Bill D. (VA)
Silver Member
"Change of pace" site produces VA and navy coat buttons, half cent, IHs and more
I was able to secure permission this week to search another tract of land within the boundaries of a 1636 land patent I've been researching. I keep hoping to locate original house site, but so far no luck. But today I stumbled across a small area on one side of the field that produced finds that were about 200 years newer than those I was seeking. After digging a few shotgun shells and modern bullets I started seeing a smattering of brick and pottery shards, then hit a little bit of iron. The first target I dug was a mercury dime, and at that point I figured it was a turn-of-the-century site. As I roamed around on a gentle south facing slope my next target was a big surprise - a Virginia coat button (Albert's VA7A4 I believe) with a W.H. Smith & Co. backmark. I still continued to hunt randomly at that point to determine the extent of this potential hotspot. My next target turned out to be a very worn half cent which was also unexpected as I haven't dug one of those in years. I eventually decided I needed to start gridding the area, and slowly made a few more finds. Other recoveries included the front of a huge navy coat button, an eagle A coat, a general service eagle cuff, a fatty 1859 IH,and a few other odds and ends. I thought this might be another small camp as many I've found before were also located on a south facing slope. But it was so small I doubt it was a camp, plus I didn't find any period bullets. Regardless, it was a nice change of pace, and it might be a site I can hit again before the field gets planted. So it looks like my season is still hanging by a thread.
I was able to secure permission this week to search another tract of land within the boundaries of a 1636 land patent I've been researching. I keep hoping to locate original house site, but so far no luck. But today I stumbled across a small area on one side of the field that produced finds that were about 200 years newer than those I was seeking. After digging a few shotgun shells and modern bullets I started seeing a smattering of brick and pottery shards, then hit a little bit of iron. The first target I dug was a mercury dime, and at that point I figured it was a turn-of-the-century site. As I roamed around on a gentle south facing slope my next target was a big surprise - a Virginia coat button (Albert's VA7A4 I believe) with a W.H. Smith & Co. backmark. I still continued to hunt randomly at that point to determine the extent of this potential hotspot. My next target turned out to be a very worn half cent which was also unexpected as I haven't dug one of those in years. I eventually decided I needed to start gridding the area, and slowly made a few more finds. Other recoveries included the front of a huge navy coat button, an eagle A coat, a general service eagle cuff, a fatty 1859 IH,and a few other odds and ends. I thought this might be another small camp as many I've found before were also located on a south facing slope. But it was so small I doubt it was a camp, plus I didn't find any period bullets. Regardless, it was a nice change of pace, and it might be a site I can hit again before the field gets planted. So it looks like my season is still hanging by a thread.
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