If you ever get a chance to metal detect or dig around old foundations of buildings. Keep an eye open for coins under large rocks or wooden beams which supported the buildings. I'm talking about really old homesteads, barns, etc. The 18th/19th century builder often placed coins under these based upon an ancient practice called 'Foundation Sacrifice' where horrific (by todays standards) ceremonial practices took the lives of many who were slain and entombed under the structure to appease the gods. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q="foundation+sacrifice"&btnG=Google+Search http://www.rpgmud.com/WorldBuilding/Mythopoets/tmm-Worship.html#Heading175 While the days of using human victims and animals are long gone the superstitions still remain like knocking on wood, black cats, and crossing ones fingers. Even today the occasional builder may stash a coin or something with special meaning within the bricks or wooden timbers of the structure they are building. Here is a silver dollar which was found south of here (Buffalo Gap, SD) a few years ago under a wooden (seal) which was partially buried, it had been part of a foundation on a 19th century building that burned down in the 1930s or so. It's been cleaned (soaked in water for a few days to remove the grime) but not harshly scrubbed. Was it a Foundation Sacrifice? Who knows, but it was the only numismatic item I found after searching with my detector for a few hours. Take Care Ben
Still a nice find , really nice considering all the years under the building , to bad it wasn't a BH though . rzage
For fathers day I got a metal detector. I had hoped I would find something old, as I live in an old house, and sure enough after finding 5 coins which were 1970s-2000s, I found a 1917 cent under an old elm tree in the backyard, right nearby I found a 1945 cent a few minutes later. Since then all my yard finds have been fairly modern.
Another productive place/s are creeks where a dirt road & wooden bridge meet and subsequently cross the creek. (my H.S. math teacher in Tx found hundreds of Wheat & Memorial Cents, Nickels, Dimes, etc.) The water was pretty shallow and the bridge had been there for many (60 plus) years. High School kids used to park nearby and drink beer/make out, they still do. All Mr. C*A*K did was put on some duck hunting boots/waders and get a shovel and a window screen and slowly sifted the mud thru the screen, picking the coins out after each shovel full. Again, another ancient superstition. Waking a wish when tossing a coin into the water... Ben
pretty cool Bone..nice find ..i also metal detect alittle wonder if the two hobbies go hand in hand ..hmmm....sure seem so
Old cross roads are another good place to look as often they would be dropping off places for coach travellers and meeting places for herders. Same goes for river fords, quite often drovers and herders would camp on one side or the other of a ford and of course the same would be true of troops etc Oh and on the subject of coins and old buildings LOL it is was quite common for a builder to place a coin above the door lintel of a new house, to bring the place luck, it was also known for a master builder to nick his hand to place a drop of blood in the mortar mix (Back to the human sacrifice bit)
Nice find Bonedigger. I used to hunt a lot of old building sites. I mostly found small change. A friend that did demo. work would call me when the foundation was coming up and I got to hunt right behind the machines. Old foundations were hand dug and change got lost in the hole. You guys probably know this but the crawl hole door area is a good place to search. Another good spot is around the back porch steps and the path from there to the outhouse. Folks on that path were always in a hurry.:smile
Only seven 1933 British pennies were made. Three were proof and were placed under foundation stones laid by the King. The one from the Church of St Cross in Middleton was stolen in the 70's.
