1810 Large Cent, CW General Service button, Shoe buckle pieces...

[OutdoorAdv]

Got out for the first time this year. It was slow going, but I managed to pull a few keepers. The best find for me today is the 1810 Classic Head Large Cent. I've dug a lot of Draped Bust and Matron Heads, but the Classic Head had eluded me. When it came out of the dirt I could tell from the dark green that it was going to be a solid coin... only problem is it was in circulation a long time before it was lost. The front is worn nearly smooth, but luckily I was able to read the complete date by getting the light just right. A bunch of shoe buckle frame pieces turned up as well. Sure would be nice to get another complete one! A nice General Service coat button also turned up. Excited to get the key though electrolysis too. It was in such good condition that I had to run it under my coil to make sure it wasn't brass. ha









This nail has a lead head on it. I havent googled it yet, but does anyone know what this was used for?



Happy Hunting everyone.

 

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[gwdigger]

Great hunt. Stuck at home for some days and wishing I could get out. I'd be pleased with that hunt.

I think that lead is a nail cover. They put them on, hit them with a hammer and the lead spread to create a water tight seal. Or so thats what i have been told. I find lots of those covers but never still on the nail. They give super nice signals.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Great hunt. Stuck at home for some days and wishing I could get out. I'd be pleased with that hunt.

I think that lead is a nail cover. They put them on, hit them with a hammer and the lead spread to create a water tight seal. Or so thats what i have been told. I find lots of those covers but never still on the nail. They give super nice signals.

Thanks gwdigger! I had washed all my detectors and put them in the closet... I was planning on hanging it up until spring! But I had a free half day, with temps in the 40's, so I couldn't resist. ha That second flat button I called "last target of the day" and as I detecting my way back to my pack, in an area I have totally CLOBBERED, I got the LC. In Deus Fast, about 8" deep, with 3 nails in the hole. It was a perfect signal in two directions and I don't know how I missed it. I guess I just had to get my coil just right over it. I love it when a good target like that just appears in an area that I have hit really hard.

I got a minute to google and looks like you're right about the nail. Used for sheeting to seal around the nail hole. Now I wonder how old it is. There is a 1941 patent for an improved version of the lead head nail (Patent US2353315 - Lead head nail - Google Patents), but this one is oxidized white, so I believe its much older. Unless it was a farmer drop at a later date, this one should be in the 1800's.

 

[Vino]

Thats good hunt Brad.
Them classic heads don't show up to often.
And looks like that key might have been in a fire?
The buckle pieces show food in your case..
Good start to 16.

 

[Ahab8]

Another great hunt buddy. Lots of early relics there. Making me want to go out in the am hmmmmmmmm

 

[Trezurehunter]

Nice hunt. I like the Large Cent, Button, & Key.

 

[pepperj]

Getting some from a hard hit place is nice, but the looks of your results you did pretty darned good. Nice going on the copper and the other finds, though I'm drawn to the key and it's design as it should clean up great for a display. What is the little piece below the umbrella slide in the first photo it has a pattern on it?

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Thats good hunt Brad.
Them classic heads don't show up to often.
And looks like that key might have been in a fire?
The buckle pieces show food in your case..
Good start to 16.

Thanks man! I was gonna ask you about the fire thing... you mentioned it earlier. Does that keep the iron from oxidizing if its buried in charcoal? This key was a couple feet from another iron key I found in my "Colonial Iron, a bit of a pit, and a LC"... that key surfaced in really good condition too with minimal pitting. The dirt in this area is dark black, with lots of pottery and rose head nails. I believe this is part of the older trash pit section.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Another great hunt buddy. Lots of early relics there. Making me want to go out in the am hmmmmmmmm

Thanks man! You find complete buckles, like I find frame fragments. haha I just counted and I have 21 frame fragments to 15 DIFFERENT shoe buckles from this site. Then I have 2 complete frames, and 1 complete buckle... and one knee buckle! Whats cool to me is when I find another fragment and it fits together with a previous fragment.

You gotta get out... I want to see what awesome stuff you dig up

Nice hunt. I like the Large Cent, Button, & Key.

Thanks Trezurehunter! I cant wait to zap the key. It's going to turn out awesome. The LC is a really pretty green and one solid coin. You cant tell from the "shiny" picture I took, but its very smooth. I had to put some oil on it to take the picture otherwise its really hard to get the light right to see the front of the coin.

Getting some from a hard hit place is nice, but the looks of your results you did pretty darned good. Nice going on the copper and the other finds, though I'm drawn to the key and it's design as it should clean up great for a display. What is the little piece below the umbrella slide in the first photo it has a pattern on it?

Thanks Jim! It's hardly producing anymore, which has happened a couple times in the past. First I hit it with my V3i, and when it stopped I unleashed my T2 and it was new all over again! Once it dried up for my T2, the Deus made it new once more. I like my T2 and Deus equally and often carry both with me as the compliment each other well. Its slim picking there now... I know when the new Deus elliptical coil releases, I will have a couple productive hunts with it.

That little thing under the umbrella slide is a colonial pewter button that's seen better days. ha Otherwise, it would have a really nice design on it.

 

[Darby]

Nice group is finds. Anytime you dig a military button is a great hunt...to me anyway. Also love that key. Congrats!

 

[Isaac]

Love that large cent. I found one Classic head but I nipped it with the shovel. That key is incredible!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Nice group is finds. Anytime you dig a military button is a great hunt...to me anyway. Also love that key. Congrats!

Agreed! Thanks Darby. I've dug 4 General service coat buttons from a 5' x 5' area now. None are good signals since there is so much trash, and 3 I got with the 5" coil on my T2. Makes me wonder if a whole Union coat rotted away there. A few other cuff and coat buttons have come from other areas at the same site.

Love that large cent. I found one Classic head but I nipped it with the shovel. That key is incredible!

Thanks man! I hate it when that happens... I dinged the back of the 2 reale I dug a couple weeks ago... I was so upset that it almost ruined my hunt until the 1 reale showed up 5 min later and restored the smile to my face. I dread dinging any historic relic (or coin) with my shovel. I pinpoint everything spot on, but the reality is on those deep targets, the risk of hitting it is so much greater. The 2 reale was hardly a blip on the Deus and it was in the side wall of the plug at about 9" deep and on edge at about a 45 degree angle.

This is my 3rd complete iron key from this site. I was pretty excited to see that surface. Iron loops sound SO GOOD in the ground. ha I knew it was going to be iron, but it had enough of a high tone to make me want to see what it was. Its too cold for me to fill up my electrolysis tank, so I'm tumbling it now with a bunch of rose head nails I dug yesterday. I just checked on it and it looks pretty sweet! I'll take a picture of it when its done tomorrow since everyone seems to really like the key.

Brad

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Glad to see you were able to get out Brad, and now you're one hunt up on me in 2016. Guess you didn't hit the pit as I don't see your usual big pile of iron. You still dug some nice keepers, and we both were able to learn about those lead nail covers. I can't begin to count how many of those I've dug over the years, but never had a clue as to their function. So now I know (thanks Gary!).

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Glad to see you were able to get out Brad, and now you're one hunt up on me in 2016. Guess you didn't hit the pit as I don't see your usual big pile of iron. You still dug some nice keepers, and we both were able to learn about those lead nail covers. I can't begin to count how many of those I've dug over the years, but never had a clue as to their function. So now I know (thanks Gary!).

Thanks a ton Bill! I tried to find more of my plate I got half of last time and opened a 1' X 3' section just to poke around. No plate pieces, but I did get the crusty pewter button below the umbrella piece. The button would have been inches from the VA half pennies. I do have a pile of iron, but nothing too great.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I tumbled the key for 12 hours along with the rose heads I found yesterday. I found more rose heads than I typically do which is always cool. It's crazy how some come out looking like they were forged yesterday. You can see hammer marks on all of them and the little one looks brand new. Oddly I was surprised to find a tiny brass ring in my tumbler. Must have been stuck to a nail or something.



Here are all the iron keys from this site so far.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

I'm really surprised that you're finding roseheads at this site. Based on my experience, I usually only find these at 1600s or very early 1700s sites. Your site isn't as old so not sure what's going on with that. Might have to rethink the time period when these were in use.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I'm really surprised that you're finding roseheads at this site. Based on my experience, I usually only find these at 1600s or very early 1700s sites. Your site isn't as old so not sure what's going on with that. Might have to rethink the time period when these were in use.

I probably get 1 rose head for every 20 square nails here. I really like finding the rose heads with the intact head on them. Everything I read says that square cut nails were introduced at the turn of the century around 1800. So wouldn't everything in the 1700's have used the hand forged rose heads? I guess the first habitation of this site would have been around 1720-1740 based on what I find... with the most action in the early to mid 1800's.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

There were other style hand forged nails besides roseheads which were pretty much the first used in colonial Va. Just not sure when they were finally phased out, but I'm pretty confident they were no longer popular by the early-to-mid 1700s.

 

[Diggin Dude]

Great hunt! Nice LC ! I really like that key! Great buttons too! Congrats and HH

 

[Scrappy]

That's a great hunt. That is one complex key bro. Where did it go to a friggin' bank vault?! Thimbles, buttons, mil, that's a complex site there. Keep at it and congrats on a nice 2016 start!