16th Century Silver Coins Cache Discovery
Being At the Right Place At the Right Time
This story covers the events that took place in the area that is 70 miles South-West of St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia, and within 15 miles North-East of the medieval fortress Koporje. The fortress was built in 13th century and was one of the major cultural, military, and trading centers in the "Ingermanland" (present St. Petersburg Region).
Medieval Fortress Koporje
After researching a couple of old maps, I chose the site on which a village was founded in 1400s and stood for 500+ years, up to the early 1920s. The village was burned down during the Swedish occupation in early 1600s, and then rebuilt and inhabited by Swedish and Finnish peasants who were brought to this region from other parts of the vast Swedish Empire.
On the Swedish map from 17th century, the village is shown under the name of "Lasunoe". The road on which the settlement stood is just a field lane now.
In 1721, after Russian Czar Peter the Great kicked the Swedish Army out of Ingermanland, the area became a permanent part of Russian Empire. On the Russian Military-Topographical Map of 1868, the village is marked as a settlement of 39 homesteads.
I knew that this site has been "hammered" by many treasure hunters for a few years since metal detectors became popular in Russia. But it had been proved many times that there are always some "hot" spots missed and left by other metaldetectorists on any site. So I kept my hope of finding that "hot" spot! Besides, three caches of coins were dug up at the site before.
DAY 1
If it wasn't for the rain that went on and off all day, the weather would be optimum for treasure hunting. Upon arriving to the area, I offered my old treasure hunting buddies to search this site but they wanted to check out a WW2 German dug-out located in the woods nearby. We agreed that they would drop me off at the village site and pick me up later. As soon as we arrived there and I got my gear out of car, I noticed my other team-members Vasily and Andrei swinging their coils in the field. As we were all armed with "Minelabs", Musketeer, Sovereign Elite, and Explorer XS, I knew that it would be an interesting metal detecting day.
My Treasure Hunting Partners
As I turned my Explorer XS on, I looked around choosing the spot in the field to search. I knew that the field had been "pounded" by many treasure hunters for a while, especially the field corner where a village center used to be. That's where a beginner metaldetectorist would be usually brought to for practice. For some unknown to me reason, I decided to search moving towards that corner. It turned out to be a right decision as I received a first coin signal after walking 50 feet.
The 17th Century Copper Swedish Coins Like This One, 1636 ¼ Ore, Started Popping Up
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