I started writing about them and taking a camera out with me. Funny too how when I found that Roman coin on a colonial site a year ago, it was almost by accident- an eyeball find- when I had no camera with me.
Ah, well, so it goes. I suppose that's mostly because I just don't get out like I used to several years ago.
Of course if and when the England trip ever happens, I'll be sure to write about that, and shoot a little video from the field. Something interesting's bound to come up over there.
And, that is why you need to get, if you don't already have one, and keep, one of those little personal vid-cameras. So many are out on the market now, you can't help but trip over there....and for ~$100 (or less sometimes), you can get HD and 4-8GB of recording time. Not just for digs but also in case of accidents or anything else that happens. Same as with many "smartphones" and their recording capabilities, but I prefer to not use my phone for that.
Comments
So JM, you're in if you still want in.
Assuming I didn't frighten you off with my confused reaction to your dramatic entrance.
Just shoot me a PM. I sent you a couple. Then we can start planning for Round 3 and it'll be time for me to go out and dig Round 1 tomorrow.
The cellar hole thread is worth the reading , it answers the question to if i have a neat old site : )
(Just in its own independent thread, though, if you please.)
The VTH concept, like the now-lapsed monthly forum awards, were my personal brainchild, but they ain't copyrighted or patented or nothin' like that, so if you wanna do a separate event along similar lines, in its own thread, go for it! I'll cheer you on and participate as a player. (Just let me keep the "Virtual Treasure Hunt" name, if you don't mind. Call yours something else.)
It gets a bit messy if a new player enters an ongoing game or contest after the fact and is unaccustomed to its traditions, as I'm sure you obviously understand.
The more activity there is here, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned. That's one reason I think up these things, to give the place a boost. I'm only sorry I've been mostly absent these past few years.
I knew your intentions were honorable and enthusiastic, so no worries, mate. Keep 'em beepin!
Am I to understand your going out tommorow Rob ? and if
so best of luck, can't wait to see the take/results, I know
you'll keep us all posted
as you know were all there with ya every step of the way.
And JM, can't wait to see your post and hope I can secure a
spot, I'm truely envious with that spread you have and hunt.
Steve
Menomonee Falls Wisconsin USA
http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistr...dset.aspx?s=68269&ac=1">Musky 1861 Mint Set
<< <i>Am I to understand your going out tommorow Rob? >>
Yes, and not only that, I got permission on a potentially AWESOME site, just by freak chance today. The odds of me finding something good just quadrupled. This site has the most potential of any site I think I've hunted since The London Street site in December of 2007. It shares a lot of characteristics of that site, and is possibly in an even better location. It's also right on Hanover Square, about two or three doors down from this site, but with a bigger yard, on a prime corner lot.
If I can't find something good tomorrow, I might as well retire from diggin'. Just walking the site this afternoon, I kicked up all sorts of old glass and stuff. The sod has been removed so it's "nekkid dirt" just like I love. And the owner is supercool and friendly.
So my adrenaline has kicked up a notch, my fellow digpeople. I might even have trouble sleeping tonight, for all the visions of 19th century silver dancing in my head. The reality might turn out to be far less than the dream, but like I said... this place has HOT potential. The lot predates the Civil War. In fact, that square was the center of town and location of the courthouse, back in the 1700s.
I'll likely dig all day, until my arms fall off or my back breaks. So there will likely be more to it than just the VTH. I will do a full writeup so there may be a lag time of a few days before the results (VTH4 and Digs O' The Day story) get posted. Hopefully it will be worth the wait, though.
Woohoo!
PS- the owner said one younger fella was out there for maybe twenty minutes today, and found an 1886 Indian cent.
Get off the computer and go to sleep already!!!! So you'll have energy enough to pound that site ALL DAY tomorrow!!!!!!
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
Good luck with the hunt, (said as batteries are charging for tomorrows ballpark hunt
It's all about what the people want...
LukeMarshall- #30, as requested.
It looks as though we've got just three Round 2 slots left: #31, 35, and 36.
It's now about T Minus three hours to dig time on Round 1. I'll be suiting up and gathering my gear shortly.
You'll note I'm wearing my lucky "Swami" avatar. That's a piece I dug about three blocks south of where I'm going today.
It's a "Good Luck" token from the early to mid-1930s. Was only an inch or so in the ground near some Indian cents and Mercury and Barber dimes, and it gave an awesome signal. I was impressed with how well it was preserved, too. It's dark brown, but not corroded or anything.
You'll notice that there are swastikas on both sides. This was just before Hitler and the Nazis stole the swastika symbol and made it infamous. It used to be considered a lucky symbol and had ties to the old Zoroastrian religion, I believe. I think some Native American tribes used it, too. In any event, the swastika on the obverse of this piece runs counterclockwise, like the ancient symbol often did. The Nazi swastika ran clockwise, like the smaller one on the reverse of this token.
There are also other lucky symbols, like an "all seeing eye", four-leaf clover, rabbit's foot, horseshoe, wishbone, etc.
This piece should bring me plenty of good mojo today. I don't think I'll carry it in a pocket, but will leave it safely at home in my detector finds album. Might give it a light rub for luck before I take off, though.
Let's hope Leap Day brings some nice finds leaping into my pockets.
I'll take slot #36 if it's still available.
Love the good luck token!
P.S. Happy Leap Day on what would have been my great grandmother's 124th birthday!
to dig on this day for another four years
Steve
Good Luck and Happy Leap Day!
---->
You'll have to wait for the results to be posted, though.
Tomorrow I'm going on a real archaeology dig, to Fort Frederica, with my daughter's fourth grade class.
As of this post we have only one slot left: Target 35 in Round 2. The next one to speak up who hasn't already got a Round 2 target will get it.
Then I'll post results after the pictures and video (yes, video- I'm trying to step up a little!) are ready. Might take several days just to give John time to prepare for and dig Round 2.
your autographes
work by Lady Marcovan
Steve
She's the ten-year-old Crown Princess.
Steve
<< <i>Jimbux61- you've got #25.
LukeMarshall- #30, as requested.
It looks as though we've got just three Round 2 slots left: #31, 35, and 36.
But I already requested #25.
Anything left open?
There. You've got #25.
Jimbux61, I gave you #35.
As goldrush said, Round 2 is now closed for entries.
All that remains is for me to finish my writeup and video and post the Round 1 results, and then John will of course be digging Round 2 and posting those results.
Hey, somebody took my #31 spot.
Oh well, I got in on round 1. Let's see them finds boys.
Too many positive BST transactions with too many members to list.
Thank You.
JaLP
I did, didn't I.
Man, I guess that's what happens when you have too many irons in the fire.
No worries. Guitarwes shall have my Round 2 slot. #32.
Edit: no, since he requested it first I've put him in #31 as originally requested. JaLP, I removed myself from slot #32 and that is now yours.
Hopefully that's it for the target assignment messes. Now I remember why in some past hunts we assigned them in numerical order rather than letting folks pick their numbers. Sorry for the mixup.
One thing is for certain, folks. There will need be no poll to decide what the best target of Round 1 was. Though itself a relatively modest find, it was far and away the only "keeper" of the day. Sad to say, all of the other nineteen targets were either modern coins or junk.
But so it goes. It was still a beautiful day and I'm glad I got out.
Working on the final video tonight and then the writeup tomorrow. If all goes well, I should be announcing the Round 1 results before the weekend is out, but we'll see. John of course has to dig Round 2, and I believe he said that would happen on Saturday.
I'm sure you all join me in wishing him the best of luck with his hunting, and that his round will exceed my own in exciting finds!
Round 1 was rather inconsequential in the big scheme of things, but at least 2012 will not be a silverless year for me like the last three were. Can you believe it had been four years pretty much to the day since I last found a silver coin? That was February 28th, 2008. I had no idea it had been so long until I looked at my binder. Oddly enough, that last silver coin was the same date and type as the one I dug Wednesday.
I've finished the full video and think it looks good (for a Windows Movie Maker novice, anyway), but the audio is giving me fits.
John should be diggin' Round Two tomorrow, so I'll do the final tweaks on my video and do the writeup and post the full video on YouTube and all that, whenever I can. I've got graveyard shift over the weekend.
-And I'm not even on round one
It's all about what the people want...
Might be down n' out for a couple of days.
<Weak Terminator imitation>
I'll ... be ... back.
*coff*coff*coff*
</Weak Terminator imitation>
My round is in the bag and we will have a for sure winner from it. No need to take it to a vote, so that should tell you I didn't have a stellar day of digging.
Still need to photograph the cleaned targets and download the as dug photos.
Stay tuned!
Will work on an update ASAP. Sorry for the delay.
Get Well and don't push it.
Steve
Great to see a new VTH taking place, and with Goldrush back in business as well!!
I'm at the stage where I'm watching the weather forecasts and snow depth like a hawk, with a major itch for some digging. I figure it will be another 4 weeks before my season can start.
I hardly posted anything last year... had way too little time for detecting, along with rotten luck. Needs to be corrected this year!
I do have a gold prospecting story from last year that I need to post.
-Z
<< <i>
Ha! That's great!
And sadly appropriate.
Sorry 'bout that, folks. Lately if it hasn't been health issues, it's been 'puter issues for me. Though I'm OK overall, I'm gonna be more absent than not for the remainder of March.
FINALLY, here is the full VTH4 Round 1 video.
Apologies if the audio isn't right- I have no speakers at home, bad headphones, and the 'puter here at work has no sound card at all. Also, I see I initially misidentified Target #10 as Target #11 in one picture, but the summary picture at the end should be correctly numbered.
It looks like no poll will be necessary to determine what the winning target was- that's pretty clear cut. #10 was a silver coin, as you'll see. This means Bochiman has won the Columbian half giveaway.
Fortunately this particular video is not entirely dependent on the sound, since it's really more of a slideshow than a video. Oh, well, I'm still struggling up the learning curve.
I'm glad I won, but I was really wishing you had hit something BIG all the way through the video....I have a detector but have only been able to go out a few times and really was looking forward to living vicariously when I saw there was a video
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
Ah, well, so it goes. I suppose that's mostly because I just don't get out like I used to several years ago.
Of course if and when the England trip ever happens, I'll be sure to write about that, and shoot a little video from the field. Something interesting's bound to come up over there.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment