Relics from the backyard

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
3
Germany
Hey everyone! It has been awhile since I posted here. Well, I got around to tearing down the garage that is behind my old victorian house. Before the garage was there, it was a stable. Well, then it became a 1 car garage, then in 43, the wood garage was torn down, then a cement block garage put up. It went from a 1 car to 2 car garage... and over the years more and more cement was poured over each floor. I think there was 4 floors to take out in total, so this is some 18 inches of cement.

Anyway, after taking everything out, I figured I would poke around to see if I could find relics. The first thing I found popped out of the ground just as the backhoe pulled some dirt away. It was an intact plate! It says Ironstone China on the back along with Powell Bishop. I did some research and found it was from England, but not sure exactly what time period. I suspect from the late 1800s. I found many shards of broken bottles, 1 small intact bottle, and then the best little find so far. I was trying to move dirt around with a metal rake, and a belt buckle popped out! It is in great shape, and has K P., with a knight figure in the middle of the 2 letters. I think it is a Knights of Pythian belt buckle. I am not sure on the date since I haven't come across any others on the internet like it so far. The old masonic temple is just down the street, and I am quite sure the original builder/owner of my house was a mason. Anyway enjoy the pictures. Let me know if you guys can date the plate and belt buckle. HH!

** I resized the images and added a picture of the backyard... The right side of the picture shows the garage before we tore it down, and where I found some relics.
 

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viper771

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
3
Germany
Thanks! I hope to poke around there some more before the new garage gets put up.. since a vast majorty of the area will be once again covered with concrete. I hope to find more info about the stuff I did find.. it would be cool to have on display in the house :)
 

drgest

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Apr 6, 2007
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1
SW Michigan
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Very nice find viper! If I owned an old victorian house there's no telling how many holes I would dig. You are right on the buckle (except it is Pythias). Here's a link that indicates it is circa 1880.

http://www.liongate-armsandarmour.com/bq1860.htm

You are going to run your detector over that newly exposed area, aren't you? It also wouldn't hurt to poke a privy rod around some as well.

Good luck!
 

detectoraddict

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Aug 3, 2004
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Das ist gute! Nice find! One never knows what is hiding in ones backyard :)
 

romeo-1

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Jul 29, 2005
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Welcome back! Are you stateside again? Nice sword belt plate!!
 

Iron Patch

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Sep 28, 2007
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Great find and I can't date the plate, but it's plenty old enough to be intersting. I'd certainly be happy coming home with that.
 

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viper771

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
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Germany
How do you shrink picts on here?? I didn't realize that they came out so big!!!!! Sorry about that!


Yeah I have been back stateside since April. I hope to use my metal detector when it arrives in 3 weeks. We still haven't had ANY of our stuff delivered so we have been living with basically what we brought over on the plane, and what the inlaws provide hehe. I am sure that there is a ton of stuff in the back yard.


I will have to check that link out for the belt buckle. I think the plate dates around the same time actually. I don't know about the one little bottle I found. I think it just has a patent # on it. I left all the stuff at the house but I will return down there again and see what else I can find. I doubt that I will have my metal detector when the new slab is poured :( But then again, I can put the new garage whever I want LOL :)
 

rtru

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Jan 10, 2009
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Shreveport, Louisiana
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viper771 said:
How do you shrink picts on here?? I didn't realize that they came out so big!!!!! Sorry about that!

...LOL :)

One easy way is to go to picnik.com (no membership required, and it's free) and upload your photos there, then poke around a bit and you'll find the "Resize" option. If you make your longest side about 700 or 800 pixels, it will be web-friendly then. Give me a shout if you run into any difficulties. -Ray
 

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viper771

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
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Germany
OK I will give that a shot, I have a hard time trying to see my own pictures as well :)

*** Pictured resized!! Thanks for the info! That picnik site is pretty cool :)
 

rjw4law

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Apr 25, 2007
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Never saw a beltplate like that one....interesting.
 

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viper771

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
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Germany
I was thinking the same thing when I took the dirt off of it... so far I haven't found anything else cool yet out there.. just remains of bottles that were broken long ago. Should have the MD in a few weeks, so then I can dig for coins or something else out there. I did find a lot of bones out under the garage... old trash remains from 100 yrs ago.
 

daytondigger

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Oct 6, 2004
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Based on where you are on the lot and the age of the home, I would say you are into the privy(s). Angle probe for walls, and dig the goodies. ;D
 

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viper771

viper771

Sr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
395
3
Germany
I shall keep looking around in the backyard. I am not far from Dayton, I am in Middletown :) There are all kinds of stuff to dig up around here. I hope that I can find a few old coins or something. The only thing I have found inside the house were :about 1.00 worth of newer coins (pennies, dimes, etc), mouse droppings, 3 LONG dead mice, 3 dead birds, 3 dead squirrels, and remains of a newspaper in the attic dating from Feb 1964.

One cool thing I did find behind a false wall was names of people who kind of "fixed" a problem area in the old bathrom. The date below the names was 1950, and later on when the kids lived there, a date from the 90s. Historical treasure :)
 

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