Cal_Cobra
Bronze Member
- Oct 3, 2008
- 1,099
- 1,710
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- 3
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab EQ800 & Makro Multi Kruzer, the rest are collecting dust...
I decided to take a detecting trip over Presidents Day weekend to detect a few remote spots that Tom and I are co-finders of that we've spent countless hours researching. Tom was unable to join me, so I invited my friends NightRay and Mrs. NightRay to join up for a weekend of detecting adventures. This was a good chance to put the F75 LTD2 to the test. I set it up with 0 disc, 99 sensitivity, 3H tones, with BP in 9.0 mode, it performed very well.
We only spent about an hour and a half at our first stop, and Nightray and myself each found an 1891 Indian Head, a few Henry shells, musket balls, and the normal barrage of shell casings and leaverites. The next stop is one that Tom and I discovered a few years ago, it's an early Spanish outpost way off the beaten path. Tom and I've hunted it a few times, and I believe Tom took Jayson and Val there too, but it hasn't really been that prolific. It's only produced one silver coin, and a fair amount of relics, including a
couple of Spanish era religious items, flat buttons, flower buttons, etc. I've wanted to re-hunt it, but Tom had written it off, so the last time that Tom and I visited the area, we skipped this site in favor of others. Fast forward to last Saturday, where I hunted it solo for a few hours. I hunted in an area at the site that myself and Tom have hunted before, but it was never very fruitful. Well that was about to change. I started hunting this area, and my first target was a thimble. OK, cool, I enjoy finding these. Next target was a small Phoenix Button....WOW we have never found one at this site, this was exciting as it added credibility that it was a Spanish outpost, which according to my research dated to late 1700's. Next find was another thimble, cool. Found a few undergarment buttons, and what I initially thought was a small pistol ball, but actually turned out to be a cast two piece reticulated ball button! Cool, those are old, and they seem to come out of late 1700 to very early 1800 sites in California. Then I get a bangin' deep dime signal. I was using a small shovel, and dug a shovel full of earth, nope target was still in the hole. Go for another shovel of earth, and the target's still in the hole, probe the hole and my pin-pointer is screaming, move some dirt around and I can see the target. At first I thought I had a larger coin, but when I flipped it over I saw the loop on the back and realized it was a flat button, and upon closer examination I realized I had found a large Phoenix button! I couldn't believe it, after multiple detecting trips at this site, by multiple people, with zero Phoenix buttons found, and now I had found two.
I decided to call it a day and headed back and share my finds with the NightRays. We were originally planning to go back the next day to the later 1800's site that NightRay and I had found our Indian head pennies at, but that site is about half a century newer then the Phoenix button site, so we decided to spend the day detecting that site to see if we could sniff out any more Phoenix buttons.
When we got there, everyone split up and headed off in their own direction. I eventually ended up back around the area where I found the two Phoenix buttons the day before, and right out of the gate I got a civil war era two piece general service button. Great, I don't find a lot of civil war era military buttons in California. My next target was a deep, banging dime signal, sort of under a bush on the side of a hill. When I initially saw the target, I really didn't know what I had. It looked like some kind of hammered copper coin, but without a magnifying glass I just couldn't tell what I had, but it looked really old. Nice way to start off the day. To make a long story short, it turned out to be an amazing day. I ended up digging two more Phoenix buttons! Four Phoenix buttons in the course of 24 hours is a first for me!
I also ended up digging an old cast hand made two piece crucifix. It doesn't have the sideways clasp like some of the ones Tom has found, but it's hand cast, with a hand drilled off center hole, file marks all over the back and around the hold like the sideways clasp ones, so I believe it's just as early, just a different design. It also has Jesus cast as a separate piece and pinned to the cross. Incredibly this also has part of the original chain attached, the chain is all hand made (I wonder if it originally had wooden beads on it that rotted away?). It seems to be a nicer example then the crucifix's and religious medallions that typically come out of these Spanish era sites that were probably given to and/or traded with the locals. I did a little bit of research, and saw crosses with the type of flat clasp top that were found at the 1715 Spanish fleet shipwrecks, so they did do them :think:
Also a neat find that I didn't realize was anything until I looked at if after getting home is a small ring. I though it was probably just be a piece of junk. I looked at it under a magnifying glass and noticed that some small surface scratches revealed a silver color underneath, and the edges were rounded like a ring, not flat/sharp like it was a machined or cut part of something else. I rubbed it with a little baking soda and water, and it shined right up. Looks like it's a very old broken silver (wedding?) band.
I found a few more buttons, a few decorative doo-hickies, and one of the cleanest Indian head pennies I've ever detected, it's an 1864 in beautiful condition. That's one thing about this particular site, the ground tends to be a loose, dry sandy soil that's kind to non-ferrous items. The hammered copper coin turned out to be a Sonora 1834 1/4 real.
Sonora 1834 1/4 real - CoinFactsWiki
We also did a short hunt at another site that's produced some of the oldest (and best) coins in the area to date, and it's been a bit stingy after the initial visit. This hunt was no different, but I did get something really interesting. It was deep, but I got a semi-decent high tone on it mixed in with iron and went for it. I wonder if it's a hunting rifle ornament that wouldn't originally tacked onto the side of a riffle butt? It's old, given the site, it would predate 1850 and is totally hand made, cast, and the front is hand engraved with details on the deer and below as well. I don't know what it was for, any ideas what it might be?
Here's all the buttons I found:
Two thimbles, decorative buckles, horse concho with lead filled back (NightRay found the lead filled back and I found the decorative face), no idea what that square with a "4" stamped on it is?
Some misc stuff:
Really had a very enjoyable weekend detecting with the NightRays, and nice finds were made by all. I hope NightRay will chime in with their finds.
Thanks for looking,
Brian
We only spent about an hour and a half at our first stop, and Nightray and myself each found an 1891 Indian Head, a few Henry shells, musket balls, and the normal barrage of shell casings and leaverites. The next stop is one that Tom and I discovered a few years ago, it's an early Spanish outpost way off the beaten path. Tom and I've hunted it a few times, and I believe Tom took Jayson and Val there too, but it hasn't really been that prolific. It's only produced one silver coin, and a fair amount of relics, including a
couple of Spanish era religious items, flat buttons, flower buttons, etc. I've wanted to re-hunt it, but Tom had written it off, so the last time that Tom and I visited the area, we skipped this site in favor of others. Fast forward to last Saturday, where I hunted it solo for a few hours. I hunted in an area at the site that myself and Tom have hunted before, but it was never very fruitful. Well that was about to change. I started hunting this area, and my first target was a thimble. OK, cool, I enjoy finding these. Next target was a small Phoenix Button....WOW we have never found one at this site, this was exciting as it added credibility that it was a Spanish outpost, which according to my research dated to late 1700's. Next find was another thimble, cool. Found a few undergarment buttons, and what I initially thought was a small pistol ball, but actually turned out to be a cast two piece reticulated ball button! Cool, those are old, and they seem to come out of late 1700 to very early 1800 sites in California. Then I get a bangin' deep dime signal. I was using a small shovel, and dug a shovel full of earth, nope target was still in the hole. Go for another shovel of earth, and the target's still in the hole, probe the hole and my pin-pointer is screaming, move some dirt around and I can see the target. At first I thought I had a larger coin, but when I flipped it over I saw the loop on the back and realized it was a flat button, and upon closer examination I realized I had found a large Phoenix button! I couldn't believe it, after multiple detecting trips at this site, by multiple people, with zero Phoenix buttons found, and now I had found two.
I decided to call it a day and headed back and share my finds with the NightRays. We were originally planning to go back the next day to the later 1800's site that NightRay and I had found our Indian head pennies at, but that site is about half a century newer then the Phoenix button site, so we decided to spend the day detecting that site to see if we could sniff out any more Phoenix buttons.
When we got there, everyone split up and headed off in their own direction. I eventually ended up back around the area where I found the two Phoenix buttons the day before, and right out of the gate I got a civil war era two piece general service button. Great, I don't find a lot of civil war era military buttons in California. My next target was a deep, banging dime signal, sort of under a bush on the side of a hill. When I initially saw the target, I really didn't know what I had. It looked like some kind of hammered copper coin, but without a magnifying glass I just couldn't tell what I had, but it looked really old. Nice way to start off the day. To make a long story short, it turned out to be an amazing day. I ended up digging two more Phoenix buttons! Four Phoenix buttons in the course of 24 hours is a first for me!
I also ended up digging an old cast hand made two piece crucifix. It doesn't have the sideways clasp like some of the ones Tom has found, but it's hand cast, with a hand drilled off center hole, file marks all over the back and around the hold like the sideways clasp ones, so I believe it's just as early, just a different design. It also has Jesus cast as a separate piece and pinned to the cross. Incredibly this also has part of the original chain attached, the chain is all hand made (I wonder if it originally had wooden beads on it that rotted away?). It seems to be a nicer example then the crucifix's and religious medallions that typically come out of these Spanish era sites that were probably given to and/or traded with the locals. I did a little bit of research, and saw crosses with the type of flat clasp top that were found at the 1715 Spanish fleet shipwrecks, so they did do them :think:
Also a neat find that I didn't realize was anything until I looked at if after getting home is a small ring. I though it was probably just be a piece of junk. I looked at it under a magnifying glass and noticed that some small surface scratches revealed a silver color underneath, and the edges were rounded like a ring, not flat/sharp like it was a machined or cut part of something else. I rubbed it with a little baking soda and water, and it shined right up. Looks like it's a very old broken silver (wedding?) band.
I found a few more buttons, a few decorative doo-hickies, and one of the cleanest Indian head pennies I've ever detected, it's an 1864 in beautiful condition. That's one thing about this particular site, the ground tends to be a loose, dry sandy soil that's kind to non-ferrous items. The hammered copper coin turned out to be a Sonora 1834 1/4 real.
Sonora 1834 1/4 real - CoinFactsWiki
We also did a short hunt at another site that's produced some of the oldest (and best) coins in the area to date, and it's been a bit stingy after the initial visit. This hunt was no different, but I did get something really interesting. It was deep, but I got a semi-decent high tone on it mixed in with iron and went for it. I wonder if it's a hunting rifle ornament that wouldn't originally tacked onto the side of a riffle butt? It's old, given the site, it would predate 1850 and is totally hand made, cast, and the front is hand engraved with details on the deer and below as well. I don't know what it was for, any ideas what it might be?
Here's all the buttons I found:
Two thimbles, decorative buckles, horse concho with lead filled back (NightRay found the lead filled back and I found the decorative face), no idea what that square with a "4" stamped on it is?
Some misc stuff:
Really had a very enjoyable weekend detecting with the NightRays, and nice finds were made by all. I hope NightRay will chime in with their finds.
Thanks for looking,
Brian
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Andi
