BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
I am on vacation this week visiting Old Kentucky and stopped in to visit with my good buddy Hill Billy and do some hardcore diggin. 8) HB wanted to take me to a good spot that he had located in the middle of a giant soybean field. The temps were in the 30s for the highs, but we got out there in the early a.m. when it was 17 degrees.
We pounded the site for a while, digging some old buttons, including some "dandy" buttons and a few tombacs too. I got one really big tombac that I like a lot (with shank). I dug a really nice relic--a bone-handled, 1850s folding dirk (large-sized knife, with a scepter-like end on one side).
Pretty soon HB had a good find or two in his pocket, including this interesting stamped brass figure:
Then ole HB yelled "Coin!" and I came running with the camera. I saw a small cent in the dirt and took a photo:
The coin was thick, and we were thinking either early IH or a FE. It was an 1858 Flying Eagle cent.
We kept digging, getting some bits and pieces of brass and a few more buttons. HB got a nice mid-19th c. heel plate and a butt plate from a musket. As the hunt wore on, we moved into an area that seemed like horses were tethered. We dug horseshoes, and I got a two-holed oval strap guide made out of pewter or similar material. HB dug a really nice dandy button with a design:
Then I got a great signal that overloaded my machine. I swept the soybean stubble aside with my foot and I was looking down at a complete spur! Now, I have dug bits and pieces of spurs, and watched HB dig two complete spurs, and Rodeo dig several more complete spurs, but I have never dug a whole one. (My last spur was dug in six pieces strewn across the site by the plough.) This type attached to the boot in an unusual way, and I am looking for information to date the spur. It is unmarked.) Here it is, freshly dug:
What was great about this site is that we knew we could angle for some early Large Cents, Coppers, or some Spanish, due to the number of large-sized, unmarked buttons and tombacs that we found. The early coins were not to be found this trip, but I'm sure the site will get a re-hunt.
Here is a photo of the finds, before cleaning:
And after:
HB's finds:
And my finds (before cleaning):
The tombac buttons we dug:
MORE photos in the first reply below:
I am on vacation this week visiting Old Kentucky and stopped in to visit with my good buddy Hill Billy and do some hardcore diggin. 8) HB wanted to take me to a good spot that he had located in the middle of a giant soybean field. The temps were in the 30s for the highs, but we got out there in the early a.m. when it was 17 degrees.
We pounded the site for a while, digging some old buttons, including some "dandy" buttons and a few tombacs too. I got one really big tombac that I like a lot (with shank). I dug a really nice relic--a bone-handled, 1850s folding dirk (large-sized knife, with a scepter-like end on one side).
Pretty soon HB had a good find or two in his pocket, including this interesting stamped brass figure:
Then ole HB yelled "Coin!" and I came running with the camera. I saw a small cent in the dirt and took a photo:
The coin was thick, and we were thinking either early IH or a FE. It was an 1858 Flying Eagle cent.
We kept digging, getting some bits and pieces of brass and a few more buttons. HB got a nice mid-19th c. heel plate and a butt plate from a musket. As the hunt wore on, we moved into an area that seemed like horses were tethered. We dug horseshoes, and I got a two-holed oval strap guide made out of pewter or similar material. HB dug a really nice dandy button with a design:
Then I got a great signal that overloaded my machine. I swept the soybean stubble aside with my foot and I was looking down at a complete spur! Now, I have dug bits and pieces of spurs, and watched HB dig two complete spurs, and Rodeo dig several more complete spurs, but I have never dug a whole one. (My last spur was dug in six pieces strewn across the site by the plough.) This type attached to the boot in an unusual way, and I am looking for information to date the spur. It is unmarked.) Here it is, freshly dug:
What was great about this site is that we knew we could angle for some early Large Cents, Coppers, or some Spanish, due to the number of large-sized, unmarked buttons and tombacs that we found. The early coins were not to be found this trip, but I'm sure the site will get a re-hunt.
Here is a photo of the finds, before cleaning:
And after:
HB's finds:
And my finds (before cleaning):
The tombac buttons we dug:
MORE photos in the first reply below:
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