OutdoorAdv
Bronze Member
- Apr 16, 2013
- 2,457
- 3,350
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- XP Deus,
GPX 4500,
Equinox 800,
AT Max
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
I had quite the weekend sifting... but that wasnt the original plan 
I hadnt been detecting in over two weeks since I was up in Maine on my trip with Ahab8 and Scrappy. Because of family obligations and work obligations, it would be at least another two more weeks before I could get out... unless I could find time last weekend.
So I planned on going out on Saturday. The day started really slow with a 1871 IHP (semi key date) and a few buttons, and what looks like another slice of a KG Copper (second one from this site). Not much was turning up, so with only a couple hours left I went to dig nails in the area I've been sifting for the last year in hopes that I find a plug to mark and sift later. Many plugs later, I open one that has thick black dirt, ash and lots of iron. The signal I was after was a large needle with a tapered point. The plug looked very promising and since I only had 30 min or so left, I decided to open the plug a little bigger and look around. I didn't have my magnet and there was so much iron I couldn't possibly chase it all with my pin pointer, so I just moved dirt around. I got a button and a tack head and was thinking this is a spot I am definitely going to sift in the future. I decided to hack away at the side wall just a bit more before filling it in and a couple shovels later, a flippin brass Jaw Harp fell right into the bottom of the hole.
A brass Jaw Harp is something I have wanted for so long, so it was a big deal for me. It was so masked with iron I never heard a peep on the Deus. So, rather than sift this section in the "future" I was so excited I wanted to sift it now... problem was, I was supposed to be putting in a new kitchen sink on Sunday.
So I figured I'd still have enough time for the house project if I went sifting from sunrise on Sunday and just did one section. Well... I started finding stuff in the first section and it was so much fun I kinda opened another section... so two sifting sections later it was now about 3pm and I had to get back to reality.
Here is a group shot of the non-ferrous from Sat and Sun! About 95% of this came from the pit on Sunday. If it wasnt for the needle, leading me to the Jaw Harp, leading me to this sifting section, this would not be a hunt I would have shared on here.
The brass Jaw Harp... I have about 5 iron ones from this site, but this is my first brass one. Personal items, such as these musical instruments are some of my favorite types of relics.
Now for my favorite find of the bunch. I take a lot of dirty pictures, but don't typically share them just because my posts already have way too many pictures... but in this case, it was such a special find I want you guys to enjoy what I saw.
In the first section on Sunday, I pulled this small Tombac handle from the side corner... the pit was probably about 14 inches deep when it came out.
I IMMEDIATELY thought of a tombac spoon bowl that I dug last year with my T2 about 40 yards away from this handle. You can see the bowl in this post from last year. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/480881-colonial-civil-war-buckles-buttons-more.html I remember digging the bowl like it was yesterday! I never really mentioned it in that post because I wasnt certain it was a spoon bowl until sometime later.
I was thinking it was a long shot that they went together... well it wasnt until late Sunday, after I finished with the sink, that I could actually get into my relic containers. I pulled the bowl from the display... then I smiled like an idiot for a solid 10 minutes. A perfect match... a complete Tombac Baby Spoon
After I took the photos for this post, I glued them back together for a nice front and back photo.
Three more cufflinks turned up in this section, although all are very broken.
The link that's broken is another Spanish facsimile cufflink. Here it is between the other two of the same type that I dug there this spring. I thought it was a broken flat button before I put some Aluminum Jelly on it and saw some letters. It looked hideous, so I hit it with boiling HP, more jelly and finally electrolysis... thats as good as its getting. Not pretty, but at least IDable.
A nice designed pewter turned up in the first section too.
Any ideas what these are? They match, but ones missing the clip pieces.
This is part to a later style pipe bowl. It is clay that is glazed and this part would actually hold a reed as the stem. So it had removable stems from the bowl.
I didn't realize this was a good date and I lucked out with the condition on it.
CW era GS coat button with a Waterbury Scovill backmark
And the cut copper. I can see part of a bust on it... or at least something
Now the ferrous! BTW, this is only about 1/4 of the iron I dug up. Some is still processing and some just got tossed into buckets. Some interesting smaller pieces turned up... most of which I have no clue what they are. But more variety stuck to my magnet than normal... including 3 iron buttons. One has a flower on it, one I broke and threw out trying to do electrolysis on it and the other is crusty. But the flower one has its shank still and I actually had to sand the rust off the front because it was so fragile.
This 2" long pocket knife blade came out of the tank this afternoon. I couldnt believe it, but both sides of the blade are clearly marked and the font is TINY. Click a few times and zoom in on this one.
I still cant read it all.. but its "Rodgers Millers... " something... maybe.
Some flower designed thumb screw cleaned up nice in the tumbler. No clue what it goes to, but probably a set screw for something fancy. Now the piece below the knife blade and to the right of the button, I believe is a pistol trigger, with about 3/4 of the hook on the trigger broken off. Its more intricate than most old triggers, but has the proper shape to function as such.
The iron star button was a nice surprise.
A few button shanks stuck to the magnet.
Here are some of the smaller tacks and some of the rose head nails.
The large needle that lead me into the great pit section. Its thick with a odd taper and bend to it... perhaps used for leather?
Here is the cut copper from this weekend, next to the cut copper from earlier in the year. Its like 1/8th of a 1/2 penny, or 1/16th of a penny.
The one in the case from earlier in the year is a KG2 with a clear 1740's date on it. These things have to practically be on my coil to find them.
Since I added 3 more cufflinks to my collection from this site, it was time to pull them all out for a group picture! All but two of these links from this site were found this year and all were in the bottoms of the pit sections, too deep and masked by iron. I was on a link roll this spring and then it stopped, so it was nice to see a few more turn up.
Thanks for reading everyone... it was a long one for sure, but a fun sifting trip like this deserves a good post to tell the story.
Happy Hunting all.
I hadnt been detecting in over two weeks since I was up in Maine on my trip with Ahab8 and Scrappy. Because of family obligations and work obligations, it would be at least another two more weeks before I could get out... unless I could find time last weekend.So I planned on going out on Saturday. The day started really slow with a 1871 IHP (semi key date) and a few buttons, and what looks like another slice of a KG Copper (second one from this site). Not much was turning up, so with only a couple hours left I went to dig nails in the area I've been sifting for the last year in hopes that I find a plug to mark and sift later. Many plugs later, I open one that has thick black dirt, ash and lots of iron. The signal I was after was a large needle with a tapered point. The plug looked very promising and since I only had 30 min or so left, I decided to open the plug a little bigger and look around. I didn't have my magnet and there was so much iron I couldn't possibly chase it all with my pin pointer, so I just moved dirt around. I got a button and a tack head and was thinking this is a spot I am definitely going to sift in the future. I decided to hack away at the side wall just a bit more before filling it in and a couple shovels later, a flippin brass Jaw Harp fell right into the bottom of the hole.
A brass Jaw Harp is something I have wanted for so long, so it was a big deal for me. It was so masked with iron I never heard a peep on the Deus. So, rather than sift this section in the "future" I was so excited I wanted to sift it now... problem was, I was supposed to be putting in a new kitchen sink on Sunday.So I figured I'd still have enough time for the house project if I went sifting from sunrise on Sunday and just did one section. Well... I started finding stuff in the first section and it was so much fun I kinda opened another section... so two sifting sections later it was now about 3pm and I had to get back to reality.
Here is a group shot of the non-ferrous from Sat and Sun! About 95% of this came from the pit on Sunday. If it wasnt for the needle, leading me to the Jaw Harp, leading me to this sifting section, this would not be a hunt I would have shared on here.
The brass Jaw Harp... I have about 5 iron ones from this site, but this is my first brass one. Personal items, such as these musical instruments are some of my favorite types of relics.
Now for my favorite find of the bunch. I take a lot of dirty pictures, but don't typically share them just because my posts already have way too many pictures... but in this case, it was such a special find I want you guys to enjoy what I saw.
In the first section on Sunday, I pulled this small Tombac handle from the side corner... the pit was probably about 14 inches deep when it came out.
I IMMEDIATELY thought of a tombac spoon bowl that I dug last year with my T2 about 40 yards away from this handle. You can see the bowl in this post from last year. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/480881-colonial-civil-war-buckles-buttons-more.html I remember digging the bowl like it was yesterday! I never really mentioned it in that post because I wasnt certain it was a spoon bowl until sometime later.
I was thinking it was a long shot that they went together... well it wasnt until late Sunday, after I finished with the sink, that I could actually get into my relic containers. I pulled the bowl from the display... then I smiled like an idiot for a solid 10 minutes. A perfect match... a complete Tombac Baby Spoon
After I took the photos for this post, I glued them back together for a nice front and back photo.Three more cufflinks turned up in this section, although all are very broken.
The link that's broken is another Spanish facsimile cufflink. Here it is between the other two of the same type that I dug there this spring. I thought it was a broken flat button before I put some Aluminum Jelly on it and saw some letters. It looked hideous, so I hit it with boiling HP, more jelly and finally electrolysis... thats as good as its getting. Not pretty, but at least IDable.
A nice designed pewter turned up in the first section too.
Any ideas what these are? They match, but ones missing the clip pieces.
This is part to a later style pipe bowl. It is clay that is glazed and this part would actually hold a reed as the stem. So it had removable stems from the bowl.
I didn't realize this was a good date and I lucked out with the condition on it.
CW era GS coat button with a Waterbury Scovill backmark
And the cut copper. I can see part of a bust on it... or at least something
Now the ferrous! BTW, this is only about 1/4 of the iron I dug up. Some is still processing and some just got tossed into buckets. Some interesting smaller pieces turned up... most of which I have no clue what they are. But more variety stuck to my magnet than normal... including 3 iron buttons. One has a flower on it, one I broke and threw out trying to do electrolysis on it and the other is crusty. But the flower one has its shank still and I actually had to sand the rust off the front because it was so fragile.
This 2" long pocket knife blade came out of the tank this afternoon. I couldnt believe it, but both sides of the blade are clearly marked and the font is TINY. Click a few times and zoom in on this one.
I still cant read it all.. but its "Rodgers Millers... " something... maybe.
Some flower designed thumb screw cleaned up nice in the tumbler. No clue what it goes to, but probably a set screw for something fancy. Now the piece below the knife blade and to the right of the button, I believe is a pistol trigger, with about 3/4 of the hook on the trigger broken off. Its more intricate than most old triggers, but has the proper shape to function as such.
The iron star button was a nice surprise.
A few button shanks stuck to the magnet.
Here are some of the smaller tacks and some of the rose head nails.
The large needle that lead me into the great pit section. Its thick with a odd taper and bend to it... perhaps used for leather?
Here is the cut copper from this weekend, next to the cut copper from earlier in the year. Its like 1/8th of a 1/2 penny, or 1/16th of a penny.
The one in the case from earlier in the year is a KG2 with a clear 1740's date on it. These things have to practically be on my coil to find them.Since I added 3 more cufflinks to my collection from this site, it was time to pull them all out for a group picture! All but two of these links from this site were found this year and all were in the bottoms of the pit sections, too deep and masked by iron. I was on a link roll this spring and then it stopped, so it was nice to see a few more turn up.
Thanks for reading everyone... it was a long one for sure, but a fun sifting trip like this deserves a good post to tell the story.
Happy Hunting all.
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