Second 71st Regiment of Foot button

DownNDirty

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Last Saturday I headed back to my favorite Colonial site to continue sifting the site of the plantation house. Previously I had found a number of British Revolutionary War relics, including uniform buttons from the 30th Regiment of Foot, 71st Regiment and Royal Provencials in addition to a large number of 18th century civilian relics.

Right out of the gate the sifter turned up more pipe stem pieces and ceramic pottery shards-and of course plenty of square nails. Here are some of the shards that I sifted out.

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Many sifts later I was sorting through the debris in the sifter and noticed a round metal object about the size of a dime. After gently rubbing some of the dirt off I realized it was a pewter button with scrolling around the edge. At first I thought it was a civilian button, but then I saw numbers lightly etched in the center. It was a 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) uniform button, roughly half the size of the coat button I found on the site earlier this year.

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Here are the two buttons side by side

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Later in the day I was surprised to see this two-tined fork pop up in the sifter, with the entire bone handle intact

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The sifter continued to produce, including two iron buckles and the tip of a skeleton key

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After every second or third sift I swung the coil over the sift pile and in the hole. This produced several small relics, including this pewter piece that I think was the top of a two piece button; it has rusted iron on the back side.

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Using this method I found my first "blowhole" button; it had slipped through the mesh screen.
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And of course found a a few whatsits...

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At the end of the day I walked the adjacent creek with the hopes of finding fossils or relics that Hurricane Matthew might have washed out. I found both-a fossilized mammal leg bone an a piece of 18th century floor tile that likely was from the plantation home.

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Here are my finds for the day

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The fork cleaned up nicely. Here it is before I started the process

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I ran it through my electrolysis tank

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Then I immersed it in microcrystalline wax that I melted on my gas grill until all of the moisture was gone

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As always it was a fun day at the site; I always come home with interesting stuff from there. Can't wait to get back and do some more sifting.
 

Last edited:

Stef45

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WOW! Another great hunt. Congrats. Killer buttons and the electro really did a great job with that two tined fork!
 

Ahab8

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Wow man you are killing it. That button is killer and something I dream of finding. Keep up these amazing efforts and killer preservation
 

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DownNDirty

DownNDirty

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Wow man you are killing it. That button is killer and something I dream of finding. Keep up these amazing efforts and killer preservation

Thanks Ahab; I really have just scratched the surface there (pun intended). I think I'll be working that one for years to come.
 

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DownNDirty

DownNDirty

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WOW! Another great hunt. Congrats. Killer buttons and the electro really did a great job with that two tined fork!

Thanks Stef; Brad (Outdooradv) gave me some good electrolysis tips for the fork that really helped.
 

CRUSADER

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''including this pewter piece that I think was the top of a two piece button; it has rusted iron on the back side.''
Yes, its the exception that breaks the rule, its an 18th C Button top that was soldered, they are more of a tombac type metal. I get a few of them.
 

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DownNDirty

DownNDirty

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''including this pewter piece that I think was the top of a two piece button; it has rusted iron on the back side.''
Yes, its the exception that breaks the rule, its an 18th C Button top that was soldered, they are more of a tombac type metal. I get a few of them.

Thanks for verifying/clarifying that Cru-I appreciate it
 

Steve in PA

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Congrats on finding another 71st button. Any pewter Rev War button you can save is a feather in your hat. The two tined fork came out great too!
 

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DownNDirty

DownNDirty

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Are you digging a trash pit? Great finds, have fun.

Not a trash pit per se, it's a large plantation site. I'm digging and sifting close to the location of the plantation house. There is however a large area thick with pottery and glass shards, pipe stem pieces, oyster shells, and animal bones/teeth. My assumption is that this area was next to a kitchen; in the 1700s it was common for trash to be thrown out kitchen windows onto the ground.
 

sutphin

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I JUST CANT LOOK AT ANYMORE OF YOUR EYE POPPING FINDS...
 

yakker

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Very cool finds! I love how the fork turned out :thumb_up: And all those cool pottery shards. Great stuff-- Thanks for showing us ;)
 

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