Pewter War of 1812 Regiment Coat Button, 1798 Draped Bust LC

[Ahab8]

I decide if there was any way possible to hunt on the 1st day of 2016 I would do it. What a perfect way to start a year. So I went to a new site with War of 1812 connections. Unfortunately there was 3 or 4" of snow whip inch made things very tough. I spent most of the day hanging off the side of steep eroded banks trying to find shallow targets coming out of the bank. I dug 3 buttons and a 1798 LC. One of the buttons rang up very low. When I got home from dinner tonight and started looking at the finds I could see the button was pewter. I could see zero detail and honestly had no idea there was even pewter 1812 buttons. I called Vino to ask him about cleaning pewter. He said gently use some jelly so I did. After some very careful sessions I thought I could see the outline of a wing....then decided i was likely seeing what I wanted to see. I sent Georgie a pic and he could see it as well. After a bit more cleaning I could see the outline of the eagle standing on a branch and the top outline of the circle which would have the regiment number. Unfortunately there's zero detail below that. I've taken a ton of pics and only a couple are half decent. It's very hard to see in the pics but that's the best I can do. I think the LC will clean up nicely.
Needless to say this site has moved to the top of the spring hunt list. When the snow goes I'm betting this place will come to life....can't wait.
Happy New Year Friends








Here's a pic from The Alberts book

 

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[Ahab8]

It's much like our early French sites here, it's where the cobs are dug and obviously all the oldest finds in general, and there is something special about hunting the earliest places you can.... but at the end of the day the majority of our very best finds over the years have come from later sites. So I think that's a good move, and chances are if you're hunting mid. to late 1700s you could easily stumble on to an older site. On our 2nd hunt this Fall I said to Ironhorse that most of my research was for sites that date well into the 1800s so we can likely expect more coins, but not much for early military... and look what happened. Our third hunt was the one we dug 9 Rev War buttons.

One thing that I learned early on is this: If it made sense for settlement in the 1800s it likely made sense for the colonial settlers as well. People needed certain things in a property and that didn't change for a long time. I'm excited to hunt some more modern properties and broadening the time frame gives me lots more options

 

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[Vino]

One thing that I learned early on is this: If it made sense for settlement in the 1800s it likely made sense for the colonial settlers as well. People needed certain things in a property and that didn't change for a long time. I'm excited to hunt some more modern properties and broadening the time frame gives me lots more options

Like I have been telling you for 2 years now!!!!!
They didn't have money back in the 1600s.. They traded for everything!
Your tree coin was a fluke! Haha.
Stick to late 1700s, early 1800s.
And shall be rewarded my friend. .

 

[Ahab8]

Like I have been telling you for 2 years now!!!!!
They didn't have money back in the 1600s.. They traded for everything!
Your tree coin was a fluke! Haha.
Stick to late 1700s, early 1800s.
And shall be rewarded my friend. .

I still laugh about that to this day. For those who don't know....the night before I found the tree coin I was talking to George about hunting that 1600s site. He told me I might find some relics but wouldn't find any coins. "They didn't even use coins, just bartered for everything." Funny memory with my good buddy

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Thought I'd chime in here too. Although it's fun to do research and try to put yourself onto an undocumented1600s site, I've been leaning more and more on just reading the lay of the land and looking for those spots where a settler would likely want to build a house. And as we all know, that's generally on high, flat ground near navigable or fresh water, or both. In this area we find that many of these sites saw occupation at some time during the 17th thru 19th centuries, and many saw continuous occupation during this period. And early military camps can be found in these spots too, more frequently than you might expect. This also throws the element of surprise into things as you never know what you might run across. I've always said the best finds are totally unexpected, and that's what makes the thrill of the hunt so exciting. Now all I need to do is find a field I can hunt. With all the crazy weather, crop issues, and hunters, I've barely turned my detector on this season .

 

[WHADIFIND]

If I could have my choice, I'd sure be happy if my first hunt of the year turns out half that well!

Interesting stuff!

 

[pepperj]

Productive start for the season Abe, nice copper and button. Best of luck on the return hunts.

 

[treblehunter]

Nice work Abe, I like the draped bust, she is very pretty! :-)

 

[Iron Patch]

One thing that I learned early on is this: If it made sense for settlement in the 1800s it likely made sense for the colonial settlers as well. People needed certain things in a property and that didn't change for a long time. I'm excited to hunt some more modern properties and broadening the time frame gives me lots more options

I predict your coin keeper for 2016 will be an early American silver, probably small, but likely 1700s.... maybe early 1800s but that will be unlucky. And the relic will be a USA pewter. You'll see, I'm never wrong!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Big congrats on the 1812 pewter

 

[Z.K.]

Nice combo, captain. A start like that really puts a shine on the year to come!

I may get a chance to go out again before the ground freezes, in a very promising spot. hoping I can find something to make my first winter of research as productive as possible.

Cheers, good luck if you head out again

 

[Ahab8]

Productive start for the season Abe, nice copper and button. Best of luck on the return hunts.

Thanks Pep. Hope 2016 is a great year for you and the fam bud

 

[Ahab8]

Nice work Abe, I like the draped bust, she is very pretty! :-)

Thanks bud. It's funny I was thinking that the first copper of 2016 is nicer than 98% of the coppers in 2015. And I dig 118 buttons in 2015 and only 4 were pewter. 1 out of the first 3 in 2016 is pewter. It's a crazy hobby my friend

 

[Ahab8]

I predict your coin keeper for 2016 will be an early American silver, probably small, but likely 1700s.... maybe early 1800s but that will be unlucky. And the relic will be a USA pewter. You'll see, I'm never wrong!

Wow I really hope your predictions are on point brother. That would make for quite a year

 

[Ahab8]

Big congrats on the 1812 pewter

Thanks bud. I know you're the king of the old pewter military buttons. Hope I find a quarter of what you find

 

[Ahab8]

Nice combo, captain. A start like that really puts a shine on the year to come!

I may get a chance to go out again before the ground freezes, in a very promising spot. hoping I can find something to make my first winter of research as productive as possible.

Cheers, good luck if you head out again

Good luck at the new spot. Hope it pays off big. I've been deep into the research already. The gf is mad cause I got maps and books and papers and clutter everywhere. I really get into it. I actually used to pull up Google earth on my phone and get it just how I wanted it then take a marker and plot the homesteads on my phone screen so they'd be there where I went out in the woods to find them lol. Don't tell anybody how crazy I am

 

[robfinds]

4 inch of snow, and still detecting, Ahab8 you must be an Iron man. Nice find, good luck this year.