Bill D. (VA)
Silver Member
I drove by on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to speak with the property owner next door to the new site where I found 2 cut silvers last Thurs. This whole area is extremely old and historic, with both the earliest settlers and Native Americans having inhabited the site. This place was visited by Captain John Smith in the first couple of years after the settlement of Jamestown, and was also where all the colonial inhabitants were killed during the big Indian massacre on March 22, 1622. After I discussed and presented the very friendly owner with some nice research materials, he directed me to a small spot in the huge field where early delftware and bellarmine shards had been found on the surface more than 20 years ago. As soon as I entered this portion of the field I found a big iron patch, and it really got my heart pumping. I was hoping this site would be filled with early colonial coins, buttons, buckles and other awesome artifacts. But the finds turned out to be very few, and were mostly low-toned buckshot and other small pieces of brass. But I thought the very first item I dug might be an early coin weight, but I'm sure that's not what it is as it doesn't have the proper markings and is a bit too thin. After finding a couple small caliber musketballs I decided to move on to check out a very nice looking high plateau on the far end of the field that had a commanding view of the river. As I walked up its slope I started hearing iron and seeing bits of brick, and again was getting quite excited. But other than a not-so-old lead seal and a boatload of great sounding modern bullets it was a bust. I ended up back in the original iron patch for the remainder of the 2 hour hunt, and made a few more finds before leaving. The best of those was a colonial spur, but it did not have any markings unlike a similar one I dug several years ago from an early trash pit. I also recovered a piece from an 18th century buckle, what appears to be the end of an early pewter spoon handle, and a few more musketballs. Although a bit discouraged, I definitely plan to return as soon as yesterday's 4" of snow melts and take my time in the iron patch as well as roam around looking for another hotspot in the field. And I also need to return to the site next door as I still have plenty of ground to cover, and I feel confident more colonial silver awaits me there.
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