Yesterdays hunt - William & Mary Copper and a lead filled day!

HomeGuardDan

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Yesterday's hunt - William & Mary Copper and a lead filled day!

I got out yesterday with my good pal Beau for a day of checking new sites. The first site was almost a complete bust - there should have been plenty of CW stuff to find, but there were no signs. I did manage to dig the pitched revolver - though I am fairly certain that it was not civil war era - it was cool and a bit of a thrill to dig. When I first dug it I thought it might have been a cavalry revolver.

The back up plan was to head to a colonial site that I had recently researched and boy am I glad we did. It too started off slow, but then we zeroed in on a hot spot that began first with a William & Mary Copper (I can make out 169?) on the date and it is well worn and tough to make detail out. I wish it came from the same spot as the very next coin that I dug, the well worn, but shinny 1790's half cent (I can see the outline of the bust). It came a foot farther down and in a nice clay layer that preserved it much better.

During the Revolutionary War, there were troops that were present and resupplied there and we found their drops, plenty of .70 and .50 musket balls to go around. I love the crude spru and seam marks on them. They were fun to dig and made for a fun day. I also managed a handful of buttons and colonial buckles and parts.

All in all I recovered 23 musket balls, 5 buttons (including a pewter tudor rose and early blown-hole button) and other odds and ends. While the W&M copper is a rough one - it is a coin that I have wanted to dig for a very long time - especially since I work at the College of William & Mary. Can't wait to go back!

HH

Dan
 

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Upvote 11

Greylock

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That's an excellent haul. A lot of muskets and some nice relics. That little revolver is neat too. Congrats on the coin as well.
 

joeyfresh

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Heck yeah Dan! What a great assortment of finds and man, those plated brass buckle pieces sure do look nice coming from the muck. When you say the half cent was down in the clay layer, how far down are you talking about?

Congrats on the W&M too.
 

Ahab8

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Dan those are the fun hunts with a bit of everything. Don't know about you but finding one old coin on a given hunt always puts it over the too for me. I just love seeing at least one dirty old disc in the hole
 

Msbeepbeep

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Lots of nice finds! Congrats!
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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Dan those are the fun hunts with a bit of everything. Don't know about you but finding one old coin on a given hunt always puts it over the too for me. I just love seeing at least one dirty old disc in the hole

Thanks man - you know, I have found at least one coin every trip this summer (except for one - and I was in the mountains of NC hunting civil war stuff - at least I dug the shell). I do love the old coins!
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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Heck yeah Dan! What a great assortment of finds and man, those plated brass buckle pieces sure do look nice coming from the muck. When you say the half cent was down in the clay layer, how far down are you talking about?

Congrats on the W&M too.

Joey it was down about 10"
 

HEAVYMETALNUT

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was the buckle and chape in wet ground Dan? usually brass don't come out like that in reg dirt.nice finds a and a great hunt!
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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was the buckle and chape in wet ground Dan? usually brass don't come out like that in reg dirt.nice finds a and a great hunt!
These were all found in the water, when items are found in the water and in wet clay they come out looking beautiful...if just in wet sand or wet rock, they look a bit more different
 

treblehunter

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Great finds
 

Bill D. (VA)

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Nice going buddy! Glad you guys were able to save the day with that last site. Congrats on that W&M and 1/2 cent, but it looks like your silver streak finally came to an end:crybaby2:. At first I thought your frame buckle had retained its original gold gilt, but then I started noticing it on some of the other buckles and buttons. Is that just the way the river bottom treats brass in that area?
 

cjon455

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Now thats an incredible hunt!, jeez look at all them roundballs, that gun and coins are awesome too! And u scored some relics! Take a bow sir, u did great:notworthy:
 

Dirtwisher

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I believe the William and Mary's are all 1694, if I remember correctly. I found the farthing last year and it was in tough shape too.
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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Nice going buddy! Glad you guys were able to save the day with that last site. Congrats on that W&M and 1/2 cent, but it looks like your silver streak finally came to an end:crybaby2:. At first I thought your frame buckle had retained its original gold gilt, but then I started noticing it on some of the other buckles and buttons. Is that just the way the river bottom treats brass in that area?

You are indeed correct Bill - the river (especially clay) treat them very well. The coins are a great example, one came from a clay layer, one did not. The silver streak did end - though I believe I will pluck a few from here and the coin streak still continues!
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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I believe the William and Mary's are all 1694, if I remember correctly. I found the farthing last year and it was in tough shape too.

You are correct - I figured that out after I posted it...sad that it is in the shape it is in...guess I will just have to dig a nicer one. Congrats on yours too - I know they are not easy to find.
 

Dirtwisher

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We're actually pretty lucky when you think about it. We found 320 yr old coins in tough shape but still know the exact date since they were only made in one year! Mine was not so much corroded as worn. Hard to find no doubt, and that coin really stoked the detecting fire for me after not doing it for twenty years.
 

Bill D. (VA)

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Dan - I can't make out the details of your coin from the pic, but to me it appears you may have a William III half penny, not a W&M. It looks like I can see just a single, large bust with the split hair ribbon to the lower left which is consistent with a William III coin. That part of the coin is completely different on the W&M variety. I'm attaching a pic of each below along with pics of the one I dug 3-4 months ago for comparison. I could be incorrect, but that's what it looks like to me. What do you think? If it turns out to be the William III it could be dated either 1695 thru 1698.

W&M halfpenny.jpg

William III halfpenny.jpg

031214n.JPG

031214o.JPG
 

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HomeGuardDan

HomeGuardDan

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Dan - I can't make out the details of your coin from the pic, but to me it appears you may have a William III half penny, not a W&M. It looks like I can see just a single, large bust with the split hair ribbon to the lower left which is consistent with a William III coin. That part of the coin is completely different on the W&M variety. I'm attaching a pic of each below along with pics of the one I dug 3-4 months ago for comparison. I could be incorrect, but that's what it looks like to me. What do you think? If it turns out to be the William III it could be dated either 1695 thru 1698.

View attachment 1020422

View attachment 1020429

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View attachment 1020431

Sadly - I think you might be correct on that. I thought I could make out the face of two busts when I first dug it, and under the light it looks as if, but the detail around the first (or only) bust does indeed look more like the William III. Still 1600's, but would mean I need to still knock that one off my list. I will take a closer look at it again this evening.
 

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