paleomaxx
Hero Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
- Messages
- 841
- Reaction score
- 6,888
- Golden Thread
- 6
- Location
- Upstate, NY
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 6
- Detector(s) used
- Deus XP
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Finally had some ground thaw so I went to check out a new spot I had found on the old maps. At the trailhead is an obvious foundation that had lots of iron and pottery stacked on the walls so I wasn't too hopeful that this other site would have much left. To my surprise there wasn't any sign that it had been detected before and the very first target and plug was this:
My first seated dime in over two years and only my second seated dime ever! It's a nice 1878 which is a scarcer date and in decent shape. A little mottling from ground sulfur, but not enough that I think the aluminum and baking soda treatment is warranted. Definitely a great way to start a hunt!
I set about doing a careful grid starting a little away from the cellar and was finding targets fairly consistently. Most are the typical mid 1800's homesite fare:
The two furniture plates were cool and one still has the hardware for the drawer pull attached. Bunch of pewter spoon handles and a pewter salt shaker top too. Many of the relics were pretty close to the surface and obvious signals which is a nice switch from my usual pounded spots. I found a bunch of pieces that I think go to a bracelet:
Pretty design, but that's all I found so there are probably more segments somewhere. I also found a small brass ring and some rounded decorative end piece:
It was a decent spot for buttons and I pulled up two ball buttons which I only rarely find around here:
The large fancy button is especially cool. The button itself is brass, but the bird and grass are a separate piece of pewter. It's the first I've found like this and based on the shank I think it's probably Victorian. There were a few 1830's flat buttons and one large tombac which was odd. I don't have much of a handle on how old this site is. Based on the relics I would have guessed 1860's to 1890's but there are a few scattered colonial pieces which are out of place. Some, like the spoons, could just be their antiques, but the tombac is weird. Possibly an unrelated drop from before the house was constructed.
I did find one piece that may top the seated dime:
After all these sites I finally found a piece of a sterling spoon! And as a bonus it has the owner's initials, but intriguingly the initials "B.T." don't correspond to this property but the homesite just down the road. Perhaps someone swiped one of their good spoons!
Best of all though the maker's mark is there and there was just enough to look up and confirm it was made by "Joseph T. Rice." He was a silversmith based in Albany NY and was active from 1815 to 1855. I've actually driven by where his shop was located on Pearl street.
Overall a great hunt! Not much in the way of iron relics, although I did find another surprising first:
An entire cast iron frying pan! You don't see these come out of the ground that often. Once I had it out of the ground it came apart in the two pieces and I'm temped to try and clean it up for use; these pans are the best! I also found a pair of scissors, but strangely no axe heads or hoe blades which I almost always find at old cellar holes. A very good day and there are a few more possible sites in this forest so hopefully I have a couple more hunts just like it to look forward to!
My first seated dime in over two years and only my second seated dime ever! It's a nice 1878 which is a scarcer date and in decent shape. A little mottling from ground sulfur, but not enough that I think the aluminum and baking soda treatment is warranted. Definitely a great way to start a hunt!
I set about doing a careful grid starting a little away from the cellar and was finding targets fairly consistently. Most are the typical mid 1800's homesite fare:
The two furniture plates were cool and one still has the hardware for the drawer pull attached. Bunch of pewter spoon handles and a pewter salt shaker top too. Many of the relics were pretty close to the surface and obvious signals which is a nice switch from my usual pounded spots. I found a bunch of pieces that I think go to a bracelet:
Pretty design, but that's all I found so there are probably more segments somewhere. I also found a small brass ring and some rounded decorative end piece:
It was a decent spot for buttons and I pulled up two ball buttons which I only rarely find around here:
The large fancy button is especially cool. The button itself is brass, but the bird and grass are a separate piece of pewter. It's the first I've found like this and based on the shank I think it's probably Victorian. There were a few 1830's flat buttons and one large tombac which was odd. I don't have much of a handle on how old this site is. Based on the relics I would have guessed 1860's to 1890's but there are a few scattered colonial pieces which are out of place. Some, like the spoons, could just be their antiques, but the tombac is weird. Possibly an unrelated drop from before the house was constructed.
I did find one piece that may top the seated dime:
After all these sites I finally found a piece of a sterling spoon! And as a bonus it has the owner's initials, but intriguingly the initials "B.T." don't correspond to this property but the homesite just down the road. Perhaps someone swiped one of their good spoons!
Best of all though the maker's mark is there and there was just enough to look up and confirm it was made by "Joseph T. Rice." He was a silversmith based in Albany NY and was active from 1815 to 1855. I've actually driven by where his shop was located on Pearl street. Overall a great hunt! Not much in the way of iron relics, although I did find another surprising first:
An entire cast iron frying pan! You don't see these come out of the ground that often. Once I had it out of the ground it came apart in the two pieces and I'm temped to try and clean it up for use; these pans are the best! I also found a pair of scissors, but strangely no axe heads or hoe blades which I almost always find at old cellar holes. A very good day and there are a few more possible sites in this forest so hopefully I have a couple more hunts just like it to look forward to!
Upvote
31
