paleomaxx
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- Aug 14, 2016
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Due to the never-ending snowstorms (next one expected tomorrow) all of the sites I want to hunt this spring are under 24" of snow and I expected not to be able to hunt at all this past weekend. Instead I visited people in central New York about 3 hours west of me and shockingly they had barely any snow on the ground. Luckily for me they're interested in history too and after looking through the local Beers maps I found four potential cellar holes in some nearby public land. I was sure they had been pounded since they were close to paths and easily located, but my friends were interested to see what I would find so we went to one for about an hour.
Sure enough it had definitely been hunted, but this was one of those rare times where all of the underbrush was flat and in late spring/early summer most of the site would be impossible to swing around. I focused around bushes and in bramble thickets that would usually be impossible to swing through. After digging a staggering number of shotgun shells and rifle cartridges I finally got a high tone and was hoping was at least a barber quarter.
I never expected this to be in the hole!
It's slightly bent, but it doesn't look like my shovel did it so thank the stars for that. I gently rinsed the heavier mud and wet wrapped it for later preservation. After some very careful q-tip work the detail, and a little of the silver wash, came out and it's simply spectacular
The "excelsior" on the banner above the eagle narrowed my search and I was able to find a match in the Ridgeway reference library. Apparently it's an 1840's to early 1850's sword belt buckle used by New York Militia officers. I found very few photos of other examples on google so it doesn't look like they turn up often and I'm very grateful to have found one!
Other than that the site was pretty standard. One coin, a 1909 V nickle in fair shape:
A few decorative pieces included a brass brooch with a single paste stone left:
Besides that, there were just a few other assorted home site bits including a monster axe head.
This really is my favorite season to hunt. With all the sites that are normally locked up by brush open and clear there's no limit to what can pop out of the ground. I wish we didn't have another snow storm coming for this area, but as soon as it melts I'll be back in the woods!
Sure enough it had definitely been hunted, but this was one of those rare times where all of the underbrush was flat and in late spring/early summer most of the site would be impossible to swing around. I focused around bushes and in bramble thickets that would usually be impossible to swing through. After digging a staggering number of shotgun shells and rifle cartridges I finally got a high tone and was hoping was at least a barber quarter.
I never expected this to be in the hole!
It's slightly bent, but it doesn't look like my shovel did it so thank the stars for that. I gently rinsed the heavier mud and wet wrapped it for later preservation. After some very careful q-tip work the detail, and a little of the silver wash, came out and it's simply spectacular
The "excelsior" on the banner above the eagle narrowed my search and I was able to find a match in the Ridgeway reference library. Apparently it's an 1840's to early 1850's sword belt buckle used by New York Militia officers. I found very few photos of other examples on google so it doesn't look like they turn up often and I'm very grateful to have found one!
Other than that the site was pretty standard. One coin, a 1909 V nickle in fair shape:
A few decorative pieces included a brass brooch with a single paste stone left:
Besides that, there were just a few other assorted home site bits including a monster axe head.
This really is my favorite season to hunt. With all the sites that are normally locked up by brush open and clear there's no limit to what can pop out of the ground. I wish we didn't have another snow storm coming for this area, but as soon as it melts I'll be back in the woods!
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