πŸ₯‡ BANNER Incredible early 1600s sword basket hilt recovered + 1580s jetton and more!!

Bill D. (VA)

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This weekend I was finally able to escape the seemingly perpetual cabin fever mode I'd been in lately after only getting out for one short hunt over the last 5 weeks. I started things off by hooking up with my good friend Joey to make the long trek back to the county that produced the Lord Baltimore sixpence. Joey had recently discovered that the owner of the Lord Baltimore tract was also in control of another nearby land patent site, and we tried to contact him for the go-ahead. But we went by his house 3 different times during the day but could never catch him home. So we were forced to hit an old site, and managed to get into a couple of small, new ones, and didn't get into the production we had hoped for, but we did manage a few keepers. We hope to go back soon and secure permission for the first site as it has high potential based on Joey's research.

I decided to play hooky from church on Sunday, and met up with my buddy Dan for our first hunt since the end of January. Our first stop was at an old site, but one where Dan had ran into a little 1600s hotspot in the woods not long ago. We pounded the area, but in spite of a large field of small iron and brick, we could not pull out any real keepers. We then moved on to another previously hunted site, the one that produced the rattlesnake and stars button on our last hunt there, but things were a bit slow there as well. We then made our way to an adjacent field where we had researched a small 200 acre land patent dating all the way back to 1619, and one that we'd been eyeing for quite some time. After a long walk we came to the narrow peninsula and started noticing brick frags scattered about. We turned our machines on, and I hadn't walked 5 feet when I heard the first signal. It was rather low on the scale, and I wasn't expecting much, but I was shocked when a 1580s Hans Krauwinkle jetton popped out. This is my 4th jetton, and all have come from the very earliest sites so this provided for a little bit of excitement. Dan also made a nice find, but I'll leave that for him to post. At that point we had high hopes for a hammered coin to appear, but the targets were surprisingly few and far between. About halfway into hunting that spot I heard a large, deep iron signal that had the potential to be an indicator for an early trash pit. About 12-18" down I encountered a large iron object, and was expecting it to be a colonial hoe. When I reached down to pull it out I could tell it was obviously not a hoe, but more of a coconut shaped artifact. Dan came over and at first we were puzzled, but then he quickly suggested it just might be a very early sword basket hilt, and after we knocked a little more of the dirt off and saw the intricate designs cut into it we were convinced that's what I had just unearthed. A similar one was recovered from Jamestown a few years ago, and I saw several others like it on the web. From the info I gathered it could date anywhere from the late 1500s to the mid-1600s, and was part of a broad or backsword (single edge blade). Definitely a rare, museum quality piece, and one of the coolest things I've ever dug. I have it in the electrolysis tank now, and hopefully it'll clean up before it falls apart. But its pretty substantial so its got a good chance to survive.

Later we secured another permission for what appeared to be a killer spot - a high flat plateau along a well-know early colonial creek, but it was totally devoid of any period artifacts. At the end of the day we wanted to check out one last spot that we've been wanting to get into, but we found out the owner had moved and the house was vacant. We still decided to make a quick drive back to check out the field, but the soybeans had never been cut. But then we we got involved in an unpleasant situation, and I'll leave that for Dan to explain in his post. When we finally resolved the issue we both agreed it was time to call it a day.
 

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Upvote 64

scott9050

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I think because of the rarity of the discovery that basket hilt is banner worthy.
 

Darby

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WOW! That's some great early recoveries Bill! Big congrats and thanks for sharing!
 

pepperj

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Congrats on the amazing find Bill, the Jetton would make the hunt right there, but the basket is an amazing find and worthy of being up on the Banner.
 

Valley Ranger

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Congratulations. Can't wait to see that hilt cleaned up.
 

terpfan

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Bill, I'm so glad the permafrost relented and finally let you get out. The find of the day has to be the spectacular sword hilt, and I sure do look forward to seeing that after the electrolysis. For it to be a 400+ year old steel basket hilt, its amazing that so much of the original metal remains. Congrats to you and Dan on another fine outing.
 

Last edited:

BVI Hunter

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my vote is in!
 

Carolina Tom

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Congrats Bill. Very nice finds. That Jetton is just awesome! GL&HH.
 

Jeff H

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Beyond awesome ! Both the jetton and hilt basket are banner finds !
 

Steve in PA

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Looking forward to seeing the sword guard cleaned up Bill. I do believe winter is done up here, just waiting for the ground to thaw out.
 

ARC

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Now that's a "hit"...
Good job... very nice.
 

collector01

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That's a incredible find! Congrats on the coin that would make my day for sure! HH
 

CRUSADER

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Now that's something you don't see every day - congrats!
 

nolanation

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Sweet! How do you know it's 1600's?
 

OP
OP
Bill D. (VA)

Bill D. (VA)

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Sweet! How do you know it's 1600's?

As mentioned in my post, this came from a small land patent site that dated to 1619. And a 1580s jetton was dug there as well. Also, a similar basket hilt is displayed at the Jamestown museum, and I've seen others of this style on the web that date to this period. I'm going to send some pics to my friend who works for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and is very knowledgeable of this stuff. He should be able to confirm, and I'll pass that info along once received.
 

metalev4

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Aug 12, 2006
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What an amazing and unique find Bill, cant wait to see it out of the tank first hand in a couple weeks. The Jetton is quality piece as well. I know you were anxious to get out and it didnt dissapoint.
 

joeyfresh

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I've probably taken 5 pictures of that basket at Jamestown and always thought it would be awesome to find one. Also, you were just talking about the armament and such that was shipped to the colony for protection and how cool it would to find some chainmail or something similar.....well what you found is wayyyy better. My banner vote is in!
 

mangum

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Wow! What an incredible, significant find! I can't wait to see it restored, good luck. I'm voting banner when I get to a computer, this is a very special find.
 

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