V4.0 Maiden Voyage Relic Hunt yields some interesting Brass and Lead

[bonepicker]

Took the Deus back to the machine gun iron 1840s homestead i have been hunting on and off for over a year now.
First time to use V4.0. I didnt make many changes to my main hunting program.
Did try Reactivity 2.5 which i liked. I tried tracking instead of manual GB. And i experimented with a lil silencer, instead of the standard -1 which i normally use.
Its really tough for me to say much about V4.0, as i havent read into it much, and havent experimented with it enough.
All i can say at this point is that i did like Reactivity 2.5, and i still dug lots of big iron, square nails, and several iron rings using 0 Disc, which is what i use 98% of the time.

I made the usual finds, the brass, the iron, lead, and the random pottery pieces scattered about in the holes i dug.

The spigot piece of a barrel tap was a nice surprise
In the first pic it also looks like the fragmented piece to the left of it might have been from a barrel tap. Too bad they werent complete.
It looks a lot like the other one i found at this site several months ago(2nd pic).

The most exciting find was this heavy looking round lead item that turned out to have an eagle with shield and a date stamped on it. At first i thought it was just a lead plug.
When i cleaned it up i could see an eagle with shield and a date that looks like 1830. It is 1.3" x .60" Any ideas what this is??

This lead item reminded me of another lead item i dug a couple years ago that has a very similar eagle with shield and date of 1833 from a different site about 15 or so miles away.
I put the one below in the what is it section and someone mentioned that it looked like the shield had a F.I. on it.
The person suggested that it might be part of a Fire Insurance Plaque to designate that the homestead had paid for fire insurance.
That ID was the most probable sounding ID the square object ever received.
This is the one from a couple years ago.

Also wanting to add some finds from Saturdays last V3.2 Civil war hunt from a different site. It isnt much, but these are the good finds i ended up with.


Thanks for looking

 

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[CRUSADER]

Looks like an officially countermarked trade weight.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I thought perhaps bale seal, but if Cru says weight, then I will agree and look smart!

Well done BP!

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on some nice finds

 

[CRUSADER]

PS. I'm still two minds whether I bother with the software upgrade. I detect like you 0 disc.

 

[Relicific]

Awesome finds
Congrats

 

[bonepicker]

Looks like an officially countermarked trade weight.

Just got home and dont have much time...
You could be onto something. It weighs 112.1 grams. I believe that is a quarter pound.
Thanks Cru. That is definitely a possibility.

 

[Joe hunter]

No difference in tone clarity at depth?

 

[bonepicker]

No difference in tone clarity at depth?

Its still too early to say for sure how the changes are working out for me.
I hunted 3 hours after work yesterday and about 1.5 hours today. Today i dug a 1902 IHP, a silver thimble, and a mid 1800's brass clothing tensioner buckle.

When i resaved my main program that i start with, i changed my standard audio response from 3 to 4.
Now that you mention it, some of the deeper tones sounded really good, but that could be due to my being used to an audio response of 3.
It could also just be due to the fact that i purchased a set of full headphones recently. Seems like the full headphones have definitely made all targets sound better, as opposed to the WS4's.
Maybe next hunt i will switch back to AR 3 and see if i can notice any change.

I really didnt want to say much about V3.2 vs V4.0, at least not yet until i use it some more. Today was my second time out after making the switch, totaling less than 5 hours at an iron laden site.
I told myself a while back to not get my hopes up for V4.0, that way i wouldnt get disappointed if it turns out to be nothing special.

 

[bonepicker]

I thought perhaps bale seal, but if Cru says weight, then I will agree and look smart!

Well done BP!

I thought about a bale seal too, but its weight threw me off. This thing is heavy and fat.
I just weighed it earlier. Its 112.1 grams, which gives credence to the trade weight theory.
It weighs a quarter of a pound.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Not to shabby buddy, the pair of trade weights are unique for sure....especially given how far apart they were dug. I myself hunt wide open, 0 disc, but think the 2.5 reactivity might lend itself well to the iron patch

 

[sutphin]

MAN GOT SOME WEIGHT AND NICE RELICS TOO.....

 

[CRUSADER]

Just got home and dont have much time...
You could be onto something. It weighs 112.1 grams. I believe that is a quarter pound.
Thanks Cru. That is definitely a possibility.

I have little doubt. It looks like our well published versions to a tee. Whats most interesting is that yours is clearly not a British version, so it surely makes it rarer.

If anyone can think of a better reason you need a qrter pound counter-marked lead blob, crack on.

 

[IndianaBonesMD]

Very nice finds.

 

[bonepicker]

I have little doubt. It looks like our well published versions to a tee. Whats most interesting is that yours is clearly not a British version, so it surely makes it rarer.

If anyone can think of a better reason you need a qrter pound counter-marked lead blob, crack on.

Thanks Crusader. I am somewhat familiar with the square brass trade weights, but i have never seen the round lead ones.
After doing a quick internet search i found some good pics of lead trade weights, and some round trade weights that look very similar.
If this was in the "What is it Section", i would mark solved. Thanks again.
Colchester Link for similar trade weights.
weights
Still curious about the square one with clipped corner. Starting to think it might have been some sort of trade weight too, but it is much lighter, only weighing 12.5 grams.
Not sure why a weight would weigh 12.5 grams.

PS. I'm still two minds whether I bother with the software upgrade. I detect like you 0 disc.

I agree. I was skeptical. Figured i would try it. The reactivity 2.5 is what i really wanted to try. I use 2 alot, but its hard to use in the trashy sites. 3 seems like it loses alot of depth.
2.5 seems to be a good compromise giving a little more speed and depth than 2, but it is still not as fast as 3.
I have gotten really used to 0 disc. Now if i try to not use 0 Disc, it seems like something is missing. All that noise is beautiful information.

 

[bonepicker]

Not to shabby buddy, the pair of trade weights are unique for sure....especially given how far apart they were dug. I myself hunt wide open, 0 disc, but think the 2.5 reactivity might lend itself well to the iron patch

Thanks VMI. The trade weight seems to be the Belle of the ball.
Definitely strange that both items are similar and were dug near my coastal area, probably 15-20 miles apart.
Leaves me wondering if this eagle/shield/date design was commonplace for my local area or state, or if it was just a general design used all over the country during the 1830's. The eagle with shield design definitely resembles some of the US militia buttons made during this time frame.
I think 2.5 will definitely have a place within the thick iron.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks Crusader. I am somewhat familiar with the square brass trade weights, but i have never seen the round lead ones.
After doing a quick internet search i found some good pics of lead trade weights, and some round trade weights that look very similar.
If this was in the "What is it Section", i would mark solved. Thanks again.
Colchester Link for similar trade weights.
weights
Still curious about the square one with clipped corner. Starting to think it might have been some sort of trade weight too, but it is much lighter, only weighing 12.5 grams.
Not sure why a weight would weigh 12.5 grams.



I agree. I was skeptical. Figured i would try it. The reactivity 2.5 is what i really wanted to try. I use 2 alot, but its hard to use in the trashy sites. 3 seems like it loses alot of depth.
2.5 seems to be a good compromise giving a little more speed and depth than 2, but it is still not as fast as 3.
I have gotten really used to 0 disc. Now if i try to not use 0 Disc, it seems like something is missing. All that noise is beautiful information.

Whats interesting is that most the round lead trade weights in the UK are late Medieval & mostly died out in the 18th C. (Although lots of homemade ones continued)

I like to stay on reactivity 2.

 

[bonepicker]

Whats interesting is that most the round lead trade weights in the UK are late Medieval & mostly died out in the 18th C. (Although lots of homemade ones continued)

I like to stay on reactivity 2.

Agreed. Many round ones at the Colchester TH&MD site that were somewhat similar to mine were dated as earlier pieces, but some did date into the early 1800's.
This leaves me kind of wondering if it was a local home-made item that was certified and issued from the local courthouses in my area, or was it just a common home-made design that circulated all over the US during this time period.

Reactivity 2 is my goto Reactivity setting that i use almost all of the time. I do think i will start using 2.5 sometimes, especially in the very thick iron laden areas.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the very productive hunt!