Hello All,
My goal was to take the wife and for us to get one more chance to dig a few more things before the end of 2014. We really did well today. I got out in a site that we have hunted before. Below is the story...
First off, here is the video:
In the turn row I immediately found this strange thing. Has a boat on it. Has to be a name plate from a tractor or something...any ideas?
When we got out in the field, I got a decent reading and dug what looked like a small flat button. Strange thing is, the thing read 65 on the F75! Bending over I realized that it was a very tarnished 1839 Seated Half Dime! Her and I dug a couple musketballs each, then I dug the handle of a silver spoon. I didn't think much about it, but was happy to see some silver. , then my wife dug a powder flask spout. I was a little jealous, since I've actually never dug one of these...but it's hard to be jealous with an early Seated in your pocket. So I kept digging. A couple more musketballs later, I got a nice signal that I knew would be a dime. Wish I'd filmed it. One inch deep, a BEAUTIFUL 1875-S Seated Dime came up. One of the best Seated coins I have ever dug in terms of condition.
Then I dug more of the handle of the spoon I'd just found. It had several hallmarks on it, and I could see an "S" and an "F" separated by stars. I was starting to get excited about it. Put that in my pocket, then my wife dug a SECOND powder flask spout.
We picked up some killer pottery, then I got another great dime signal and popped out another farmer dropped coin--a 1911-D Barber Dime. Got a BIG red clay pipe bowl and a V Nickel and by that time the sun had started to go down.
When I got home, I posted the spoon handle on the .925 Forum, and it was identified as pre-Revolution FRENCH! The handle I dug fit the piece of the spoon with the hallmarks perfectly. When I put the pieces together I could see that the letters on the spoon were "SFC." According to the experts on the forum, these are the initials of the owner of the spoon! (From the .925 forum, reply by forum member Blakstone: "The mark at the broken end of the stem is the medium charge mark for the city of Paris under the tenure of tax farmer Henri Clavel (1781-1789): an interlaced script "LL". The crowned "T" is the Paris guild warden's annual mark in use July 1782-July 1783. The "ewer" mark is actually a somewhat rare mark also used by Clavel in place of the usual "décharge" mark indicating that the piece was destined for export out of France (in this case presumably Louisiana which, despite its resolutely French culture, was at the time under Spanish rule). There should also be a maker's mark, probably on the missing bits. Nice find!"
Now, I hope I can dig the rest of it!
Here are the coins. The half dime didn't clean up completely well, but it came a long way considering how bad it was! (Before/After photos)
Diggergirl's two powder flask tops, and an egg holder than she eyeballed!
And both of our finds.
I'll be collecting the photos for the Annual Finds post soon, but until then I want to wish everyone on the forum a safe and happy 2015!
Best Wishes,
Buck
My goal was to take the wife and for us to get one more chance to dig a few more things before the end of 2014. We really did well today. I got out in a site that we have hunted before. Below is the story...
First off, here is the video:
In the turn row I immediately found this strange thing. Has a boat on it. Has to be a name plate from a tractor or something...any ideas?
When we got out in the field, I got a decent reading and dug what looked like a small flat button. Strange thing is, the thing read 65 on the F75! Bending over I realized that it was a very tarnished 1839 Seated Half Dime! Her and I dug a couple musketballs each, then I dug the handle of a silver spoon. I didn't think much about it, but was happy to see some silver. , then my wife dug a powder flask spout. I was a little jealous, since I've actually never dug one of these...but it's hard to be jealous with an early Seated in your pocket. So I kept digging. A couple more musketballs later, I got a nice signal that I knew would be a dime. Wish I'd filmed it. One inch deep, a BEAUTIFUL 1875-S Seated Dime came up. One of the best Seated coins I have ever dug in terms of condition.
Then I dug more of the handle of the spoon I'd just found. It had several hallmarks on it, and I could see an "S" and an "F" separated by stars. I was starting to get excited about it. Put that in my pocket, then my wife dug a SECOND powder flask spout.
We picked up some killer pottery, then I got another great dime signal and popped out another farmer dropped coin--a 1911-D Barber Dime. Got a BIG red clay pipe bowl and a V Nickel and by that time the sun had started to go down. When I got home, I posted the spoon handle on the .925 Forum, and it was identified as pre-Revolution FRENCH! The handle I dug fit the piece of the spoon with the hallmarks perfectly. When I put the pieces together I could see that the letters on the spoon were "SFC." According to the experts on the forum, these are the initials of the owner of the spoon! (From the .925 forum, reply by forum member Blakstone: "The mark at the broken end of the stem is the medium charge mark for the city of Paris under the tenure of tax farmer Henri Clavel (1781-1789): an interlaced script "LL". The crowned "T" is the Paris guild warden's annual mark in use July 1782-July 1783. The "ewer" mark is actually a somewhat rare mark also used by Clavel in place of the usual "décharge" mark indicating that the piece was destined for export out of France (in this case presumably Louisiana which, despite its resolutely French culture, was at the time under Spanish rule). There should also be a maker's mark, probably on the missing bits. Nice find!"
Now, I hope I can dig the rest of it!
Here are the coins. The half dime didn't clean up completely well, but it came a long way considering how bad it was! (Before/After photos)
Diggergirl's two powder flask tops, and an egg holder than she eyeballed!
And both of our finds.
I'll be collecting the photos for the Annual Finds post soon, but until then I want to wish everyone on the forum a safe and happy 2015!
Best Wishes,
Buck
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