Local Boy Hits Colonial Pay Dirt

[Erik in NJ]

I finally met the owner of a house near me that I've wanted to gain permission to for quite some time. Just before Thanksgiving, on my way to the post office, I saw a car in the driveway and decided to stop in and say hello. I'd already been in touch with the owner's daughter-in-law by email. The owner was very nice to me and said "sure go ahead" and we spoke about local history and the house. She gave me a tour and showed me some articles on the house.

Anyway, I started in the backyard and was really disappointed with what I wasn't finding. What appeared to me to be a dream property had almost no signals (good ones or trash) as I randomly meandered to find a hot spot. The back yard finally gave up a tombac button and a musket ball. I showed these to the owner as well as what looked like an old sheet music clip from an instrument and the junk I'd dug. She told me I could come back when I wanted.

I decided to try a strip near the house in the back and the front yard the next time I was there and I literally put my coil down on a flat button at a few inches. OK, now I was on the board. Next I dug a heavy rusted iron ring that's sitting in ACV at the moment.

In the front yard where I'd found really nothing on my first visit, I decided to grid. Low and behold my first target was a Colonial Knee Buckle frame -- my first ever, I was thrilled!

I dug a couple of flat buttons during this hunt. One says "WARRANTED - ORANGE - RICH" and the other has a backmark which I cannot read, but there is a circle of little dots where the eyelet is soldered on. Any ideas?

The most salient item I dug, not far from the buckle was a silver broach missing its mounting device, which is hollow with no maker's mark or markings of any kind. It is definitely silver as it came out of the ground almost like you see it. Due to the simplicity of its handmade design, I am thinking that it too is colonial. The trip was rounded out with an 1894 Barber Quarter and three IH cents, a 1906, 1908, and the best one is an 1859 Fatty! They cleaned up well in hot peroxide and are nicer than they appear in the scans. Need a bit more cleaning and some bees wax.

Oh, I also dug a roughly made 24mm ball, which I need to ID. It's too rough to be a musket ball. Is it canister shot? Anyone know the best way to clean up lead I also found part of a large pewter spoon bearing some wonderful "shoulders" above the spoon area. I understand this was done in the old days and I need to do a bit more research on this spoon as well as clean it up a bit more. Any tips? Many of these finds are just a couple inches below the surface and the soil in the front of the house in nice and dark.

A couple hours yesterday didn't disappoint, with a 34mm Dandy button that someone holed twice with a square nail after the shank broke off. It has quite an ornate design on it. And a beautiful two piece button which is part silver and was gilded -- it must have been a beautiful button in its day.

I also dug another flat button marked "TREBLE . * GILT * ." A lead seal of some sort that appears to have a N.J. on it. And an ornate garter clip which is missing it center bar.

I believe the reason why the back yard is not giving up finds is because the was a road near the house on the original maps which is now in a new location. Too bad, as this house is giving up some wonderful relics and coins!

 

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I like that buckle there. I have yet to find a whole intact example.

 

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[Erik in NJ]

Great finds Eric!!Hey your Oval piece is a belt tightner missing the middle bar.Type used on two piece buckle belts

Thanks for the kind words Kuger! Which oval piece are you referring to that I misidentified? The top item (I thought it was a garter clip) is very thin and light and is missing a center bar. The item I thought was a knee buckle is copper or brass and much sturdier in construction--it's also curved. Do you happen to have an intact photo of one that you could post? I'm sure you're correct as I know your knowledge of relics runs deep!

 

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[screwynewy]

Awesome finds. Way to persevere and come out with some great relics and coins. Definitely worth another hunt to see what else you can find.

 

[Jersey Hunter]

Congrats Eric. Some nice finds.

 

[kuger]

Thanks for the kind words Kuger! Which oval piece are you referring to that I misidentified? The top item (I thought it was a garter clip) is very thin and light and is missing a center bar. The item I thought was a knee buckle is copper or brass and much sturdier in construction--it's also curved. Do you happen to have an intact photo of one that you could post? I'm sure you're correct as I know your knowledge of relics runs deep!

Nope,not a Garter clip bud.I do have several,I will get ya picture tonight

 

[Erik in NJ]

Nope,not a Garter clip bud.I do have several,I will get ya picture tonight

Thanks Kuger! You are a great asset to this forum. Look forward to seeing the pics and learning a bit about these items and how and when they were used. Any color you can provide in terms of timeframe and military/civilian when you have a chance would be great.

Best, Erik

 

[kuger]

Eric,what is the size ref. in inches?

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi Kuger,

It's not in front of me at the moment, but converting from mm to inches it's approx 2" x 0.6". Thanks.

 

[kuger]

thanks bud..its not military,very popular from the 1850's-....I will see if I have an exact at home

 

[Erik in NJ]

thanks bud..its not military,very popular from the 1850's-....I will see if I have an exact at home

Any ideas on what that largish rough lead ball is? I doubt it's a musket ball because it's not terribly smooth. Canister shot, grape shot? There's a mm gauge below the ball for sizing--I estimate it to be about 38mm (which is approx. 1-1/2"). I did dig a dropped musket ball (not pictured) on this property too, but it was much smoother and smaller than this ball. There were Rev War shots fired in anger in the general area of this property. Thanks for any input.

 

[Goes4ever]

When I hunt farm houses, 95% of my good finds come from the front yard, the back yards are almost always trashy, great finds!

 

[strateloss]

wow!! Awesome job bud! lot of really nice finds there!!

You said it bud, hopefully the weather keeps up!!

 

[Wildcat1750]

You've found a great site there, Erik. I can't wait to see more!
Nick

 

[Steve in PA]

Those old places have often been landscaped, re-sodded, etc over the years, making the real old stuff difficult to find. You did a good job working that yard and pulling some nice older pieces out of there.

 

[Erik in NJ]

When I hunt farm houses, 95% of my good finds come from the front yard, the back yards are almost always trashy, great finds!

Thanks for the tip. The back yard is almost devoid of targets as well as trash oddly enough. I believe it's because the old road used to swing through there and God knows what happened to the strata when the location of the road was changed to its modern location. For now I will keep working the front yard, but I'm sure there are some more items in the back--unfortunately a lot of good stuff is probably too deep.

 

[Erik in NJ]

You've found a great site there, Erik. I can't wait to see more!
Nick

Thank you Nick for the kind words! I'm kind of chomping at the bit to get back there to, but with the limited time I have for detecting and the cold weather closing in on us here in NJ I may not get too much more time on this property until the spring, which is a bit frustrating. Let's hope for some mild weather in our area. Hope to get out for a hunt with you some time. Best, Erik

 

[Erik in NJ]

Those old places have often been landscaped, re-sodded, etc over the years, making the real old stuff difficult to find. You did a good job working that yard and pulling some nice older pieces out of there.

Hi Steve, Yes, after the first disappointing hunt I was convinced that the owner had brought fill dirt in as there were just too few signals in the back yard. I could see several trees through with nice curved "crowns" going into the soil though. I did ask the owner and she told me that in the 40 years they had lived there it wasn't filled. This gave me a glimmer of hope and the finds nearer the house (didn't want to disturb the lawn there on the first day) also gave me some hope. I guess it wasn't until I hit a part of the front yard (which looked as though it had been sodded) that ironically I started getting into the older finds. So much for my landscape reading skills lol

Anyway, thanks for your post!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Awesome finds. Way to persevere and come out with some great relics and coins. Definitely worth another hunt to see what else you can find.

Thanks SN! Yeah, I'll be going back when I can. This property is worth gridding in a couple different directions with multiple machines. Thanks for your post!

 

[fishstick]

Just readin ur post I can tell this place is gonna hav a special meanin to u for a long time to come. I really like how ur treatin both the owners and the history. Those r sum GREAT finds u got and I bet there's sum more just waitin on u.. Keep at it bud. Also is the hot perox good on the Fatty? I just found a 62 on sat and wood luv to know if it works.. CONGRATS.. HH P.S. I like the way u spell ur name, comin from another ERIK...