Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700s virgin homestead :)

[Don in SJ]

Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

For several months I have been trying to find a way to a possible homestead site that was legal to hunt but there was no easy access to get to it. I finally figured a way to walk thru the thick underbrush that allowed me to find the site today and I was kind of happy I went through all the effort.

I first found the refuse dump, I got a reading right away that thought might be a large copper but to my pleasant surprise it was one of those 1790 era large flat button. I had to chop the button out with my drywall hammer, but that was really no problem. Some of the ground was frozen rather hard and other sections were not that hard at all.

Well, right after I got the large button, I found a few more and all the readings were in the refuse area and the ground was full of old oyster and clam shells, which in this area is a beautiful sight to see, meaning a homestead was very close by.

I then got a nice reading that I made sure I got a photo of the reading on the Explorer XS since some like to ask where it read on the screen, hope you all can see it, because it screamed LARGE COPPER COIN to me!
Sure enough, it was a King George copper and in darn good shape to.

I ended up with about 6 buttons, of varies styles, a finial, some odds and ends and the copper coin ended up being a nice 1775 KG coin.

I will be going back to the site again later this week or next week for sure, since the cold weather has finally released its grip.

Enjoy the photos, I enjoyed the hunt.........

Don in South Jersey

 

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[JChambers]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

Great find Don! Know anything around Cape May to hunt? Love to get together with other hunters to find homesteads, I got one sit in particular down here that used to be a dump for an old glass factory in the early 1800s if your interested.

J. Chambers

 

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[gwdigger]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

DON!!! THATS WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT! I KNOW YOU WERE ON CLOUD 9! GOOD ON YA'...You got my blood boiling to get back to our new site!

HH, Gary

 

[midnightguy]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

What a start for the new year. Just the kind of site everyone thinks of during the dark days of winter. Finding these sites is as much fun as detecting them sometimes... Great Job...

 

[usair727]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

Wow what a find!!! Great.
pf

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

Some very good digs. You put as much effort in you photography as you do in your detecting. Both are outstanding. Keep us posted.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

Just some information I ran across. Might make the coin more interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halfpenny_(British_coin)

Counterfeit coinage

In the reign of King George III (1760–1820) the first issue of halfpennies did not come until 10 years after the king's accession, in 1770. Counterfeiting was rampant, and in 1771 the utterance of counterfeit copper coin became a felony; this however had little effect and for the next twenty years or so the majority of copper so-called coins in circulation were forgeries. In March 1782 a woman counterfeiter was hanged, then fixed to a stake and burned before the debtor's door at Newgate prison in London. In a letter to Lord Hawkesbury of 14 April 1789, Matthew Boulton commented "In the course of my journeys, I observe that I receive upon an average two-thirds counterfeit halfpence for change at toll-gates, etc., and I believe the evil is daily increasing, as the spurious money is carried into circulation by the lowest class of manufacturers, who pay with it the principal part of the wages of the poor people they employ". Boulton's contract in 1797 to produce the Cartwheel pennies and twopences, thwarting the counterfeiters, did not extend to producing the halfpenny, though Boulton had expected that it would, and had prepared patterns of the appropriate size and weight in accordance with his ideas on the intrinsic value of copper coins. The reason the government gave for the omission of the denomination from the contract was that the large number of de facto halfpennies (including tokens and fakes!) would be driven out of circulation and Boulton would be unable to produce enough coins to meet the demand that would ensue. Public demand for legal halfpennies soon forced the government to change its mind, and in 1798 a contract was issued to Boulton for him to produce halfpennies and farthings dated 1799. However in the meantime the price of copper had risen, and consequently the weight of the coins was reduced slightly, which resulted in them not being as popular as expected. In 1806 a further 427.5 tons of copper was struck into halfpennies by Boulton, but the price of copper had risen again and the weight was even less than the 1799 issue. This time, however, there was no unfavourable reaction from the public, so perhaps the national obsession with "intrinsic value" was over.

George III halfpennies were produced in three distinct phases:

* 1770–1775 (all years). Weight 9.2–10.8 grams, diameter 29–30 millimetres. Obverse shows a right-facing bust of the king, with the inscription GEORGIVS III REX, reverse shows a left-facing seated Britannia holding a spray and spear, with the inscription BRITANNIA and the date in the exergue beneath Britannia. (The king's bust has a fuller face in 1774 and 1775).

Daryl

 

[Colonial KirkPA]

Re: Terrific February Day! Found a late 1700's virgin homestead

Thanks for bringing this back up. Don, welcome to the top of the forum. :P

BDD...Kirk