Patriot Relics
Silver Member
Hey guys,
While you all up in the frigid north hunker down for the winter, the lowcountry has been in the high 60s over the last couple days. Needless to say amazing weather in combination with Xmas leave ensured I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on my 2016 season. Hit 2 very different sites over the last 2 days, both ended up producing some killer relics. First permission has the remains of a homestead deep in the woods, the structure is long since gone. It's the kind of site where random swinging in the forest lands you on a huge iron patch and assorted surface brick. Earlier this year it gave up a Light Artillery and a domed eagle button. My hopes were high to score another early military button before the close of 2016.
Weapon of choice today was the trusty CTX- about 10 minutes into the iron I started walking in a circular pattern to help vary my conventional grid. Employing this method and digging questionable signals, I managed 3 nice heavy flat buttons.
I've pounded this site so finding any non-ferrous among the iron was a great sign. Next up was the remains of an old pewter spoon and small tacks.
The CTX's final target was also my main objective of the day, 1 piece domed L. H. & SCOVILL Artillery Eagle button, manufactured by the partnership of Leavenworth, Hayden and Scovill, in the 1820's. This partnership is the earliest of the Scovill backmarks. She's toasty but the eagle with A on the shield is still there.
Here's a better example from Ridgeway's website
Satisfied with my CTX, I returned to the truck to prove to my DEUS that my trusty minelab had gotten it all...or so I thought
Working the same perimeter, all that remained were the faintest whispers, the vast majority deep bent nails. That being said, I did pull a few small deep buttons that were missed on the first pass.
Also recovered a tiny buckle- any ideas as to its use?
As the site went quiet, I expanded the search area away from the iron patch. After another hour without so much as a chirp I started heading back in to the truck, excited to clean up the artillery button. While following the path out the Deus screamed on an 81...had to be clad. Reached down, flipped the plug and saw this beauty-
I've dug a number copper of thimbles in the past put never solid silver. Similar to a present-day tailor’s thimble, these sewing rings were designed to apply the pressure sideways. They are also known as open-top or ring-type thimbles, and have complemented their more conventional counterparts from the earliest times.
Sadly no makers mark but acid test did confirm solid silver- suspect this one is late 1700s to early 1800s.
Here's another I dug nearby...clearly the investment in silver in the 1700s was a good call
Now I'm going to share the pictures of last weekends recovery before the story and let you make your own conclusions
What you do think you've got when this is at the bottom of the plug??
If you guessed 1960s anti-establishment surfer hardware you must have worn one as a kid
After digging it and seeing 1813-1914 with the typical imperial german iron cross I though for sure it was a WWI trophy. Never in my widest dreams did I think it was a re-purposed 1960s symbol created by famous custom car designer Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.
This one is an early variation, but you can definitely see the surfer soldered to the back of a 1914 Iron Cross Badge Imperial German 1st Class WWI badge.
Among the other finds was this decorative stamped copper rosette
and another mystery piece.
Heading up to Richmond for the holiday so that lowcountry dirt will have to wait until after the Christmas. All in all a couple outstanding hunts in some uncharacteristically warm weather. Thanks for reading and Merry Xmas!
While you all up in the frigid north hunker down for the winter, the lowcountry has been in the high 60s over the last couple days. Needless to say amazing weather in combination with Xmas leave ensured I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on my 2016 season. Hit 2 very different sites over the last 2 days, both ended up producing some killer relics. First permission has the remains of a homestead deep in the woods, the structure is long since gone. It's the kind of site where random swinging in the forest lands you on a huge iron patch and assorted surface brick. Earlier this year it gave up a Light Artillery and a domed eagle button. My hopes were high to score another early military button before the close of 2016.
Weapon of choice today was the trusty CTX- about 10 minutes into the iron I started walking in a circular pattern to help vary my conventional grid. Employing this method and digging questionable signals, I managed 3 nice heavy flat buttons.
I've pounded this site so finding any non-ferrous among the iron was a great sign. Next up was the remains of an old pewter spoon and small tacks.
The CTX's final target was also my main objective of the day, 1 piece domed L. H. & SCOVILL Artillery Eagle button, manufactured by the partnership of Leavenworth, Hayden and Scovill, in the 1820's. This partnership is the earliest of the Scovill backmarks. She's toasty but the eagle with A on the shield is still there.
Here's a better example from Ridgeway's website
Satisfied with my CTX, I returned to the truck to prove to my DEUS that my trusty minelab had gotten it all...or so I thought
Working the same perimeter, all that remained were the faintest whispers, the vast majority deep bent nails. That being said, I did pull a few small deep buttons that were missed on the first pass.
Also recovered a tiny buckle- any ideas as to its use?
As the site went quiet, I expanded the search area away from the iron patch. After another hour without so much as a chirp I started heading back in to the truck, excited to clean up the artillery button. While following the path out the Deus screamed on an 81...had to be clad. Reached down, flipped the plug and saw this beauty-
I've dug a number copper of thimbles in the past put never solid silver. Similar to a present-day tailor’s thimble, these sewing rings were designed to apply the pressure sideways. They are also known as open-top or ring-type thimbles, and have complemented their more conventional counterparts from the earliest times.
Sadly no makers mark but acid test did confirm solid silver- suspect this one is late 1700s to early 1800s.
Here's another I dug nearby...clearly the investment in silver in the 1700s was a good call
Now I'm going to share the pictures of last weekends recovery before the story and let you make your own conclusions
What you do think you've got when this is at the bottom of the plug??
If you guessed 1960s anti-establishment surfer hardware you must have worn one as a kid
After digging it and seeing 1813-1914 with the typical imperial german iron cross I though for sure it was a WWI trophy. Never in my widest dreams did I think it was a re-purposed 1960s symbol created by famous custom car designer Ed "Big Daddy" Roth.This one is an early variation, but you can definitely see the surfer soldered to the back of a 1914 Iron Cross Badge Imperial German 1st Class WWI badge.
Among the other finds was this decorative stamped copper rosette
and another mystery piece. Heading up to Richmond for the holiday so that lowcountry dirt will have to wait until after the Christmas. All in all a couple outstanding hunts in some uncharacteristically warm weather. Thanks for reading and Merry Xmas!
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That silver thimble is incredible and not even smashed. Got a mess of brass ones, but hope to see a silver one in the dirt one day. Great buttons too.
