Hi guys and girls,
Seeing a Jas and myself had some time off work, we thought we should get off the beaten track and explore some new and unchartered grounds. After much research and a few phone calls we managed access to some private land. Our research led us to believe, the land we were going to be covering, had once been the site for a now forgotten village, that housed roughly 500 people in the late 1800's-early 1900's. Our contact assured us we were heading to the right spot and we left bright and early, with high expectations. He did also mention to bring a machete as we would need to clear some lantana to get to the site.
When we arrived, we unpacked our stuff and met our guide "Ken". He got us up to speed with the history of the place and secured us access to his neighbours block as well.
These are pictures of the original village in 1918 that Ken had in his cottage.
This is what the site looks like these days 100 years later
Needless to say we were a little deflated. The growth was so thick, and the lantana had all but taken over most of the site. It was all but impossible to swing a coil, let alone find anything.
We pushed on and hacked and scratched our way through the undergrowth until we found small clearings that allowed us to cover the ground more effectively. The going was very tough but Jas managed the first score of the trip with a beautiful little silver piece that could possibly be a cufflink? After a little google research we found the hallmarks to mean "Birmingham 1780" What a first find!!
That lifted our spirits as we knew we were on the spot, as it was hard to get a mental picture of where these huts and cottages were on the ridge, now that it was so over grown.
A short time later on another small patch I pulled our first coin for the trip, and my oldest coin yet.
an 1882 Brittania Penny!!
So the swings with both the detectors and the machete's got more invigorated with each find. We now had a patch cleared of about 10 x 10 metres that we were able to search.
I saw Jas digging a hole to China, and asked him what he was chasing? He told me he had a faint, deep signal at about 10 inches deep. I left him to it and about 10 minutes later he was calling me over as he had found an awesome prize for all his efforts.
An 1806 Brittania Penny??? In excellent condition too I might add! Wow, What an awesome find!!
There were a few high fives and a few beers had that evening, whilst speculating how much money this coin is going to be worth!! As the beer flowed that evening the value of the coin increased and increased and we were going to have enough money to buy a bulldozer for the next trip to clear the lantana!! :lol:
All up I think we found 10 or so pre dec coins between us, which in my eyes was a great achievement considering the conditions!
and some other interesting relics.
So, there you go. An epic jungle adventure into Australian history.
Cheers for looking
Dan.
Seeing a Jas and myself had some time off work, we thought we should get off the beaten track and explore some new and unchartered grounds. After much research and a few phone calls we managed access to some private land. Our research led us to believe, the land we were going to be covering, had once been the site for a now forgotten village, that housed roughly 500 people in the late 1800's-early 1900's. Our contact assured us we were heading to the right spot and we left bright and early, with high expectations. He did also mention to bring a machete as we would need to clear some lantana to get to the site.
When we arrived, we unpacked our stuff and met our guide "Ken". He got us up to speed with the history of the place and secured us access to his neighbours block as well.
These are pictures of the original village in 1918 that Ken had in his cottage.
This is what the site looks like these days 100 years later
Needless to say we were a little deflated. The growth was so thick, and the lantana had all but taken over most of the site. It was all but impossible to swing a coil, let alone find anything.
We pushed on and hacked and scratched our way through the undergrowth until we found small clearings that allowed us to cover the ground more effectively. The going was very tough but Jas managed the first score of the trip with a beautiful little silver piece that could possibly be a cufflink? After a little google research we found the hallmarks to mean "Birmingham 1780" What a first find!!
That lifted our spirits as we knew we were on the spot, as it was hard to get a mental picture of where these huts and cottages were on the ridge, now that it was so over grown.
A short time later on another small patch I pulled our first coin for the trip, and my oldest coin yet.
an 1882 Brittania Penny!!
So the swings with both the detectors and the machete's got more invigorated with each find. We now had a patch cleared of about 10 x 10 metres that we were able to search.
I saw Jas digging a hole to China, and asked him what he was chasing? He told me he had a faint, deep signal at about 10 inches deep. I left him to it and about 10 minutes later he was calling me over as he had found an awesome prize for all his efforts.
An 1806 Brittania Penny??? In excellent condition too I might add! Wow, What an awesome find!!
There were a few high fives and a few beers had that evening, whilst speculating how much money this coin is going to be worth!! As the beer flowed that evening the value of the coin increased and increased and we were going to have enough money to buy a bulldozer for the next trip to clear the lantana!! :lol:
All up I think we found 10 or so pre dec coins between us, which in my eyes was a great achievement considering the conditions!
and some other interesting relics.
So, there you go. An epic jungle adventure into Australian history.
Cheers for looking
Dan.
