HomeGuardDan
Bronze Member
I got out yesterday with my good pal Bill D for a full day of detecting. We initially were going to go back to the pit that I located the last hunt and do some sifting - however, we did not take the wet soil into consideration. We knew it would be wet, but not that wet. We quickly abandoned our approach and did some exploring.
We located a house site that did not appear to be colonial, but it did appear to be one of those nice early to mid 1800s sites. My first target was the 1864 IH cent and Bill quickly began with some flat buttons. I located part of a trigger guard, then looked a Bill and said "you know that a military button will pop up here." No sooner than two targets later did I pop out a big fat button with an anchor on it. Upon further inspection, the button read "Matrozen Instituut 1849." This is a Dutch Naval Academy button and one that I seriously doubt I will ever dig again - so I am a happy camper! Shortly there after, another uncommon find (for our area) popped out. I first thought it was another IH cent though a fatty or flying eagle. Then I realized it was a tad too small and had an odd design. This turned out to be an 1863 1/2 Centimos - so you could say that I did dig a spanish coin! HA, just not silver.
We spent the rest of the day following up on research and leads - only to strike out at every location - no one was home on this fine day. We salvaged the day at one of our old tried and true sites. It was cold and blustery, but as the sun sank below the horizon Bill and I steadily were digging targets, button here and there, misc brass and THEN out popped a beautiful Virginia Military Institute (VMI) button. This is one is Civil War era and the second from this site that I have located. I have not cleaned this button yet as it looks great as is, but there is a ton of gilt underneath that green.
Today Bill and I got out for a quick morning hunt. On one end of the property, Bill dug a CW era grommet and then suddenly I heard a BIG brass target. SPUR!!, first one piece popped out, then another - this site absolutely could hold a small hidden camp. We were looking for colonial and quickly moved on - on the other end of the property we located a nice early 1700s site - buttons, lead, brass and even an early hoe were turning up for the last hour and a half. Bill got the best of me today on the buttons, but I did manage to dig 9, including a nice early glass face cufflink with a tudor rose etched in the glass.
The lead disc is odd - I could use help with an ID. It looks to have said MITH (I assume Smith) XV. Obviously it has been cut off, but perhaps someone can shed some light to it.
I am very surprised that a cut silver coin did not come from this site or over the weekend in general. For a day and a morning of hunting, I ended up with 22 buttons (two keepers), two coins (1/2 Centimos, & IH), the spur, and a slew of other goodies. It is always fun hunting with Bill and as always, I look forward to the next adventure!
HH
Dan
We located a house site that did not appear to be colonial, but it did appear to be one of those nice early to mid 1800s sites. My first target was the 1864 IH cent and Bill quickly began with some flat buttons. I located part of a trigger guard, then looked a Bill and said "you know that a military button will pop up here." No sooner than two targets later did I pop out a big fat button with an anchor on it. Upon further inspection, the button read "Matrozen Instituut 1849." This is a Dutch Naval Academy button and one that I seriously doubt I will ever dig again - so I am a happy camper! Shortly there after, another uncommon find (for our area) popped out. I first thought it was another IH cent though a fatty or flying eagle. Then I realized it was a tad too small and had an odd design. This turned out to be an 1863 1/2 Centimos - so you could say that I did dig a spanish coin! HA, just not silver.
We spent the rest of the day following up on research and leads - only to strike out at every location - no one was home on this fine day. We salvaged the day at one of our old tried and true sites. It was cold and blustery, but as the sun sank below the horizon Bill and I steadily were digging targets, button here and there, misc brass and THEN out popped a beautiful Virginia Military Institute (VMI) button. This is one is Civil War era and the second from this site that I have located. I have not cleaned this button yet as it looks great as is, but there is a ton of gilt underneath that green.
Today Bill and I got out for a quick morning hunt. On one end of the property, Bill dug a CW era grommet and then suddenly I heard a BIG brass target. SPUR!!, first one piece popped out, then another - this site absolutely could hold a small hidden camp. We were looking for colonial and quickly moved on - on the other end of the property we located a nice early 1700s site - buttons, lead, brass and even an early hoe were turning up for the last hour and a half. Bill got the best of me today on the buttons, but I did manage to dig 9, including a nice early glass face cufflink with a tudor rose etched in the glass.
The lead disc is odd - I could use help with an ID. It looks to have said MITH (I assume Smith) XV. Obviously it has been cut off, but perhaps someone can shed some light to it.
I am very surprised that a cut silver coin did not come from this site or over the weekend in general. For a day and a morning of hunting, I ended up with 22 buttons (two keepers), two coins (1/2 Centimos, & IH), the spur, and a slew of other goodies. It is always fun hunting with Bill and as always, I look forward to the next adventure!
HH
Dan
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