Miffed Arkies Due To 'Digger' and 'American Diggers'

"Historic artifacts can bring in big bucks. Show likes 'Diggers' on the National Geographic channel or Spike TV's 'American Diggers' document the hunt for prized artifacts.

But some archaeologists are standing up against these shows. They say the techniques used on the shows to dig up artifacts ends up destroying more history. They also feel these artifacts should be preserved, not dug up for profit.

With his metal detector by his side Robert Compton has uncovered dozens of Civil War artifacts.

'I've uncovered everything from mini balls, to cannon balls, buttons, bullets, buckles,' said Compton."

Read more HERE.

A nice video is aired with the news article on the jump!

Just more arkies in an uproar regarding these shows... share your thoughts by commenting below!

68 Yrs and States Away, Ring Returned

"School workers in Campbell County have worked together to help return a lost class ring from 1943.

The Altavista High School ring was found by a man doing metal detecting in a lake near Cleveland, Ohio.

The school system's records clerk and the Altavista guidance office helped connect the initials J.A.P, to Jeannette Pickrel Sullivan, who now lives in Wilmington, North Carolina."

Read more and watch the video HERE.

Brigadoon Pines

Well I was able to get out again today. It was super wet, but not cold. I hunted a neighborhood park at Lynnhaven and Albright, Brigadoon Pines. I've driven past it so many times and never got out to swing the coil.

I parked, and when I got out, a good omen, a Zincoln on the pavement at my feet. I snapped a few pics of the place and then got moving.

Kids were on the equipment so I ran the coil around the grassy areas. It was super soggy and just not great conditions for digging. I did manage 16 coins @ $1.51, so it was an acceptable day. I had planned on hitting up two open lots along Lynhhaven after but the rain was coming and I figure I'll try and hit it before the 1st as long as weather permits.

Jingle Hunt, Last of the Year?

I stayed home pretty much all day by myself. Just didn't feel well in general and so I lounged around horizontally in bed. I did get the itch to get out and do some hunting around my apartments, so I geared up. I was really wanting to load up Clive's Ring Enhancement Program from his book, but sadly, with the move so close, the book is packed up and inaccessible.

So I headed out and decided to use the stock Coin/Jewelry program. Only stuck it out for an hour or so, and managed $1.85 over 32 coins, not too bad for such an impromptu hunt.

I guess that's it for me unless Chad or Hollis want to get together before the New Year.

Skunked at Silver Site, But Still Goodies

Around lunch time today I headed back over to the lots off of Witchduck Rd. Thankfully, the old houses that stood here not too long ago are still visible in Google Maps, so you can get the orientations of where driveways and yards were to get a good feel for the hunt. Not only that, but I used a great website (www.zillow.com) to aid in my research. Zillow allows you to pull up an address and get lots of info on it, including square feet, lot size, bed/baths, how much it last sold for, what it's estimated market price is currently, and most importantly, the date in which the house was built! I noticed a few early '50s lots at the corner of Amberly, so that's where I decided to spend the next couple hours.

Wouldn't you know, I found nothing. Not even a single modern clad coin! I found some big trashy items scattered about, but nothing worth my time there that day. I don't think I've had a completely skunked day like this in a long time. It was sort of depressing.

On the way out, I drove past my local gun shop, The Armory. I usually buy ammo from the spot, but had never actually purchased any of my weapons here. Today that would change. About a year ago I stopped in and they had M4/A3 style AR-15's for between $550-$700, a sweet price range. Sadly, deals like that did not exist on this trip. But I did manage to pick up what I wanted, a Rock River Arms (RRA) LAR-15 with a 2-stage match trigger and Tactical Rail/Handle. I got it in a .223, mostly because it's the same as my M16 from the Army days, and it's relatively cheap to shoot compared to a .308, actually 5x cheaper. While in there I saw something else that had caught my eye, and felt I just had to have. It looked like a miniature mash-up between a AR lower and an AK upper... and in reality, that's what it was. They had one bored in .223, but this thing was a "pistol", and that seemed a little much so I picked it up for $200 cheaper in a .22LR. It's a Kel-Tec PLR-22. It used a modified AR clip and holds 27 rounds, which is pretty sweet. And being a .22LR, the rounds are like a penny a piece, so it's going to be really fun to shoot.

Back home, score silver!

Good afternoon all! As some of you may have noticed, I've been in the UAE all the past week for work related activities and just got home at 11p last night. My buddy "dfxing virginia" from FMDF promptly texted me to remind me of our plans for a hunt this morning in Hampton at 8a.

We headed out that way and hunted the area around Memorial Baptist and pretty much found nothing but trash and clad, it was rather disappointing for a turn of the century neighborhood. If there was good stuff around, we completely missed it. Though in our defense, this is home turf for the Hampton Roads Recovery Society, and I'm sure they've hit up much of the old neighborhoods. We left the place scratching our heads, but thankfully I had another place up my sleeve.

Next stop was the area off of Witchduck Rd. in Virginia Beach where the city bought up all the homes to tear down for road expansion. It's all grassed over now and ripe for the picking. We rolled up, geared up, and got to swingin'. And what do you know, in the first 20 mins, I pull two silvers. A '44 Merc and a '57 Rosie. The Merc was my very first plug dug on the site.

Anyway, we covered a lot of ground, possibly quicker than we should have, because out of the next couple hours, those two silver dimes were the only ones to come outta the ground. We both managed a few bucks in clad, and I fished out 6 wheats, but overall I felt there should have been more.

We found lots of odd and ends as well. I know I found a automotive thermostat and a few fence post tops. Landed another couple keys, that's 6 in my last few hunts. I've given them all to my hunting partners son. I also found what I thought was a gold bracelet, but it turns out it's "gold toned". It's made by Monet, an antique costume jeweler.

So that's the day, 60 coins $4.13.

Alanton + CHX Hunt

Today was a day to be away from the apartment all day. Air filters where being changed, so me and kitty had to be elsewhere. Ash took Zoe to her parents house in the morning while I headed to the bank to deposit some money, the gas station to fill up, and the to Grandma's to visit.

I hung out for a few hours chatting with Grandma about any and everything new in life. My Aunt showed up as well so it was a good visit. After, I went out in the front yard of my Uncle's house to do what I really came over for... swing and dig. The neighborhood was built in the 60's sometime, so I knew it would be iffy to find any silver, but I gave it a shot. I stayed about an hour and was teased by a '66 Quarter... and then a '50 Wheat penny. I had a few hours til 3 when i needed to pick up kitty and head home, so I ran some other errands and then ended up at a church built in the 50's along Sparrow Rd. in Chesapeake. I dug there for 45 minutes or so, landing another wheatie, this time a '46-D... not much else.

A decent hunts worth, 26 coins @ $1.58.

Beach, Music, + Fireworks

I sent Hollis a message earlier in the day seeing if he wanted to hit up the beach this evening, or rather hit up some open residential lots in Virginia Beach on Sunday. He messaged me on his way out saying he was off to the beach. So about 10 minutes to 8p tonight I met him up there... and he had already snagged a Coach charm thingie and a bunch of clad.

I walked from 35th down to 30th in the wet sand and didn't find much other than some clad. On the way back in the dry, not much more than bottle tops and other trash. I did have one really good signal tonight in the wet stuff I was hoping to be something good. After quite a few scoops and about 10" down (and the waves filling my hole back up), I finally pulled it up... a freakin' coke can!!! So anticlimactic. On my way headed back to 35th and out, I didn't see Hollis again, so either he left or was hitting up the other way. Hope he scored some goodies.

All this weekend the beach is having the 16th Annual American Music Festival, which is the largest yearly outdoor music event on the East coast. This year big acts like Heart (they played tonight), Boyz II Men and The Black Crowes were performing. So needless to say, the two and a quarter hours I was at the beach tonight, there was plenty of activity. I'm sure the early morning looters will have a good time.

So here's the nut, $1.06 over 13 coins, blegh.

Back for More at Atlantic Shores

It was huntin' time again this evening. At 7pm I had two hours to get packed, drive the 1000ft or so to Atlantic Shores and bring home the goods until TrueBLOOD was to come on. I love that show, can't believe season two is almost over!!!

Anyhow... after my last hunt when I was cherry pickin' quarters, I decided to actually hunt that area in full this time. I also wanted to get some use outta my 4x6 BlueMax DD. So I started with that coil. Not sure I'll ever get used to it. It worked out fine, don't get me wrong, but having that little thing down there just doesn't seem right. I was able to score a few coins and some trash with it. I really need to find where it will benefit me the most to use. Because, as it is, the VDI seems to be pretty good, but the depth is so off you need to start saying to yourself 1.5" whenever you see 4.5".

After 30 mins of that I went back to the trusty 950 coil and started to reel in the coins. Quarters once again were poppin'. And would you believe it, about 10 ft. from the +90 double quarter hit the other day... I got another! Same thing. You can see in the pic where the two quarters were together keeping those parts shiny. Never would have thought something like that would happen to hunts in a row! 28 coins @ $2.92.

Lastly, I found this ring today in the Taco Bell parking lot... same place I found the .925 charm bracelet a while back at. It's a junk ring, but it's still a ring. I "beep'd" my hand over it and the g/f looked at me like I was crazy.

52nd St.

Today was a great day, it really was. Friday afternoon Ash had been talking with my sister-in-law Maria about getting together for the beach. Perfect idea IMO.

Anyhow, we got ready and met up at my brother's dad's timeshare condo type thing just off the beach on 52nd St. in Virginia Beach. Parked halfway on the walkway back to some other residents, but there was no place else. Walked over to the beach, setup, and off Taylor and Coral went, they had a blast. I got in the water a few times, it felt nice. Super strong underwater current though, while on the surface it seemed alright. I even took Ash's McTavish surf board out and got my ass handed to me by the current... within 5 mins I swear I was a quarter mile down the beach.

Oh, and ECSC was going on, along with Danny fueling the waves, surfers everywhere!

Enough talking, enjoy the pics!

Still Made It Out - Atlantic Shores

In spite of that rain that came through, it was short lived. Only maybe an hour or so worth of wetness. So around 9p I decided to head out, with lightning on the horizon.

I was once again trying out my "Nickel" program in an area I've hit with success a few times before. I told myself there was no way I was leaving without finding at least one. My first signal for the evening was a 3" quarter, must have been one I missed on the previous trips.

The going was slow, very slow. I ended up getting a weird signal at one point that I told myself I had to dig. About 2" down my Vibra-Probe 570 was going off, but I just couldn't get the target. After searching around in the muddy hole I finally pulled this out... I was excited at first... but as you can see, I shouldn't have been... it's AVON.

Not long after I got another weird signal down there in the nickel/foil range that I couldn't resist. This time I have no clue what it might be, but as you can see in the image, there's some gold color under there... I wonder?

Anyhow, I kept hunting the old area and had found just over $1.00 in clad, plus my nickel, and was about to head out. But there is so much area here, all the way around the church, that I decided to head around back for a bit... and glad I did! Quarter city. It was like swinging here the very first day. I cherry picked only dimes and above and landed one after the other. Then I got it, a +90. I told myself, "No way!" It was a solid signal, 3" deep, wasn't bouncing around... could it be my first half? Nope, but it was in the same amount... 2 quarters sandwiched together in the hole, haha. I had heard of this happening to others, but this was a first for me.

Anyway, on the walk back to the truck I spied two little amphibious friends enjoying all the wetness outside. Usually the school behind my apartments is swarming with frogs/toads and I never remember to get a pic.

So here's the totals for the night, 28 coins @ $4.13... that makes about $20 I've pulled from this church.

Walking Out The Door... RAIN

I was just about to head over to my once honey-hole with the XLT and my new "Nickel Finding" program when I thought I heard some thunder. Sure enough, as I open the door I can hear the downpour.

I thought it was TS Danny, but it still seems a bit far away to be acting up this much. A quick view from the NHC NOAA site shows that.

Half Hour School Hunt, Muddy

The other day while driving around I spotted a local elementary school I've never been too... and it had construction going on in the back. I was stopping by a house of someone who lived nearby and they said their development was built in the 70's, so the school probably is no older than that. Boo.

We have had some monsoon type rains so I was hoping for some nice soft soil to sink the Lesche into it. Well I got more than I asked for. The ground was super saturated, and I sank in it while walking. My flip-flops didn't have a chance. Definitely was the day to be wearing some boots and socks as my feet got all muddy and nasty.

The hunt itself wasn't much better. The tot lot was clean, no finds to speak of. The surrounding areas had to have been picked before. I found a recently dropped quarter and a few dimes, but not much else.

I did find one thing of interest and something that I feel better about myself now for finding. An old knife. Many members on FMDF have found lots of these, and well... I never have, until now. 8 coins @ $0.68.