Unbelievable Luck in the Fatherland!

Diggum

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I always envied folks who found something so amazing that it fit in this category. Well, I believe that now is my time to share here...

I've been in Germany for two weeks on a project for work. I am from Germany originally (Army dad and German mom), so I'm always happy to come back here, and quickly volunteered when the need for someone being here was positioned. Of course, I brought my Deus with me, hoping to find something old. And boy did I!

It's been quite a grind these past two weeks, with only last Sunday off, giving me time to drive east and visit family there. I arrived a little early, so I spent about fifteen minutes in the woods outside my uncle's village, and found a Pfennig. Not that old, but Germany has been on the Euro for quite some time, so not that modern, either! I was happy, and hoped to find some more. Maybe even, if I could, some WWII artifacts. Anything would be welcomed! However, work stood in the way, until today.

I was able to call it quits today at 3:00pm, and decided that I was going to find what lay out in the woods near the town in which I'm staying, in the few remaining hours of daylight I had. Germany has a ton of history, dating all the way back to the Roman period, so I figured I was bound to find something interesting. And yes I did! I found a lot of bits and bobs (trash, belt buckle that broke, broken Joe-Cool blue-lens sunglasses, etc.), some finds may even be from WWII, but the thing that first made this trip worth it was a bearded axe/hatchet I found in my wanderings. I don't know how old it is, but I suspect it's probably 100 years old. It wasn't deep in the ground, but I can picture some woodsman using the old axe that had been around in his family forever, when the head snapped off and he said, "Schade! Ich werde das weg werfen! Altes Abfall!" And he tossed it into the woods. I come along some indeterminate amount of years later, and excitedly pull this beauty from the earth! It's a find that I've been wanting to make for years, and I made it in the land of my forefathers!

But that's not all! Just prior to finding the axe, I had a shaky signal. It was faint, and didn't read high on the scale, but I figured I'd find out what it was. I dug down about 6 to 8 inches, and found a disk. It felt light, so I'd assumed that it was just another piece of aluminum trash. However, I know that Germany did mint some aluminum coins, so on the off chance that it was one of those oldies from the mid-1900s, I stashed it in my newly purchased coin box lined with sponges. Unfortunately, I forgot to add water to the sponges, but there was enough soft soil clinging to my prize that it was well protected.

When I got to my hotel room, I laid out my finds, and took a couple of unknown items - the disk included - to the bathroom sink, where I rinsed them off to try to get a better idea of what images, if any, they may hold. Imagine my surprise when an ancient image materialized on what I thought might be a coin from the 1940s! Below, you can see my prize.

For those that don't recognize it, it's a 4 Kreuzer Ludwig Martin coin, minted in 1524!!! They were only minted for 8 years, per my limited internet research, and this coin is in pretty stinking good shape, in my opinion!

I'm over the moon with my finds! I'm on Cloud 9! I'm chuffed beyond belief! Unglaubliche Glueck habe ich heute gehabt!!!

I'm going out again, tomorrow, but I can't imagine that I'll be able to top today's finds!
 

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Coin looks in pretty good shape for being almost 500 years old.
Is it aluminum?

Some great and interesting finds.
Are those rifle blanks under the axe head?
 
Coin looks in pretty good shape for being almost 500 years old.
Is it aluminum?

Some great and interesting finds.
Are those rifle blanks under the axe head?
I agree, pretty darned good shape for being in the ground almost 500 years! And it's silver. Very, very thin silver. It's so light that when I first found it, I thought it might be an aluminum plug or possibly a really worn aluminum coin from around WWII.

WOW man, cool looking coin, WTG!
Thanks, zeemang!

How does one say, "daaaaaang!" In German? Amazing find.
Hahaha! I only know the real curse words, not the euphemisms. :laughing:

Your coin is very nice!!!
Thanks, metaladdict!

An excellent find, get back out there!
Thanks! I'm going, I'm going!

That’s an incredible find .
Thank you, MM! I still have a giddy, stupid grin on my face!

I was going to head up to another forest near a monastery and see what lies there, but I figure I don't need to be getting crazy greedy. 500 years old is good enough for this detectorist! I'm going to head back out into the local woods and try another spot. I'll let you all know if I find anything good...
 
Wow, Diggum ! What a dynamite trip you're having. That old coin is a beauty
Couldn't resist copy/pasting your German phrases into Google Translate...

Pity! I will throw that away! Old garbage!
And...
I had incredible luck today !!!

Jim
 
Cool find ... I would be stoked !! You never know !
Thanks, claddy!

Noice!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Definitely! Thanks!


Wow, Diggum ! What a dynamite trip you're having. That old coin is a beauty
Couldn't resist copy/pasting your German phrases into Google Translate...

Pity! I will throw that away! Old garbage!
And...
I had incredible luck today !!!

Jim
Thanks, Jim! Definitely had an awesome trip from a detecting standpoint. Found another couple of beauties today that I'll post to the "regular" finds section. :)

Yeh..Yeh..Yeh......I think I got one of those in change!
Just messing with you...Great find Jon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:shock:
Thanks, Steve! Been a heck of a trip!
 
Way to make use of an awesome opportunity!!

Where in Germany were you?

I was fortunate to be stationed north of Hamburg not to far from the East German border to work on a addition to a NATO listening post in 1972.

Beautiful coin!!
 
Das Münze ist unglaublich toll! Sehr gut gefunden Kamerad! Viel glück und Jägenfreude für dich! :D

Wann reist du nachmal im Vaterland?

(Translation: dat piece is wicked fly yo. U did gud homie. May many blessings and whatnot be upon ur house. Upon when dost thou venture forth to the homeland once more?)
 
Nice hammered silver. Great you can make out everything. They do ring up in the foil pull tab range. I've had small Roman coins ring up low too. In Europe you did and decent signal. Good luck on your next outing
 
Way to make use of an awesome opportunity!!

Where in Germany were you?

I was fortunate to be stationed north of Hamburg not to far from the East German border to work on a addition to a NATO listening post in 1972.

Beautiful coin!!
Thank you, SeabeeRon! I'm in the Stuttgart area. Heading home all too soon... :(

Das Münze ist unglaublich toll! Sehr gut gefunden Kamerad! Viel glück und Jägenfreude für dich! :D

Wann reist du nachmal im Vaterland?

(Translation: dat piece is wicked fly yo. U did gud homie. May many blessings and whatnot be upon ur house. Upon when dost thou venture forth to the homeland once more?)
Haha! Love the translation! I'll be bringing my family back here in 2021, but we'll be going to my relatives in the Nuernberg area. I'm excited what I might find there! I'm also going to ask permission to hunt the family home and see what I can find there.

Nice hammered silver. Great you can make out everything. They do ring up in the foil pull tab range. I've had small Roman coins ring up low too. In Europe you did and decent signal. Good luck on your next outing
Thanks, MTJosh! Yes, lesson learned. Dig all foil signals when in Europe! You'll find a lot of foil, but also a lot of oldies. :yes:
 
Hervorragend!

That's an awesome coin! I came back from Germany earlier this year, but I didn't find anything nearly as old unfortunately
 
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