paleomaxx
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- Aug 14, 2016
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Hello all!
Initially I was debating doing a 2017 annual finds or not, but I really like the top finds method a few of you guys did so I decided to go for it! This was my first full year detecting and I hit a number of great sites both cellar holes and yard permissions. Not all of them were brimming with finds, but I managed at least a few keepers everywhere I went which is as much as you can ask for. Many of these 15 finds are firsts for me and a few may border on the mundane, but to me are special finds nonetheless. There are also a couple that are still mysteries, but are so cool I count them in my top finds.
Without further ado, these are my top 15 finds of 2017 in more or less chronological order:
I started off the year strong with a fortuitous January thaw in my favorite field. I dug this 1773 half real which was my first Spanish silver and still my oldest silver find to date!
Fast forward a month to the next thaw and in the same field I found my first legible draped bust large cent! It's the more common 1803 date and not in stellar condition, but it's still my oldest US coin to date.
In March I was hitting cellar holes again and I found this beautiful brass bracelet with an eagle clasp. I very rarely find jewelry at cellar hole sites and I still haven't found anything like this unique piece anywhere else. There are traces of gold gilt inside the links and nearly all of the finds at this site are 1820's to 1840's so I'm inclined to date this in that range as well.
This is my very first native American point and the very knowledgeable members of this site identified it for me as an Orient Fishtail type which would date it 3200-2500 years old. It's made from Hudson Valley chert and it just happened to be on the surface as I was detecting my favorite field. At the time I was hunting for 300 year relics and to instead find something that predates those by well over 2000 years is just an astounding experience.
This here is a brass Henry Clay presidential campaign token from 1844. It wasn't until I found this token that I started reading up on the history of Henry Clay and it's unique connection to the region I found it in. Clay lost New York by a little over 5100 votes that year and had he won New York, he would have won the 1844 election instead of Polk. Even more interesting is that this token was found less than 20 miles from Martin Van Buren's home. Van Buren was a fierce political rival of Clay and it's intriguing to think of Henry Clay supporters attempting last-ditch campaigning right in Van Buren's backyard hoping to secure a win!
This civil war infantry button may not be rare, but it's particularly important to me in regards to it's connection to the town. I dug it in a backyard, and upon researching I found that the resident of the house in the 1850's was a Henry Wheeler. Further research shows that this particular Henry Wheeler served in the 125th volunteer infantry regiment and was even decorated for gallant and meritorious service during the later years of the war. To find a piece of his uniform and be able to connect it back to him is simply extraordinary.
I never was able to figure out conclusively what this piece was, but in any case it's a beautifully hand-engraved piece of brass. The home dates back to the late 1700's, but I don't think this is much older than the 1880's based on the depth and associated finds. Best guess was an imported brass coaster set from somewhere in the middle east.
At this point in the summer it had been a long time since I had dug a coin older than 1850 and I certainly wasn't expecting this to pop out of the ground in someone's backyard. It's my first Connecticut copper and with help from Iron Patch it was identified as a Miller 56-BB, an R-5 which means there may be only 31-75 known.
While not nearly as rare, my smile at this find was just as big. Only my third silver half-dollar and it's a Barber in excellent shape! My first two were Franklin halves so hilariously I've found two Franklins and a Barber before digging a Walker half. Oh well, there's always 2018...
This isn't metal, but I did dig it and it's very nearly my favorite find. It's a solid cube of uranium glass that I unearthed while digging after a deeper target (iron sheet). Being uranium glass it fluoresces strongly under UV light giving it this other-worldly green glow. Just the coolest find and on my desk to this day!
It may be sort of silly, but this plumbob is one of my favorite finds. It's cast lead around a brass rod and reminds me of an antique one my grandmother had that I used to fidget with as a kid. Hers had the wooden paddle with the string and wheel, but the plumbob itself was very similar in shape to this one so I immediately knew what it was when I dug it. That plug was a nice little trip down memory lane.
My first flying eagle cent! To think of how many holes I dug until one of these popped out and then hilariously two days later I dig a second two towns away. Really weird how that works sometimes.
This was found at a colonial cellar hole I discovered deep in the woods. I'm fairly certain that it had never been detected before and I've dug a tremendous array of relics at this site, but only one coin: this 1804 draped bust half cent which is my first half cent ever. The patina ended up being too delicate to clean so it still looks pretty much like it does in this photo, but the date is clear so I'm happy!
Still no idea what this broke off of, but it's sterling silver for sure and just incredibly detailed. Hands-down the prettiest piece of silver I've dug and I'll spend a good amount of time in 2018 looking for the rest of it!
What a way to close out 2017, but with a 1778 (actually minted close to 1787) Machin's Mills halfpenny! The detail is incredible and the history even more so. This site is only 70 miles away from where it was minted and I can only speculate as to its journey to this town, but based on how little wear it incurred I like to think that one of the merchants here was knowingly entering these into circulation on behalf of the mill. It'll probably be impossible to prove, but it's cool to think about.
There are many other finds of note this year, but I do have one runner up find that wasn't dug:
I purchased this civil war eagle breastplate at an auction listed as a "patriotic curtain tie-back" for a particularly trivial amount. Someone heavily modified it by cutting off the loops and lead soldering the screw to the back, but it's something I never expected to find in my particular part of New York so I was thrilled. Just goes to show that there's treasure everywhere!
Those are the highlights of 2017, but there's plenty more to be seen in my previous postings so definitely browse through if you're interested. Best of luck to everyone in 2018!
Initially I was debating doing a 2017 annual finds or not, but I really like the top finds method a few of you guys did so I decided to go for it! This was my first full year detecting and I hit a number of great sites both cellar holes and yard permissions. Not all of them were brimming with finds, but I managed at least a few keepers everywhere I went which is as much as you can ask for. Many of these 15 finds are firsts for me and a few may border on the mundane, but to me are special finds nonetheless. There are also a couple that are still mysteries, but are so cool I count them in my top finds.
Without further ado, these are my top 15 finds of 2017 in more or less chronological order:
I started off the year strong with a fortuitous January thaw in my favorite field. I dug this 1773 half real which was my first Spanish silver and still my oldest silver find to date!
Fast forward a month to the next thaw and in the same field I found my first legible draped bust large cent! It's the more common 1803 date and not in stellar condition, but it's still my oldest US coin to date.
In March I was hitting cellar holes again and I found this beautiful brass bracelet with an eagle clasp. I very rarely find jewelry at cellar hole sites and I still haven't found anything like this unique piece anywhere else. There are traces of gold gilt inside the links and nearly all of the finds at this site are 1820's to 1840's so I'm inclined to date this in that range as well.
This is my very first native American point and the very knowledgeable members of this site identified it for me as an Orient Fishtail type which would date it 3200-2500 years old. It's made from Hudson Valley chert and it just happened to be on the surface as I was detecting my favorite field. At the time I was hunting for 300 year relics and to instead find something that predates those by well over 2000 years is just an astounding experience.
This here is a brass Henry Clay presidential campaign token from 1844. It wasn't until I found this token that I started reading up on the history of Henry Clay and it's unique connection to the region I found it in. Clay lost New York by a little over 5100 votes that year and had he won New York, he would have won the 1844 election instead of Polk. Even more interesting is that this token was found less than 20 miles from Martin Van Buren's home. Van Buren was a fierce political rival of Clay and it's intriguing to think of Henry Clay supporters attempting last-ditch campaigning right in Van Buren's backyard hoping to secure a win!
This civil war infantry button may not be rare, but it's particularly important to me in regards to it's connection to the town. I dug it in a backyard, and upon researching I found that the resident of the house in the 1850's was a Henry Wheeler. Further research shows that this particular Henry Wheeler served in the 125th volunteer infantry regiment and was even decorated for gallant and meritorious service during the later years of the war. To find a piece of his uniform and be able to connect it back to him is simply extraordinary.
I never was able to figure out conclusively what this piece was, but in any case it's a beautifully hand-engraved piece of brass. The home dates back to the late 1700's, but I don't think this is much older than the 1880's based on the depth and associated finds. Best guess was an imported brass coaster set from somewhere in the middle east.
At this point in the summer it had been a long time since I had dug a coin older than 1850 and I certainly wasn't expecting this to pop out of the ground in someone's backyard. It's my first Connecticut copper and with help from Iron Patch it was identified as a Miller 56-BB, an R-5 which means there may be only 31-75 known.
While not nearly as rare, my smile at this find was just as big. Only my third silver half-dollar and it's a Barber in excellent shape! My first two were Franklin halves so hilariously I've found two Franklins and a Barber before digging a Walker half. Oh well, there's always 2018...
This isn't metal, but I did dig it and it's very nearly my favorite find. It's a solid cube of uranium glass that I unearthed while digging after a deeper target (iron sheet). Being uranium glass it fluoresces strongly under UV light giving it this other-worldly green glow. Just the coolest find and on my desk to this day!
It may be sort of silly, but this plumbob is one of my favorite finds. It's cast lead around a brass rod and reminds me of an antique one my grandmother had that I used to fidget with as a kid. Hers had the wooden paddle with the string and wheel, but the plumbob itself was very similar in shape to this one so I immediately knew what it was when I dug it. That plug was a nice little trip down memory lane.
My first flying eagle cent! To think of how many holes I dug until one of these popped out and then hilariously two days later I dig a second two towns away. Really weird how that works sometimes.
This was found at a colonial cellar hole I discovered deep in the woods. I'm fairly certain that it had never been detected before and I've dug a tremendous array of relics at this site, but only one coin: this 1804 draped bust half cent which is my first half cent ever. The patina ended up being too delicate to clean so it still looks pretty much like it does in this photo, but the date is clear so I'm happy!
Still no idea what this broke off of, but it's sterling silver for sure and just incredibly detailed. Hands-down the prettiest piece of silver I've dug and I'll spend a good amount of time in 2018 looking for the rest of it!
What a way to close out 2017, but with a 1778 (actually minted close to 1787) Machin's Mills halfpenny! The detail is incredible and the history even more so. This site is only 70 miles away from where it was minted and I can only speculate as to its journey to this town, but based on how little wear it incurred I like to think that one of the merchants here was knowingly entering these into circulation on behalf of the mill. It'll probably be impossible to prove, but it's cool to think about.
There are many other finds of note this year, but I do have one runner up find that wasn't dug:
I purchased this civil war eagle breastplate at an auction listed as a "patriotic curtain tie-back" for a particularly trivial amount. Someone heavily modified it by cutting off the loops and lead soldering the screw to the back, but it's something I never expected to find in my particular part of New York so I was thrilled. Just goes to show that there's treasure everywhere!
Those are the highlights of 2017, but there's plenty more to be seen in my previous postings so definitely browse through if you're interested. Best of luck to everyone in 2018!
