17th Century Pit yields 1600s Jetons and Charles ii Farthing,Marked Pipes and Whizzer

[Ahab8]

I finally found a little time for treasure hunting. Decided to go for the old stuff this time. I whipped up a small sifter and decided to go to the site I found the Latten spoons at. I was hoping to sift the more concentrated areas to see what turned up. I used the GPX to see if I could find some deeper targets that I could sift. Second target was pretty deep and I was blessed to find some ash in the hole. With hopes that it may be a trash pit I started to dig down and see if I could isolate the perimeter of the ash layer. I found a deep musket ball and a nice marked pipe stem. Suddenly the stems started coming fast and furious. I was psyched to say the least. These 1600s finds are tough here in the US. Occasionally I would pull out my pinpointer to scan for metallic objects. At one point I found 4 round metallic objects and hoped that one may be a coin. One of the objects had 2 holes in it and looked to be a button. This hunt was the most fun I've ever had treasure hunting. I could become very addicted to pit and privy digging. It was an incredible day and produced some incredible early finds. I'm hoping to get a little assistance on the coin and jetons. The pipe stems are massive and date around 1670-1680 (Llewelyn Evans) British pipe maker. Among the finds were what I believe is a small jeton, a larger jeton that was turned into a button which I consider a killer personal find. The coin I believe is a Charles ii farthing which would date from 1672-1680 I believe. There was also a nice lead whizzed toy in the pit and a strange mystery item that I can't even tell you the composition of. More than 20 pipe pieces were in the pit. So much fun pulling them out of there. I consider any 17th Century finds in the states to be very special. These will go in the 1600s display.













The mystery piece



This pic shows how massive these early stems are. I put them next to one that came from an 1812 pit.

 

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[Ahab8]

Wow ! Outrageous finds man !! You have access to some killer sites for sure .

Thanks Arg. Just wish I had more time to spend at some of these sites

 

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[Ahab8]

Oh crap I was going to do a post up but you really stole the show Abe! Killer sift and hunt makes one wonder what we actually walk over without knowing the depths and finds that are lurking beneath.

I think we would be pretty shocked. All of these old sites likely have a privvy and trash pit or 2 that we walk right over. I promise you some are packed with incredible early treasures

 

[Ahab8]

Yes, the Carolvs II is a jeton;not a farthing
https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/243793
Don.......

Thanks Don. This is the farthing.

I think the 2 others are jetons as you said. And prob both gaming counters

 

[Mackaydon]

More on the jeton: Gaming counter - Charles II jetton by Laza. Gottl. Lavff. "Rech Pfe" - 18.4mm | eBay
Don....
PS: Jetton or gaming counter made by Lazarus Gottlieb Lauffer: c1663, died 1709.

 

[Mackaydon]

Ahad8;
Point clarified; thank you.
Don.....

 

[Ahab8]

Ahad8;
Point clarified; thank you.
Don.....

Don the research and identifications are much appreciated

 

[Steve in PA]

Great recoveries Abe, looks like a lot of fun. Hopefully there is still a lot to be dug at that site

 

[Kurios1]

Wow! Crazy amount of goodies concentrated in that burn pit. Hope you can thoroughly search out some more treasures there. Well done with the sifting process.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks Cru. I was hoping you'd chime in. Getting a bit out of my wheelhouse with these dated finds. Wish I could locate more of them. I read that they made game tokens that were basically jeton copies. Any chance that's what I found?

They were made to be used as counting tokens. But I guess anyone could get a load & use them as 'chips'. Its the much later spade guineas that were the most popular gaming token.

 

[nsdq]

Sweet finds

 

[Gridwalker306]

Man I'd love to get another tree coin in my collection.

Well I think you're in the right location to achieve this! These finds are smashingly good, and I can't wait to see what comes out next.

 

[bonepicker]

Nice bunch of finds Ahab. This is the sort of stuff that I enjoy seeing on tnet. Too bad there is not more of the old stuff posted here.
That privy is holding a good amount of nice finds, good luck digging the rest of it out. Makes you wonder why they were throwing coins in it.
I think I read that jetons were also used as markers to mark certain places on maps, but I could be wrong.
I have dug one lead whizzer that at first I thought was a button. I always hear the word whizzer, but still unsure how they worked. anyone care to elaborate on this.
I think you tie a string to it and make it whiz . I want to hear mine whiz.. lol.
Congrats.

 

[Scrappy]

Sounds like a lot of clearing is in your future Mister Ahab. 9/10 trash pits and scatter was right next to the dwelling. I'm super excited you're back on the "old" of that site, and can't wait to see what else you find.

 

[Relicific]

Wild to see so many 1600 relics.
Keep em coming

 

[gwdigger]

Remarkable old finds Abe. Talk about exciting hunting. I can't imagine a better place for finding a major early colonial surprise. I dont have any of those old Jetons. That clear Chas II is quite a find.

 

[sutphin]

DANG AHAB YOU DONE FINALLY FOUND THE RELICS FROM THE SHIP THAT THE WHITE WHALE TOOK TO ITS GRAVE. SEE THEY WASHED ASHORE , NICE FINDS..

 

[villagenut]

great digging, glad to see you out hitting it. The mystery piece looks a lot like fish vertebrae I find in my sifter at trash pits.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Looks like you had your lucky "spoon" up your butt that day man! Who goes out and finds a 17th century pit on the 2nd target?? And loaded with all kinds of goodies? I can tell you from experience that finding coins and tokens in an early pit is extremely unusual, but you certainly defied the odds. I love those huge, marked stems, and those maker's marks helped to precisely date the site. Wish I could have been there to see that big grin on your face as you were pulling out find after find. And I really appreciated the live update as you were in the midst of recovering those items. There should be more pits at that site, and it might take some painstaking grid probing to find them. Or you might get lucky and find another one on your first target next time. Great hunt and post, and good luck Abe ....

 

[Silvermonkey]

FANTASTIC DIGS AHAB! Congratulations on some wonderful items.

 

[Aureus]

Awesome finds Abe.I can imagine the excitement of finding those pipe pieces as they usually indicate that some interesting relics aren't far. Great to see you posting old stuff again. Keep them coming!