OutdoorAdv
Bronze Member
- Apr 16, 2013
- 2,457
- 3,350
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
-
XP Deus,
GPX 4500,
Equinox 800,
AT Max
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
The weekend finally arrived that Abe, Steve and I have had planned all summer. I had been really looking forward to a couple days off work and spending some time outdoors with two great friends. Abe and Steve are a couple serious hunters who know how to move some dirt and really put in the work to find the good stuff. I had one of the best 3 days anyone could ask for enjoying the outdoors and digging up some history with two great buddies. Abe I can't thank you enough for great hospitality and just an awesome weekend man.
Check out Abe's post here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...ooradv-1812-pewters-complete-shoe-buckle.html
Check out Steve's post here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-outdooradv-pewters-coppers-tombac-bells.html
The group shot of my finds over the three days.
The first couple days we camped out at a hard hit site. Since we had a couple days there, we were able to explore a bit more and read the terrain. I noticed a few things right away that I had missed on our trip there this past spring. We unloaded our gear and fired up our machines. After digging some junk I got a sweet solid whisper and pulled out a really deep musket ball from a War of 1812 soldier. I will never get tired of digging musket balls! A short time later I found a small pewter patch and popped out a 1798-1802 6th Regt. U.S. Infantry button from a War of 1812 soldiers uniform. My finds slowed down after that, most likely due to me being up for 36 hours with only a couple hours of sleep. I moved to a different area and popped out a brass spoon bowl, I rechecked the plug and there was a incredible watch winder laying in the soil. The best part about this area is almost everything period we dig was used by a soldier at one point. I was getting machine gun iron around the plug, so I retrieved my big shovel, magnet and sifter and started moving dirt. Every swipe of the magnet was coming up full of hammered and cut nails and I quickly unmasked a few buttons and bits of brass. Being so tired I didn't have it in me to move tons of dirt, so I saved it for the next day. As the day wound down, we set up camp, made a fire, cracked a few beers and cooked steaks on sticks... which we pretty much ended up eating raw. In the pitch dark we decided to head out on a scouting mission with our machines. We swung as we went and popped out a couple brass buttons, then literally stumbled right into a colonial cellar hole that shouldn't have even been there. Abe and I had a tough time getting our coils over anything non-ferrous, while Steve administered a huge spanking, pulling one great find after another.
(including knocking one off his bucket list) One of Steve's best finds that evening was a couple inches from a plug Abe or I had dug minutes before 
It dumped rain that night, but mostly cleared up by morning. The following morning we all headed out in different directions. Steve returns an hour later and mentions he dug a whole mess of musket balls and invited me to check out the area with him. After a few minutes with the Deus, I realized it wasn't up for this particular challenge so I put together my GPX and returned... it was like fishing with dynamite. That thing was screaming musket balls left and right. I believe Steve had discovered a target shooting range and him and I had a great time pulling those out. Thank's a ton Scrappy for inviting me down there... while they might not seem like the best finds, digging those musket balls was the most fun I had at that site. I can never get tired of seeing those things come out of the dirt.
The group shot of the first two days.
I got two marked pewters in those first two days.
1798-1802 6th Regt. U.S. Infantry - Coat Button
1808-30 U.S. Army General Service - Cuff Button
After cleaning the dirt off the watch winder, the top part started to swivel again.
Various buck shot and musket balls of all sizes.
Some hard hit musket balls
Lots of brass buttons from the 1812 site, but all are blank. I've been dying to dig a marked brass 1812 button, so each time I saw one of these in the plug I'd get excited to wipe off the front.
A couple tombacs and a shoe buckle fragment turned up. Probably from the people who inhabited the cellar hole we discovered.
After a couple days of being dirt balls, getting rained on and camping, Steve and I checked into a hotel then met up with Abe for some sushi. After dinner we headed back to Abe's to look at maps and discuss the plan for the following day. We discovered a boat launch which put us pretty close to our target, so the plan was set. The following morning we loaded up our gear and set off. After exploring the first site, I found an iron patch but it turned out to be modern (maybe 1950's). We decided not to waste anymore time there and headed to the second spot. After hiking around we discovered a rock pile, fired our machines up and looked for the iron. Not much iron, but Steve found some targets that told us we were close. We branched out and before long the finds started coming. We had found an untouched mid to late 18th century cabin site. Because its a cabin site, there is not any visible sign left that something was there. Without Steve nailing a few finds right out of the gate, we would have never found this site. After a few buttons, I get a slamming signal and pull out what was left of a rattail pewter spoon. Now, a rattail spoon is something I have been dying to find and Abe has heard me tell him this every chance I get... I even got to witness him pull a complete one this past spring! So, I pull this spoon out and even though its broken and ugly, I'm yelling to Abe and beyond excited... Abe's working on his own plug 20 feet from me and 10 seconds after mine comes out, he pulls out a nearly perfect complete one... typical Abe digging complete spoons I'm very happy with mine and even dug some spoon handle fragments that don't match my bowl, but I'll pretend like they do for the photos. A short time later I got to see Abe pull another complete shoe buckle which is just awesome. We took a break and scouted for a bit without much success, but when we returned I got a sweet smooth tone I was certain was a copper... I dig the plug and pull out a brass thimble. A bit let down it wasnt a copper, I look in the dirt I just moved and see half of a early pipe bowl laying there... now I'm excited! I hand it to Abe to check out and he tells me its marked... even better! Many more buttons and relics later we were all beat and decided to head out.
The group shot of the 3rd day.
The TD marked pipe bowl which might have been made by London pipe maker Thomas Dormer between 1748 and 1770. That date range fits with the other relics we pulled from this site.
My first rattail pewter spoon... or whats left of it. A big deal for me to find and something I can't wait to display.
The thimble that led me to the pipe bowl.
Various pewters and tombacs from the cabin site.
I'm still on the road for business, so this is my setup to unbox and shoot photos to remember this awesome weekend!
Some of you might know just how much I like iron from all my previous posts. I typically wait to post until I can process some of the iron and include it in my photos. In the last couple years I have tumbled and preserved 1000's of nails and have them in boxes at home. I made a few displays for a couple friends before I headed to see Abe. This is the one I made for Abe which includes many rose heads and hand forged nails, as well as various cut nails, finish nails, tacks, flooring nails, horse shoe nails... etc. He was very surprised to see it and its hard to believe that crusty dug nails can clean up and present so well
Thank you again Abe and Steve for a great time with lots of laughs.
Happy Hunting and thanks for reading!
Check out Abe's post here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...ooradv-1812-pewters-complete-shoe-buckle.html
Check out Steve's post here: http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...-outdooradv-pewters-coppers-tombac-bells.html
The group shot of my finds over the three days.
The first couple days we camped out at a hard hit site. Since we had a couple days there, we were able to explore a bit more and read the terrain. I noticed a few things right away that I had missed on our trip there this past spring. We unloaded our gear and fired up our machines. After digging some junk I got a sweet solid whisper and pulled out a really deep musket ball from a War of 1812 soldier. I will never get tired of digging musket balls! A short time later I found a small pewter patch and popped out a 1798-1802 6th Regt. U.S. Infantry button from a War of 1812 soldiers uniform. My finds slowed down after that, most likely due to me being up for 36 hours with only a couple hours of sleep. I moved to a different area and popped out a brass spoon bowl, I rechecked the plug and there was a incredible watch winder laying in the soil. The best part about this area is almost everything period we dig was used by a soldier at one point. I was getting machine gun iron around the plug, so I retrieved my big shovel, magnet and sifter and started moving dirt. Every swipe of the magnet was coming up full of hammered and cut nails and I quickly unmasked a few buttons and bits of brass. Being so tired I didn't have it in me to move tons of dirt, so I saved it for the next day. As the day wound down, we set up camp, made a fire, cracked a few beers and cooked steaks on sticks... which we pretty much ended up eating raw. In the pitch dark we decided to head out on a scouting mission with our machines. We swung as we went and popped out a couple brass buttons, then literally stumbled right into a colonial cellar hole that shouldn't have even been there. Abe and I had a tough time getting our coils over anything non-ferrous, while Steve administered a huge spanking, pulling one great find after another.
(including knocking one off his bucket list) One of Steve's best finds that evening was a couple inches from a plug Abe or I had dug minutes before It dumped rain that night, but mostly cleared up by morning. The following morning we all headed out in different directions. Steve returns an hour later and mentions he dug a whole mess of musket balls and invited me to check out the area with him. After a few minutes with the Deus, I realized it wasn't up for this particular challenge so I put together my GPX and returned... it was like fishing with dynamite. That thing was screaming musket balls left and right. I believe Steve had discovered a target shooting range and him and I had a great time pulling those out. Thank's a ton Scrappy for inviting me down there... while they might not seem like the best finds, digging those musket balls was the most fun I had at that site. I can never get tired of seeing those things come out of the dirt.
The group shot of the first two days.
I got two marked pewters in those first two days.
1798-1802 6th Regt. U.S. Infantry - Coat Button
1808-30 U.S. Army General Service - Cuff Button
After cleaning the dirt off the watch winder, the top part started to swivel again.
Various buck shot and musket balls of all sizes.
Some hard hit musket balls
Lots of brass buttons from the 1812 site, but all are blank. I've been dying to dig a marked brass 1812 button, so each time I saw one of these in the plug I'd get excited to wipe off the front.
A couple tombacs and a shoe buckle fragment turned up. Probably from the people who inhabited the cellar hole we discovered.
After a couple days of being dirt balls, getting rained on and camping, Steve and I checked into a hotel then met up with Abe for some sushi. After dinner we headed back to Abe's to look at maps and discuss the plan for the following day. We discovered a boat launch which put us pretty close to our target, so the plan was set. The following morning we loaded up our gear and set off. After exploring the first site, I found an iron patch but it turned out to be modern (maybe 1950's). We decided not to waste anymore time there and headed to the second spot. After hiking around we discovered a rock pile, fired our machines up and looked for the iron. Not much iron, but Steve found some targets that told us we were close. We branched out and before long the finds started coming. We had found an untouched mid to late 18th century cabin site. Because its a cabin site, there is not any visible sign left that something was there. Without Steve nailing a few finds right out of the gate, we would have never found this site. After a few buttons, I get a slamming signal and pull out what was left of a rattail pewter spoon. Now, a rattail spoon is something I have been dying to find and Abe has heard me tell him this every chance I get... I even got to witness him pull a complete one this past spring! So, I pull this spoon out and even though its broken and ugly, I'm yelling to Abe and beyond excited... Abe's working on his own plug 20 feet from me and 10 seconds after mine comes out, he pulls out a nearly perfect complete one... typical Abe digging complete spoons
I'm very happy with mine and even dug some spoon handle fragments that don't match my bowl, but I'll pretend like they do for the photos. A short time later I got to see Abe pull another complete shoe buckle which is just awesome. We took a break and scouted for a bit without much success, but when we returned I got a sweet smooth tone I was certain was a copper... I dig the plug and pull out a brass thimble. A bit let down it wasnt a copper, I look in the dirt I just moved and see half of a early pipe bowl laying there... now I'm excited! I hand it to Abe to check out and he tells me its marked... even better! Many more buttons and relics later we were all beat and decided to head out.The group shot of the 3rd day.
The TD marked pipe bowl which might have been made by London pipe maker Thomas Dormer between 1748 and 1770. That date range fits with the other relics we pulled from this site.
My first rattail pewter spoon... or whats left of it. A big deal for me to find and something I can't wait to display.
The thimble that led me to the pipe bowl.
Various pewters and tombacs from the cabin site.
I'm still on the road for business, so this is my setup to unbox and shoot photos to remember this awesome weekend!
Some of you might know just how much I like iron from all my previous posts. I typically wait to post until I can process some of the iron and include it in my photos. In the last couple years I have tumbled and preserved 1000's of nails and have them in boxes at home. I made a few displays for a couple friends before I headed to see Abe. This is the one I made for Abe which includes many rose heads and hand forged nails, as well as various cut nails, finish nails, tacks, flooring nails, horse shoe nails... etc. He was very surprised to see it and its hard to believe that crusty dug nails can clean up and present so well
Thank you again Abe and Steve for a great time with lots of laughs.
Happy Hunting and thanks for reading!
Last edited:
Upvote
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Digging those musket balls with you was a highlight of the weekend for sure. I can only imagine what sort of shooting contests they had out there to pass boredom and keep their sanity. 
