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WINNER #1
My U.S. favorite find for February 2018 is the Scottish Jacobite Disc, found by Chip K. from Florida with his AT Pro.
Chip's story (edited): I was hunting with my ATP near the Georgia State Line and got a nice 88-89 signal but was surprised when I found what appeared to be a can lid. The thick dried muck slowly came away and I saw the line "I MAK SICKER (Siccar)" which is the original Kirkpatrick Family Motto which means "I Make Sure." This belonged to one of my ancestors! How did it end up in NE Florida? In 1740, Oglethorpe was governor of the new colony of Georgia. He pulled many prisoners out of Scottish prisons and sent them to SE Georgia to block the Spanish in St Augustine from advancing on South Carolina. Many of these prisoners were Jacobites who had lost a short lived rebellion. It appears one of them lost this. The bail indicates this had a ribbon or leather strap.
The disc inscriptions: (obverse) Touch and I Pierce, Aug 23, 1299, W.W., and (reverse) None shall Provoke me with impunity, I make sicker. It is a flat thin silver disc covered with Scottish iconic engravings. There is a lion, thistle, heather, hourglass, a heart pierced by an arrow (means a Jacobite) and a hand wielding a sword stabbing a rose (means Striking at England which is often represented by a rose. This item actually looks like a metal detector.)
I recognized the slogan "I MAKE SICKER (Siccar)" means I MAKE SURE. In 1306 Robert the Bruce was chasing the Scottish crown but he had a strong opponent John "Red" Comyn who was the favorite of most of the nobility. Bruce suggested they have a meeting in the church in Dumfries. Churches were considered safe sanctuary but during the meeting, Bruce pulled his dagger and stabbed Cornyn and fled. Outside was his best friend and third cousin, Sir Roger (Roget) Kirkpatrick. When told what happened Kirkpatrick asked if Comyn was dead and Bruce admitted he did not know. Kirkpatrick pulled HIS dagger and said the now famous phrase and went inside and finished Comyn which allowed Bruce to take the throne. This is all well documented. There is also the line TOUCH AND I PEARCE. (Pierce ie stab). This was the original Kirkpatrick Family motto before the Comyn incident.
Chip K. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
Chip's story (edited): I was hunting with my ATP near the Georgia State Line and got a nice 88-89 signal but was surprised when I found what appeared to be a can lid. The thick dried muck slowly came away and I saw the line "I MAK SICKER (Siccar)" which is the original Kirkpatrick Family Motto which means "I Make Sure." This belonged to one of my ancestors! How did it end up in NE Florida? In 1740, Oglethorpe was governor of the new colony of Georgia. He pulled many prisoners out of Scottish prisons and sent them to SE Georgia to block the Spanish in St Augustine from advancing on South Carolina. Many of these prisoners were Jacobites who had lost a short lived rebellion. It appears one of them lost this. The bail indicates this had a ribbon or leather strap.
The disc inscriptions: (obverse) Touch and I Pierce, Aug 23, 1299, W.W., and (reverse) None shall Provoke me with impunity, I make sicker. It is a flat thin silver disc covered with Scottish iconic engravings. There is a lion, thistle, heather, hourglass, a heart pierced by an arrow (means a Jacobite) and a hand wielding a sword stabbing a rose (means Striking at England which is often represented by a rose. This item actually looks like a metal detector.)
I recognized the slogan "I MAKE SICKER (Siccar)" means I MAKE SURE. In 1306 Robert the Bruce was chasing the Scottish crown but he had a strong opponent John "Red" Comyn who was the favorite of most of the nobility. Bruce suggested they have a meeting in the church in Dumfries. Churches were considered safe sanctuary but during the meeting, Bruce pulled his dagger and stabbed Cornyn and fled. Outside was his best friend and third cousin, Sir Roger (Roget) Kirkpatrick. When told what happened Kirkpatrick asked if Comyn was dead and Bruce admitted he did not know. Kirkpatrick pulled HIS dagger and said the now famous phrase and went inside and finished Comyn which allowed Bruce to take the throne. This is all well documented. There is also the line TOUCH AND I PEARCE. (Pierce ie stab). This was the original Kirkpatrick Family motto before the Comyn incident.
Chip K. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
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WINNER #2
My second U.S. favorite find for February 2018 is the Pair of 1773 Virginia Halfpenny Coins, found by Ed H. from Tennessee with his AT Max.
Ed's story: I must admit, Williamsburg, VA is one of my favorite places to metal detect due to the Colonial and Civil War history! Within the first 2 hours of detecting, I recovered a 1773 Virginia Halfpenny! Believe it or not within the next 45 minutes I recovered another 1773 Virginia Halfpenny! This is why I love detecting in Virginia because even though we were detecting for Civil War artifacts, I was finding Colonial artifacts. After further investigation of the terrain and geological clues we could tell that this area had Colonial time period home-sites at one time. And I finally found the Civil War encampment that I had originally researched and ended up finding an assortment of bullets and minie balls. I must say this was an epic day of metal detecting with my Garrett AT MAX Metal Detector! All areas that I metal detected and recovered artifacts from were private property that I had permission to be on!
Ed H. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
Ed's story: I must admit, Williamsburg, VA is one of my favorite places to metal detect due to the Colonial and Civil War history! Within the first 2 hours of detecting, I recovered a 1773 Virginia Halfpenny! Believe it or not within the next 45 minutes I recovered another 1773 Virginia Halfpenny! This is why I love detecting in Virginia because even though we were detecting for Civil War artifacts, I was finding Colonial artifacts. After further investigation of the terrain and geological clues we could tell that this area had Colonial time period home-sites at one time. And I finally found the Civil War encampment that I had originally researched and ended up finding an assortment of bullets and minie balls. I must say this was an epic day of metal detecting with my Garrett AT MAX Metal Detector! All areas that I metal detected and recovered artifacts from were private property that I had permission to be on!
Ed H. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
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WINNER #3
My third U.S. favorite find for February 2018 is the Heavily Engraved Railroad Pocket Watch, found by Justin H. from Indian with his AT Pro.
Justin's story: This is one of my all time favorite finds and was a great way to start 2018! I bought a new, larger coil for my AT Pro and decided to test it out at a buddy's 1820s home that I've hunted a few times before. We've never found anything real great there, but I figured it would be a good test for the new coil. I got a faint, but repeatable signal that was reading 8" deep. After digging a deep plug, I unearthed a very large and muddy pocket watch. My gloves were too caked in mud to see any details, so I put it in my pouch to clean off later. After getting it home, I took it to the sink to wash it off. The water revealed that this pocket watch was VERY heavily engraved! Even better is that it's engraved with a very ornate train scene on both sides! It appears to be gold plated, but it could be a low karat gold (10k?). I researched the property a bit and found that the large "ditch" nearby is actually an old railroad track that once ran through the area. It was in use from the late 1850s until the 1950s. It's interesting to think that this watch might have belonged to someone who worked for the railroad that ran through their property. It now sits as a centerpiece in my collection!
Justin H. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
Justin's story: This is one of my all time favorite finds and was a great way to start 2018! I bought a new, larger coil for my AT Pro and decided to test it out at a buddy's 1820s home that I've hunted a few times before. We've never found anything real great there, but I figured it would be a good test for the new coil. I got a faint, but repeatable signal that was reading 8" deep. After digging a deep plug, I unearthed a very large and muddy pocket watch. My gloves were too caked in mud to see any details, so I put it in my pouch to clean off later. After getting it home, I took it to the sink to wash it off. The water revealed that this pocket watch was VERY heavily engraved! Even better is that it's engraved with a very ornate train scene on both sides! It appears to be gold plated, but it could be a low karat gold (10k?). I researched the property a bit and found that the large "ditch" nearby is actually an old railroad track that once ran through the area. It was in use from the late 1850s until the 1950s. It's interesting to think that this watch might have belonged to someone who worked for the railroad that ran through their property. It now sits as a centerpiece in my collection!
Justin H. WINS a Garrett Z-Lynk™ Wireless System!
