''American Digger'' is a bimonthly magazine about the hobby of recovering historical artifacts based in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

History

''American Digger'' was founded in 2004. The founder is Butch Holcombe and the first issue appeared in January 2005. It includes articles covering finds made by metal detecting, surface hunting, diving, and sifting. It also contains photo stories on old coins, Civil War and Revolutionary War relics, stone artifacts, fossils, and bottles. It was founded in response to reader requests for more material related to amateur archeology. Holcombe has said he wants to help bridge the gap between professional

archeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...

and amateur

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

s and has said he promotes only the responsible excavation and documentation of artifacts. Founder Butch Holcombe is a humorist and amateur historian from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He was born in 1955, and since 1968 has spent numnerous hours searching for historic artifacts with a metal detector. He has since founded Greybird Publishers, who now publishes the magazine, as well as other books related to artifacts. In 2011, the name American Digger was licensed as a registered trademark.

Circulation

"The first issue of American Digger was 52 pages of black and white, with a circulation of only 500. This has now grown to 74 pages, much of which is in color, with a current print circulation of over 2000 in all 50 states,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and Australia", quoted by Publisher Butch Holcombe "." "Subscriptions are also sent free to US aircraft carriers on tour. In 2012, a digital version of the print magazine was offered for the first time, resulting in a worldwide interest. The magazine now claims a readership of over 20,000 including both platforms.

Featured Articles

* ''Just Dug'', which is a collection of photos of recently recovered items submitted by readers. * ''Can You ID'' written by noted Civil War artifact author Charles Harris and a network of experts attempt to identify items of significance recovered by both hobbyists and professionals. * ''Stumpt'' contains photos of items which noted Civil War artifact author Charles Harris can not identify. This has resulted in several unknown or previously misidentified relics being positively identified by readers. * ''News-n-Views'' by Mark Schuessler documents changes in laws and legal matters connected with artifacts and their recovery. * ''The Whole Truth'' by Butch Holcombe, light hearted look at what is happening in the world of relic hunting and collecting. * ''Beepin by Sreve Meinzer, a cartoon series concerning metal detecting, running exclusively in American Digger. * ''What's the Point'' by Jim Roberson, concerns identification of

arrowheads An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as s ...

and stone artifacts. This column was ended after Roberson's retirement in May 2015. * Past columns include ''The Savage Facts'' by

Ric Savage Frank Huguelet (born June 5, 1969) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Heavy Metal" Ric Savage. He is the host of '' Savage Family Diggers'', a reality treasure hunting show airing on Spike TV. He also c ...

, which dealt with fraud and fakes in the world of antiquities, and how to spot them. Savage was dismissed from the magazine in early 2012 after becoming the star of a reality TV show which has no direct connection to the magazine of the same name.The show name has now been changed as a result of a settled lawsuit filed by Greybird Publishers.

Publisher

The magazine is published by Greybird Publishing LLC, Acworth, GA.

Related Ventures

In 2010, ''American Digger'' magazine took over a weekly internet radio show, Relic Roundup, previously owned and operated by My History Project, a non profit group in Atlanta, GA. The name was changed to American Digger's Relic Roundup at that time. The show averages several hundred listeners weekly, and is an extension of the magazine's focus on amateur archaeology and collecting.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:American Digger 2004 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Bimonthly magazines published in the United States Science and technology magazines published in the United States Hobby magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2004 Magazines published in Georgia (U.S. state)