The One We Have Waited For, Privy Heaven!!!!

[jgas]

Hello all treasure freaks this is the one we have waited for. The one I gave a little teaser trailer on with the previous digs that I posted. This one took a bit to get it all together and all cleaned up after the fantastic dig that we had just unearthed. I suppose it all started a few years ago with the first pit that we had dug and discovered what a great hobby it was to actually dig up history. Several hundred pits later and we finally hit a privy that I think will go down as one of the best experiences I have had treasure hunting.
It started out with some luck, then we added just a little bit more luck and topped it off with a whole lot of luck! The timing was crazy too. Started off by just driving around to see where the excavators were digging up a bit of a parking lot. Found one pretty close to the city center so we thought we had a good chance to check it out. So we waited for the workers to stop for the day, then Gary had to probe it for the pits. It was late and he actually found a good one. But it was too late to dig with no lights. Kinda dangerous. So the next day came around and the excavators were back at it. So we waited for our time to pounce on it after he stopped pushing dirt around. He was so close to the privy that I just had to say something to the dozer driver. Usually I hate to interrupt their work but this one we had to take a chance. As luck would have it he said that he was almost done for the day and that he would leave the pit area alone, but just for one day. So all or nothing for tonight. One chance to dig this pit that we knew would be great. Gary had found a pontil Canker Balsam bottle right on top. Figuring everything below would be just as old or older. So at a feverish pitch we began to excavate what would be an unbelievable evening.

So it was Don, myself and Gary going at it. You have to be super careful because pontil bottles are fragile. Down about 5 feet we hit the top of the "Use Layer". Pontil Heaven!! We started to hit Scroll Flasks like it was the factory for them. One after another after another. Aqua, then the great site of an amber one. What a great day to be a digger. The amber one alone is huge. I'm sure it would bring a pretty penny all by itself. Then a kinda heart breaker one. A true Sapphire color scroll flask with the top knocked off. But still an incredible find. Then more aqua scrolls, pints and half pint. Then we hot a streak of medicines, cures and bitters bottles. All iron or open pontil bottles. All dating to around 1850. Crazy time had by all. The medicines saw the light of day for the first time in over 150 years. Radway RRR pontils, Dr. Bakers Pain Panacea, Dr. Wrights Indian Vegetable Syrup, Budd's Bone Wound Liniment, Ayers Cherry Pectoral all pontiled. Then a great looking C.T. Hughes & Co pepper sauce with an open pontil. Some miscellaneous unmarked tubular bottles and 4 Iron Pontil Udolpho Wolfe's Aromatic Schnapps that were iron pontil. Then 9 John Moffat Phoenix Bitters showed their faces after a century of slumber. Unbelievable. That's all we could say to each other.

Then to finish the pit Gary found a great Ravina Glass Company Travelers Companion flask in amber. And a nice ale tri mold bottle was picked out as well. Everything we pulled out was either Iron Pontil or open pontil. I could not believe the privy that we had all just experienced and captured forever on film. All tallied we pulled over 50 pontil bottles from the pit that just might surpass the $5,000 mark. But no matter what the price we eventually get for them it will never pass the amount of fun and great times we had spent just wondering how very lucky we were to get to dig this pit. Once in a few hundred privies we may get the chance, but we know reality, this may never ever happen again. A once in a lifetime chance really, but it sure paid off in good times and the fact that we can be treasure hunters in this great country and share this history with everyone! Thanks for looking everyone, be safe out there and we hope to do some more digging real soon. Until next time, jgas

[NOLA_Ken]

WOW! That's awesome!

[Argentium]

Man you guys rule when it comes to glass and privy digs !!! Absolutely incredible saves !

[River Rat]

Beautiful bottles!

[CASPER-2]

[tennessee digger]

All I can say is WOW!! Not only did you guys make some great finds but the photos were great too! I loved those bottles and can appreciate how hard you had to work to get them. Great post.

[SCDigginWithAK]

Wow!!!! I have one question whats with the fire in the hole?? Awesome finds guys

[doninbrewster]

I'm not a privy/bottle digger, but loved your story. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I hunt old sites in the woods quite a bit and frequently come upon privy digs. A lot of them look like they were done 50 years ago, which is good for me because the metal detectors were not nearly as good and once I find a privy, I know I found an old home site and the old coins to go with it. Nice dig guys!

[screwynewy]

What an epic dig. Makes me want to start digging privies. I can't imagine all of the hard work and research it would take to make a discovery like this one. Congratulations!

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Absolutly staggering, you never cease to amaze and inspire me Jgas. I have to set some time aside to start digging.
Those are some killer finds, very impressive.
Congrats
ZDD

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Amazing! That's all I got

[terpfan]

Killer dig. I think I could really get into excavating privies and collecting those old bottles. Those pieces were really works of art. Thanks for sharing a fantastic experience.

[kray]

Wow! Amazing effort pays off!
Shouldn't this be banner worthy?

[surf]

You weren't kidding, JGas! That is a bottle digger's Dream Dig! BANNER TIME for you, Don, and Gary!

I am so jumping up & down on behalf of you guys. There's a certain definitive kinda grinning going on amongst your compatriots. Have you had the big pick yet? Have you scoured the McKearin's for those guys yet?

For the non bottle folks; JGas and his friends have hit about 50 Homers in one game! Truly Historic American and imported glass bottles, several of them museum material.

Big Bravos, Gentlemen!

[Plumbata]

Wow, that was an excellent dig on many levels. Finding such a quantity of pontils, especially without having to dig through 20+ feet of fill in a deep brickliner, is extraordinary.

As someone who is primarily a bottle digger/collector too (time-wise probably 98% bottle digging, 2% detecting) I often chuckle at the idea that I can go to a trusty big old bottle dump it would take months or years to dig through, and be almost guaranteed a pile of worthwhile finds whenever I feel like getting some exercise. I have to be in a particularly speculative and optimistic mood to go detecting instead, as there are 0 guarantees with the latter. My best detecting day lately netted 5 silvers, and compared to bottle digging, even if I was guaranteed at least 5 silvers every day of detecting, it would be a relative waste of time, as on my worst digs the stuff coming out might average 10-15 bucks of market value per hour. The good days, where the average can be over 100 bucks an hour, certainly sway my preference towards digging glass and stoneware rather than digging a bunch of junk metal and clad all day for an uncertain chance at a silver dime or two, lol. Having dug a number of items that alone are worth more than all my detecting finds combined kinda reinforces my high opinion of the bottle digging hobby. I also dig with relative ease straight through the winter, not possible with detecting here. I'm not at all trying to make this seem like it's about the money (I dig to enhance my collection first and foremost); just describing the positives of bottle digging in more accessible terms to the uninitiated.

Anyway, thanks for sharing the dig. Love the colored flasks, and just about everything else too. Thanks also for showing the detectorists here what kinds of treasures people swing their coils over in old yards all over the country every single day without ever knowing it. I started detecting in kindergarten thanks to my dad, and loved the thrill of the hunt and novelty of it all, but when I randomly discovered bottles, almost immediately I realized what my true calling was. I'm not saying 1 hobby is better than the other, but as it happened with me, I am positive there are some detectorists out there who would likewise realize their "true calling" if they got hands-on exposure to digging old glass. Hopefully this banner dig inspires a few to try it out.