BuckleBoy
Gold Member
There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.
Of course not...
I went out day before yesterday to rehunt an old spot that something just kept calling me back to--and I wanted to share those finds before I got to the good story. Keepers were thin, but I got a bridle rosette, a toasted late 1860s IH, a .69 cal round ball with the sprue still attached, a neat silver plated buckle that was wadded up and close to a foot down, and a very cool little key which was the find of the day.
And now on to the better story... Yesterday, HB invited me to go back to his 8 Reales spot for another rehunt and I couldn't say "yes" fast enough. We got out there on the site and got digging. HB hit a button patch almost immediately and dug two pewter buttons and a good many brass ones. I was worried that I might get skunked, but I continued to clear Big Iron off the site so that I could find the goodies. Pretty soon I dug a target that sounded fairly good and once it was out of the hole I knew it had to be a copper. Here's what I saw laying in the dirt:
It was a beautiful 1825 LC.
Meanwhile HB started to rack up some nice brass targets like part of a teardrop style stirrup, more buttons, and some other bits. Well...I took it easy because I didn't want to be the only copper magnet hunting on HB's spot. So I cleared some more iron, finding a nice cast iron stove leg (I clean them up and turn them into door stops).
Pretty soon I had another iffy target that I thought would be iron. I dug down and down through the busted up stones and iron-infested soil, then checked the hole. The target was out. I expected the signal to break up like it does with much of the big junk iron when the halo is broken, but the signal was even louder.
I told HB that he would probably kill me, but that I thought I had another copper. When he came over, I was looking at a really worn copper in the dirt:
I was hoping for an oldie, but I couldn't see anything on the face of the coin. Turning it over, I could read "ONE CENT" plus the fraction under the wreath and knew that I had a Draped Bust LC.
We hunted a while longer, and HB got a whole pocketwatch and a piece of a spur. The last signal I got was a whole harmonica reed and what looked like a tin-foil-thin piece of brass in the hole. I picked up the harmonica reed, then rechecked the hole. Another signal blared through the speaker. It was another whole harmonica reed. I almost walked away from the hole before I realized what the thin brass pieces were: the outside of the harmonica. (I have only found a piece of one of the outside covers before.) So I switched to all-metal and gathered up as many pieces as I could find.
Then we headed out, took some finds photos on the truck tailgate, talked over the game plan for the weekend hunts, and went home to clean finds. Here are HB's finds, just dug:
And mine:
Here are HB's goodies cleaned up. The spur has decorative "dimples" on it, which if I recall correctly may mean that it was an officer's item. The standard issue spurs had no such decoration. The pocketwatch (photo is in the first reply), I think he is going to soak it in mineral oil and see if it will open. Any tips on how to get the watch open are much appreciated. This is the first pocketwatch I have personally seen dug that was complete.
There are more photos below:
Of course not...
I went out day before yesterday to rehunt an old spot that something just kept calling me back to--and I wanted to share those finds before I got to the good story. Keepers were thin, but I got a bridle rosette, a toasted late 1860s IH, a .69 cal round ball with the sprue still attached, a neat silver plated buckle that was wadded up and close to a foot down, and a very cool little key which was the find of the day.
And now on to the better story...
Yesterday, HB invited me to go back to his 8 Reales spot for another rehunt and I couldn't say "yes" fast enough. We got out there on the site and got digging. HB hit a button patch almost immediately and dug two pewter buttons and a good many brass ones. I was worried that I might get skunked, but I continued to clear Big Iron off the site so that I could find the goodies. Pretty soon I dug a target that sounded fairly good and once it was out of the hole I knew it had to be a copper. Here's what I saw laying in the dirt:
It was a beautiful 1825 LC.
Meanwhile HB started to rack up some nice brass targets like part of a teardrop style stirrup, more buttons, and some other bits. Well...I took it easy because I didn't want to be the only copper magnet hunting on HB's spot. So I cleared some more iron, finding a nice cast iron stove leg (I clean them up and turn them into door stops).Pretty soon I had another iffy target that I thought would be iron. I dug down and down through the busted up stones and iron-infested soil, then checked the hole. The target was out. I expected the signal to break up like it does with much of the big junk iron when the halo is broken, but the signal was even louder.
I told HB that he would probably kill me, but that I thought I had another copper. When he came over, I was looking at a really worn copper in the dirt:
I was hoping for an oldie, but I couldn't see anything on the face of the coin. Turning it over, I could read "ONE CENT" plus the fraction under the wreath and knew that I had a Draped Bust LC.
We hunted a while longer, and HB got a whole pocketwatch and a piece of a spur. The last signal I got was a whole harmonica reed and what looked like a tin-foil-thin piece of brass in the hole. I picked up the harmonica reed, then rechecked the hole. Another signal blared through the speaker. It was another whole harmonica reed. I almost walked away from the hole before I realized what the thin brass pieces were: the outside of the harmonica. (I have only found a piece of one of the outside covers before.) So I switched to all-metal and gathered up as many pieces as I could find.
Then we headed out, took some finds photos on the truck tailgate, talked over the game plan for the weekend hunts, and went home to clean finds. Here are HB's finds, just dug:
And mine:
Here are HB's goodies cleaned up. The spur has decorative "dimples" on it, which if I recall correctly may mean that it was an officer's item. The standard issue spurs had no such decoration. The pocketwatch (photo is in the first reply), I think he is going to soak it in mineral oil and see if it will open. Any tips on how to get the watch open are much appreciated. This is the first pocketwatch I have personally seen dug that was complete.
There are more photos below:
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I also got a bridle rosette, and I think the piece to the left of the LC's is a keyhole cover from an old lock. It says "Patent" on it.
Nova Treasure
A job well done.
