BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
Let me first apologize for the lack of "action" photos in this post--we just didn't have much time. But after three LONG weeks of 90 degree temperatures here, the weather finally broke. Here's the scenario...
Yesterday morning we hit the road early since we only had about six hours to dig because of our schedules. So Diggergirl, Rodeo, and I drove to ask permission to have another go at the spot where we got two 1820's LC's on our last hunt. We got our yes, then went to another property owner to meet him and ask about a second site--a small house site in the woods. He ended up being a great guy--and we ended up getting permission for several spots on land he owns.
So after about an hour of driving to talk with these folks and to the site, we got out of the car quickly and DOVE into the woods! I knew that we'd only have about two hours on this spot if we wanted to re-hunt the Great site where the coppers came up... So we got hiking.
I also was praying that our research and coordinates were right on--because otherwise we might be out there for an hour to find the right location of the cabin--before we even got to the REAL hunting part!
When we got to where the GPS unit said "16 feet SE" we looked up and saw this:
Dead daffodil tops EVERYWHERE.
After some High-Fives, we started hunting the site. There was no trace of a cellar hole, foundation stones, or even surface glass or pottery, so we had some exploring to do.
The site ended up being quite thin in terms of finds. We got a toe tap, a harmonica reed plate, and part of a suspender clip--plus a brass whatzit with a floral design. Then Rodeo said "I've got a flat button." I walked over to look and we realized that there was no shank on it...or even a place where a shank went... I said "Swipe this under your machine and tell me what it reads." Rodeo said it pegged "Nickel" consistently, so then we figured we likely had a V nickel...but as we started to clean and I saw how worn this one was, I was hoping it was older.
Tnet friends, it is an 1869 Shield Nickel (the second one for the Brigade this year). We were Stoked!
I took a photo of Rodeo beating the brush with a Passion (Sorry DiggerGirl--no photos of youthis time...
)
We hunted the small site another hour (three detecting hours total) and didn't find much else, so we got out of there and drove to our "Two LC spot." We geared up and got into that pasture wasting no time.
Hunting that spot for two hours (six detecting hours) we started to realize how well we'd pounded the central portion where the house stood... signals were few and far between! Of course, we'd spent over six hours there with three people last time--so this site has now gotten Twenty-Four hours of detecting time on it, and she ain't done yet!
We got a good bit of pewter this time, and some small lead... I found the best pewter spoon bowl I've ever found:
(They usually come out looking like this one around here
Here's an interesting pewter whatzit that Rodeo found:
I got a pewter flat button that was plain on the front, yet had letters either scratched or crudely cast into the back. I think the letters are "AVM". Any help on this one is much appreciated... I've already looked through previous property owners names for a match--no luck.![:-\](https://www.treasurenet.com/smilies/undecided.gif "Undecided :-\")
DiggerGirl got a nice brass two piece button...we couldn't tell much about it in the field--and didn't want to do any cleaning until we got home, since we could see a hint of GOLD gilding peeking through. This turned out to be the best button find for the year so far!
So here's a photo of all of our finds:
And Rodeo's 1869 Shield Nickel--front and back. (I'm pretty positive that it's a '69 and not a '79):
We got home and started cleaning Digger's button. Freshly dug, it looked like this:
We realized that it was a William Henry Harrison button from his 1840 presidential election campaign. I consider this an Excellent find--and a scarce one. The backmark is "R. & W. Robinson" and the shank is intact.
Seems like DG has a nose for those campaign items! The button is now sitting in her display case beside her Abraham Lincoln campaign token from the 1860 election which she found earlier this year.
I'd appreciate someone's help in nailing down which variety this button is.
UPDATE: The button is a PC 140 variety, with a rarity value of 35. Its value is likely over $100--and perhaps more than that.
Regards,
Buckleboy and the Iron Brigade
Let me first apologize for the lack of "action" photos in this post--we just didn't have much time. But after three LONG weeks of 90 degree temperatures here, the weather finally broke. Here's the scenario...
Yesterday morning we hit the road early since we only had about six hours to dig because of our schedules. So Diggergirl, Rodeo, and I drove to ask permission to have another go at the spot where we got two 1820's LC's on our last hunt. We got our yes, then went to another property owner to meet him and ask about a second site--a small house site in the woods. He ended up being a great guy--and we ended up getting permission for several spots on land he owns.
So after about an hour of driving to talk with these folks and to the site, we got out of the car quickly and DOVE into the woods! I knew that we'd only have about two hours on this spot if we wanted to re-hunt the Great site where the coppers came up... So we got hiking.
I also was praying that our research and coordinates were right on--because otherwise we might be out there for an hour to find the right location of the cabin--before we even got to the REAL hunting part!
When we got to where the GPS unit said "16 feet SE" we looked up and saw this:
Dead daffodil tops EVERYWHERE.
After some High-Fives, we started hunting the site. There was no trace of a cellar hole, foundation stones, or even surface glass or pottery, so we had some exploring to do. The site ended up being quite thin in terms of finds. We got a toe tap, a harmonica reed plate, and part of a suspender clip--plus a brass whatzit with a floral design. Then Rodeo said "I've got a flat button." I walked over to look and we realized that there was no shank on it...or even a place where a shank went... I said "Swipe this under your machine and tell me what it reads." Rodeo said it pegged "Nickel" consistently, so then we figured we likely had a V nickel...but as we started to clean and I saw how worn this one was, I was hoping it was older.
Tnet friends, it is an 1869 Shield Nickel (the second one for the Brigade this year). We were Stoked!I took a photo of Rodeo beating the brush with a Passion (Sorry DiggerGirl--no photos of youthis time...
)We hunted the small site another hour (three detecting hours total) and didn't find much else, so we got out of there and drove to our "Two LC spot." We geared up and got into that pasture wasting no time.
Hunting that spot for two hours (six detecting hours) we started to realize how well we'd pounded the central portion where the house stood... signals were few and far between! Of course, we'd spent over six hours there with three people last time--so this site has now gotten Twenty-Four hours of detecting time on it, and she ain't done yet!
We got a good bit of pewter this time, and some small lead... I found the best pewter spoon bowl I've ever found:
(They usually come out looking like this one around here
Here's an interesting pewter whatzit that Rodeo found:
I got a pewter flat button that was plain on the front, yet had letters either scratched or crudely cast into the back. I think the letters are "AVM". Any help on this one is much appreciated... I've already looked through previous property owners names for a match--no luck.
DiggerGirl got a nice brass two piece button...we couldn't tell much about it in the field--and didn't want to do any cleaning until we got home, since we could see a hint of GOLD gilding peeking through. This turned out to be the best button find for the year so far!
So here's a photo of all of our finds:
And Rodeo's 1869 Shield Nickel--front and back. (I'm pretty positive that it's a '69 and not a '79
):We got home and started cleaning Digger's button. Freshly dug, it looked like this:
We realized that it was a William Henry Harrison button from his 1840 presidential election campaign.
I consider this an Excellent find--and a scarce one. The backmark is "R. & W. Robinson" and the shank is intact. Seems like DG has a nose for those campaign items! The button is now sitting in her display case beside her Abraham Lincoln campaign token from the 1860 election which she found earlier this year.
I'd appreciate someone's help in nailing down which variety this button is.
UPDATE: The button is a PC 140 variety, with a rarity value of 35. Its value is likely over $100--and perhaps more than that.
Regards,
Buckleboy and the Iron Brigade
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I think we can save a site or two for ya--maybe we'll put you on the ones we've already worked out so you can hurl the Might of your Vintage Tesoro at 'em. 
