BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
When I came dragging in from work today, diggergirl said "let's go digging." Her words were like a ray of sunshine on this Very rainy Friday. So after a quick phone call to a property owner to check and see if his fields were planted yet, we got out in his fields.
I wanted to try one more time to find the rest of my CW snake buckle and officer's spur. 8)
So we attacked the site with our hopes high. A few bits came up--nothing really exciting at first--but I did get a very old pocketknife from the barn site. It appears to have a traveler on it with a backpack, and a star guiding him on his journey. When I dug the knife, it looked similar in style and construction to other CW period knives I've seen posted here.
Pretty soon, diggergirl came running with a coin--an 1864 Indian Head.
Then after a long lull (during which the only find was a musketball for diggergirl) I got one lonely flat button.
So we decided to walk across the field to site #2. This site had given up one dateless LC very quickly back in October, plus a piece of a rooster-shaped pewter whistle Hill Billy found. I felt certain we'd be able to snag a find or two there...
Right off the bat, diggergirl found a nice larged domed one-piece button (backmark "W.H. JONES & CO."). I decided that I needed a different strategy from the last hunt of the site, so rather than hitting the top of the hill, I started working the trash pit areas on the sides of the slope.
Pretty soon I had a coin--a late date IH. She is a pretty greenie though. Here's a photo of diggergirl working the crest of the ridge:
Then I dug a strange piece of brass which I will need some help with (please see the cleaned finds photos below. It is the piece with the IH in the photo for scale.)
The iron was brutal on this site, and it was driving the 1266-X up the wall.
But I was picking slowly through it, digging the bigger pieces out and rechecking the holes afterward. Pretty soon we had a nice pile of iron as usual. 
Here's a photo of me--staying calm while picking through the nail patch.
Then I got another Big Iron signal, and so I dug. As I bent down to pick it up, I thought to myself "No, it isn't...well...YES IT IS!" It was a complete musket lock plate! I at first thought it was a flintlock, due to the amount of dirt stuck around the hammer, but it is percussion cap.
This'll make ya go out and Dig Some Iron. Ya Baby, SEXY Iron!
We kept hunting for a while, but started to get a little worried about the skies opening up and dumping water on us by the bathtubfulls. So we said goodbye to the owner and headed home.
Here is a photo of the finds, before cleaning:
And after cleaning. (I think the homemade lead washer that diggergirl found is Very Cool.)
I need a bit of help with this piece. It is cast brass, smooth on the front side where one of the holes is countersunk, and rougher brass on the underside. The hole in the smaller end is countersunk, but the other hole appears to be homemade. (Is it a piece of a trigger guard?) IH cent from the hunt today is for scale:
And here's a photo of both sides of the pocketknife I dug. Traveler with backpack and a star in the sky above. (Or perhaps a solder with a knapsack and kepi?) Very cool piece.
And the lock plate. I understand that electrolysis will help with its identification, but I would love some help in IDing this piece. Although the basic size and shape of the plate itself are right, it looks like the arm seems a little too flat where it attaches to the plate to be a CW-era Springfield or Enfield
Best Wishes and HH,
Buckles
When I came dragging in from work today, diggergirl said "let's go digging." Her words were like a ray of sunshine on this Very rainy Friday. So after a quick phone call to a property owner to check and see if his fields were planted yet, we got out in his fields.
I wanted to try one more time to find the rest of my CW snake buckle and officer's spur. 8)So we attacked the site with our hopes high. A few bits came up--nothing really exciting at first--but I did get a very old pocketknife from the barn site. It appears to have a traveler on it with a backpack, and a star guiding him on his journey. When I dug the knife, it looked similar in style and construction to other CW period knives I've seen posted here.
Pretty soon, diggergirl came running with a coin--an 1864 Indian Head.
Then after a long lull (during which the only find was a musketball for diggergirl) I got one lonely flat button.
So we decided to walk across the field to site #2. This site had given up one dateless LC very quickly back in October, plus a piece of a rooster-shaped pewter whistle Hill Billy found. I felt certain we'd be able to snag a find or two there...
Right off the bat, diggergirl found a nice larged domed one-piece button (backmark "W.H. JONES & CO."). I decided that I needed a different strategy from the last hunt of the site, so rather than hitting the top of the hill, I started working the trash pit areas on the sides of the slope.
Pretty soon I had a coin--a late date IH. She is a pretty greenie though.
Here's a photo of diggergirl working the crest of the ridge:Then I dug a strange piece of brass which I will need some help with (please see the cleaned finds photos below. It is the piece with the IH in the photo for scale.)
The iron was brutal on this site, and it was driving the 1266-X up the wall.
But I was picking slowly through it, digging the bigger pieces out and rechecking the holes afterward. Pretty soon we had a nice pile of iron as usual. Here's a photo of me--staying calm while picking through the nail patch. Then I got another Big Iron signal, and so I dug. As I bent down to pick it up, I thought to myself "No, it isn't...well...YES IT IS!" It was a complete musket lock plate! I at first thought it was a flintlock, due to the amount of dirt stuck around the hammer, but it is percussion cap.
This'll make ya go out and Dig Some Iron. Ya Baby, SEXY Iron!
We kept hunting for a while, but started to get a little worried about the skies opening up and dumping water on us by the bathtubfulls. So we said goodbye to the owner and headed home.
Here is a photo of the finds, before cleaning:
And after cleaning. (I think the homemade lead washer that diggergirl found is Very Cool.)
I need a bit of help with this piece. It is cast brass, smooth on the front side where one of the holes is countersunk, and rougher brass on the underside. The hole in the smaller end is countersunk, but the other hole appears to be homemade. (Is it a piece of a trigger guard?) IH cent from the hunt today is for scale:
And here's a photo of both sides of the pocketknife I dug. Traveler with backpack and a star in the sky above. (Or perhaps a solder with a knapsack and kepi?) Very cool piece.
And the lock plate. I understand that electrolysis will help with its identification, but I would love some help in IDing this piece. Although the basic size and shape of the plate itself are right, it looks like the arm seems a little too flat where it attaches to the plate to be a CW-era Springfield or Enfield
Best Wishes and HH,
Buckles
Amazon Forum Fav 👍
Upvote
0
I really like the IH as well, nice smooth patina. The ones I've found as of late look just pitiful, so badly eat up you can barely tell what they are. Hope you guys got out this weekend, I've got two big papers due and finals getting ready to start, MY HEAD IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE 
