Mini hot-streak continues with another colonial silver & a pile of other early relics

[Bill D. (VA)]

Mini hot-streak continues with another colonial silver & a pile of other early relics

Seems like my good buddy Dan and I have had difficulty this season hooking up for a full day’s hunt, and today was another one of those half day outings. But for 5 hours it was quite productive for both of us. We returned to the site we stopped by just before dark the last time out, and where we had quickly found 3 early coppers and a pile of buttons. This morning we braved the cold and picked up right where we left off. Just about 15 min into the hunt I found an early 1700s piece of cut silver that was right in the middle of some of our dig holes from the previous hunt. That was a great start and we were sure several more coins would pop out once we started methodically gridding the iron patch and adjacent areas. But that turned out to be the only coin of the day except for a stray IH that I happened to dig near the end of the hunt. In between those two finds it was button city, with a few interesting buckles showing up as well. I also found a cool looking lead seal with a design and lettering, and I need to take a closer look to see if I can decipher it. We also dug out 4 shallow fire pits, and one of them was loaded with long pipe stems and a fair amount of pottery, but nothing of any real significance turned up. I also dug a really nice solid silver button complete with shank along with what might be part of a silver spoon stem. Dan killed me in the button dept again, and also made some other nice finds which you can check out in his post tomorrow. It was another fun, albeit short outing, and you can be sure we’ll be hitting this place again soon.

 

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[joeyfresh]

You guys are on fire Bill! 3 silver and 3 coppers in a week for you, that's pretty impressive. That silver button is really cool too and you don't find them often. Great job.

 

[Ahab8]

You certainly came out of that silver drought with a bang! One really nice looking buckle in there too Bill. Must be nice to have multiple great sites at the same time. You've really been rolling lately. Congrats on some great hunts

 

[joeyfresh]

Check out bagseals.org to see if your lead seal is there.

 

[detroitdigger]

Awesome finds, I'd love to get to a colonial site, but I'd settle just to get out and to get to a park! It's still like the arctic here!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Check out bagseals.org to see if your lead seal is there.

That's a really cool website Joey. But it's massive and I have no idea how to locate a specific seal. Any tips?

 

[mangum]

Great finds Bill! The cut silver is awesome as well as the other colonial finds. I've never found a silver button, that's a really neat find too.

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

Great finds! I have a, smaller, exact match to the button in pic #6, looks like a starburst. How early are they? Mine has no back mark at all.

Nice to see the old stuff posted. I still have to buy my finds

VPR

 

[joeyfresh]

That's a really cool website Joey. But it's massive and I have no idea how to locate a specific seal. Any tips?

It's loaded with keywords so you would have to make out at least one word on your seal

 

[Greylock]

You guys are getting on some great ground with some killer finds. Can't wait to see whats next.

 

[capsmith]

Great fiinds I love the cut coin the button, I love all.Thats the kiind of stuff I enjoy finding the most.

 

[relicmeister]

Had yourself a field day! An inspiring hunt, Dan

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Bill as always I had fun. Hated that I could not get a post up today but had to keep the wife happy the second half of the day. The coin count is getting interesting and coming down to the wire - I feel like you are building a real 4th quarter comeback. See you the next time.

Dan

 

[1stColonialRegiment]

Awesome finds bill! If you don't mind my asking, what do you do to preserve your buttons and such?
-1stCR

 

[CASPER-2]

YOURE ON FIRE - LOVE THE PIPE STEMS TOO

 

[park pirate]

Outstanding hunt..

 

[CRUSADER]

I saw you last 2 silver day & now another to the collection, your roll starts as mine ends....

Now, as for the buckle what a shame THAT isn't whole! - never seen that type, not sure its in any book either.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

I would call that a successful 5 hours. You picked up some interesting buttons and a couple of killer buckel pieces but the cut silver is awesome. I have yet to come up with any cut pieces, I guess it wasn't very common to do up here in the north.
Keep it coming Bill, your on fire.
ZDD

 

[treblehunter]

Wow, what a great site you guys have. Very cool finds, I wish I could hit a site like that. Thanks for sharing all that cool history with us.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Great finds! I have a, smaller, exact match to the button in pic #6, looks like a starburst. How early are they? Mine has no back mark at all. Nice to see the old stuff posted. I still have to buy my finds VPR

Thanks VPR. I've found a few similar ones at other sites, and I think they're generally 18th century. But I did find a nice example (see pic below) at a 1650-1725 site so some of them might date earlier. Not sure exactly what style they're called, but I'd definitely be interested in learning more about them. Maybe Cru can chime in.