OutdoorAdv
Bronze Member
- Apr 16, 2013
- 2,457
- 3,350
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
-
XP Deus,
GPX 4500,
Equinox 800,
AT Max
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
I took a personal day off work yesterday to enjoy detecting on a prefect spring day. It's so much nicer than being out there when its 25 degrees and I have 5 layers on and hand warmers in my gloves.
I've found that the first couple hours is the most productive for me when I'm trying to listen to the faint signals in the trash pit that is void of nonferrous signals. I think that's because I'm not mentally fatigued from all the chatter yet. Well we had some good rain since I was last at this site a couple weeks ago and not but a few feet from where I dug the 2 Excelsior buttons, I got the coil just right to hear a few more signals.
In one plug I found 4 "buttons" and the weird lead thing that looks like a smiley face. The first "button" out of the plug had a shield on it... I immediately thought "no way is this another real cuff link" (I found a pillars and globe link at a different site a couple weeks ago), then a tombac and then another of the same "buttons" with the shield, finally a flat button and the lead thing. A couple feet away was the 3rd Excelsior button from this site all within a small area. I am pretty sure there is more down there. I will be returning to sift this section... based on the number of buttons from this small area in the last couple hunts, I think there is more down there.
Some NICE forged nails turned up with 3 rose heads in the same plug. A cool religious medal also turned up (still researching it). A 3 ringer, some others odds and ends and a big piece of a bell was in the pit in an area I haven't sifted yet.... very deep and found it digging some big iron and using my pin pointer.
These links are the Carlos III type according to Patriotic & Commemorative Buttons They are actually miniature 8 reales and both shanks are intact. A big wish of mine is to find a connected pair of links one day. It makes me wonder how these got detached with the shanks intact. Perhaps they were also used as cuff buttons instead of links? I was very excited to see these turn up and pretty blown away to find a different style, at a different site, since I didn't even know they existed prior to the pillars and column link from a couple weeks ago.
The Excelsior button fell apart before I touched it. Of the three from this spot, the two with more gilt were found detached. After receiving great information from my previous excelsior post, I glued this one back together.
All three of them back together (new one far right). Does anyone know how many would be on a coat? After finding these three in one area it makes me think there might be the rest of them.
Edit: Thanks to Bramblefind, I got an accurate identification on the religious medal. Its Italian devotional medal for St. Domenico. It reads "Roma" for Rome. Here is a link to another one http://metaldetectoritalia.forumfree.it/?t=70614005
I finally had some time to research this medal and it has become my favorite find from the hunt. It appears to be a Catholic medal for good health.
On the front is San (Staint) Domenico. Hes holding a horseshoe in one hand and a tooth in the other. Some background on it is "Domenico was in Cocullo Italy for a short time, and left to the local church one molar tooth and the horseshoe of his female mule, which are still preserved in the church with great devotion. The horseshoe has healing power against animal bites, the tooth on those bitten by poisonous snakes." So respectively, on the side he is holding the tooth, there is a snake at his feet, and on the side he is holding the horseshoe, there is an animal at his feet. http://www.italyheritage.com/magazine/2001_04/0104_l.htm
On the back is "Our Lady of Sorrows" who is the Virgin Mary with 7 daggers sticking in her chest. In the small text under her it says "Roma" (aka: Rome) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Sorrows
Still no idea on age, but based on this site 95% of the finds fall between 1750 and 1860... my best guess on this medal is probably the mid 1800's, although it would be cool if it was earlier!
I typically don't find this many rose heads on a single hunt. Usually its a handful of square nails for one rose head. Yesterday I got 3 really nice rose heads in one hole all in the pit area. I've seen people post them on here and think they are copper because of the lack of corrosion and how the sound off when in the dirt. I can't explain why rose heads seem to come out in better condition than other nails, but they are indeed iron, and I find many that don't have much corrosion. Here are the 6 from yesterday after tumbling for a few hours. The head on one looks spotless and is by far the nicest condition one yet. I dug about 100 square nails yesterday... all being tumbled now (there are one or two more rose heads in the tumbler too)
Any ideas on this one? It was in the hole with the links. It looks like it was cast... perhaps a button? I think the smiley face is just a coincidence
The first target from yesterday turned out to be this rather old button. It has a nice design on it and I was lucky enough to see the broken shank in the dirt embedded in the back of it.
Edit: Almost forgot... the rivet is one of the anchor rivets. I believe this is my 3rd one with an anchor on it in the 6+ years I've been detecting.... they're almost always blank.
Thanks for looking and good luck swinging before the grass grows too tall
I've found that the first couple hours is the most productive for me when I'm trying to listen to the faint signals in the trash pit that is void of nonferrous signals. I think that's because I'm not mentally fatigued from all the chatter yet. Well we had some good rain since I was last at this site a couple weeks ago and not but a few feet from where I dug the 2 Excelsior buttons, I got the coil just right to hear a few more signals.
In one plug I found 4 "buttons" and the weird lead thing that looks like a smiley face. The first "button" out of the plug had a shield on it... I immediately thought "no way is this another real cuff link" (I found a pillars and globe link at a different site a couple weeks ago), then a tombac and then another of the same "buttons" with the shield, finally a flat button and the lead thing. A couple feet away was the 3rd Excelsior button from this site all within a small area. I am pretty sure there is more down there. I will be returning to sift this section... based on the number of buttons from this small area in the last couple hunts, I think there is more down there.
Some NICE forged nails turned up with 3 rose heads in the same plug. A cool religious medal also turned up (still researching it). A 3 ringer, some others odds and ends and a big piece of a bell was in the pit in an area I haven't sifted yet.... very deep and found it digging some big iron and using my pin pointer.
These links are the Carlos III type according to Patriotic & Commemorative Buttons They are actually miniature 8 reales and both shanks are intact. A big wish of mine is to find a connected pair of links one day. It makes me wonder how these got detached with the shanks intact. Perhaps they were also used as cuff buttons instead of links? I was very excited to see these turn up and pretty blown away to find a different style, at a different site, since I didn't even know they existed prior to the pillars and column link from a couple weeks ago.
The Excelsior button fell apart before I touched it. Of the three from this spot, the two with more gilt were found detached. After receiving great information from my previous excelsior post, I glued this one back together.
All three of them back together (new one far right). Does anyone know how many would be on a coat? After finding these three in one area it makes me think there might be the rest of them.
Edit: Thanks to Bramblefind, I got an accurate identification on the religious medal. Its Italian devotional medal for St. Domenico. It reads "Roma" for Rome. Here is a link to another one http://metaldetectoritalia.forumfree.it/?t=70614005
I finally had some time to research this medal and it has become my favorite find from the hunt. It appears to be a Catholic medal for good health.
On the front is San (Staint) Domenico. Hes holding a horseshoe in one hand and a tooth in the other. Some background on it is "Domenico was in Cocullo Italy for a short time, and left to the local church one molar tooth and the horseshoe of his female mule, which are still preserved in the church with great devotion. The horseshoe has healing power against animal bites, the tooth on those bitten by poisonous snakes." So respectively, on the side he is holding the tooth, there is a snake at his feet, and on the side he is holding the horseshoe, there is an animal at his feet. http://www.italyheritage.com/magazine/2001_04/0104_l.htm
On the back is "Our Lady of Sorrows" who is the Virgin Mary with 7 daggers sticking in her chest. In the small text under her it says "Roma" (aka: Rome) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Sorrows
Still no idea on age, but based on this site 95% of the finds fall between 1750 and 1860... my best guess on this medal is probably the mid 1800's, although it would be cool if it was earlier!
I typically don't find this many rose heads on a single hunt. Usually its a handful of square nails for one rose head. Yesterday I got 3 really nice rose heads in one hole all in the pit area. I've seen people post them on here and think they are copper because of the lack of corrosion and how the sound off when in the dirt. I can't explain why rose heads seem to come out in better condition than other nails, but they are indeed iron, and I find many that don't have much corrosion. Here are the 6 from yesterday after tumbling for a few hours. The head on one looks spotless and is by far the nicest condition one yet. I dug about 100 square nails yesterday... all being tumbled now (there are one or two more rose heads in the tumbler too)
Any ideas on this one? It was in the hole with the links. It looks like it was cast... perhaps a button? I think the smiley face is just a coincidence
The first target from yesterday turned out to be this rather old button. It has a nice design on it and I was lucky enough to see the broken shank in the dirt embedded in the back of it.
Edit: Almost forgot... the rivet is one of the anchor rivets. I believe this is my 3rd one with an anchor on it in the 6+ years I've been detecting.... they're almost always blank.
Thanks for looking and good luck swinging before the grass grows too tall
Last edited:
Upvote
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I went back for a couple hours yesterday and removed the sod from a 4'x4' section where the buttons were... didn't find any more, but I did get another civilian button and 1800 LC. I'll widen the search area and hopefully find some more of them.
I didn't even know these things existed until a few weeks ago when that one turned up at a diff site 30 miles from this one.... then these surfaced... crazy how stuff like that happens. A year or two ago Abe found a real Spanish 1 real that someone had turned into a button... now that would be cool to find 1/2 real links made with actual Spanish coins. I was really excited to hit those NY buttons with aluminum jelly based on the amount of gilt that was showing when they were dug.... typically I have great results even when just a bit of gilt is showing. Oddly, they didnt clean up too much and I stopped when I saw there were sections that were down to the brass base metal. They still look awesome even glued back together.
