What I found this weekend on my old plantation home site in SC

[bignadad]

Here's my finds this weekend. Been trying to dig up some history on the old lock but nothing yet. Thinking it maybe a Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster?

The Pond's "Lips" metal lipstick container seems to be from the 1940's

I have found about 10 wheat pennies so far. (5 of them are 1944's)
The 44 found this weekend had the best markings

I thought the chain marked with "US" was odd to be marked with that

that square nail was the best i had ever found. Complete and in great condition.

The 1936 license plate was pretty cool. It was about 20 feet from where the back door used to be.

Also if you can help with any tips for my digging around my old house please check this thread
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...-1835-family-plantation-home-burned-down.html

 

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[John Boy]

Boy I tell ya what to me looks like ya need no tips for digging around your house.You are doing great.You dug some great things.I like that heel plate and old lock.great work.thanks for sharing

 

[bignadad]

Boy I tell ya what to me looks like ya need no tips for digging around your house.You are doing great.You dug some great things.I like that heel plate and old lock.great work.thanks for sharing

Thanks

Yeah, i just wish I could find more coins. We have found about 50 pennies from the 70's to the 2000's, a few newer quarters, and maybe a newer dime or two.
The best coin found was a Indian head penny from 1897. We dug around that area all day today and no more coins.

It was said that one of the previous owners back in the 40s/50s buried money all around the house. We cant seem to find it anywhere

Not giving up but man i just wish we had some helpful hints.

Oh, btw any idea what this might be? We found this about 100 yards from where the house used to be. Didnt find much trash in it so far, but it goes at least 4 ft into the ground. I am eventually going to dig it completely out but its very tough. I would use my backhoe but dont want to damage it. Is there anyway to date the brick?

 

[bignadad]

Im pretty sure the lock is a Six Lever Double Bitted BUT i can seem to find one with that (brass?) circle on the front of it.
Six Lever Double Bitted Padlocks - Antique Padlocks

 

[wvwildman]

nice finds congrats HH

 

[Sawyer]

Why would anyone man in his right mind want to date a brick? Plenty of women in SC!

 

[caddo513]

Nice finds

 

[vpnavy]

Nice finds bignadad!

 

[bignadad]

I found that the heart pendant was not old at all. Seems you can by them at esty for about $15 and they are made to look old lol

 

[forcerecon]

Great finds. I think the US on the chain is from a civil war artillery trace chain.

 

[bignadad]

good to know! Thanks for your feedback

 

[Eric Wilson]

Ok here are some tips if it's that old there is no question there are artifacts from that era. Maybe not too many coins but buttons etc. A good confederate button can be far better than a coin. Here are some of the factors you are probably up against. South Carolina soil can be very sandy allowing things to sink more deeply. I recently read a study some guy did for Florida where he tried to determine where the 1962 depth level was. He did that by cataloguing the depth at which a certain style of pull tab that was introduced in and only used in 1962. His conclusion? ... 9.5 inches. I think that's too much but maybe for Florida. Anyway illustrates how deep sink rates can go. Next how much discrination are you using if any? At a site this old I'd use none or virtually none and dig everything. Discrimination reduces depth and some old coins like half dime are small and easily can be knocked out by discrimination. Next how deep can your detector go- can you pick up coin or button at12-15 inches? If not then may be out of your current range. If you can afford- consider upgrading or borrowing more sensitive machine. Next, I suspect that since almost all your coins are clad and 70's forward, that fill dirt has been added to the equation- probably in the 70's. it makes no sense otherwise that you are not finding old stuff- coins or not. If you have any old photos of place, study them for any clues as to human activity. If not assume that modern areas of high activity, ie: coin loss, are predictors of 1800's activity patterns. Grid your most prolific areas off with string. 10x 10 areas, larger smaller doesn't matter. Completely detect gridded area, at least mentally noting finds, depth, size etc. these are all clues. Once you have done this, remove the top 6 or 8 inches of soil in the marked area or a portion of the marked area. Ideally this dirt should be screened for non- metallic artifacts which can both offer clues and have potential value. Redetect area where dirt removed. Hopefully you start finding older stuff- if still finding modern then you definitely have some fill dirt. Keep removing layers until you detect the 1800's layer. If you don't get any signals where you removed the top layer, presumably nothing lost in that area that is old. Go to your next most promising area and repeat the proceeding. Eventually you will find at what depth the 1800's layer lies. You can have it graded to within several inches of that layer or you can acquire a detector that can reach that layer. If you grade, don't go too close-remember sink rates vary and you don't want to ruin anything. As to the purported caches from the 1950's you might need a 2 box detector- something that'll go 2 or 3 feet deep. Old guy may have recovered 'em himself too. As to the brick- hand made brick is quite distinctive. Not perfectly uniform, sometimes has fingerprints even, usually crumbles and erodes somewhat after long exposure to elements.

 

[North AL]

I have found a lock exactly like this one with a key close to it. Being new to MDing I have no idea how told clean it. It was a little more rusted than yours thanks to the super moist soil in my backyard. Took it to the Metallurgist where I work, come to find out he's not very good at cleaning metal either. Whatever he used ate everything except the small locking mechanism on the inside. Bummed me out. Sweet finds though!!! Could the brick be maybe a root cellar entrance? My house was built in 1904 and has the solid brick foundation.

 

[bignadad]

Ok here are some tips if it's that old there is no question there are artifacts from that era. Maybe not too many coins but buttons etc. A good confederate button can be far better than a coin. Here are some of the factors you are probably up against. South Carolina soil can be very sandy allowing things to sink more deeply. I recently read a study some guy did for Florida where he tried to determine where the 1962 depth level was. He did that by cataloguing the depth at which a certain style of pull tab that was introduced in and only used in 1962. His conclusion? ... 9.5 inches. I think that's too much but maybe for Florida. Anyway illustrates how deep sink rates can go. Next how much discrination are you using if any? At a site this old I'd use none or virtually none and dig everything. Discrimination reduces depth and some old coins like half dime are small and easily can be knocked out by discrimination. Next how deep can your detector go- can you pick up coin or button at12-15 inches? If not then may be out of your current range. If you can afford- consider upgrading or borrowing more sensitive machine. Next, I suspect that since almost all your coins are clad and 70's forward, that fill dirt has been added to the equation- probably in the 70's. it makes no sense otherwise that you are not finding old stuff- coins or not. If you have any old photos of place, study them for any clues as to human activity. If not assume that modern areas of high activity, ie: coin loss, are predictors of 1800's activity patterns. Grid your most prolific areas off with string. 10x 10 areas, larger smaller doesn't matter. Completely detect gridded area, at least mentally noting finds, depth, size etc. these are all clues. Once you have done this, remove the top 6 or 8 inches of soil in the marked area or a portion of the marked area. Ideally this dirt should be screened for non- metallic artifacts which can both offer clues and have potential value. Redetect area where dirt removed. Hopefully you start finding older stuff- if still finding modern then you definitely have some fill dirt. Keep removing layers until you detect the 1800's layer. If you don't get any signals where you removed the top layer, presumably nothing lost in that area that is old. Go to your next most promising area and repeat the proceeding. Eventually you will find at what depth the 1800's layer lies. You can have it graded to within several inches of that layer or you can acquire a detector that can reach that layer. If you grade, don't go too close-remember sink rates vary and you don't want to ruin anything. As to the purported caches from the 1950's you might need a 2 box detector- something that'll go 2 or 3 feet deep. Old guy may have recovered 'em himself too. As to the brick- hand made brick is quite distinctive. Not perfectly uniform, sometimes has fingerprints even, usually crumbles and erodes somewhat after long exposure to elements.

thank you for the very detailed response and input.

This past weekend we actually started doing what you suggested. detected a layer that was filled with brick, nails, broken glass. We took off a few inches then started detecting again. This is when we found some of the items pictures above. The lock, chain, buckles. Then we took off another layer of about 3 inches and we started getting into a more golden dirt and we then found oddly shaped balls of metal and that was about it. We stopped there because we ran out of time. So you think we should go down further? I saw on one of my maps from 1935 that a house might have been in the stop we were digging. And yes, our land is VERY sandy. Another thing we did not do is sweep the entire area and clean everything out. We dug up the higher more solid hits only.

a 2 box metal detector? Yes he might have recovered them himself but there is a lot of property to search. I know that is a longshot at best.

Again, thanks for the feedback!

 

[bignadad]

I have found a lock exactly like this one with a key close to it. Being new to MDing I have no idea how told clean it. It was a little more rusted than yours thanks to the super moist soil in my backyard. Took it to the Metallurgist where I work, come to find out he's not very good at cleaning metal either. Whatever he used ate everything except the small locking mechanism on the inside. Bummed me out. Sweet finds though!!! Could the brick be maybe a root cellar entrance? My house was built in 1904 and has the solid brick foundation.

I was looking at doing the following method to try and clean my lock. good idea?
https://www.wwgoa.com/articles/one-great-tip/removing-rust-with-electrolysis/

Could possibly be a cellar. Would it have been that far from the house though?
below is a image of the location of house and possible cellar.