New site yields (6) 18th Century Coppers over Thanksgiving plus relics

[Steve in PA]

I have been hunting around the site of a mid 19[SUP]th[/SUP] to mid 20[SUP]th[/SUP] century house site and not really finding too much worthwhile besides a merc and a barber dime and few wheats and Indian Heads. Now with all the crops surrounding the site harvested, I decided to explore the surrounding fields and see if I could locate an earlier site. I was working along a spring gutter when I got a decent signal and saw roundness.

Turned out to be a KG III. That was followed by a large caliber musketball, a button, shoe buckle fragment, and two more coppers. One of the coppers was a toasted Virginia halfpenny, and the other one I’m not sure about. I had to cut the hunt short due to rain and Thanksgiving dinner at my parents. The spot was a little weird because there was no pottery or iron, although there were plenty of hot rocks. I felt like I was not on the main concentration. Here are the better finds from Thanksgiving.

The next day I went back looking for the main house site. I continued to follow the spring gutter. About 100 yards from where I was the previous day, I dug a piece of pewter spoon bowl, then a shield shaped leather strap tippet. Next signal was a solid and shallow 96 on the Deus. A couple inches down was more roundness.

Turned out to be a Liberty Cap Large Cent with lettered edge “one hundred for a dollar”, my first one of these. I concentrated on this area, one row of corn stubble at a time. I ended up with two more coppers, one being a decent KG III, and the other a well worn Connecticut. Here is the take from day two.

Here are the coins from both days.

Here are both day’s finds together.


Unfortunately deer hunting season started and I will have to stay away for a while. I'm really looking forward to hitting this place after the spring plowing when I won't have to deal with the corn stubble. Thanks for looking and good luck if you get out

 

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[Steve in PA]

Nothing beats an old copper hunt like that.

Thanks. It's been a while since I found this many coppers.

I was going to say Epic until I scrolled down and everyone else was using it...
Well done!

LOL. I think the word EPIC is over used on this forum. That and Bucketlister But that's just me

Great saves, Steve. Love those coppers.

Thanks, I wish they were in better shape overall, but I'll take what I can get.

Great hunt, and congrats on finding the older site. It's always a great feeling there's an older one lurking around another-and more special when it produces like your's did.
Swinging in the corn stubble isn't the greatest hunting conditions most times.
Best of luck on the spring return to the site-hopefully it'll produce something old and shiny.

So far I have located two "hotspots" along this spring gutter, but neither is typical of an early house site. No heavy iron patch or broken ceramics to speak of, although there was more of that at the day two spot. I still have more ground to survey....

 

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[Steve in PA]

Outstanding digs Steve....
you know there’s more waiting for you!

Thanks Dave. I know there is more waiting!

Finding the site is the best of the finds...congrats....hopefully there will be many more great days ahead !!

Yes, It is a thrill to find a site where there is no evidence other than what is in the ground. It's too early to be on any of the mid 1800s atlases, and since it's a plowed field, you know there are some deeper targets hiding. Hopefully some Spanish will show up.

Really great selection of early coppers and other artifacts. Do you think this might have been part of a trail or campsite since there wasn't the usual iron like you might find at a building site?
What exactly is a "spring gutter"?
(Sorry but we don't really have a spring season in Florida, so I have no reference. Summer heat and humidity and then a week or so of less! )

I'm still trying to figure out what this place was. I have more ground to cover, so maybe there is a concentration more typical of an early house site nearby. BTW, a spring gutter is where a water spring has eroded a channel or valley in the ground.

great finds Steve - looks like an awesome site, hopefully more there when you get back!

vp

Thank vpone! I know there is more to be found, how much remains to be seen.

 

[johnnyblaze]

Wow Steverino that is a sweet site looks like it has a story to tell keep us posted on the next round of finds!
~Blaze~

 

[Steve in PA]

Wow Steverino that is a sweet site looks like it has a story to tell keep us posted on the next round of finds!
~Blaze~

Thanks buddy. I'm sure there is more to come, how much is the question.

 

[Calabash Digger]

Very Nice!

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

great finds and a site that will keep producing, the KG in the middle could be a known american contempory counterfeit, will look it up in my books,

 

[The Rebel]

WTG on the great finds. I always feel that for sites like that you have to find the debris field that will guide you to the site your looking for.

 

[Steve in PA]

Very Nice!

Thanks!

WTG on the great finds. I always feel that for sites like that you have to find the debris field that will guide you to the site your looking for.

So many of the earliest sites around here were gone by 1820 so they aren't on any of the mid 19th century atlases, they don't have cellar holes, and the only way to find them is through intuition and leg work. If you see broken redware pottery in a plowed field that's a good sign!

great finds and a site that will keep producing, the KG in the middle could be a known american contempory counterfeit, will look it up in my books,

Thanks. It may be a Machins Mills. The date is mostly off the edge of the coin but looks like 177X. Not sure about the last digit, might be 0, 2, or 6.

 

[Silvermonkey]

That's a pretty wonderful site Steve. Six large coppers is impressive. I agree with others...the Liberty Cap is awesome. PS- That musket ball is HUGE!
Congrats!

 

[johnnyblaze]

Thanks buddy. I'm sure there is more to come, how much is the question.

I would say from my experience you have quite a bit more to find..Maybe not cherry picking but spotty areas maybe another hot spot or after a good rain to livin up the targets!! You really gotta work for finds these days and only the passionate will survive!!



~Blaze~

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Great hunt for finding all those coppers. Still a bit of a heartbreak to find all these early coppers so often reduced by exposures to the elements. I pulled up a Liberty Cap half cent last year, but it was toasted.

 

[Steve in PA]

That's a pretty wonderful site Steve. Six large coppers is impressive. I agree with others...the Liberty Cap is awesome. PS- That musket ball is HUGE!
Congrats!

Thanks SM. It's been a few years since I dug 6 large coppers in two days.

I would say from my experience you have quite a bit more to find..Maybe not cherry picking but spotty areas maybe another hot spot or after a good rain to livin up the targets!! You really gotta work for finds these days and only the passionate will survive!!
~Blaze~

Thanks Blaze. I made a return trip on the 13th and it was a bit of a letdown. Look for my post.
​

Great hunt for finding all those coppers. Still a bit of a heartbreak to find all these early coppers so often reduced by exposures to the elements. I pulled up a Liberty Cap half cent last year, but it was toasted.

Thanks. Always a thrill to see a large copper in the hole, and usually a letdown once you get the dirt off.

 

[vpone]

awesome finds Steve, congrats on a couple of great hunts!

vp