1812 Buttons, Rattail Spoon, Shoe Buckle and more...

[OutdoorAdv]

Steve and myself were invited by our good buddy Abe for a few days of hunting in his neck of the woods. My hunts are usually last minute, so I typically head out alone, however hunting with two great friends is a highlight for me. Between the hiking and laughing, we all managed to find some keepers and by the end of the trip we were all completely exhausted. I really can't thank Abe enough for such a great trip we all had. Steve was on fire nearly the whole time, and his digs were my motivation to dump another pouch of iron and press on. It's so much fun for me to hunt with friends and get to see their finds come out of the dirt.



The first couple days I tested out a strategy I had been thinking about prior to the trip. It involved a lot of hunting with my GPX, which I did well with, pulling a deep US pewter from an area we beat up as well as a bunch of musket balls and various relics. I finally decided to use my Deus to finish a trash pile\pit section I discovered last year and that's where the bulk of my finds came from. I methodically used my 405lb magnet to remove the iron and I was rewarded with 5 more marked 1812 pewters. For 6 in total. (Albert's book images cropped below each button to show what they should look like)



They aren't as photogenic without the lighting just right.



My two favorites are the UNITED STATES 13th Regiment cuff, and the Eagle 3rd Regiment cuff.



My magnet pulled up a really cool blacksmith forged S hook with a nice twist. I am fairly sure this is part of an outdoor open hearth iron cooking set, used to hang pots over a fire for cooking.



Another killer piece of iron is this blacksmith forged wing nut with threads still visible. I can't wait to get the S hook and Wing Nut into my electrolysis tank.



Some nice pipe stems and a drilled shank tombac turned up as well.



A variety of musket balls and buck and ball, mostly fired with maybe one drop - courtesy of the GPX.



Another site produced the smallest shoe buckle I have ever seen...



...and an interesting designed pewter. By far my favorite time on that day was helping Steve retrieve his smokey gray British flints and musket balls from a long lost cartridge pouch in the woods. It was a highlight of the trip for me and I didn't even find it! The Deus did sniff out another musket ball and 4 buck and balls when he was done, but those went into his pile to be displayed as a group... what a find!



I love going to hard hit sites, so Abe took us to a spot he has done very well at and absolutely pounded. He gave us a challenge that we couldnt find "2 keepers" each there, which I thought wouldn't be any problem at all... I was wrong... it was insanely hard hunting! I dug a few bits here and there, pulled some really nice rose heads and then witnessed Steve dig his insane farthing, which had me running to the truck to get my GPX. I then proceeded to dig perk site deep plugs and got a thimble and this rattail spoon and some cufflinks, all out of range of VLF machines. I called Steve and Abe over to show them the spoon and thimble and they were astonished with how deep they were.



Relic hunting in the woods with the GPX is exhausting for those who have been there. It weighs a ton, gets caught on every branch and root, and requires me to move so much dirt and rock... after a while its frustrating and with so much iron and listening to it scream, I would give up on a signal every now and then. These links were one of those signals. After many deep nails I apparently removed this signal from the plug and left them in the dirt, giving up to move on. Abe recovered them for me not too long after and insisted that I take them. A great friend



Finally some of the rose heads that I will tumble. Always enjoy seeing the hammer marks on the nail head (circled on the left). These will look great after a day or two in the tumbler.



I have 30lbs of iron that I will sort through later. Much of it was sucked up by the magnet and hopefully there's some interesting items in the mess. I also took a box of Abe's iron home to process for him with some really interesting items I look forward to preserving and shipping back to him. Another awesome trip with two great friends. Thanks a ton guys.

[Z.K.]

Too much fun...and some serious technical proficiency.

[trapperart]

Wow a great bunch of killer finds and great post congrats on some great hunts

[dirtlooter]

looks like you killed it, you got some awesome finds

[Scrappy]

Wow, excellent recap of the trip highlights. I've always admired (and learned from) your pit digging skills. Watching you methodically take that pit apart at the 1812 site was amazing. And it paid off big in dividends: those buttons are incredible - being able to see and hold each one really brought it home. That 3rd Reg. Eagle button is my favourite. I was happy to see you dig that rare shoe buckle. Ive dug many and have seen many more dug by friends, but that's the smallest for sure. A family who could put shoe buckles on their toddlers most certainly had means. I'd love to comment on all the finds you have up there, but I fear I would ramble on and on. Good times brother, and yeah, my hat is off to Abe as well.

Cheers

[joeyfresh]

You're a machine Brad. Those buttons are insanely rad and hopefully you can some more detail out of the uglier ones. As much as I hate to admit it, that was awfully nice of Abe to give you those links that you wussed out on.

FU Steve!!

[Scrappy]

You're a machine Brad. Those buttons are insanely rad and hopefully you can some more detail out of the uglier ones. As much as I hate to admit it, that was awfully nice of Abe to give you those links that you wussed out on.

FU Steve!!

I will say Joey, in Brads defense, that there's no friggin way Abe would have been anywhere near hearing those links if brad hadn't brought them up. That said, yep, total wuss out thereafter. Lol

[OutdoorAdv]

You're a machine Brad. Those buttons are insanely rad and hopefully you can some more detail out of the uglier ones. As much as I hate to admit it, that was awfully nice of Abe to give you those links that you wussed out on.

FU Steve!!

I will say Joey, in Brads defense, that there's no friggin way Abe would have been anywhere near hearing those links if brad hadn't brought them up. That said, yep, total wuss out thereafter. Lol

HAHAHA. That is well deserved... I did wuss out. Steve could probably tell you how I was snagged up in tree branches grumbling and angry wielding that GPX.

[ironhorse]

I like the age of the sites you guys were hunting on, the great variety of finds from that time is so cool.
what an outdoor adventure it was and is!

[Aureus]

Congratulations! Great finds!

[OutdoorAdv]

Too much fun...and some serious technical proficiency.

Thanks a ton Ken I'm really looking forward to what you find this year man. Abe gave me a heads up that the ticks were really bad and he wasnt joking... they were everywhere. He told me to get Permethrin and I pretreated all my clothes... I am now going to be a lifetime user of that stuff... you probably already use it, but I was amazed. I actually saw ticks falling off my pants as soon as they got on. I'm typically pulling them off, but I didn't have to remove one this time.

Wow a great bunch of killer finds and great post congrats on some great hunts

Thank you Art!

looks like you killed it, you got some awesome finds

Thank you dirtlooter!

Wow, excellent recap of the trip highlights. I've always admired (and learned from) your pit digging skills. Watching you methodically take that pit apart at the 1812 site was amazing. And it paid off big in dividends: those buttons are incredible - being able to see and hold each one really brought it home. That 3rd Reg. Eagle button is my favourite. I was happy to see you dig that rare shoe buckle. Ive dug many and have seen many more dug by friends, but that's the smallest for sure. A family who could put shoe buckles on their toddlers most certainly had means. I'd love to comment on all the finds you have up there, but I fear I would ramble on and on. Good times brother, and yeah, my hat is off to Abe as well.

Cheers

Thanks a ton man. What an awesome time and I really appreciate you driving this time. I wish they could all look like that 3rd rgt. I'm going to mess with the really bad ones a bit more later on, but its always a successful button when you can get a proper ID.

OH... and I totally forgot to post the CRUMPTON backmark on the Albert's 47AV1 pewter. First pewter backmark I've ever seen... so here it is

[4x4x4]

....."then proceeded to dig perk site deep plugs"��
Great post !

[Bill D. (VA)]

I tell ya, you're an amazing pewter button magnet Brad. You've found a whole pile of nice ones over the last year or 2, and killed it on this hunt as well. Those plus a great assortment of other brass and lead items (and, of course, iron) resulted in another amazing hunt. Wish I could have been there ....

[OutdoorAdv]

I like the age of the sites you guys were hunting on, the great variety of finds from that time is so cool.
what an outdoor adventure it was and is!

It really was an outdoor adventure My favorite way to pass the time. I like the old stuff, but tend to dig late 1700's to early 1800's the most often and it really is a great time period for interesting items... it never gets old. Do you or IP have any advice for crusty pewters? They have a concretion on the surface like minerals... as hard as concrete... almost like a pewter version of verdigris I treated them with elmers temporarily, but a couple I am going to work on later and see if I can remove any of that crust. I have a feeling the pewter on a couple of them may be alright under that scale.

Congratulations! Great finds!

Thanks Aureus! I wish those buttons were lost in the soil your 29th button was in.

....."then proceeded to dig perk site deep plugs"��
Great post !

Thanks 4x4x4! haha Those icons came up as ? marks, so hopefully it wasnt an emoji that just doesnt show on my computer... but just in case they are ? marks I can explain my perk site joke. The GPX is a pulse machine and punches very deep and that rattail spoon was between 18 and 20 inches and was a slamming signal. So most signals I dig with it are exhausting and require me to move a lot of dirt. If those weren't ? marks then just ignore my explanation.

[JackalopeZL1]

Nice bunch of finds Brad!! For some reason I really like the s hook��