6/2/15 Report - Indian Points And Artifacts. Old Felling Ax. Mercury Dime. Silver Cross. An Inland Hunt.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

West Vigrinia Points And Artifacts.

Above are some points and artifacts found in the area of West Viginia that I was talking about yesterday.  They were found near a spring and old path on private property.  As I've shown, Native American artifacts can be seen on our Treasure Coast beaches on rare occasion.

Old Ax Head Found.

Yesterday I showed an old buck shot that I found on a recent trip to the hills of West Virginia.  I now have some of the other finds from that trip ready to show.

Here is the ax head that I found on the side of a steep hill in the woods.  Many people would pass over signals like the one the ax gave.  For me, not only is it a neat find, but it was also an indicator that I should look at that area some more.

Below is another picture of the ax head along with a few other items on it.

Ax Head Along With Some Other Items Including
Buck Shot On Penny.

On the ax is a wheat penny and on the penny is the buck shot that I showed yesterday.  The buck shot was found on the same steep hillside not very far from the ax head.

I mentioned yesterday that hunting in a place like this is very different from hunting on a beach.  It is good to do different types of hunting.  When you hunt different types of places you'll often learn something new and develop new skills.

Hunting on a steep hill can be challenging.  It takes energy to keep from falling down the hill. It stretches calf muscles, strains ankles, and makes for a real workout.

One technique is to use a rope tied to a tree to hold on to.  The bad part about that is you have to move the rope to a new tree when you move over.  But it is still helpful.

When on the side of a steep hill, you might want to shorten your detector stem like you would when diving.  Detect with your back to the valley and the hill will be waist to shoulder high in front of you.

Finding small objects covered with mud isn't easy either.  You also have to be careful that uncovered objects don't roll down the hill and into the stream before you get them.

1920 Mercury Dime Recently 
Dug On A West Virginia Path 

Here is one of several silver coins found on the path - a mercury dime in nice condition.  The soil there really messes up copper coins, but silver, not so much.

I'm absolutely amazed that there are still old items like this remaining on that path.  I've seen locals detecting the path multiple times when I was up there and I've only been there a few times, so I know it has been heavily detected.  I'm glad they are leaving plenty for me whatever they are doing.  If I lived up there and had the time, that path would be completely cleaned out, not just detected.  I'd dig and sift some parts of it.  Just as well for me that the others aren't that thorough.

 Unfortunately, just like some beaches, there is a lot of junk on the beach and in the woods.  That protects the good things.

At a place like this there are layers.  Recent items and some older junk will be near the surface.  The layers will depend to some extent upon how long ago items were dropped, but also the nature of the soil and the processes of erosion and other things.  This coin was very shallow.  The path has a hard layer of clay and a lot of rocks.  On a surface like things many items will remain near the surface.

Yearly rain washes a small ditch down through the path, and the edges of the path, which are higher and less packed, will erode and things will slide onto the path.  That means older items can be on top of or along with more recent items.  A similar thing can happen on a beach.  In both types of location, foil and aluminum is generally found very near the surface.

Sterling Cross Find.

I sent my little Ace 250 up to WV in the mail.  It was there waiting for me when I arrived.  I tend to ship my detectors rather than taking a chance that some TSA fellow in the airport will give me trouble.

I also found a modern sterling silver cross on the path through the woods.  The path was once an Indian path and was used by settlers on horse back but it is still used to a much lesser extent by locals today.  In the past I've found horse shoes, crotal bells, and other artifacts along the path.  Also a gold class ring from the 1930s was found beside the path.

You can find jewelry in places other than the beach.

Here is a link to a great web site with information on old felling axes and some other interesting things.

 http://www.libertyrifles.org/research/dugtools.html

A place like that is not much visited today, but it still holds items that span hundreds of years.

Very Old Trail Through West Virginia Woods

Close View Of The Path.

With all of the live and decomposing vegetation on the ground, along with the mud, clay and packed rocks and pebbles, recovering targets isn't easy, even when not hanging on a steep hill.

Those are a few of the experiences and finds from my trip up north.

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There still are decent people in the world.  A lady dumped an old computer off at a recycling center.  The recycling company sold the old computer, which happened to be a very early Apple, for $200,000.  They are now looking for the woman to give her half of the $200,000.  Not bad.

But again, it pays to know what you have.  Do your research before discarding finds.

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On the Treasure Coast we'll have south wind most of today, later changing to east.  The surf will be smooth, one or two feet through most of the week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net