Hello All,
I'm absolutely shocked. Evidently I've just dug a 250 year old, 1700's military sword of the type carried by the U.S. Continental infantry troops during the Rev War. There aren't too many things I could dig and be completely shocked. Well this is it. Here's the video:
Went out with Shangalang and my wife, Diggergirl. We hit the cane fields after speaking to the owner of the property and seeing how they were doing and how their Thanksgiving was going. Pretty soon Shang hit a shield nickel, then I got a V. Then Diggergirl came smiling with a broken brass hammer used for working around natural gas and oil (won't spark). But it was a psych out, as she then opened her hand to reveal our 100th Seated coin dug since we started digging in 2012: a taco bent 1851-O Half Dime:
After that I eyeballed a nice Shield nickel on top of the ground:
Then surprisingly I eyeballed another--also right on top!
The craziest part is that BOTH of these coins had dates--1869 and 1871! (Although I knew that the second one would be a nice one when I wiped it off in the field)
We eyeballed a ton of porcelain buttons. Common to find a few. Uncommon to find a handful:
Then Shang left after lunch to prepare to roast a whole pig and DG and I kept digging! Soon DG came running up with a find I've never seen made before in person--what I strongly suspected to be a PEPPERBOX PISTOL! Doing some quick googling confirmed it! I'm almost positive that this is an Allen & Thurber six shot pepperbox pistol from c.1837!
After light cleaning, I was pleased to be able to open up almost all of the percussion cap nipples with a safety pin, and all but one barrel cleaned out well (the last barrel may actually still be loaded).
Then Digger Girl got a lead toy cannon (early 20th c) and this strange tiny brass arrow that looks like it was braised onto something:
I walked up on a nice find, a Civil War Enfield tompion, where it had washed out of the ground:
Then I got a nice, 12 inch deep 86 reading. Too low for a silver half. Too high for a silver quarter on my F75. I was thinking that it had to be a piece of brass pipe (we've found some plumbing stuff in this site, as it's a mixed site with old and new, including a lot of aluminum can!). Over a foot down in the top of a row rolled out what I thought was exactly that--a brass piece of pipe. But I picked it up and it was HEAVY. Then I saw the shape and started screaming "SWORD!!! SWORD!!!!"
I just couldn't believe it. It was an entirely intact pommel except for the knucklebow and cross. But then I started searching online and wrote to the international sword forum for an ID and what came back shocked me even more! It's a model 1767 French Marine Grenadier Sabre! I'm just STUNNED to see this 250 year old military relic. SHOCKED! So it's either Colonial French or Rev War in provenance. Take your pick; in South Louisiana it's a toss up!
EDIT: Closer investigation reveals that it may be more like this style of the M1767, with the scalloped top. Note the ever-so-slightly different shape where the knuckle bow meets the grip:
I'm just shocked. Humbled by history.
Wishing all of you the best,
Buckles
I'm absolutely shocked. Evidently I've just dug a 250 year old, 1700's military sword of the type carried by the U.S. Continental infantry troops during the Rev War. There aren't too many things I could dig and be completely shocked. Well this is it. Here's the video:
Went out with Shangalang and my wife, Diggergirl. We hit the cane fields after speaking to the owner of the property and seeing how they were doing and how their Thanksgiving was going. Pretty soon Shang hit a shield nickel, then I got a V. Then Diggergirl came smiling with a broken brass hammer used for working around natural gas and oil (won't spark). But it was a psych out, as she then opened her hand to reveal our 100th Seated coin dug since we started digging in 2012: a taco bent 1851-O Half Dime:
After that I eyeballed a nice Shield nickel on top of the ground:
Then surprisingly I eyeballed another--also right on top!
The craziest part is that BOTH of these coins had dates--1869 and 1871! (Although I knew that the second one would be a nice one when I wiped it off in the field)
We eyeballed a ton of porcelain buttons. Common to find a few. Uncommon to find a handful:
Then Shang left after lunch to prepare to roast a whole pig and DG and I kept digging! Soon DG came running up with a find I've never seen made before in person--what I strongly suspected to be a PEPPERBOX PISTOL! Doing some quick googling confirmed it! I'm almost positive that this is an Allen & Thurber six shot pepperbox pistol from c.1837!
After light cleaning, I was pleased to be able to open up almost all of the percussion cap nipples with a safety pin, and all but one barrel cleaned out well (the last barrel may actually still be loaded).
Then Digger Girl got a lead toy cannon (early 20th c) and this strange tiny brass arrow that looks like it was braised onto something:
I walked up on a nice find, a Civil War Enfield tompion, where it had washed out of the ground:
Then I got a nice, 12 inch deep 86 reading. Too low for a silver half. Too high for a silver quarter on my F75. I was thinking that it had to be a piece of brass pipe (we've found some plumbing stuff in this site, as it's a mixed site with old and new, including a lot of aluminum can!). Over a foot down in the top of a row rolled out what I thought was exactly that--a brass piece of pipe. But I picked it up and it was HEAVY. Then I saw the shape and started screaming "SWORD!!! SWORD!!!!"
I just couldn't believe it. It was an entirely intact pommel except for the knucklebow and cross. But then I started searching online and wrote to the international sword forum for an ID and what came back shocked me even more! It's a model 1767 French Marine Grenadier Sabre! I'm just STUNNED to see this 250 year old military relic. SHOCKED! So it's either Colonial French or Rev War in provenance. Take your pick; in South Louisiana it's a toss up!
EDIT: Closer investigation reveals that it may be more like this style of the M1767, with the scalloped top. Note the ever-so-slightly different shape where the knuckle bow meets the grip:
I'm just shocked. Humbled by history.
Wishing all of you the best,
Buckles
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