BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
Went out on a little swamp dig and messed around in some muddy trash pits. Dug mainly junk and crappe iron, but after all day slinging oyster shell in the weeds and marsh I came up with this intact brass stirrup. This is actually the first complete one I've ever dug. I have probably 25 iron ones which I've restored, but it was hard to find a complete brass. Now I have one, so I'm very happy.
After being preyed upon by the vicious Louisiana State Birds, I retreated out of the swamp to the cane fields for the second day of diggin. In the early morning I got out in the field in my rubber boots, me. Had my Delcambre Reebocks on! I had just gotten a wobbly little signal when out popped SPANISH SILVER!! It was SO nice to see a 1700s silver in the dirt before 7am. When that happens, the rest of the day is Lagniappe!
Well, the day was far from over. First it was a nice trigger guard piece, then a flat button or two, then the rain started to fall. I think I said something like GD MF SOB POS then I sat in the truck and ate a sandwich and...
the rain didn't stop.
So I drove off to another spot I've been thinking about for a while. Preliminary hunts turned up lots of new crappe but we had eyeballed pipe stems from the 1700s there...so I thought it was worth a shot. When I drove way back in the fields there, all was still dry and it was game on.
I eyeballed some marbles, then saw a tiny pill bottle:
All was going well, except for the fact that this site was full of aluminum can, pull tab, and screw cap. But occasionally there was an older find. Well, the clouds started looking darker and darker. And the wind started blowing. I think I said something like GD MF POS SOB again and when the drops started falling, I knew if I didn't walk to the truck soon then no amount of 4WD was gonna get me out of there, and I'd be asking a property owner for help!
BUT, all of a sudden I got a solid 82 on the F75, reading 2 inches deep. Banger signal. Hoping for the best, but having dug some copper pipe from the field I wasn't expecting much... but when I dug I saw the FLASH of SILVER!
I would've actually been quite happy with an SLQ, since I have only dug two of them in 25 years--one many years ago in Virginia and one in Louisiana a few years ago. BUT this turned out to be my 3rd Barber quarter this year. Crazy that I had never dug a Barber Quarter and now I have 6 of them in 28 months. Seems like they were hiding from me before!
Anyhow, you can see in that last photo up above that the rain drops had started to hit my glove. I ran for the truck and got out of there just in time.
Here are the finds:
The Barber Quarter is a 1908
The half real is plow destroyed, but I can see the last digit of the date ("2")--and the assayers' initials "FF" and Mexico City Mint mean this must be a 1782.
And here are the rest of the finds, including the marbles, china doll legs, and gawgag.
Happy Hunting,
Buck
Went out on a little swamp dig and messed around in some muddy trash pits. Dug mainly junk and crappe iron, but after all day slinging oyster shell in the weeds and marsh I came up with this intact brass stirrup. This is actually the first complete one I've ever dug. I have probably 25 iron ones which I've restored, but it was hard to find a complete brass. Now I have one, so I'm very happy.
After being preyed upon by the vicious Louisiana State Birds, I retreated out of the swamp to the cane fields for the second day of diggin. In the early morning I got out in the field in my rubber boots, me. Had my Delcambre Reebocks on! I had just gotten a wobbly little signal when out popped SPANISH SILVER!! It was SO nice to see a 1700s silver in the dirt before 7am. When that happens, the rest of the day is Lagniappe!
Well, the day was far from over. First it was a nice trigger guard piece, then a flat button or two, then the rain started to fall. I think I said something like GD MF SOB POS then I sat in the truck and ate a sandwich and...
the rain didn't stop.
So I drove off to another spot I've been thinking about for a while. Preliminary hunts turned up lots of new crappe but we had eyeballed pipe stems from the 1700s there...so I thought it was worth a shot. When I drove way back in the fields there, all was still dry and it was game on.
I eyeballed some marbles, then saw a tiny pill bottle:
All was going well, except for the fact that this site was full of aluminum can, pull tab, and screw cap. But occasionally there was an older find. Well, the clouds started looking darker and darker. And the wind started blowing. I think I said something like GD MF POS SOB again and when the drops started falling, I knew if I didn't walk to the truck soon then no amount of 4WD was gonna get me out of there, and I'd be asking a property owner for help!
BUT, all of a sudden I got a solid 82 on the F75, reading 2 inches deep. Banger signal. Hoping for the best, but having dug some copper pipe from the field I wasn't expecting much... but when I dug I saw the FLASH of SILVER!
I would've actually been quite happy with an SLQ, since I have only dug two of them in 25 years--one many years ago in Virginia and one in Louisiana a few years ago. BUT this turned out to be my 3rd Barber quarter this year. Crazy that I had never dug a Barber Quarter and now I have 6 of them in 28 months. Seems like they were hiding from me before!
Anyhow, you can see in that last photo up above that the rain drops had started to hit my glove. I ran for the truck and got out of there just in time.
Here are the finds:
The Barber Quarter is a 1908
The half real is plow destroyed, but I can see the last digit of the date ("2")--and the assayers' initials "FF" and Mexico City Mint mean this must be a 1782.
And here are the rest of the finds, including the marbles, china doll legs, and gawgag.
Happy Hunting,
Buck
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