Connecticut copper, 17th-18th century Fur Trade ring, lead token.

[Aureus]

Wanted to share some of the most interesting finds from 2 recent hunts.

Firstly, a beautiful copper Native Fur Trade ring. Dug it recently, but as part of the deal with the land owner temporarily left it to him as he wanted to show it to his friends. Glad it came back to me undamaged as it's extremely fragile. I took some picks in the state I dug it, before starting the long cleaning process. After confirming with an expert, it dates from late 1600's to early 1700's

Ring before the cleaning, as it looked like coming out of the ground.



And after cleaning.



I took a pic of it next to a similar but a bit later silver type I have found a few weeks ago.



An other interesting find, this one from the week end hunt. My very first Connecticut copper 1786 ''Hercules Head'' type. Unfortunately cannot I.D. it any further as the other side is completely flat. Thanks to Iron Patch for the help with I.D.




Again, from this week end a mystery item. Looks like a large lead bale seal or some type of token. Never seen anything similar.




Also got a few musket balls, flat buttons and clay pipes. Not many keepers but I really enjoyed the hunt.


Thanks for the comments.

 

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[Aureus]

I like crusaders idea !! Beautiful finds congrats.

Thank you.

 

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[Aureus]

Those 2 rings are bad to the bone. Thanks for posting.

Thank you.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks. It could very well be. I never seen anything similar.

I have seen lots of similar Lead Trade Weights. But if it were official it would be counter-marked.
http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/ukdfddata/showrecords.php?product=25199&title=lead-weight&cat=188

Most of them stopped in the 17th C, but not all of them.

 

[HCW]

The newer ring of the two is a claddagh ring (Irish).
The older one looks like an earlier primitive one. An Irish fur trader? Maybe.
I may have missed a post or something here, but nobody else has suggested this possibility.
Tell me if I missed something please.

 

[Aureus]

Great recoveries as usual. How did you clean the ring?

Fantastic to see a Conn copper make it up there. Wish we had a map of their distribution across N. America...I believe the farthest south I recall one being excavated was N. Carolina.

Thank you. It's a very long and difficult process actually. It's a combination of short (less than 10 min.) peroxide baths with gentle toothpick cleaning. A ring like this takes around 4 hours to clean, the whole restoration process is around 36 hours.

 

[Aureus]

I have seen lots of similar Lead Trade Weights. But if it were official it would be counter-marked.
Lead Weight - UK Finds Database -

Most of them stopped in the 17th C, but not all of them.

Thanks man. Great info!

 

[Aureus]

The newer ring of the two is a claddagh ring (Irish).
The older one looks like an earlier primitive one. An Irish fur trader? Maybe.
I may have missed a post or something here, but nobody else has suggested this possibility.
Tell me if I missed something please.

The copper ring from late 1600s-early 1700's is French, I have no doubt about it. The silver one is Claddagh from mid 1700's I'm not sure of it's origins but it was used in Fur Trade. Similar ones were found in Ohio.

Here's a link to the original post.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/555889-bucket-lister-find-fur-trade-period-silver-claddagh-ring.html