Colonial to Civil War - Buckles, Buttons and more.

OutdoorAdv

Bronze Member
Apr 16, 2013
2,457
3,350
East Coast - USA
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus,
GPX 4500,
Equinox 800,
AT Max
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I got a full day of swinging in yesterday and found a few keepers. I plan on expanding the pit I've been sifting so in preparation for expanding it, I wanted to prioritize which way to expand it first. So I spent the first half of the day with my T2 and the 5" coil and worked around the pit. Got a really nice small Draw Knife for hewing logs... got it in electrolysis last night and it turned out nice. I dug most of the iron signals to find the nails and see what else is in that section... in doing so, a few cool pieces of glass turned up, including the nice early 1800's blown bottle neck. I also got a interesting piece of slate from the pit that I will post pictures of below. I did so well with the 5" coil I decided to check out a few other areas with it. An area I've hit hard with many machines, outside the pit, but in a higher iron section. This area is where I've been pulling pieces to the Calvary shoulder scales, so I was hoping to find another scale piece to it. Instead, the amazing condition Civil War General Service coat button turned up. About 10 feet away I got another one and DESTROYED it with my digger. I widened the hole and sifted the dirt, but couldn't locate any of the front of it. My digger hit it on the back and pushed the face into the dirt. Was a bit frustrated with myself, but these were mixed iron signals with nails in the holes, so my pinpointing was off on some.

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I dug this cool chamberstick finger loop. Its cast brass and has file marks on the bottom, which makes me think its pretty old. Apparently this was a target that disappeared on me before. It was right next to a thick stalk, so I couldn't get the coil over it making it an erratic signal. I had a plug right next to it from a couple weeks ago and it probably sounded like deep iron then. I crushed the stalk and got my coil over it this time.... so out it came.

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The iron almost stole the show yesterday. I got the stirrup into electrolysis last night and it turned out great. Wish it was whole. After electrolysis it appears that maybe it was silver plated at one point. There is silver in the pattern grooves on the side. I searched for the rest by digging all iron in the same area. The snaffle bit piece turned up, but I didn't find anymore of the stirrup.

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Fresh out of the dirt. Was a nice way to start the day.

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That washed out thing in the top right of the group picture is actually a rock. Typically I wouldnt pay much attention to this, but it was in the pit and its not like the typical "natural" rocks that I find in there. It looks hand carved to me. There are even some tooling marks on the side of it where it looks scraped. Any idea what it might be? Could it be a knife blade honing rock? On the side view it looks like one side has an area thats worn away more.

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This was a hunt I had a couple weeks ago! I didn't post since it wasn't all that much... so I figured I'd tack it on the end here. A nice knee buckle and a prefect Williams Cleaner... also a nice star pattern colonial button.

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I use my T2 with the 5" coil pretty often in this pit and had some incredible results with it yesterday, and in the past. The new Deus I got is amazing, but we really need a SMALL coil for it. Smaller than the yet-to-be-released 6x9"... a small 5" or 6" round coil would be unfair on that machine! The Deus has amazing separation, but when there are multiple targets under your coil in different dimensions, even fast separation cant keep the machine from being confused. I plan on getting the 6x9" when it releases, but it's still 9" in one direction, so I don't see it separating that much better than the 9" round one. We will see... and hopefully they can squeeze all those electronics into an tiny 6" coil at some time.

Thanks for looking and happy hunting.
 

Upvote 11
Awesome finds my friend. Don't ya just love a site that produces what is likely a centuries worth of relics from Colonial to Civil War. Anxious to see more input as to what the stone is. Little doubt it has been worked. Wonder if it could even be American Indian. Good stuff. Congrats and HH.
 

That's a lot of great finds, good assortment.
 

Awesome finds my friend. Don't ya just love a site that produces what is likely a centuries worth of relics from Colonial to Civil War. Anxious to see more input as to what the stone is. Little doubt it has been worked. Wonder if it could even be American Indian. Good stuff. Congrats and HH.

Thank you TNGUNS! It's produced early 1700's to late 1800's with very little trash. A dream site really... and it's given me a detecting year to remember. I googled around and it has the shape of a knife sharpening stone, but I don't think it's the right type of rock. Would be awesome if it was Native American.

That's a lot of great finds, good assortment.

Thank you RJ55! This place always seems to have a good assortment, but lately the finds really make me work for them. Once I open the pit back up I'm sure there will be a ton of new stuff.
 

Fantastic finds Brad.
That place just continues to produce for you. I love reading your posts, you take alot of time and effort on them. Can't wait to see what else you pull out once you open up the pit again.
Congrats.
 

Great history saves there!
 

Awesome variety of finds my man. That 5" coil is quite amazing in the iron
 

Fantastic finds Brad.
That place just continues to produce for you. I love reading your posts, you take alot of time and effort on them. Can't wait to see what else you pull out once you open up the pit again.
Congrats.

Thanks a ton George! I really appreciate the compliment's. I'm also looking forward to what else is in the pit! I know there's a lot left in there still.

Also, in another area yesterday I chased a deep piece of iron into a plug with the Deus. Soft, black dirt with charcoal in it about a foot down. So I took a couple minutes and kept going and noticed it was very soft and I could almost press my t-handled Lesche Sampson right through the dirt. I just pulled ash, brick and oyster shells at 2 feet and it looks like it kept going. In the stuff I pulled out, was the small piece of tombac shoe buckle! So maybe its one of the privies! I marked it... I'll investigate more.

Great history saves there!

Thank you Valley Ranger!

Great digs, you always get the good sites...:thumbsup:

Thank you villagenut! I feel like I really lucked out with this place.

Awesome variety of finds my man. That 5" coil is quite amazing in the iron

Thanks a ton Abe. Its funny, some days I can't seem to get much depth out of the 5", then others it really gets down there. Yesterday was one of those days where it cleaned up. Maybe the wet ground. The tombac was a solid signal about 9" deep... one of those sweet smooth signals in 2 directions. Other days I cant seem to get more than a few inches out of it. Odd!
 

Nice selection of finds !

I wonder how old and what exactly is this :

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I have found some of them too.
I believe they were part of shoes (heel) ?
thanks !
 

Nice selection of finds !

I wonder how old and what exactly is this :

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I have found some of them too.
I believe they were part of shoes (heel) ?
thanks !

Thank you Mathurin! Yeah, they are parts to shoes/boots. I believe they were on the toe and not the heels. The heel plates I find are much thicker... Unless they were used inside the leather to reinforce it. I know they were used in the mid 1800's... so that's my best guess on the date. I've found 3 at this site so definitely before 1880 here... but most likely mid 1800's based on what I found close to them.
 

Enjoy reading your posts. Looks like an awesome site. I have had a few gold rush bottle necks show up in a hole and get me excited for a moment, but very rarely find any unbroken. There's more goodies there waiting for you. Congrats!
 

Enjoy reading your posts. Looks like an awesome site. I have had a few gold rush bottle necks show up in a hole and get me excited for a moment, but very rarely find any unbroken. There's more goodies there waiting for you. Congrats!

Thank you 49er Relics! You guys have been finding the coolest gold rush buckles lately! The pit is shallow and wide... I think it was more like a trash pile... so everything is broken in there. I know that excitement when a bottle neck appears and for a split second, before you pull it out, its attached to a complete bottle... except its really not. ha I've pieced together some pottery from fragments, but I would love to find a complete bottle.
 

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