πŸ₯‡ BANNER Colonial/Civil War site yields unusual silver object

Jason H.

Full Member
Dec 2, 2010
135
125
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
MXT
Last Sunday I headed out to a mixed colonial and Civil War site with my buddy Ron. After five years of going to this place, we have a good feel for where the old home sites are and where the Civil War camp relics are. I like to dig both. Recently, we discovered another home site near the back end of this property, so I decided to check it out in the late afternoon. On the way there, I dug a crusty 1798 Large Cent. Once there, one of my first finds was the 1875 Seated Liberty dime. Then followed flat buttons and some Civil War relics- a knapsack triangle and a variety of bullets. Then I get a decent reading in the button range. After removing a nail, it becomes an awesome signal, reading in the mid-90s on my MXT. I get out the pinpointer and hand digger and begin to uncover something silver about 10 inches down. Taking it out of the hole, I am thrilled but curious- what is this? It's either a dog or a bear, I think. It's handmade, heavy, and it appears to be pure silver. It looks like the top to a cane, but what is that atop its head? Looking inside it, something iron went through the top. Something went through its teeth and one ear is drilled out- but not the other. Does anyone know what this was or what time period it's from?
Thanks and HH,
Jason

Update: This little work of art has been identified as a officer's sword pommel from the Revolutionary War era.
 

Attachments

  • 2-10-13 hunt 015.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 015.jpg
    193.7 KB · Views: 1,159
  • 2-10-13 hunt 003.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 003.jpg
    147.1 KB · Views: 1,047
  • 2-10-13 hunt 004.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 004.jpg
    120.4 KB · Views: 1,063
  • 2-10-13 hunt 005.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 005.jpg
    106.4 KB · Views: 986
  • 2-10-13 hunt 009.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 009.jpg
    103.5 KB · Views: 1,000
  • 2-10-13 hunt 010.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 010.jpg
    177.3 KB · Views: 997
  • 2-10-13 hunt 006.jpg
    2-10-13 hunt 006.jpg
    120.4 KB · Views: 1,007
Last edited:
Upvote 35

CASPER-2

Gold Member
Jan 3, 2012
17,133
19,852
NEW ENGLAND
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
6
Detector(s) used
WHITE'S XLT, PI PRO, GARRETT 2500, 3- FISHER CZ21s, JW FISHER 8X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
clap-animated-animation-clap-000340-large.gif AWESOME FIND!!!
 

G.A.P.metal

Gold Member
Jul 5, 2010
6,468
7,387
"Kan-a-we-o-la" Head on a Pole N.Y. Seneca Territo
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Deus, 11" Low Freq. , 9" X35 Coils, MI 6 Pointer...
Land or Sea Pointer
King Of Spades 40" KS-D SA and 40" KS-S-SA
L
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
I think all Silver and Gold had to have a mark of purity after a certain date...but i can`t remember the date...if no mark than it`s older than that.
 

OP
OP
J

Jason H.

Full Member
Dec 2, 2010
135
125
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
MXT
Thanks guys...G.A.P. metal, I don't see any markings at all, so it likely pre-dates that. You may be right about it being a cane/walking stick, it's the knob on top that held something iron that's confusing me. Thanks!
 

WHADIFIND

Gold Member
Apr 9, 2012
12,027
37,829
South of the Mason-Dixon Line
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
4
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT-MAX
Garrett AT-PRO,
Garrett Groundhog,
Pro-Pointer,

Jack Hammer!
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
My thought would be the head to either a swagger stick or riding crop. It appears to be rather small for a cane. Dontcha think?
The hole through the teeth? Maybe for a metal loop? The one in the ear? The better to hear you with? LOL

Nice finds!

HH!
 

ivan salis

Gold Member
Feb 5, 2007
16,794
3,809
callahan,fl
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
delta 4000 / ace 250 - used BH and many others too
american colonial era * english made public tavern type "loin faced" pipe tobacco tamper * the bump part on the top is for packing down fresh unburnt tobacco-- the nose of the loin was used once it was burnt down a bit to push the burnt tobacco ash down --normally these were nailed onto a long wooden rod (thus the hole in its head at the ear )--- it was attached to a long wooden rod for 2 reasons ---one was to prevent theft of it (it was made of silver after all) and also since colonial era pipe stems were often quite long to give them enough reach for proper use) -- the clay pipe stems were so long to give the smokers "smoke" enough time to cool down before reaching them.--the mouth hole in the tamper at one time had a ring that went thru it long ago --- much like a old english loin type door knocker might have --the ring was to be able to hang up the tamper upon the tavern's wall by a nail -- so everyone could see it / use it who bought tobacco from tavern to smoke -- clay pipes were often give away or sold quite cheaply with the buying of a bit of tobacco
note ---some better off homes had these at them as well --being silver it marks a "classy" upscale type home -- I say you are either hitting fancy colonial era homes or a tavern site by finding this. --good job.

ps former 27 year pipe smoker
 

Last edited:

John Boy

Bronze Member
Sep 11, 2012
1,216
304
Detector(s) used
FISHER F75 LTD CAMOUFLAGE,CZ3D 1021,1220X AND GARRETT PRO POINTER.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Now those are some great Recovery's. Really like that lion head.it could be an old pipe tamper or it could be the butt end off of a knife and the part on top of his head could have been how it was held together.don't know just throwing some things out there.super great finds though. Way to go buddy.
 

OP
OP
J

Jason H.

Full Member
Dec 2, 2010
135
125
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
MXT
My thought would be the head to either a swagger stick or riding crop. It appears to be rather small for a cane. Dontcha think?
The hole through the teeth? Maybe for a metal loop? The one in the ear? The better to hear you with? LOL

Nice finds!

HH!

You're right, it does seem a bit small for a cane. I wish it could hear me, and tell me what exactly it is!
 

OP
OP
J

Jason H.

Full Member
Dec 2, 2010
135
125
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
MXT
american colonial era * english made public tavern type "loin faced" pipe tobacco tamper * the bump part on the top is for packing down fresh unburnt tobacco-- the nose of the loin was used once it was burnt down a bit to push the burnt tobacco ash down --normally these were nailed onto a long wooden rod (thus the hole in its head at the ear )--- it was attached to a long wooden rod for 2 reasons ---one was to prevent theft of it (it was made of silver after all) and also since colonial era pipe stems were often quite long to give them enough reach for proper use) -- the clay pipe stems were so long to give the smokers "smoke" enough time to cool down before reaching them.--the mouth hole in the tamper at one time had a ring that went thru it long ago --- much like a old english loin type door knocker might have --the ring was to be able to hang up the tamper upon the tavern's wall by a nail -- so everyone could see it / use it who bought tobacco from tavern to smoke -- clay pipes were often give away or sold quite cheaply with the buying of a bit of tobacco
note ---some better off homes had these at them as well --being silver it marks a "classy" upscale type home -- I say you are either hitting fancy colonial era homes or a tavern site by finding this. --good job.

ps former 27 year pipe smoker

Ivan, that is great info, thanks so much for identifying this! So it's 18th century, and a lion's face? That is really cool. I wouldn't have guessed it to be a tamper, but your description lines up perfectly with the artifact itself. Thanks again!
 

OP
OP
J

Jason H.

Full Member
Dec 2, 2010
135
125
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
MXT
Now those are some great Recovery's. Really like that lion head.it could be an old pipe tamper or it could be the butt end off of a knife and the part on top of his head could have been how it was held together.don't know just throwing some things out there.super great finds though. Way to go buddy.

Thanks John Boy, appreciate it!
 

birdman

Gold Member
Jan 28, 2005
7,458
2,393
Choctaw Beach Florida
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800 and ORX, tesoro Cibola with garret,whites and minelab pinpointers
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Man,that could be a museum piece.Very nice.
 

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,123
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
4
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That dog's head is a FIRST RATE find right there.
 

ronr

Jr. Member
Dec 26, 2010
59
56
Central Va
Detector(s) used
GPX 5000, MXT
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Jason that has got to be the best find you have made so far. Glad you decided to take that long walk. Congrats on a super find. My banner vote is in.
Ron
 

Last edited:

Steve in PA

Gold Member
Jul 5, 2010
9,569
14,070
Pittsburgh, PA
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, XP Deus, Equinox 600, Fisher 1270
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That is a fantastic find Jason! I'm glad it was down below the plow zone so it didn't get damaged by the plow. I think that is a Banner find and will put my vote in.
 

Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,696
11,647
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What a nice pipe tamper and silver at that. I am thinking that is pretty rare. Good bunch of relics also. I liked your comment above "I wish it could hear me, and tell me what exactly it is!" I think Ivan heard you and nailed it. Pretty cool Jason. Great post.

 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top