DownNDirty
Bronze Member
It has been a while since I posted my finds so this will cover several hunts; sorry for the long post. The first site was a plowed field that was the original location of a house built in the 1820s; it was also a stagecoach stop on a well-traveled road. Several hunts at this spot produced some decent finds like this two-piece South Carolina coat button
The back mark of "SMITH YOUNG & CO/N YORK" (Albert's SC13A7) gives it a date range of 1830-1858. An interesting find was this partial "American Aviator" badge from the 1930s/40s. I can just imagine a young lad wearing this and pretending he is overseas in the war, shooting down German planes like his dad. An undug complete example is included to show what it originally looked like
I was pretty pleased to dig a complete (less the handle) brass keg tap
This appears to be a looking glass to possibly a monocular or perhaps a pair of early binoculars
There was no shortage to Indian head pennies at this site. I dug four of them and a wheatie, but unfortunately the fertilizers in the soil had taken its toll over the years
Here are all of the finds from the stagecoach site
Next I did some exploring in another large plowed field permission. After doing extensive scouting I ran across an area that had the signs of a home site-ceramic and glass shards, brick fragments and an abundance of iron signals. One signal turned out to be a complete spade blade that was over a foot deep-talk about a bear to excavate in the heat!
Here it is after several hours in the electrolysis tank. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out; based on the relics that I found at this site it is probably from the early 1800s
The best finds from this site were three matching cuff-sized Artillery Corps buttons. I found one on the first hunt and the other two the next time out. All three were found in a relatively small area, so I think it is safe to assume that the buttons came from a discarded uniform
This button is listed in Albert's as AY55B (1814-1821). It was pretty cool to find three uniform buttons together, and hopefully there are more there to be found.
Another button that I found at the site was this large ball button; not sure if it was civilian or military
While the highlight of my finds at this site have definitely been the Artillery Corps buttons, this silver cuff link was a nice surprise
Fortunately the soil at this site is much kinder to copper than the stagecoach site, as evidenced by this Indian head penny
The site also produced these two pieces of an 18th century brass shoe buckle
...and a small hammer head that originally had a solid metal handle. It is very similar to one that Brad (Outdooradv) posted recently; possibly a blacksmith tool?
Lastly, here is a late-nineteenth century andiron I found a while ago. It was a female dog to clean-hours and hours of electrolysis, soaking in vinegar and wire brushing. The back is marked with a patent year of 1860.
I will leave you with several images from my recent hunts. It's not just about detecting and finding stuff-the places we see and people we meet along the way make the experience so much more rewarding.
The back mark of "SMITH YOUNG & CO/N YORK" (Albert's SC13A7) gives it a date range of 1830-1858. An interesting find was this partial "American Aviator" badge from the 1930s/40s. I can just imagine a young lad wearing this and pretending he is overseas in the war, shooting down German planes like his dad. An undug complete example is included to show what it originally looked like
I was pretty pleased to dig a complete (less the handle) brass keg tap
This appears to be a looking glass to possibly a monocular or perhaps a pair of early binoculars
There was no shortage to Indian head pennies at this site. I dug four of them and a wheatie, but unfortunately the fertilizers in the soil had taken its toll over the years
Here are all of the finds from the stagecoach site
Next I did some exploring in another large plowed field permission. After doing extensive scouting I ran across an area that had the signs of a home site-ceramic and glass shards, brick fragments and an abundance of iron signals. One signal turned out to be a complete spade blade that was over a foot deep-talk about a bear to excavate in the heat!
Here it is after several hours in the electrolysis tank. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out; based on the relics that I found at this site it is probably from the early 1800s
The best finds from this site were three matching cuff-sized Artillery Corps buttons. I found one on the first hunt and the other two the next time out. All three were found in a relatively small area, so I think it is safe to assume that the buttons came from a discarded uniform
This button is listed in Albert's as AY55B (1814-1821). It was pretty cool to find three uniform buttons together, and hopefully there are more there to be found.
Another button that I found at the site was this large ball button; not sure if it was civilian or military
While the highlight of my finds at this site have definitely been the Artillery Corps buttons, this silver cuff link was a nice surprise
Fortunately the soil at this site is much kinder to copper than the stagecoach site, as evidenced by this Indian head penny
The site also produced these two pieces of an 18th century brass shoe buckle
...and a small hammer head that originally had a solid metal handle. It is very similar to one that Brad (Outdooradv) posted recently; possibly a blacksmith tool?
Lastly, here is a late-nineteenth century andiron I found a while ago. It was a female dog to clean-hours and hours of electrolysis, soaking in vinegar and wire brushing. The back is marked with a patent year of 1860.
I will leave you with several images from my recent hunts. It's not just about detecting and finding stuff-the places we see and people we meet along the way make the experience so much more rewarding.
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