Hello All,
We finally managed to get out in 2018 for the first time! We had some slippery roads here and frozen bridges (no salt trucks down here mean that digging is shut down when that happens!). Well we had a great hunt! Here's the video:
We dug a few sparse flat buttons here and there. Unfortunately the field was loaded with little lead bullets from someone target practicing, which I happened to recall from digging there a while back. We dug all of the pesky bullets, though (one turned out to be a small caliber CW era pistol bullet). I got a nice solid 58 signal which was lower than the pack rivets and I announced "half dime" before I dug. Well, I happened to be right! Turned an old sugar cane stalk over and saw my first silver of 2018 which I totally thought was a Seated but it turned out to be a Capped Bust half dime!
Walked up on a nickel sticking out of the mud. 188? V nickel. Also dug a Beefalo.
Then a few more buttons followed, and a complete heel plate. Several years ago I'd dug in that field a piece of what I thought was a 1700s spoon (it bore a hallmark from Paris, 1790s). Turns out it was a 1700s FORK! Probably a three-tined fork, I'm looking forward to finding more of it in the future!
I eyeballed some nice mochaware with dendritic patterns, and of course the ever-present blue "feather edge" and black glass bottles pieces. Then I found a nice little piece with some writing on it. Believe it or not, it's the only piece that I could've found of the whole platter which could've identified what it was.
The owners of this plate likely did not know the history of Richard Jordan, re: slaveholding. But it is a fascinating find.
Then I dug a beaten-up two-piece button, almost knocked to pieces by a plow. My buddy thought it was an iron signal (sucker was over a foot deep, and a real whisper, but read deep so I dug). I didn't think much of it at the time, and didn't film the recovery or take photos (too bad!). Turns out, it is the first Civil War PELICAN button of 2018! (I'm saying that, hoping that there will be more dug this year LOL. 2017 was a dry year for those for the team.). The backmark is very faint, and with the lined background and symmetrical pelican I'm thinking it is likely a C. Bellenot New Orleans. I'll send this one to be restored if a restorer can do anything with it (it is VERY fragile!).
Around this time my buddy yells "Copper!" and I come running. He said it was quarter sized, so I was thinking halfpenny or half cent. Well I was way wrong. Turns out the thing is an 1881 Canadian Large Cent minted at the Heaton mint in Birmingham England. So not only did it make its way to Canada across the pond from England, but then it somehow made its way to Louisiana. Interesting--and I can't help but wonder if there is an Acadian connection there, with relatives/kin living in Canada and visiting. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking though...
At any rate, later on I got a deep but singing signal hiding in a mess of iron and dug one massive scoop of dirt out and the signal improved tremendously. Reading in the upper 70s I started to get excited. I dug down around around 16 inches and the target was in the loose dirt and screaming at me. I dropped to my knees and could see a large silver in the dirt!
I could tell by how flat and BIG it was that it was a TWO REALES! It's been several years since I dug a 2 Reales, so I was totally stoked to dig this one!
Took a bit of cleaning to get some of the stubborn black off of it, and I'm not quite done with it but I'll let it rest for a while until I consider what route--if any--to continue on. Could probably use another round or two of the aluminum foil method, and not much to lose with a spanish silver that's already seen better days.
What a great start to the year! Two weeks in, and I've hit Capped, Big Colonial Silver, and a Confederate button. Let's hope this doesn't jinx me for the next 11 1/2 months.
Best Wishes,
Buck
We finally managed to get out in 2018 for the first time! We had some slippery roads here and frozen bridges (no salt trucks down here mean that digging is shut down when that happens!). Well we had a great hunt! Here's the video:
We dug a few sparse flat buttons here and there. Unfortunately the field was loaded with little lead bullets from someone target practicing, which I happened to recall from digging there a while back. We dug all of the pesky bullets, though (one turned out to be a small caliber CW era pistol bullet). I got a nice solid 58 signal which was lower than the pack rivets and I announced "half dime" before I dug. Well, I happened to be right! Turned an old sugar cane stalk over and saw my first silver of 2018 which I totally thought was a Seated but it turned out to be a Capped Bust half dime!
Walked up on a nickel sticking out of the mud. 188? V nickel. Also dug a Beefalo.
Then a few more buttons followed, and a complete heel plate. Several years ago I'd dug in that field a piece of what I thought was a 1700s spoon (it bore a hallmark from Paris, 1790s). Turns out it was a 1700s FORK! Probably a three-tined fork, I'm looking forward to finding more of it in the future!
I eyeballed some nice mochaware with dendritic patterns, and of course the ever-present blue "feather edge" and black glass bottles pieces. Then I found a nice little piece with some writing on it. Believe it or not, it's the only piece that I could've found of the whole platter which could've identified what it was.
| Maker: Heath Pattern:Residence of Richard Jordan New Jersey lilac Dinner Plate c1835 Joseph Heath & Co of Newfield Pottery, Tunstall, active 1828 to 1841, produced this intriguing design, of which the full title as spelt out on the backstamp is The Residence of the Late Richard Jordan, New Jersey. Jordan was born in 1756 and died in 1826. He became a Quaker preacher and was one of the first to speak out against the holding of slaves. During the last year of his life Jordan was sketched by his friend William Mason, a drawing teacher from Philadelphia, standing outside his farmhouse at Camden, New Jersey and this drawing became the inspiration for this unique china pattern. Quite how the sketch metamorphosed into a design on china is not known, but certainly it became a popular design and all manner of wares are found in several different colours, although red appears most common, whilst lilac as here is one of the rarest. |
The owners of this plate likely did not know the history of Richard Jordan, re: slaveholding. But it is a fascinating find.
Then I dug a beaten-up two-piece button, almost knocked to pieces by a plow. My buddy thought it was an iron signal (sucker was over a foot deep, and a real whisper, but read deep so I dug). I didn't think much of it at the time, and didn't film the recovery or take photos (too bad!). Turns out, it is the first Civil War PELICAN button of 2018! (I'm saying that, hoping that there will be more dug this year LOL. 2017 was a dry year for those for the team.). The backmark is very faint, and with the lined background and symmetrical pelican I'm thinking it is likely a C. Bellenot New Orleans. I'll send this one to be restored if a restorer can do anything with it (it is VERY fragile!).
Around this time my buddy yells "Copper!" and I come running. He said it was quarter sized, so I was thinking halfpenny or half cent. Well I was way wrong. Turns out the thing is an 1881 Canadian Large Cent minted at the Heaton mint in Birmingham England. So not only did it make its way to Canada across the pond from England, but then it somehow made its way to Louisiana. Interesting--and I can't help but wonder if there is an Acadian connection there, with relatives/kin living in Canada and visiting. Perhaps that's just wishful thinking though...
At any rate, later on I got a deep but singing signal hiding in a mess of iron and dug one massive scoop of dirt out and the signal improved tremendously. Reading in the upper 70s I started to get excited. I dug down around around 16 inches and the target was in the loose dirt and screaming at me. I dropped to my knees and could see a large silver in the dirt!
I could tell by how flat and BIG it was that it was a TWO REALES! It's been several years since I dug a 2 Reales, so I was totally stoked to dig this one!
Took a bit of cleaning to get some of the stubborn black off of it, and I'm not quite done with it but I'll let it rest for a while until I consider what route--if any--to continue on. Could probably use another round or two of the aluminum foil method, and not much to lose with a spanish silver that's already seen better days.
What a great start to the year! Two weeks in, and I've hit Capped, Big Colonial Silver, and a Confederate button. Let's hope this doesn't jinx me for the next 11 1/2 months.
Best Wishes,
Buck
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Congrats on the big Spanish silver. 
It's ridiculous how few are dug in Plantation Country.
