Don in SJ
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Last week at this site I found a 1699-1701 worn down William III Halfpenny and after a week of home projects I wanted to get back to the old sawmill site again in hopes of another coin/relic or two.
The hunt yesterday started off with a decent reading right away in the same area that I got the William III, cufflinks and spoon at last week. This time it was my 5th very old buckle from this site and the second Shoe Buckle, broken in half, but with a great design on it and after cleaning, silver plated to boot!
I did a pattern hunt rather intensely in this area, some iron hits, none diggable readings and eventually expanded the search area and about 30 feet away from where most of the relics have been found I got a somewhat funky but definite possible coin reading.
The sugar sand is great to dig in, only a few scattered roots interfere, and the coin reading was deep, perhaps 8 inches or more, I dug a large opening and the funky reading was now in the the dirt pile. I picked it up and even though I knew it had to be a coin, I could not believe how thin it was and clipped and slightly bent to boot. I knew if it was in fact a coin that it was a very old one.
I rescanned the hole and there was still a funky but this time a little better reading in the hole. I scooped out some more dirt and now had a second copper in the pile! Two colonial coppers in the same hole has not happened too often for me over the years so this was a happy time moment. The second copper was immediately identifiable as a KGII bust Halfpenny.
I did not have my digital camera with me so sorry for the quality but here is a cell phone pic of the two coppers at the hole where they were dug.
I called it quits for the morning, only hunted less than an hour but it was a good short hunt!
So the finds for the morning , 2 early coppers and one 1700s shoe buckle
When I got home, I looked at the two coppers and thought the first one might not have any detail at all and the second copper looked totally blank on the Reverse. To my delight I did get some detail on both sides from both coins after a very long cleaning process.
The first copper found, evidently is my oldest colonial I have found, and I am fairly certain it is a Charles II IRISH Halfpenny, date range 1680-1684, but I suspect this one is a 1682, but will log it as 1680-84. This copper is 26mm in diameter and weighs a paltry 77.2 grains.
I could tell by the shape of the bust of the second copper that it was a King George II Irish Halfpenny and after cleaning, I was able to see the outline of the crown and some of the Harp but not the date. Judging by the style of the bust of George it would have a date range of 1736-1755. I originally thought the range was up to 1760, but 1760 KGII had the old head King George bust.
Besides the joy of finding my oldest copper, when I cleaned the broken shoe buckle I noticed it was a nicely plated silver shoe buckle.
So far, three old coins from this long forgotten sawmill site and hopefully I may get another one or two before I consider the place searched to my satisfaction.
Perhaps the one baffling thing about the site is what I have not found. To find 3 coppers and 5 old buckles but only 1 button, is not the norm for the sites I hunt. There might be a good reason for the lack of buttons, but it is noteworthy for me.
Here are the finds from this site that all appear to be from the period of the sawmill.
Also, no homestead appears to have been at this site, only a work area, related to the sawmill.
Don
The hunt yesterday started off with a decent reading right away in the same area that I got the William III, cufflinks and spoon at last week. This time it was my 5th very old buckle from this site and the second Shoe Buckle, broken in half, but with a great design on it and after cleaning, silver plated to boot!
I did a pattern hunt rather intensely in this area, some iron hits, none diggable readings and eventually expanded the search area and about 30 feet away from where most of the relics have been found I got a somewhat funky but definite possible coin reading.
The sugar sand is great to dig in, only a few scattered roots interfere, and the coin reading was deep, perhaps 8 inches or more, I dug a large opening and the funky reading was now in the the dirt pile. I picked it up and even though I knew it had to be a coin, I could not believe how thin it was and clipped and slightly bent to boot. I knew if it was in fact a coin that it was a very old one.
I rescanned the hole and there was still a funky but this time a little better reading in the hole. I scooped out some more dirt and now had a second copper in the pile! Two colonial coppers in the same hole has not happened too often for me over the years so this was a happy time moment. The second copper was immediately identifiable as a KGII bust Halfpenny.
I did not have my digital camera with me so sorry for the quality but here is a cell phone pic of the two coppers at the hole where they were dug.
I called it quits for the morning, only hunted less than an hour but it was a good short hunt!
So the finds for the morning , 2 early coppers and one 1700s shoe buckle
When I got home, I looked at the two coppers and thought the first one might not have any detail at all and the second copper looked totally blank on the Reverse. To my delight I did get some detail on both sides from both coins after a very long cleaning process.
The first copper found, evidently is my oldest colonial I have found, and I am fairly certain it is a Charles II IRISH Halfpenny, date range 1680-1684, but I suspect this one is a 1682, but will log it as 1680-84. This copper is 26mm in diameter and weighs a paltry 77.2 grains.
I could tell by the shape of the bust of the second copper that it was a King George II Irish Halfpenny and after cleaning, I was able to see the outline of the crown and some of the Harp but not the date. Judging by the style of the bust of George it would have a date range of 1736-1755. I originally thought the range was up to 1760, but 1760 KGII had the old head King George bust.
Besides the joy of finding my oldest copper, when I cleaned the broken shoe buckle I noticed it was a nicely plated silver shoe buckle.
So far, three old coins from this long forgotten sawmill site and hopefully I may get another one or two before I consider the place searched to my satisfaction.
Perhaps the one baffling thing about the site is what I have not found. To find 3 coppers and 5 old buckles but only 1 button, is not the norm for the sites I hunt. There might be a good reason for the lack of buttons, but it is noteworthy for me.
Here are the finds from this site that all appear to be from the period of the sawmill.
Also, no homestead appears to have been at this site, only a work area, related to the sawmill.
Don
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So, what I think would be the best side to hunt is nothing more than burrow pits which has been used as a dump by locals years ago.
