Colonial/1812 Hunt w/ Ahab8 and OutdoorAdv! Pewters, coppers, tombac and Bells

[Scrappy]

UPDATE: New Pics added.

So I got away for a hard earned vacation - and what a vacation it was...

Earlier this summer after Abe was kind enough to invite us up, Ahab8, OutdoorAdv, and I decided to plan a killer fall hunt. I've been friends with Abe for close to 2-1/2? years, and Brad for about a year, but haven't met either one of them until this trip.

So I met up with Brad in Connecticut and we carpooled to Maine to connect with Abe. We quickly repacked at Abe's house and off we went. Crossing the lake, we loaded the canoe with so much equipment that we literally had 5" of freeboard. The paddle was about 1.5 miles to the island but the view alone was worth it.

Once we arrived we quickly got into digging some signals. Brad scored early but it took me a while to adjust. I was able to score a few nice flat buttons and finally, a beautiful pewter US general service button!

After a 5-Star dinner of spit fired sirloin strip steak, potatoes, and roasted garlic, we smoked cigars and had a couple beer. That's when Abe had a great idea to do a night scouting mission. We quickly found iron and followed by scoring a button each, of which I found a pewter underwear button.

After finding a foundation that was on no known map, I cleaned up real nicely with a few iron spoons (not pictured yet) and a beautiful crotal bell!
followed by my first rat-tail spoon (not pictured yet).
Abe and Brad ripped on me good for hogging all the good stuff

The a bucket-lister came out - a pewter rat-tail spoon!! Absolutely amazing.

After a downpour all night we were back at it. I was sure to ring my crotal bell in the morning to wake everyone up! Haha!

We all dug some more buttons and I scored a ton of musketballs in the mud flats. Brad also cleaned up on some signals my CTX missed. That GPX is something else. Being in a grouped area and mostly impacted, Brad and I figured that it must have been a target range. We must have dug 30 round balls between the two of us.

We continue on the mud flats and I dig a French copper with a square hole in it. Turned out to be a French Sol. Killer hunt!


After that we packed up and headed home to rest our sore backs, and eat 75 lbs of sushi. Abe was slightly off with his 40lb estimate lol. Here's a pic of us loading


The next day we hit two islands, and the second one paid off big time. Here is a pic of Brads head... and Abe
With just a little searching, we came across an interesting pile of rocks. Within a few minutes I came across a blowhole button (not pictured yet). Another first!!! It was game on after that and we went to town. After a few more buttons I had a great signal - a KG2.

Buttons and spoons started popping out everywhere and we had a great time. Everyone scored some beautiful items. I found some more buttons, mostly tombacs, all early. We estimate the site as mid 18th century, and nothing newer than ~1780's. Here's a picture from the shoreline

silver faced buttons, no back marks.



Button with thread.... Pewter baby spoona KG2 that didn't fare well in cleaning





What a hunt. Abe was a gracious host and really put in the effort to make our trip a memorable one. Brad, meh, he's ok....just kidding. Great guys, great times, and a trip I'll remember always.


To wrap things up, we all had MONSTER lobsta' rolls.



Enjoy and good hunts!

Steve

Just added:

1812 Iron nails used for the fort all cleaned up



And a colonial iron spoon. It was folded in half!!



And finally, a Crushed Blowhole button crushed by that Abe fella- AKA "Magilla Gorilla"





Rat tail

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[CRUSADER]

Thx Cru. I agree about the buttons. The ones dug on the first site were most certainly later. So you think a few of those tombac are that late as well?

Yes they can be, some Museums think as late as 1830, its a little bit of a grey area, so I date them broadly as 1780-1800.(Middle point). Of course many can be 1750-80, that's why its tricky

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[Scrappy]

Great post man! That little pewter spoon is something I don't believe I've ever seen before. Glad you were able to both score your first rat tails and that petal bell is a beauty. It was fun trying to figure out what your copper was with the giant rectangular cutout. That's a very cool piece in my opinion. But the US pewter may be my fave. It was so cool to see you pull your first marked pewter. Pretty sure I was way more excited than you were lol. I'm looking forward to the next time we are able to get together and hopefully dig up some more Colonial goodness. Truly an awesome few days.
Btw everybody I'm not really that short! I'm standing in a hole....I swear lol

I think I was relieved and excited to find that pewter. It was the one thing I wanted from that island. You and Brad were very thorough buddy. I'm used to gaps from sloppy hunters

Anyway, I could see the enjoyment on your face when Brad and I found really nice stuff. It made me feel good about finding it and eliminated having to worry about jealous mofo's. I glad we were on on the same level with that sort of thing.

 

[Ahab8]

I think I was relieved and excited to find that pewter. It was the one thing I wanted from that island. You and Brad were very thorough buddy. I'm used to gaps from sloppy hunters

Anyway, I could see the enjoyment on your face when Brad and I found really nice stuff. It made me feel good about finding it and eliminated having to worry about jealous mofo's. I glad we were on on the same level with that sort of thing.

I would never invite anybody if I was going to be a jealous selfish ass. It's a great feeling watching your buddies do well and seeing their excitement

 

[UnderMiner]

This right here is what the hobby is all about! Awesome!!

 

[DownNDirty]

Excellent post, Steve-all those on-site and "in action" pics really make it more enjoyable to read. I almost felt like I was there (well not really unfortunately but you get my drift). The three of you look like tired, scruffy pups in that picture and no wonder. You packed in a lot in three days. Congratulations of a lot of great finds including some firsts.

 

[joeyfresh]

Great photos and even nicer finds Steve-o. Did you make a videos?

 

[Gridwalker306]

Great post Scrappy, and what an amazing time you guys had! Thanks for letting us peek into your adventure and showing the nice old finds.

I've never had a lobster roll before, but now I want one.

 

[coinman123]

If the US button is Revolutionary War than you have a banner! Awesome finds, and it looks like a very fun hunt!

 

[Scrappy]

Hey--there's our T-Net boys!! Loving these posts about your detecting adventures! Look how teeny that crotal bell is! Great buttons, and what a gorgeous area to hunt in! Congrats on all of your finds. -Lisa & John

That bell isn't small, my hands are big! Lol. Actually I thought the bell had a "C" makers mark on it until Abe told me it was a 0 - as in size zero.

 

[Scrappy]

Hey Steve, the item in the top left of this pic looks kind of like a bayonet scabbard clip. If you are digging War of 1812 buttons and musketballs, I wouldn't be surprised to see a bayonet scabbard clip turn up.


Here are some examples:

View attachment 1374788View attachment 1374789

I think you're absolutely right about that. Brad and I had a whole conversation about that thing.i knew it was special so I kept it safe and I'm the pics. Thx for the great ID!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Finally, the great Maine adventure round 3 Hunting via kayak into remote areas is my favorite kind of scouting. Have to love the way pewter is preserved on the mud flats. We'll done!

 

[Scrappy]

Another outstanding post about the "Great Maine Hunt". It's been fun to read about this through the eyes of each of you, but the common theme is that you guys had a blast both with the digging as well as hanging out. Thanks for all those site photos Steve, especially that panoramic view which says it all. And congrats on a nice pile of early finds. I'd be happy with a single flat button right now, but not sure when I'll be able to get back out. Guess I'll have to keep living vicariously through you guys. Again, great post!

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it Bill. Those panoramas really capture the essence of Maine. Every time I visit there I'm dumbfounded by the endless beauty of that place. Beauty, abundance, and accessibility - it's no wonder some of the earliest settlers chose Maine. I hope you get up and out soon buddy.

 

[BARKER]

Hi; Excuse me while I drool.!!!! Great hunt guys. Now that's what I call a great hunt. PEACE:RONB

 

[Z.K.]

Those pics really capture a great sense of adventure and camaraderie, in addition to the sweet finds. Happy for you guys

 

[Scrappy]

Excellent post, Steve-all those on-site and "in action" pics really make it more enjoyable to read. I almost felt like I was there (well not really unfortunately but you get my drift). The three of you look like tired, scruffy pups in that picture and no wonder. You packed in a lot in three days. Congratulations of a lot of great finds including some firsts.

Thanks Glenn. We were tired and beaten by then end of day three. So what are we doing next time? 4 days!

As you know, these guys are hardcore. Brad showed me a lot of pit digging pointers and spoke great things of you. Says that guy Glenn is a crazy pit digging mofo! Lol. Not that I didn't know that already from your killer posts. Cheers bud

 

[Scrappy]

Great photos and even nicer finds Steve-o. Did you make a videos?

Only videos I can't post on here. Like your text today suggested. Lol.

I'm still working on piecing the blowhole I found back together. I dunno if you heard but Abe, in a fit of jealousy, crushed my poor little button. Brad saw the whole things

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Only videos I can't post on here. Like your text today suggested. Lol.

I'm still working on piecing the blowhole I found back together. I dunno if you heard but Abe, in a fit of jealousy, crushed my poor little button. Brad saw the whole things

It was a sad site Joey. Steve handed it to me and I was like "incredible man, thats a killer blow hole" then I hand it to Abe and a second later is was smashed in 2 pieces.

 

[coinman123]

It was a sad site Joey. Steve handed it to me and I was like "incredible man, thats a killer blow hole" then I hand it to Abe and a second later is was smashed in 2 pieces.

That happened to my first blowhole button, except it ended up in 3 pieces! They are very fragile!

 

[Ahab8]

That happened to my first blowhole button, except it ended up in 3 pieces! They are very fragile!

Yeah see you fools....they're very fragile. I only had to squeeze it a little bit to destroy it. You found enough firsts on this visit. I couldn't allow you anymore. At least my boy Coinman understands

 

[The Rebel]

Awesome post, pic's & finds! Love the beach assault!