Hello All,
Well we keep on keeping on down here in South Louisiana. Got a call from Shanegalang that he was free from work today, and as luck would have it I had half a day off, so guess what we did... Went DIGGIN' of course!
Things started off slow, with not much to show for our efforts. A couple grubby buttons showing up, none of them too promising. I got a couple tombacs, which mean that they were probably missed before since they read low. Then Shanegalang got a nice piece of a colonial era civilian spur, including the neck and part of the rusted rowel. Good find there. We picked up a lot of pipe stems as we were working out this little petit habitants site. The recent rains have helped wash them out.
Then I dug what I thought might have to be my prized find of the day...
It is not pictured here. You'll have to watch the video to feast your eyes on something I've never dug before...
Then all of a sudden, Shanegalang yelled "Come to Daddy!" I was scared to look, and even more scared to walk in his direction, but then he said he had a silver coin, so I decided to start walking that way.
When I got there, I saw a very worn, bent half real that was holed four times. Still counts in the total, and the date IS visible as 1774, which makes this Shane's oldest coin. 
Not sure what those colonial guys were trying to do to that coin, but it is a strange one! This one brings our total to 27 Spanish Silvers for 2013. Fingers crossed on getting to 30. Looks like we just may do it!
Well, we dug a while longer, and I got a couple more buttons. I didn't pay much attention to them, just stuck them in my pouch. There were a couple decorative examples, which I mildly looked forward to cleaning with aluminum jelly at home. Well, I always check out all my finds and as I was cleaning one of the buttons (cuff sized), I saw that it had a "bird cage" shank! Friends, this button was screaming "FRENCH MILITARY!" at me! Carefully I turned it over, and started cleaning the front. I could see the number "15" peeking through, surrounded by the foliated broken line which is iconic in French buttons from that time period. The button is Napoleonic Era, and probably dates between 1803 and 1814. Louisiana was under French control during the early period, as well as 1802-04. So I can mark "French Colonial" off my wish list now!
The button is not in great shape, but I don't care one bit. Always wanted to dig one, and now I have.
Here's the video. Photos below, too.
I was hoping I would see some record of the 15th Regt in Louisiana during the early 1800s, but I have not found anything yet. If any of you can turn up some militay history surrounding that regiment, please reply and let me know. Here is a webpage that gives info about French involvement in the South.
France Page
Best Wishes,
Buck
Well we keep on keeping on down here in South Louisiana. Got a call from Shanegalang that he was free from work today, and as luck would have it I had half a day off, so guess what we did... Went DIGGIN' of course!
Things started off slow, with not much to show for our efforts. A couple grubby buttons showing up, none of them too promising. I got a couple tombacs, which mean that they were probably missed before since they read low. Then Shanegalang got a nice piece of a colonial era civilian spur, including the neck and part of the rusted rowel. Good find there. We picked up a lot of pipe stems as we were working out this little petit habitants site. The recent rains have helped wash them out.
Then I dug what I thought might have to be my prized find of the day...
It is not pictured here. You'll have to watch the video to feast your eyes on something I've never dug before...Then all of a sudden, Shanegalang yelled "Come to Daddy!" I was scared to look, and even more scared to walk in his direction, but then he said he had a silver coin, so I decided to start walking that way.
When I got there, I saw a very worn, bent half real that was holed four times. Still counts in the total, and the date IS visible as 1774, which makes this Shane's oldest coin. Not sure what those colonial guys were trying to do to that coin, but it is a strange one! This one brings our total to 27 Spanish Silvers for 2013. Fingers crossed on getting to 30. Looks like we just may do it!Well, we dug a while longer, and I got a couple more buttons. I didn't pay much attention to them, just stuck them in my pouch. There were a couple decorative examples, which I mildly looked forward to cleaning with aluminum jelly at home. Well, I always check out all my finds and as I was cleaning one of the buttons (cuff sized), I saw that it had a "bird cage" shank! Friends, this button was screaming "FRENCH MILITARY!" at me! Carefully I turned it over, and started cleaning the front. I could see the number "15" peeking through, surrounded by the foliated broken line which is iconic in French buttons from that time period. The button is Napoleonic Era, and probably dates between 1803 and 1814. Louisiana was under French control during the early period, as well as 1802-04. So I can mark "French Colonial" off my wish list now!
The button is not in great shape, but I don't care one bit. Always wanted to dig one, and now I have. Here's the video. Photos below, too.
I was hoping I would see some record of the 15th Regt in Louisiana during the early 1800s, but I have not found anything yet. If any of you can turn up some militay history surrounding that regiment, please reply and let me know. Here is a webpage that gives info about French involvement in the South.
France Page
Best Wishes,
Buck
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That button is fantastic and so is the 4-holed Spanish reale. There sure was a lot of smoking going on in those cane fields. I tried it once back in the 70's but couldn't keep it lit. Kind of sweet though. 
