@johnny9434 said:
Many thanks for removing the trash to. I like to help out like that as well
That's great! I think it's important to dig (almost) every signal, take all the trash with you and leave the place at least as good as you found it, if not better. This includes picking up trash as you see it on the surface, always refill your holes and try to not destoy all the grass roots around your plug.
It's oddly satisfying to remove potetially dangerous stuff (nails, glass) from public parks and tot lots.
@Göttinger said:
By far the most common cartridge cases in my area are the German 8x57 for the Mauser K98 from the 1930's and 1940's (mostly with a "Polte" headstamp). I must have found several thousand, they usually go straight into my scrap bucket.
Do you ever find 7.92 x 33mm cartridges from a Sturmgewehr? I think that would be interesting, although most of those cases were probably made of steel.
@Göttinger said:
By far the most common cartridge cases in my area are the German 8x57 for the Mauser K98 from the 1930's and 1940's (mostly with a "Polte" headstamp). I must have found several thousand, they usually go straight into my scrap bucket.
Do you ever find 7.92 x 33mm cartridges from a Sturmgewehr? I think that would be interesting, although most of those cases were probably made of steel.
It's possible, but not that I'm aware of. Cartridges never really caught my interest, most times I toss them out without taking a closer look at them. Except for the 8x57IS, I usually check them for the 1938 SS headstamp (never found one).
My mother was curious how I am able to find old stuff on a regular basis.
So I took her to the local park, gave her my old Nokta Simplex Plus and she started detecting. For a newbie, and taking into consideration that I have picked over the area several times before, she did pretty well!
A 50 Cent coin (spendable) plus several German Mark coins, dating back between 1949 - 2001.
Today I took my mother out detecting the public park near my grandparent's home again.
It was a pretty nice family outing. Her first signal turned out to be a 1st world war Belgian army uniform button. And not even 15 minutes later she had a banging high tone wich turned out to be a beautiful brass reins guide. She found all the spendable coins aswell.
My hunt did not start very promising, I got a lot of aluminium scrap and a crusty iron core 2 Pfennig coin (1981).
But then it got progessively better: a broken lead toy soldier figurine, two musket balls, a modern 1800's button and last but not least a low grade copper coin.
The usual park / sports field, still not hunted out:
Some change, two nice old buttons, a musket ball, a (modern) bronze cross pendant and some older coins. 1 Reichspfennig (zinc) from the 1940's, a 1752 copper 1 Pfennig from Hannover, a rolled up copper coin (most likely mid-1700's) and a 1847 silver 6 Pfennig from Hannover.
And 68 pieces of trash, including the large brass lid, a old .22 casing and a cheap rusty chain.
@Bayard1908 said:
I'm surprised Northern Europe is warm enough for detecting. There's nine inches of snow at my house in Illinois.
Over the past weeks we had a lot of heavy rain and some light snow and frost in my area. But today is warm and dry day, no rain and 6°C / 43°F.
Pretty perfect conditions for a few hours of digging, probably the last nice day of the year.
While visiting some relatives I detected their garden for about one hour. It was trashier then expected and everything was pretty deep due to the soft and sandy soil.
At least I found a few coins (1 Pfennig 1913, 10 Pfennig ca. 1917 - 1922, some German Mark and one coin beyond recognition), but for a old tavern that's pretty mediocre....
I am curious the musket balls, military buttons found in parks. Are most parks in your vicinity, areas that hosted battles in various wars? Seems they would not make huntable parks out of old battlefields?
I am curious the musket balls, military buttons found in parks. Are most parks in your vicinity, areas that hosted battles in various wars? Seems they would not make huntable parks out of old battlefields?
Thanks!
I guess that most of my musket balls are of a civilian origin. There is always the possibility that they are from the 30-year's-war (1618 - 1648), the 7-year's-war (1756 - 1763) or other (less important) local conflicts. But none of them were found near any major battle sites.
About the military buttons - for a long time in German history it was mandatory for soldiers and officials of the army/ federal & local government to wear their uniform in public, even during their free time. So uniform buttons from circa the 1850's til mid 1940's are a very common find pretty much everywhere you go.
Comments
That's great! I think it's important to dig (almost) every signal, take all the trash with you and leave the place at least as good as you found it, if not better. This includes picking up trash as you see it on the surface, always refill your holes and try to not destoy all the grass roots around your plug.
It's oddly satisfying to remove potetially dangerous stuff (nails, glass) from public parks and tot lots.
Do you ever find 7.92 x 33mm cartridges from a Sturmgewehr? I think that would be interesting, although most of those cases were probably made of steel.
It's possible, but not that I'm aware of. Cartridges never really caught my interest, most times I toss them out without taking a closer look at them. Except for the 8x57IS, I usually check them for the 1938 SS headstamp (never found one).
My mother was curious how I am able to find old stuff on a regular basis.
So I took her to the local park, gave her my old Nokta Simplex Plus and she started detecting. For a newbie, and taking into consideration that I have picked over the area several times before, she did pretty well!
A 50 Cent coin (spendable) plus several German Mark coins, dating back between 1949 - 2001.
Today I took my mother out detecting the public park near my grandparent's home again.
It was a pretty nice family outing. Her first signal turned out to be a 1st world war Belgian army uniform button. And not even 15 minutes later she had a banging high tone wich turned out to be a beautiful brass reins guide. She found all the spendable coins aswell.
My hunt did not start very promising, I got a lot of aluminium scrap and a crusty iron core 2 Pfennig coin (1981).
But then it got progessively better: a broken lead toy soldier figurine, two musket balls, a modern 1800's button and last but not least a low grade copper coin.
It turned out to be a 1 Pfennig from the bishopic of Paderborn, circa 1766 - 1767
https://en.numista.com/43915
The usual park / sports field, still not hunted out:
Some change, two nice old buttons, a musket ball, a (modern) bronze cross pendant and some older coins. 1 Reichspfennig (zinc) from the 1940's, a 1752 copper 1 Pfennig from Hannover, a rolled up copper coin (most likely mid-1700's) and a 1847 silver 6 Pfennig from Hannover.
And 68 pieces of trash, including the large brass lid, a old .22 casing and a cheap rusty chain.
I'm surprised Northern Europe is warm enough for detecting. There's nine inches of snow at my house in Illinois.
Over the past weeks we had a lot of heavy rain and some light snow and frost in my area. But today is warm and dry day, no rain and 6°C / 43°F.
Pretty perfect conditions for a few hours of digging, probably the last nice day of the year.
While visiting some relatives I detected their garden for about one hour. It was trashier then expected and everything was pretty deep due to the soft and sandy soil.
At least I found a few coins (1 Pfennig 1913, 10 Pfennig ca. 1917 - 1922, some German Mark and one coin beyond recognition), but for a old tavern that's pretty mediocre....
Two parks, one hour each:
Very neat finds.
I am curious the musket balls, military buttons found in parks. Are most parks in your vicinity, areas that hosted battles in various wars? Seems they would not make huntable parks out of old battlefields?
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
Thanks!
I guess that most of my musket balls are of a civilian origin. There is always the possibility that they are from the 30-year's-war (1618 - 1648), the 7-year's-war (1756 - 1763) or other (less important) local conflicts. But none of them were found near any major battle sites.
About the military buttons - for a long time in German history it was mandatory for soldiers and officials of the army/ federal & local government to wear their uniform in public, even during their free time. So uniform buttons from circa the 1850's til mid 1940's are a very common find pretty much everywhere you go.
2026 has begun, so I guess it's time for my 2025 totals:
My detecting goals for 2026:
Got this a while back. West indies i believe