Featured Possibly best underground find!

I had a busy spring and didn’t make it out metal detecting at all before the bugs got thick, the air got muggy, and the grass/crops got long/tall. Was feeling antsy this last week so I dragged out my gear and charged my machine. Checked the forecast and it was clear until dark where I live. Drove out to a very old area with lots of open land. Had forgotten to check the weather there. As I crossed the town line there (1hr away) the first raindrops fell. Just sprinkling lightly until I hit the small trailhead lot I was going to. It then sprinkled harder. I waited in my car until it cleared. There are two fields separated by a small stream and small section of wetland. One you need to hop a fence to get in as they keep cows in it sometimes. One is planted with crops each year. I planned to hit the cow field but made a last minute decision to do the side of the other field I’ve not gotten to much in the past. I didn’t see any cows but sometimes they are in trails that wind through the wetland and they’ve tried to trample me in the past. My first hole I found a nice decorative button. I could only swing my machine in the rows between crops and tractor roads. Not much came up and my machine was acting wonky and chirpy. It was beautiful out in an overcast way though and I was enjoying being out in the farmland for the first time this year. For the first time since I’ve been going to this spot they had tomatoes planted in the field. The smell of 1000’s of tomato plants in stormy air is to die for! Outside of the button and a couple little bits I had found nothing. Suddenly a massive cold wind blew in from the wooded side of the field. Birds flitted about, it felt a bit spooky it was so strong and sudden. I ignored it and kept farting around only to get dumped on minutes later. I quickly walked back to my car and sat in it soaked. I had forgotten to bring a change of clothes. There was a guy in the town over that I was hoping to buy a few things from when I was done. I sent him a message and waited for a reply. He said was not available. I decided to sit in my car and list a few things on eBay waiting to see if the storm would break. It poured for twenty minutes or so and then lightened up until it was dry again. I got back out, the swarm of mosquitos I had parked in when I arrived was now doubly as thick. I fought them off as I geared up and headed back to the field. My machine got more chirpy and I was getting almost no signals. I hate a chirpy machine and considered going back. Still nice to be outside though and kept at it. Then the thunder and lighting that was previously far in the distance started booming much closer and on the side of the field towards my car, not the woods. Since I was holding a metal pole and shovel I decided I’d better head towards the safety of four rubber wheels. I could not resist the opportunity to swing my machine on the way back though, as always. I began to head down a row but couldn’t remember if I had hit that one earlier or not. I saw some foot prints but wasn’t sure if they were mine. To play it safe I went the next row over which put me into the part of the field I’ve detected pretty heavily in the past. Dug one piece of garbage and started moving quicker as the booms and strikes kept coming. Then a strong signal just an inch or two down. In the range trash often is but it was a solid signal so I flipped a shovel full of dirt over. This beauty was peering at me through the deep brown loose dirt. Shiny stones and shiny lustrous metal. I almost began to tremble! You see something like this in the dirt and sometimes feel like a child waiting for authority figures to jump out of the bushes and tell you you can’t keep it. Maybe that’s just me, lol. Oddly I had found a partial piece of Victorian era gold jewelry not more than 20 yards away from that very spot a couple years ago. A teeny tiny little glass frame surrounded by gold. I believe if offered a window into a piece of mourning jewelry with hair behind it. That other piece could have also been part of a locket. When I saw the large opening on the back of this piece I thought maybe it was a pendant with a back that hair might go in and that my previous find might hinge onto the back to display it. Then I realized after wiping away dirt this was a brooch with open back stones and that other piece was unrelated. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing though. I haven’t pulled out my diamond tester but I’m hoping the stones are legit. They shine like diamonds. I haven’t found a mark but I can’t imagine it’s not solid gold. So now I wonder how old? Victorian or earlier? I am over the moon about this find. It’s the third piece of old gold I’ve found on this property. I’ve also found an 18th century 2 Reale, multiple large 18th and 19th century coppers, partial sterling pocket watch case, “modern” silver coins, musket balls, lead bale seals, a range of buttons, a piece clipped silver that looked like silversmith waste, I can’t even recall what else. This one surely takes the cake though. Would they be “mine cut” if diamonds? I don’t know enough about antique jewelry to say much about it. No marks I’ve seen yet but that’s not uncommon I don’t think. It was clearly meant for a lady of means. The detail is pretty impressive. It still has a lot of cleaning to go though. Oh yeh…once I got back to my car the heavens promptly opened. What followed was one of the most thunderous summer storms I’ve experienced in my time. The lighting didn’t stop for hours and roads were ponds.

 

The pin stem snapped off & it became yours. Bit of a Halley's comet look there. Might be a clue to date.

 

Very nice and very fixable, too. Halley’s is a good thought. It looks mid to late nineteenth to my eye.

 

Same here. SCORE!

 

Sweet find. Made all the soggy clothes and cow trampling worth while.

 

Funny enough I was looking at many Georgian and Victorian brooches today and thought the Haley’s comet form resembled mine closer than any other. I didn’t think it was actually Haley’s comet inspired just was close to the form. What an interesting conclusion if so!

I do feel for the gal who lost it greatly but what a fun thing to uncover.

 

Despite the fact it’s obviously very fixable I hadn’t thought of that yet in its current form. I don’t have any women in my life that wear brooches and I’m definitely not selling it. The thought I had was to turn it into a pendant. Might get some use that way at some point.

 

Sure did!

 

My brain won't let me read the story, but great find anyway. (Can't read long texts, especially if they're not broken down into paragraphs, it's one blur to me)
I take it from the comments that there was some hardship and persistence involved, so well done you!

Late 19th, imo, and as the others said, the pin is easily fixed.
I don't know if you tested for gold and diamonds?

 

Yes, paragraphs are your friend. I dislike reading long blocks of text whether online or in physical books.

 

Maybe also an attention or concentration issue?
I have the attention span of a squirrel.

I know most people with brain damage have the same issue, and imagine ADD or ADHD doesn't help with long blocks of text either.

 

If you need some advice on cleaning, here goes. A little dawn dish soap in a bowl of warm water, soak it for twenty minutes and brush with a soft toothbrush. Repeat as needed. You will be impressed how the stones sparkle when the backs are clear of debris! I would say this was gold filled at minimum, probably better.

 

Amazing find! I enjoyed the description, felt like I was out in that rainstorm.

The piece looks very promising for gold and diamonds. Finger's crossed!

 

The fact that it's that shiny despite being buried means the probability of gold goes way up. The stones...dunno. Probably not glass if they're not all scratched up.

 

I have not yet. Recent move, not sure where my diamond tester ended up. I’m quite sure it’s gold but could always be wrong. I’ve never dug a GF, RG, or GP piece that didn’t reveal itself somewhere. This offers no hint it’s not solid that I can see. I was on quite the rant wasn’t I! I was excited!

 

I’ve been sooo ADHD recently. Worse than in a long time. Gotta figure out why I can’t concentrate!

 

I almost put it under water immediately after getting the big dirt off. So happy I didn’t. I hadn’t yet seen the open backs. I then read water could destroy the foil backings of old paste stones. Luckily I didn’t water it down and they weren’t closed back paste. Could have been a disaster. I was going to do it all with a toothpick but I suppose at this point it couldn’t hurt to hit it with the combo you suggested. Thanks

 

I’m glad it wasn’t a wasted effort to describe the circumstances! I was excited to share with folks that may have an interest. It was a heck of a storm! I was glad to be in a car once it really started coming down. I passed a flock of Canadian geese chilling on a little league infield on the way home, they didn’t seem to mind it so much.

 

Precisely. Anything not solid gold typically reveals itself after a long time in the ground in my experience. Solid gold on the other hand has that remarkable ability to look more or less exactly the same coming out as it did going in. I’ve dug some up from very dark shellfish rich mud in the tidal zone that’s gotten a bit gross but parts still shown bright. I’ll test the stones when I locate my tester.

 

I’d use a white vinegar bath, if that doesn’t work, a drop of gin or vodka.