New expensive finds of diggers. How to make money in war: an interview with a "black digger" What diggers find

Recently I spoke with an archaeologist, like an official one ... He called ordinary diggers shitheads. He scolded us in black. The joke is that I introduced myself as a collector - at the end of the conversation, this official archaeologist offered to evaluate the gold aures. And which one of us is the bastard?

Remember the saint who was hit with a shovel? Still, this saint was sold for 2 thousand dollars. We look, fresh expensive finds of diggers, safely and not very well, lowered at the Violiti auction.

Tetrobol (head of Demeter) – $4810

The rarest antique coin with a retrograde legend cast in bronze. The weight is 101.5 grams (for a coin, 100 grams is cool!), the diameter is 65 mm.

Golden fibula – $4000

Rare handmade fibula, which can be up to 2000 years old. Such a thing could only belong to a rich, influential person, and finding one on a dig is a great success.

19 grams of pure gold will still not find its new owner - the seller wants $4,000, and the buyers offer several times less.

Icon-pendant (Spas Emmanuel) – $2080

Still, they sold the saint, who was hit with a shovel. Not the first time...

The icon of the masters of the Galicia-Volyn principality of the 13th-14th century may have been lost during the invasion of the Golden Horde.

R10, this may be a rarity of this icon, but despite this, from the first time for this rarity, none of the collectors gave the price (Wishlist) of the digger.

Scythians gold – $1400

An ancient artifact, the purpose of which experts do not have a unanimous opinion: aroma bowl, needle bed, reliquary.

Scythian gold of 900 fineness and weighing 16.93 grams was lowered at the auction for $1400.

Altynnik 1712 - $1220

This coin is 14 mm in diameter and weighs 0.77 gr. made of 802 sterling silver is a desirable item in the collection of any numismatist. Rarity R2. Despite the defect, the excitement was considerable: 181 stakes and the digger pocketed $1220.

Kizikin Stater - $1200

The material of the ancient coin is electr (an alloy of gold, silver, copper and other metals). The stater shows a bull's head to the right and a tuna vertically.

Antique gold coin weighing 16 grams has found its new owner for $1200.

These are such expensive finds that the diggers brought down at Violiti's digging auction. One would like to add, an underground auction. Is he underground?

P.S. Pay attention ➨ ➨ ➨ Bomb theme - . Take a look, you won't regret it.

↓↓↓ And now let's move to the comments and find out the opinion of experts. Scroll the page down ↓↓↓, there are reviews of diggers, MD specialists, additional information and clarifications from the authors of the blog ↓↓↓

The season is in full swing, which means it's time to post a little motivation for lazy pink bottoms. Yes, guys, it's time to get up from the couch and go dig while you're sitting here - someone picks up your finds! However, there is a certain category of diggers who do not dig for war for one reason or another, but with these photos we will say hello to those diggers whose legs are shaking at the sight of a GP, and who will never find such finds. Let's go!

Weapon

One of the most common finds on the battlefield is weapons. Climbs in poor preservation from the ground, well, and in more or less good from reservoirs - lakes, rivers, swamps. Do not forget that earlier they could simply collect weapons from the fields, which lay on the surface and throw them into the reservoir. It is obtained by a search magnet or a device for underwater search (turn off discrim, working underwater on discrim is a sign of a beginner).

For example, Mosin rifles in excellent condition (can be converted to MMG) and German grenades in the original box are also excellent blanks for MMG.

And this photo is more from the distant 80s and 90s. Then there were no special devices, except for the once military and those units that were brought "from over the hill". Beautiful mortar samples and two PPDs are simply pleasing to the eye!

In general, in a good state of preservation, the PPSh is definitely beautiful and interesting!

It happens that the trunk grows into a tree, I once saw a German Mauser 98K carbine in one felled tree, and here we have another handsome PPSh!

Since two sides participated in the war, German weapons are also found everywhere with Soviet small arms, but less often. And in good preservation, so quite - rarities! Beautiful MMGs that can cost thousands and thousands of euros (still walking the fields looking for gold coins?).

Awards

The second category of finds that you want to find are rewards. They rarely lie separately in the ground, although there are cases, most often they are found together with the owners, which is sad - some negligent colleagues (who don’t even bury holes) can pick up the award and leave the fighter, which makes it impossible to identify the fighter and find out his name, pass on to the family, etc. Nothing, karma exists in the world and such people will be counted. But, nevertheless, awards are rare, but come across on the surface or when pitting a dugout / cell.

Most likely a post-war loss, judging by the medal.

Broken personal badge of a Wehrmacht soldier and badges for being wounded. Amuses 1 ruble of the USSR, anniversary. Raised from one pancake, or what?)

Digging "Edelweiss" is always nice and fun!
Badge of the Luftwaffe Parachutist. An excellent find and preserved pleases, and if it is still with a bolt on the other side, then there is no price for such a find!

rings

Another category of finds that I personally like. Souvenir rings, come across, alas, for the most part, also with the owner in the kit. If there are initials or some other information, then they help to identify the fighter and there will be one less “nameless” in this world!

For example - an interesting collection from one comrade, beautifully packaged and looks gorgeous!

helmets

Helmets, they are also "caps", a fairly common find in the places of the database. Many experienced comrades, if the kason is of no interest, are left right at the place of discovery or hung on the nearest tree (bough) or bush. Subsequently, it is taken and carried away by less successful and experienced diggers, I don’t know why, but “so that it was and stood on a shelf.” Metal garbage disease is present in many of us, agree? 🙂

This is how they hang in the forest. Often the place of the detective is marked with a helmet (for example, the height over which the battle took place), in the forest more often such landmarks help. Here we see the Soviet helmet and next to it an ordinary bowler hat.

Probably one of those finds that I will not find is the helmet of a Luftwaffe paratrooper. A great find in the places where these guys hung around.

The consequences of the pit - helmets came out, and with them a grenade.

As I wrote above, not only weapons or GPs were thrown into the reservoirs, but also helmets. Don't be lazy to look underwater. 😉

What can be valuable German "cap"? Three factors: save, decals and original color. As you can see, it was definitely not a digger who painted this helmet in a white camouflage color!

Shells and EPs

Do you think that once you come to the place of the battle, the finds will climb by themselves? Alas, no, most often you will find different shells, grenades and EPs. Maybe you will stumble upon a 500 kg air bomb - different things happen in life, but a digger never knows what lies under the coil and signals with a good color signal. :)))) I ask those who are especially vigilant to leave the screen or switch to another post on my portal, of which there are many - very interesting and useful!

It all starts with very harmless cartridges - in packs, single, lost, and so on. Dumping up a bag of ammo is a common thing for an hour in most of these places.

Then there are more dangerous things, these are mortar mines, for example. Who knows why this mine did not explode? And can you determine if the mine was fired (passed through the mortar barrel) or someone forgot / lost it in the heat of battle? Don't forget about a particularly dangerous detonator on many mortar mines.

Shells. There are a variety of - howitzer, anti-tank and from a different large number of artillery pieces that rumbled and shook the ground around during the war. Artillery preparation during the offensive could go on for hours, which means that a certain percentage of the shells will go into the ground and not explode. And your metal detector will then give a good signal to such a find.

It’s better not to joke with such things and call the professionals. Leave it in the forest - endanger mushroom pickers, hunters and random people.

Who needs it - they know how to handle such things. It is strictly not recommended to climb and deal with this yourself.

A small summary

Have you reached the end? Thank you for your interest and patience! 🙂

A war cop is both dangerous and interesting. Everyone does this for their own motives and reasons, but in the end I would like to call on everyone to follow simple rules:

• honor and respect for the fallen - everyone should return from the war, even after many decades
• we don’t scatter various finds and don’t bury shells under the intended place of the fire - we respect everyone who comes to the forest / swamp, but anywhere
• we don’t play around with GPs and may we have a long happiness to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren 😉

And for those who follow the most minimal rules of a war cop - here are such finds and in such quantity!

All fluff on the cop!

P.S. All photos are from the Internet, "the moped is not mine."

What did you like? We have collected all the war cops, and cool finds can be found! Come in, look, study, O young digger!

In Russia, they are digging - thousands of people of different ages, social groups and incomes; students, lawyers, officials, businessmen. They are united by an interest in studying the history of the country and their native land. And also - the desire to replenish numismatic collections with royal coins, which had a wide circulation and therefore are of little interest to archaeologists. At the same time, the position of the majority of scientists is as follows: amateurs should not interfere with the development of historical science, all diggers should be prosecuted according to the law.

A digger, director of one of the Yekaterinburg law firms, tells about the dark and light side of the amateur cop "E-U" Alexey Silivanov:

I immediately propose to distinguish between concepts. There are black archaeologists: they are obviously looking for antiquities - the period of the Middle Ages and earlier times. And there are diggers: they are interested in coins (they have appeared in the Urals since the time of Peter the Great), and they can rather be called local historians. I myself am one of those. About ten years ago I got a metal detector, I became interested, I went somewhere to the edge of the village, to the place of the former fair and began to look for coins.

- Are there many such diggers in Russia?

I think thousands.

"Bite" up to 30 centimeters

- Are you somehow organized?

About ten or eleven years ago, the first affordable metal detectors appeared, at the same time specialized Internet resources became widespread. An appropriate forum was created in Yekaterinburg, where people communicated. It still exists today. In Russia, there are several large forums on this topic and a huge number of small ones.

- Are metal detectors expensive?

The equipment is different, it costs from 5 to 70 thousand rubles. More expensive metal detectors take to a greater depth, well distinguish non-ferrous metals from ferrous ones, and are able to determine the size of an object. Of course, if you find a tank at a depth of three meters, any metal detector will ring for you. But if you are looking for a coin, then the effective search depth with a metal detector is up to 30 centimeters. Deeper - until impossible.

- People of what social strata are engaged in cops? Is it a hobby or a source of income?

First of all, numismatists are passionate about this. They dig for coins to add to their collections. These are like-minded people. It's like fishing here. There is no competition, everyone is happy to meet, communicate, perhaps without revealing the place where the coins are found.

You won't earn money from this class. You will spend much more on gasoline, food, a car than you will gain from the sale of found coins. But you walk in the fresh air several tens of kilometers a day, do physical labor. It creates a good mood for you, relaxes after work. Well, it is clear that the findings are always pleasant.

- Where do you get the knowledge about where and what to dig?

We know the history of the settlement of these places. We know where the villages were located, where factories were created at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries, settlements arose around them. Since the 18th century, there are maps showing the places of settlements. Many museums are now digitizing cartographic materials, they can be found on the Internet.

What about earlier settlements?

This is already the sphere of interests of black archaeologists. If we talk about specific areas, then there are lists of archaeological sites where in no case can you dig without an open sheet issued by scientists. These lists of monuments of cultural history, as a rule, are contained in the relevant resolutions of the authorities. However, the information there is far from complete.

Archaeologists have their own lists, but they are not in the public space. Diggers who are looking in places with a high degree of probability containing archaeological objects (early Iron Age, Middle Ages) are acting against the law, here I fully support archaeologists.

Consumer goods outlawed

- How much are the coins that diggers find?

In the Urals, you can find coins of the post-Petrine era. As a rule, copper ones come across, but it is very difficult to find even them in good condition. Sometimes nothing good happens in a season. Royal coins are sold from 10 to 300 rubles apiece, depending on the condition. But this is consumer goods. Due to the fact that now people are actively using metal detectors, a large number of copper coins have been thrown into the numismatic market. If desired, they can be bought in buckets.

- How do diggers find buyers?

Personally, buyers are not interesting to me, I attach coins to tablets and give them to my friends. Sometimes I exchange. There are famous places in Yekaterinburg where they sell coins. Previously on Weiner, now near the Ural Economic University. Coins are also sold at flea markets. There are antique and numismatic shops. People who do this professionally know their sellers and buyers. Coins are really good, as a rule, go to Moscow.

- How is the activity of diggers regulated by Russian legislation?

In 2013, a federal law was passed that effectively placed diggers outside the legal field. He introduced the concept of a cultural-historical layer. This layer is over a hundred years old. A hundred years is the pre-revolutionary period. In fact, the whole of tsarist Russia was outlawed. That is, the person who found the royal coin is obliged to declare the discovery of an object of archaeological heritage. And special bodies should be engaged in the study of the find. Diggers treat this negatively, as some kind of quirk of the legislator. Because it is one thing when you find antiquities several thousand years old, and quite another when it is a thing of the beginning of the 20th century, which, in general, is of no value to scientists, it is consumer goods. Archaeologists are absolutely not interested in the period of late tsarist Russia. The coins of this time are a massive material, it can be found in tons.

A couple of years ago, a man was caught trying to take some royal silver coin out of Russia, the market price of which is 500 rubles. He was detained for the export of cultural property, a criminal case was opened. But after all, the antique and numismatic market still exists, not the first year and not the last. Therefore, the attitude of diggers towards such laws is as a way of redistributing wealth: those who have the opportunity to grab something better for themselves are trying to take it from others. It is unlikely that such a law is a real protection of cultural property from looting. By saying that it is impossible to dig, the legislators created an enemy, reassured part of the scientific community, but did not define clear criteria for what can and cannot be done.

History belongs to the people

- Have you tried to establish normal contacts with archaeologists?

At one time we had attempts to establish communication with museums. Their employees asked us: if there are archaeological finds, let us know. It didn't end with anything. If a digger starts a diary and indicates there that he found some old plaque in such and such a place, he, in fact, will sign a sentence for himself. And representatives of the archaeological community, for the most part, are hostile to diggers.

Legislative basis for a constructive dialogue does not exist today. I think if diggers were given the opportunity to keep field diaries, report finds to archaeologists, and keep objects of no cultural value, they would agree to such a mechanism of interaction. And the information base of archaeologists would have grown significantly. I know an example when one of the diggers in the Chelyabinsk region began to come across elements of belts and harnesses. With the help of acquaintances, he contacted archaeologists, and it turned out that he discovered a monument, in fact, of all-Russian significance. The monument characterized the migration of people during the Middle Ages, it was a layering from different nations. One of the respected archaeologists said that he had been looking for such a monument all his life, he had been digging this monument for five years already and expressed his deep gratitude for being informed about it. This is an example of constructive cooperation - no one was punished, archaeologists got access to a unique monument, which they might not have reached with a different approach.

- Is the release of the Domongol almanac in 2010 also an example of constructive cooperation?

Just the opposite. It was a period of uncertainty in terms of legislation. There was an all-Russian Internet forum where a group of like-minded people gathered. And they began to search all over the Internet for information about random archaeological finds in order to publish the data and put it into scientific circulation. After all, what is the problem? Scientists say: what is dug up and not put into scientific circulation is lost for science. Here, in order not to be lost, the publishers of the almanac tried to find a link between archaeologists and diggers, to publish information about these finds. People pulled out something that somewhere someone had appeared. But only a few issues of Domongol were published. There were rumors that archaeologists presented this almanac almost to the president - that's what the damned black diggers do.

As a result, a few years later, a law was passed that significantly tightened all relations related to archaeological finds.

And the almanac is very interesting. There are articles here, color photographs of the finds - these are arrowheads, examples of early Christian plastic arts, crosses, crescents, coins, elements of weapons, bird-shaped idols. Probably, from the point of view of scientists, publications are somewhere naive. But people wrote it sincerely and with great interest.

The archaeologists themselves have not published anything of the kind. Official archaeological research has been carried out for a very long time, they find a lot. But where is it all? When I arrive in any city, the first thing I go to is the local history museum. Usually, it's bad. There are individual exhibits, everything else is stored somewhere. Where, in what condition, who monitors it? Archaeologists discovered the find, described it in a scientific article and that's it. Such finds are not paintings by great artists, they are much easier to write off. Note that the rust has devoured, and calmly pick it up for yourself.

- So, the attitude towards diggers on the part of scientists is unambiguously negative?

Yes. Some of my acquaintances participated in scientific conferences. 20-30 percent of scientists perceive the information complacently, but the rest shout: drive this black digger away, he has no historical education, why are we listening to him? And I believe that history should be closer to the people, and not only to those who have the appropriate education.

Ordinary amateurs are ready to invest their resources and time in the study of their native land. And we need to create a legislative framework for the formation of private museums. Because people have collections of antiquities, but there is no way to brag about them. I assure you, people will let everyone there for free. Now they do not have such an opportunity, because it is illegal, and there is a risk that the state will try to take away the collections.

For cooperation without a metal detector

- The horrific situation with the activities of black diggers is typical not only for Russian archeology, but also for foreign ones too. There is a destruction of archaeological sites, the removal of individual objects from the cultural layers, the most valuable from the point of view of black diggers. These are mostly metal products. Thus, the integrity of the archaeological complex is violated. Some steps are being taken by state bodies, but they are not very effective.

In my opinion, from a legal point of view, it will be extremely difficult to separate "numismatists" and black diggers. Because even if some kind of legislative act is introduced on this occasion, black diggers will hide behind it and call themselves "numismatists".

Archaeologists do not agree to such a mechanism of interaction, when diggers inform scientists about the finds, leaving themselves something supposedly not interesting for science. Only a specialist archaeologist who has the appropriate education and experience in field work can determine the significance and value of one or another artifact.

As for the discovery of new archaeological sites, there should be appropriate funding from the state and local authorities in order for these sites to be identified, registered and taken under protection. And then there will be no need to attract black diggers so that they find new archeological monuments for science and society. This is a matter for specialists.

If history buffs want to help explore their native land, please get in touch with us. Join our archaeological expeditions, which are held every year in various regions of the Urals, in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, in the Chelyabinsk Region. Satisfy your interest.

Of course, it's good when diggers inform us about the discovery of a new archaeological object. But how was it discovered? With a metal detector and a shovel? If we exclude these elements, then any archaeologist would be grateful. There are lovers of antiquity, local historians, with whom official science, of course, should cooperate. And quite often I receive letters that mammoth bones have been found in the outcrop of some river, or some burial ground is being eroded. We are grateful for this kind of information. But I personally will never recognize attempts to discover archaeological sites by non-specialists.

Prepared by Pavel Kober

Connect with war. Let not with her - with what is commonly called the "echo of war." These are "diggers". “Blacks” are those who treat the “echo of war” calmly and pragmatically. They know that everything has a cost - even that which was paid for with the price of someone's life. "White" - those who are trying to put an end to the war. They believe that until the last soldier is buried, there are only dots. "Re:Action" interviewed a "black tracker" and found no "black soul" in him.

Michael - the one whom we would call a "black digger", hastened to decide on concepts.

- In order to understand who the "black trackers" are, it is necessary to understand that the "blacks" are those who are not "reds". That is, everyone who does not have official permission to conduct search operations, and few people have it, automatically falls into the category of “black trackers”.

- Mish, how did you personally get interested in looking for, as they say now, echoes of the “echo of war”?

- For me, it started very banal, from the age of eight, after a trip to the village to my grandmother in the Smolensk region. There used to be a massive line of defense. What I saw for the first time as a child was a pile of Soviet helmets. This moment, I think, can be considered a starting point.

- What, right from the age of eight, he immediately began to dig?

- No, of course not, but we can say that those helmets were the first "grains" thrown on fertile soil. Before my first trip to the forests, which took place about 6 years ago, I prepared, so to speak, theoretically. I surfed the Internet looking for the information I was interested in.

- And what, as a rule, are looking for "black diggers"?

They are looking for what they find. We are happy with every find.

In fact, there are very, very few really hardcore "black diggers" who go to "bomb" German cemeteries. Just because such untouched cemeteries have always been considered a tasty morsel. Only there the deceased was buried in uniform, with all his regalia, rings, awards, sometimes with ceremonial weapons and other personal items.

So you understand, right? It is much easier to find such burial places than to comb the places of military clashes, where almost everything is chopped up and ground up by artillery and mortar shells. Finding something really surviving in such a field is quite difficult. In addition, the German officers had clear instructions: to pull their dead, as far as possible, from the battlefield for further burial. Therefore, to find the remains of a German soldier on the battlefield for us, "black pathfinders", is a rather rare success.

- But what about the rumors about a bunch of "Schmeisser" found in the fields and other weapons, which are then sold to dishonest people?

- Nonsense. Full. In six years of practice, I saw only one found German submachine gun MP-40, which for some reason we call "Schmeisser". He was in such a state that we generally understood with great difficulty what we had found.

I repeat, finding a whole weapon on the battlefield is almost impossible. Just imagine, they killed a man, he dropped his weapon, and then the battle continues, and the shells are torn, and the mines are pouring in a hail. What kind of safety can we talk about at all?

Secondly, the very fact that the Germans have automatic weapons in such a huge amount, as it is customary to show in the movies, can be called into great doubt. There were very few automatic weapons. Armed or special units and crews of armored vehicles, or unit commanders.

That is, approximately 1 out of 20, at best, was armed with a machine gun, and to be more precise, a submachine gun. The rest of the audience fought with Mauser-98k carbines. There were also companies of submachine gunners, but again in a very limited number.

In addition, there was a clear order from our command - to collect things from the dead and hand them over to special reception points. More or less useful things were collected from the dead by special trophy teams. And after the war, sappers involved in mine clearance of huge areas also "had a hand" in collecting trophies.

All these shots are from "Brother-2", where they sell a similar "echo of war" - pure farce. What normal person will go to "business" with a semi-rusty machine gun, rifle or pistol? With the same success, you can shoot from some kind of arquebus.

No, I do not argue, somewhere this can happen, but this is rather a very rare exception than the rule. They can trade weapons that were hidden, oiled and neatly stored in the gas compartment during the war. It's true.

- Can you get hurt during your excavations?

“People are crippled solely because of their stupidity and negligence. Get blown up by something during the excavation… hmm… again, for 6 years of practice, not a single case, pah-pah-pah. Although, of course, there are no guarantees. You have to deal with ammunition that has lain in the ground for God knows how long. But we are neat and careful people, tea is not digging potatoes.

As a rule, they die or become disabled when parsing shells or if they put ammunition on a fire.

- Ammunition ... into the fire ?! What for?

But these people do not, although year by year there are less and less objects to search. I don’t think that they are driven only by a thirst for profit, I can’t suspect them of a love for history either - it is studied in a slightly different way. Rather, it is some kind of unrealized childish craving for "discoveries and secrets." Well, to weapons, of course ...