BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello to All from the Sugar Cane Fields of Southern Louisiana!
This post will show the finds from two hunts. It's been WAY too hot here in Louisiana (yes, even too hot for us!). So we've been getting up and at 'em before dawn and digging until 11am or so (when the temps get in the 90s, with a heat index in the 100s). So the hunts have been shorter than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get at this point in the year. The fields are mainly planted, except for a few stragglers--but one of those straggler fields gave up some nice items last weekend. Diggergirl, Shanegalang and I met up at first light and started digging. I ended up getting a second spur from the field, followed by a killer boot cap from a M1816 French flintlock pistol!
Here is a photo of the boot cap, along with a non-dug M1816 pistol.
In no time, Diggergirl yelled over at us that she had a gun barrel. "Yeah right" I thought, since anything I have ever dug and thought "gun barrel" has historically been a pipe or piece of farm junk. Well, we have been cleaning the piece, and I am proud to say that it is indeed a gun barrel. We will need some ID help from some of you gun gurus once the rust is gone.
We got back out yesterday again at dawn for the short morning dig, and I dug a third spur from the field (different style from the other two).
Diggergirl dug a cracker jack token, a cool brooch, and eyeballed some clay marbles and a clay pipe stem. I was pleased to find a tiny bit of silver in the form of a religious medallion.
Catholic medallions are more common in Louisiana than Lutherans are in Minnesota.
The vast majority of the medallions we dig are aluminum, with a few being made of brass. Most are either "Miraculous Medals" or Saints (Papal Canon, not the Football Team). 
I also got a dateless shield nickel, which was cool. Shanegalang dug some nice items too, and one particularly good find that he'll likely post later on.
I was super glad that DiggerGirl was so Stoked about the gun barrel find. I was really happy for her. We dug our tails off last week, and this week the humidity was almost unbearable due to the recent rain.
At any rate, here are the finds.
My finds from last hunt. Boot cap from the pistol, dateless Shield nickel, spur #2, barrel tap piece, trigger guard fragment, and a big whatzit (quillon??!).
Diggergirl's finds from last hunt: China doll, 1700s pottery, and the fancy keyhole cover that has "ILL" or "ILC" stamped into it. Has anyone ever dug one of these before?
My finds from this hunt: Spur #3, clock key, silver medallion, two wheat cents (we have dug about a dozen wheats from this field. I figure they are from the late occupation period as well as farmer drops).
Diggergirl's finds from this hunt: brooch piece, clay marbles and one "new" one, crackerjack prize from the '30s, china doll hand, pottery, and a clay pipe stem.
My three spurs dug from the field. Any assistance with the style/date of the two on the right is appreciated.
And a photo of DiggerGirl with her prized gun barrel and a big smile.
Cheers,
Buck and the CaneField Bandits
This post will show the finds from two hunts. It's been WAY too hot here in Louisiana (yes, even too hot for us!). So we've been getting up and at 'em before dawn and digging until 11am or so (when the temps get in the 90s, with a heat index in the 100s). So the hunts have been shorter than I'd like, but I'll take what I can get at this point in the year. The fields are mainly planted, except for a few stragglers--but one of those straggler fields gave up some nice items last weekend. Diggergirl, Shanegalang and I met up at first light and started digging. I ended up getting a second spur from the field, followed by a killer boot cap from a M1816 French flintlock pistol!
Here is a photo of the boot cap, along with a non-dug M1816 pistol.
In no time, Diggergirl yelled over at us that she had a gun barrel. "Yeah right" I thought, since anything I have ever dug and thought "gun barrel" has historically been a pipe or piece of farm junk. Well, we have been cleaning the piece, and I am proud to say that it is indeed a gun barrel. We will need some ID help from some of you gun gurus once the rust is gone.
We got back out yesterday again at dawn for the short morning dig, and I dug a third spur from the field (different style from the other two).
Diggergirl dug a cracker jack token, a cool brooch, and eyeballed some clay marbles and a clay pipe stem. I was pleased to find a tiny bit of silver in the form of a religious medallion.
Catholic medallions are more common in Louisiana than Lutherans are in Minnesota.
The vast majority of the medallions we dig are aluminum, with a few being made of brass. Most are either "Miraculous Medals" or Saints (Papal Canon, not the Football Team). I also got a dateless shield nickel, which was cool. Shanegalang dug some nice items too, and one particularly good find that he'll likely post later on.I was super glad that DiggerGirl was so Stoked about the gun barrel find. I was really happy for her. We dug our tails off last week, and this week the humidity was almost unbearable due to the recent rain.
At any rate, here are the finds.
My finds from last hunt. Boot cap from the pistol, dateless Shield nickel, spur #2, barrel tap piece, trigger guard fragment, and a big whatzit (quillon??!).
Diggergirl's finds from last hunt: China doll, 1700s pottery, and the fancy keyhole cover that has "ILL" or "ILC" stamped into it. Has anyone ever dug one of these before?
My finds from this hunt: Spur #3, clock key, silver medallion, two wheat cents (we have dug about a dozen wheats from this field. I figure they are from the late occupation period as well as farmer drops).
Diggergirl's finds from this hunt: brooch piece, clay marbles and one "new" one, crackerjack prize from the '30s, china doll hand, pottery, and a clay pipe stem.
My three spurs dug from the field. Any assistance with the style/date of the two on the right is appreciated.
And a photo of DiggerGirl with her prized gun barrel and a big smile.
Cheers,
Buck and the CaneField Bandits
Upvote
7
