Colonial Silver Knee Buckle, Capped Dime, Awesome LC, and more...

OutdoorAdv

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Last weekend, I was able to get a full weekend of hunting in and it was great to spend a couple days outdoors finding some history. I had been having skunked water hunts the last month or so, so it was great to finally get my coil over a few keepers. I put in a lot of hours last weekend and was rewarded with a few really nice finds.... my favorite being something I always wanted to find, but never thought I would... a complete colonial SILVER knee buckle. And a close second was a well worn Capped Bust Dime with a date of 182? (something) and a really nice LC.

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This buckle turned up after a day of spending 9 hours hunting with nothing but 1 flat button and a pack full of trash to show for my efforts. It was shaping up to be one of those days that TNet never hears about. And then this happened...

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Finding a silver frame colonial buckle is something I had always wished would happen, so you all will have to excuse the amount of pictures that are about to follow... After the insitu picture above, I spent some time enjoy the find and taking pictures, before a little field cleaning with a bottle of water. :headbang:

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After 250+ years in the ground, the iron anchor chape, tongue and pin had deposited some areas of rust scale on top of the silver. Once home, I was able to remove most of the rust with a toothpick, however a few stubborn spots remain which I am leaving so I don't scratch the silver.

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This is a "supermodel" of relics for me, so I had to do a photo shoot :laughing7:

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I was really hoping there would be a makers mark or a hallmark... or any mark on it, but its blank. According to the Whitehead buckle book, if this is British made, it most likely falls between 1739 and 1790... I suppose it could also be American made as well. Either way, its most likely sometime in the second half of the 18th century.

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Its been a good weekend of swinging when a Capped Bust Dime is your second best find. :laughing7: I don't dig much silver... in the 1000's of plugs I dig every year, I maybe see silver in them a few times. So it was a very rare event for me to dig two pieces of early silver in one weekend. This was a killer signal and when I popped the plug I saw a thin silver disk in the bottom of the hole. Because of how thin it was, I figured it was going to be a piece of Spanish. A field rinse with a water bottle revealed a well worn Capped Bust... which had me smiling for the rest of the day.

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Once home, I gave it a better rinse. There is some light scratching on the reverse from the rocky soil it was in... probably caused when the dirt was moved around when I dug the plug. I can barely make out a 182? date on it... maybe a 4 or a 6. Funny thing, I still haven't dug a seated coin and this is my second capped silver, with the first being a half dollar a couple years ago. :dontknow:

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And finally a beautiful 1833 LC.

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And the three of my best find from the weekend.

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Another interesting relic was this Smith's Bile Beans bottle that I found while digging. Its tiny and from the 1880s or 1890s and used to contain some laxative pills with a cork in the top.

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A nice CW GS coat button turned up as well as the usual variety of flat buttons, tombac buttons and various relics.

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There are a couple keeper iron relics that I don't have time to process just yet. Perhaps I will include them in a future post once everything is preserved.

Thanks for reading and happy hunting everyone.
 

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Steve in PA

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Obviously you have been holding out on us Brad! That's some killer stuff for this time of year or any time of year! So many sites are inaccessible this time of year, but you have some great finds there. The silver knee buckle is a great find - I have only ever found a fragment of one. The LC is in great condition and of course Capped Bust silver doesn't come along very often.
 

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OutdoorAdv

OutdoorAdv

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Obviously you have been holding out on us Brad! That's some killer stuff for this time of year or any time of year! So many sites are inaccessible this time of year, but you have some great finds there. The silver knee buckle is a great find - I have only ever found a fragment of one. The LC is in great condition and of course Capped Bust silver doesn't come along very often.

Thanks man! My secret is Permatharin treatment on my clothes which makes me a walking tick killer, getting loads of mosquito bites with little regard for getting the zika virus, and being mildly insane... which is the most important part :laughing7:
 

joeyfresh

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The capped bust and buttons are nice but the silver buckle is the winner by far. Would apple cider vinegar affect the silver? You could give it a soak in that..or just leave it alone, haha. It would be awesome if it were American made because there were some famous silversmiths from that era whose items are super valuable.
Sorry to hear about your failed water hunts but I'm sure you'll find a good spot soon.
 

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OutdoorAdv

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The capped bust and buttons are nice but the silver buckle is the winner by far. Would apple cider vinegar affect the silver? You could give it a soak in that..or just leave it alone, haha. It would be awesome if it were American made because there were some famous silversmiths from that era whose items are super valuable.
Sorry to hear about your failed water hunts but I'm sure you'll find a good spot soon.

Thanks man... I was really hoping there was a makers mark on it. I was able to get the dirt out from under the Anchor Chape that's covering part of the frame and that's blank too. I don't think its marked unless its really small or worn off. I don't think I am going to chance any sort of preservation method on the iron guts. I was actually contemplating removing the guts so the silver frame displays better, but there is enough there to see the anchor chape and tongue, so I'm leaving it. Even though its not as pretty to display, those guts are part of the relic to me and if they fall out by themselves down the road then that's fine.
 

Ahab8

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If your goal was making killer finds that I only find on my bucket list you my friend are killing it! Silver buckle is incredibly high on my list. And of course capped silver is as well. Really happy for you pal!!!!
 

CRUSADER

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I agree with your date range & ID. The books assumptions are true for most cases (so not hard & fast) but there are still plenty that fall out-side of the Laws of the time. It was often down to the honesty of the Maker.
Lots of other goodies there.

PS. I think I only have one complete 17th C silver Buckle, most my others are plated or broken.
 

DownNDirty

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Well Brad, it looks like you toughed out the heat to hit three more home runs-well done friend! I agree that the silver knee buckle is hands down the star, and any time you dig a capped bust is a special moment. Oh, and let's don't forget that near-pristine large cent-it's a killer! I'm still waiting on my first large cent, must be some bad mojo or something.

Also I really like the in situ pic of the buckle. :occasion14:
 

Scrappy

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That buckle is incredible and at the top end of my list. Great condition largie, and the Capped is beautiful. Nice outing buddy, I know you worked hard for it and I'm stoked you nailed it!
 

The Rebel

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Nicely done! Love your finds!
 

Z.K.

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Look at that buckle! :occasion14: Love the pic of the trio, absolutely great finds. Exceptional restoration on the LC; that's a bit of a Lazarus job there...the flaking on the obverse would have made me too cautious to mess with it.

Great to see another full-blown hunt from you with well deserved, high level results. Couldn't be happier for you. :thumbsup:

Oh, and please do post the iron when its done. Pity about the new rule on edit time limits, but that shouldn't stop you from bumping the thread with a new pic-laden post when you have one. Your iron work is too good to keep quiet.
 

Gridwalker306

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Glad to see you had an excellent dig session and found your silver buckle, it's spectacular! The bust and LC are really sweet, as are the rest of your finds. Big congrats
 

Carolina Tom

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Very well done Brad. That silver buckle is really something special. Congrats sir.
 

trapperart

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I for one think that the buckle should go up top, far more GW buttons and gold coins found then a 1600s silver buckle. Here's my vote
 

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OutdoorAdv

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Look at that buckle! :occasion14: Love the pic of the trio, absolutely great finds. Exceptional restoration on the LC; that's a bit of a Lazarus job there...the flaking on the obverse would have made me too cautious to mess with it.

Great to see another full-blown hunt from you with well deserved, high level results. Couldn't be happier for you. :thumbsup:

Oh, and please do post the iron when its done. Pity about the new rule on edit time limits, but that shouldn't stop you from bumping the thread with a new pic-laden post when you have one. Your iron work is too good to keep quiet.

Thanks a ton Ken! I really appreciate it man. :occasion14: That LC was much fatter than usual and I could tell the crud was on the surface... if it was thin and the back looked like that, I wouldn't have touched it. I let it dry out and then rubbed\picked it with a toothpick and a dry toothbrush.

I certainly will post the iron, but it'll probably be a week or so. I feel bad bumping a thread of mine that's that old, so if this one is dead by then, I may just include it in my next post.
 

Javadroid

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Lots of great comments already, but my congrats to you as well -- great finds! :occasion14:
 

cjon455

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Wow that knee buckle is beautiful! A post with a silver knee buckle, capped bust, and amazing large cent! How do I pick my favorite? I'm going to have to go with the knee buckle, that thing is fantastic congrats
 

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