Shoe Buckle and Half cent

[Sniffy]

Went on another cellar hole hunt with Heavymetalnut. I picked him up at 6am and headed to some new sites we located. The ground was FROZEN....but that doesnt' stop a madman with a strong desire to find colonial coins and relics. Today I brought a pry bar and a hammer to assist me with this stubborn ground. My first target was this neat little shoe buckle. It came out of the hole in a icy clump and it took the majority of the day for it to thaw out enough for me to discover if it was complete or not. As you can see, it's not. Shortly after, I began digging a target and to my suprise a colonial eye glass lens came out in my spoils. Sorry no pic. It's small and looks something similar to what Ben Franklin would wear. After swinging about I found a solid copper signal. GROUNDS FROZEN SHUT! aFter cursing at the ground for a minute or so, I start pounding away with my hammer and pry bar. FINNALY after 20 minutes, I carefully exumed a Classic Head Half Cent ( 1809-1836). EUREKA!! Unfortunately, the condition of this worn out girl is pitiful to say the least. I barely whisked it with a light toothbrush and "away goes the detail". bummer...no date either. However, the thrill of finding it is worth alot more to me.......By now my hunting buddy (Heavymetalnut) is becoming frustrated with his all out warfare with the frozen ground with minimal success, we decide to march onward towards a new cellar hole. After finding a similar effect here, we march further and further into un-marked territory sniffing for copper and silver. Finnaly, to brighten Daves day.....he pulls an 1892 Barber Dime. BUT IT"S STILL NOT ENOUGH! HE HUNGERS FOR COPPER! Slightly amused, Dave follows his footsteps back to a site he had a hunch about, and sure enough....he pulls an 1845 Coronet in beautiful shape...His first copper of the year, and mine to (half cent) Now were both happy as can be. Dave also dug several interesting relics, an eagle button, a medalion, and some other odds n' ends. I pretty much ended up with a bag full of nails, an assortment of antique shotgun shells, and an 1896 IH to send me off with. Thanks for looking!

 

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[umrgolf]

Good work sniffy, one down, many to go

 

[Dman]

Nice half cent. Congrats on the buckle.
Dman

 

[SkyPirate]

Nice

 

[Brian W]

Nice Sniffy...I love those old cellars....Always nice to find buckles and old coppers..Grats

 

[dfx willy]

i gotta hunt with you guys this year!! met george and went with him last year. congrats. willy

 

[allen]

not a madman, but a darn determined one !!

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

lol yeah hiked our butts off today.nice job jess and i hope we'll be back!

 

[Nana40]

I dunno how ya make it thru winter! We had ONE week of frozen soil. Was quite humorous to us at the time, but I can imagine it to be very frustrating week after week!! Ya'll did good!!

Congrats on the finds! Nana

 

[Sniffy]

I dunno how ya make it thru winter! We had ONE week of frozen soil. Was quite humorous to us at the time, but I can imagine it to be very frustrating week after week!! Ya'll did good!!

Congrats on the finds! Nana

thanks! The frost in the ground will drive ya nuts......

 

[TreasurdiggrNY]

Nice old copper, sweet ih too, you're on the spot, can't wait to see what you get out of there once the thaw comes

 

[collector01]

well deserved awesome relics, keep the passion high Hope ya have a great 2010!

 

[burglarifyoulike]

that's obsession! glad you were rewarded for your efforts!

 

[ModernMiner]

Excellent finds Sniffy.
Congrats,
MM

 

[Sniffy]

Thanks for the replies, even though this Half Cent is in horrible condition...I'm very happy to have found it. This makes my 2nd one, the first was a 1804 Draped Bust in XF condition. I sold it, and it's been haunting me ever since. This one takes the sting off a bit.

 

[Derek752]

I love seeing deep freeze colonial finds !! Out in the bitter cold trying to dig a for sure Lg Cent in hard as concrete ground while its either snowing or sleeting / freezing rain or both with a good fierce wind blowing and the windchill getting worse and worse !
Contemplating on using C-4 to remove those targets. It doesn't get any betta then that .... Its Miller Time

Killer finds Sniffy

-D-

 

[BuckleBoy]

Some great finds from you two. That buckle is a lovely dig. Unfortunately, toothbrush and water is almost always a bad idea on a copper.

Bravo to you for getting out in the icy ground. The PA boys could take a lesson from your digging techniques.



-Buck

 

[Sniffy]

I love seeing deep freeze colonial finds !! Out in the bitter cold trying to dig a for sure Lg Cent in hard as concrete ground while its either snowing or sleeting / freezing rain or both with a good fierce wind blowing and the windchill getting worse and worse !
Contemplating on using C-4 to remove those targets. It doesn't get any betta then that .... Its Miller Time

Killer finds Sniffy

-D-

I was getting so frustrated that C4 didnt' sound like a bad idea.

 

[Sniffy]

Some great finds from you two. That buckle is a lovely dig. Unfortunately, toothbrush and water is almost always a bad idea on a copper.

Bravo to you for getting out in the icy ground. The PA boys could take a lesson from your digging techniques.



-Buck

Honestly I was happier with the shoe buckle than the half cent. I used the tooth brush to ever so gently brush away the hardened dirt crud on the coin...bad mistake....I'll reconsider doing anything to coins like this in the future. I bet if I just soaked it in some water and softened up the crud, I would probally have alot more detail left in the coin.

 

[gmsparky]

i know what you're saying about no date, my wife found one, no date either, BUT, they're STILL GREAT !!!!!