Amazing finds at a hunted out school

bspkayaker

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Feb 7, 2015
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Conway SC
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Hey everyone, it has been some time since I have posted last, but need your help on these buttons I just found at a school that has been hammered to death, so I thought anyway. I
have not cleaned anything as of yet as I am not sure if the buttons are rare or valuable. If anyone can I.D. these, please do!

I first pulled up and walked to a spot and found this below (first hole).
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Next couple of holes, I pulled this. It still has a little gem in the middle.
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Then I had that gut feeling for some reason that I needed to go over to the other side of the field as there were some very old trees around. Just a hunch, that really paid off

The first hole I dug and I pull out three of the below buttons, I couldn't believe it!
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Then about ten minutes later, I pull this "GOLD" Button! It certainly has some weight to it.
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Below is the rest that I pulled out in the same area. All within an hour or so.
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File_003(1).jpeg

A day detecting like this was well needed! It has been slim pickings this year.

Thank for looking, Brian
 

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Upvote 45
What is the provenance of the site, before it became a school? That is the important part. There is a school about 70 miles from here near a major battlefield. The whole British army camped there one day before a battle, but who would know if not by research, research, research.

USA button is a killer!
 

What is the provenance of the site, before it became a school? That is the important part. There is a school about 70 miles from here near a major battlefield. The whole British army camped there one day before a battle, but who would know if not by research, research, research.

USA button is a killer!

The site produced various old relics in the same spot ie: old musket balls, spoons, and other various relics. There were numerous forts in the area back in the 1700's also. I tried doing some research also to check if there was any reenactments ever in the area and could not find anything. There were two houses right near the spot (earliest map I could find was 1853). The spot where I found these just wouldn't make sense to hold an reenactment as it is a very small out in the woods town and the site is very small.
 

Regarding this "hunted out school", do you think you hit a spot that has eluded those before you? What other finds a side from the buttons have you found in this undetected strip of grass? It's all too easy to go with a "kid drop" unless there's some associated period items that accompany the mixed bag of buttons. Especially finding 3 mixed buttons in the same hole, just not a real world scenario.
 

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IMHO, if the site was big enough for a real world Revolutionary War camp or battle, it would be big enough for a Reenactment. Re-enactments generally stay true to the events that are being re-enacted, including location.
 

Regarding this "hunted out school", do you think you hit a spot that has eluded those before you? What other finds a side from the buttons have you found in this undetected strip of grass? It's all too easy to go with a "kid drop" unless there's some associated period items that accompany the mixed bag of buttons. Especially finding 3 mixed buttons in the same hole, just not a real world scenario.

This school is in a very small town out in the middle of nowhere, the school is very small and isolated on a small back road. I believe it has seen its share of metal detectorists, but maybe has not seen the pressure that most schools have seen. The spot where I found the buttons was in a small section right near the tree line (woods). This area, to me would not be indicative of an area that would hold any type of reenactments of any kind. As mentioned in previous posts, I have found other old relics in the same little area as I found these buttons. I searched a bit outside of this area and have not found much for old relics, its just very strange. I plan to go back there very soon and grid the area and hit it hard. Who knows I could find something there the next time that could provide a bit more clarity to the situation.
 

Nice finds Brian! Let me know if you need any help, all that hole digging is a lot of work for one person :laughing7:

Hey Jon, so what your saying is I will do the detecting and you will dig the holes? You have a deal!

Let me know when you have some time and we can head over there.
 

IMHO, if the site was big enough for a real world Revolutionary War camp or battle, it would be big enough for a Reenactment. Re-enactments generally stay true to the events that are being re-enacted, including location.

While the O.P. states that it is not big enough for an Reenactment, who knows what the site was like in the mid 1770's to mid 1780's! Unless many or the majority of the trees are old growth 250+ year old trees, then the site could have actually been a field or even a cove (clearing) in the woods big enough for a camp or maybe even big enough for a battle to take place. It may take lots of research and more searching the site by the O.P. to shed the light on the history of the site but it will likely come to be known. I just hate when some of the questioning about the finds and the site can be misconstrued.


Frank
 

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Thought I would include a few of the additional items that were found in in the spot

This small round piece that is very corroded, it has a number '3' on it. The back is completely toasted
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A spoon
File_001(1).jpeg

The piece cleaned that I had on the original post
File_001.jpegFile_002(1).jpeg

Musket Ball
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And some relic I am not sure of
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You have a mix of 18th century and 19th century stuff there. Not unusual at all. This one farm field I had once either had Revolutionary war items or totally modern stuff. There was almost NOTHING from the in between years. That used to be a sweet place to hunt. Oh yeah, and that USA is a banner all the way.
 

You have a mix of 18th century and 19th century stuff there. Not unusual at all. This one farm field I had once either had Revolutionary war items or totally modern stuff. There was almost NOTHING from the in between years. That used to be a sweet place to hunt. Oh yeah, and that USA is a banner all the way.

Its mazing that I could pull out what I did as it was loaded with clad
 

You have a mix of 18th century and 19th century stuff there. Not unusual at all. This one farm field I had once either had Revolutionary war items or totally modern stuff. There was almost NOTHING from the in between years. That used to be a sweet place to hunt. Oh yeah, and that USA is a banner all the way.

I have many sites like that. One site is really weird, tons of stuff from 1730-1800, nothing after that, then some stuff from 1850-1860. Nothing after that, then a 1920's-1950's dump (which takes up around 100 square feet). It makes you wondering the story of that stuff.
 

Iron Patch, after taking a breather, maybe I became overly sensitive, therefore I apologize for my statements, and hope you will accept my apologies. Any errors I have created was not done with bad intent

I am reposting the pictures, front and back, and believe me this is correct

The USA Button
View attachment 1483040View attachment 1483041

The 34th
View attachment 1483042View attachment 1483043

The 58th
View attachment 1483045View attachment 1483044

The Thistle
View attachment 1483046View attachment 1483048



Don't worry about it, I'm not. I don't hold grudges for stupid reasons, especially based situations that went sideways based on a mistake.

The above said, it was all about identifying your buttons for what they truly are, and you have no control over that and should be interested in the truth and accept it.

My previous comments still stand, and now can add the thistle, like I figured, is a modern reproduction.
 

Appreciate your help iron patch, it is what it is. I agree, it's better to know the truth, I accept that.

Oh well, on to the next site.

Thanks
Brian
 

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