Tag: Military

Did i just find a hammered, some silver and a dead dude!?! ~ 31/03/2019

Wow – has it really been 2 whole years since my last dig log? I have a done a bunch of detecting in that time, but for some reason must have stopped writing logs. I do have a bunch of video’s but also stopped those for a while. I did have a break from detecting, not on purpose but just it was the way it was.

Since the last post, i’ve relocated from NSW, Australia to Berlin in Germany. I was lucky enough to be offered a job and we made the decision to up sticks and come (for me, back to) Europe. It took us a few month to get settled but i think we’re there now and i intend to make more video’s and now, keep this dig log up to date.

That said, last weekend i was able to get out for the first time in a few weeks. The winter finally seems to be over and spring really feels in the air. Saturday had been in the high teens, but Sunday, when i headed out was overcast an just over 10. It was for me almost perfect detecting weather. No mossies, warm enough to not wear a bulky jacket, but cool enough that you could detect all day.

I drove through these woods most weekends on the way to the shops, and after having rode heaps last summer, knew they had a bit of age from them from some of the houses in the area. I checked out the old maps and there wasn’t anything significant about them either. There is a small Military link in the area that i hoped would yield something, from people taking the air in the forest.

I geared up, having found a safe spot to park the car, and quickly broke of the trail in to the bush. I prefer to detect out of site, especially in a country i’m still learning the language. I never know whether people are being friendly or not when they approach. I got a few quick signals but just modern trash. The targets lessened as i got deeper in to the forest untill i hit a little patch which turned out to be 5 or so meters of a trail. I was surprised by a lady and her dog out the corner of my eye. I think as i was on the floor checking a target they didn’t see me and just went by. The first find up was a nice condition 1893 10 pfennig (pfg) coin. I was stoked a couple of weeks ago pulling my first 1800 coins, so was pumped to get another on the board. I have found a few this year now, and i think i had 2 in all my time in Australia.

I moved on, crossing the path and in to another section of wood. I could see the edge about 200 meters from where i was working parallel to it. At one point someone popped in, snuck around the back of a tree, did their business and left. Amazing what you see when you are out and about. A few mins later whilst working the same area i got a nice sharp loud signal on the XP Deus. From memory it wan’t high on the ID, mid 60’s maybe. I initially thought trash, but when searching for it with the Mi6 pinpointer it became obvious it was small. As soon as i saw it i knew i had something special. The Iron Cross is a distinctive shape. I cleaned it off, first seeing the 800 mark on the back, German silver mark. Turning it over i saw it was two Iron Crosses, a small pin, with the stick broken off the back. Wow. I could see the crown and 1914, 1st world war. Research shows it to be a pin worn in place of the actual medals probably on the holders civilian dress. Such a cool find, not that it’s silver, which is also nice, but a personal piece from a Veteran. Pity it has no service numbers of ID marks so i could try and find the family.

I worked the area a little more, the day was more of a scouting run, so wanted to cover a bunch of the woods to find the good areas. A few feet away, i got anther signal. Again, nothing amazing. I didn’t film this target either… always the way. Up came a coin. At first i though it was just a manky war time zinc or aluminium 1 pfg coin. It had the German eagle, but looked a little different. The other side, it looked like a fluer de lis. I didn’t have my loop, but posted a picture on Instagram to see if anyone knew what it was. The back was off stamped… was this a hammered? It was very thing… Is it billion!?! On getting home and giving it a light clean, and using the loop I was able to see a date… 1568… wait… 1568!!! No way. Some searches online showed a few examples of similar coins, all dating to that era. Not exact date matches, but with the same eagle and shield on the reverse. I believe it to be a coin minted under the reign of the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg Joachim II Hector in 1568. It is Billion silver. I think it’s called a Dreier (3 pfennig) . That makes it 451 years old, smashing my oldest coins by hundreds of years… This is why detecting in Europe is so great!

I found a few more coins through the afternoon as i made my way through the wood. A couple of between war coins, they are 1924/25 which seems to be the main year i find of those type here. One was in really nice condition.

As I was on the return leg of the days adventure, i had one of those moments every detectorist dreads… I think i stumble upon a dead body. I could see over in a small depression what looks like a sleeping bag, a coat, rucksack and a bunch of bin bags…. It looked like some poor homeless guy had setup his camp for the night, and didn’t wake up. I stashed my gear, took my trowel and ventured closer. As i got closer i was more and more convinced it was a dead dude. The coat was over the head end, it was bent in the middle, and a small lump where the feet are. No smell tho. Maybe the cold we’d had meant it hadn’t decomposed, or it was fresh meat… It wasn’t untill i got a few steps out i saw that under all the cover was paint tins… Thank god ( a few other choice words). Who does that! Who covers stuff up with a coat and a ruck sack. Oh my gosh. I was quickly on my way!

There was not too much to write home about on the road side of the wood, mostly trash from the traffic travelling through. As i got back to the area i started in, i did pickup a couple of nice knife handles. Just stainless steal (or something), but one was marked Aschinger and stamped Sport Palast, which i think are both important cultural institutions within Berlin, so some nice history there.

You can check out the video from the hunt as usual on my Youtube channel, and see all the finds on Instagram if that works better for you. Please do leave comments and subscribe/follow me. I love interacting with everyone, one of the reasons i do this hobby.

HH. Davo.

Random Relics ~ 22-01-2017

Got back to detecting after a week off.  Had a few too many beers watching the soccer!

I decided to go back to a local park which I had detected on before, but taken my middle son out with me.  He’d done most of the swinging that day and so I guessed we missed a bunch and didn’t cover the whole park.

It isn’t a massive spot, probably 20m by 50m grassed area.  I know it hasn’ been built on (to my knowledge) since the village was established and it looks like it had the old village dump at the back of it.  I was hoping that it had been used through the life of the village.

First hit was a 1972 matchbox car, which fell apart as i pulled it out, then on to a John Walker and Sons cork bottle top.  It was a cool little find, i don’t think there is any great age to it, but I like Whiskey so it’s a keeper for me.  I did look online and a dude was selling one in mint condition for $150 US!  Crazy!  I’m sure mine is worth less than a buck…

Next decent target other than 1c and 2c coins was a mashed up old brass tap.  I has a nice bit of character to it, a keeper for my collection.  I started pulling out some interesting relics at this point.  Next was a small decorative star shaped object, it wasn’t a pin, perhaps decoration of something.  It was in a hole with a pull tab, so happy with that save.

As i reached the back of the park i noticed a small foot track round the back of the bushes, likely to be a spot where the local youth hang out and have sly durries without the watchful eye of Mums and Dads.  The trash in the area of V-Cans and cigarette butts certainly alluded to that.  A little deeper in the bush i found a spot where i’d come from the other side and was finding old bottles (see my earlier youtube video’s).  We’d had a bit of rain in the past few days and there had been a bunch of earth wahed out.  On the top was a smashed Codd bottle.  Fantastic.  I knew there was earlier stuff here from the late 1800 bottle it’d found previously, but it was neat to see there could be some other cool bottles underneath the dirt.  I wasn’t setup to dig for bottles, so will have to head back again another time.

Returning to the park proper i found what at first i thought was a cog.  On cleaning it up it was too light and delicate and it had some fancy on it.  It almost looks like a lid or draw pull, another sweet find.

The i pulled out my first pre-dec of the day, a 1954 Roo Penny.  It was in pretty bad shape, the park was damp both times i’d been there so it had rotted away pretty bad. This was followed by a little pad lock, not great age to it, but it was in decent shap, just missing the latch.

Underneath a tree i started finding a bunch of lead round sinkers, and then out popped a little old lead toy cannon.  I’m thinking a bunch of young lads might have been playing with their toy soldiers and knocking them over with the lead shot.  Such a cool little toy.

I like military history being form a military family, and a Rising Sun badge is on my bucket list.  Whilst this isn’t that, and when i dug it wasn’t sure if it was military or not, i’ve now confirmed my next find is military related.  It’s an insignia badge from either the 2/6th or 2/7th General Military hospital form World War 2.  I can’t make out the middle color being purple or blue which would give the exact one it belongs too.  Such a cool find!

I carried on with another good find, this time a Silver 1946 Rams Head shilling, the 2nd and final pre-dec of the day.  It has a big stain on it, but it was still my 2nd ever Shilling so i’m not complaining!

I started heading back to the car, and by the entrance to the park got a solid coin signal.  I popped out what i know now is a Japanese 500 Yen coin.  Not sure of age, but i’d say pretty modern.  A further scan of the area popped me out 2 more in a spill, so 1500 Yen all up!  Nice.

It was a productive little hunt.  I’m sure there are a few more things in there, especially down the back where i think it must have been an old tip or something.  I’ll deffo be heading back to look for bottles, and i’m sure i’ll have a swing with the detector at the same time.

Check out the video