Bill D. (VA)
Silver Member
Yesterday's finds including a cool 1700s British trade weight
With all the rain and flooding of the past few days a memory, my hunting partner Dan and I finally made it back out into the fields. Dan already provided the background on the hunt site, as well as our guest and new friend, so I'll get right to it. Although I was not able to put my coil over a coin, the finds were still fairly plentiful in spite of this site being pounded for the last 3 years. This probably had a lot to do with the recent peanut harvest which is one of the very few ways to get the soil turned over just a bit. This can be particularly helpful in iron patches as the slightest movement of the soil can rearrange how the targets are positioned, and help with the masking problem. I'd have to say my best find of the day was another 18th century bronze/brass British trade weight. This is the 4th one of these I've dug over the last few years, and I find them very unique and interesting. All of the marks on it are readable which I think I'm correctly summarizing below:
- the dagger/sword at the top signifies city of London authority for the weight
- the "A" represents the Averdepois system (16 oz to the pound)
- the ewer (looks like a coffee pot or urn) at the bottom is the mark of the Founders company which authorized the weight
- on the right is a crown over a "G" which is probably the mark for King George III
Another cool find I made was this thin brass ring with a stone, which is the 3rd ring I've recovered from this site. Hard to date but I expect is could go back to the late 1700s. It's fragile and I'm afraid if I try to bend it back into its original shape it'll break. I tried putting it in hot water for a while, but it still was risky so I left as is. A couple of interesting buttons also surfaced, and both had designs on the obverse and drilled eye shanks on the back. And lastly, what I thought was just a scrap piece of metal turned out to have a design of sorts. The pics don't do it justice, but it almost looks to me to be a bird resting at the bottom of the "V" which may be a branch. Other opinions welcomed. Anyway, hope we get one more chance to hit this site before the winter wheat is drilled, but that'll be any day so we might have to wait until next year. It would be a shame to not take advantage of the ideal hunting conditions present now, but it's beyond our control.
With all the rain and flooding of the past few days a memory, my hunting partner Dan and I finally made it back out into the fields. Dan already provided the background on the hunt site, as well as our guest and new friend, so I'll get right to it. Although I was not able to put my coil over a coin, the finds were still fairly plentiful in spite of this site being pounded for the last 3 years. This probably had a lot to do with the recent peanut harvest which is one of the very few ways to get the soil turned over just a bit. This can be particularly helpful in iron patches as the slightest movement of the soil can rearrange how the targets are positioned, and help with the masking problem. I'd have to say my best find of the day was another 18th century bronze/brass British trade weight. This is the 4th one of these I've dug over the last few years, and I find them very unique and interesting. All of the marks on it are readable which I think I'm correctly summarizing below:
- the dagger/sword at the top signifies city of London authority for the weight
- the "A" represents the Averdepois system (16 oz to the pound)
- the ewer (looks like a coffee pot or urn) at the bottom is the mark of the Founders company which authorized the weight
- on the right is a crown over a "G" which is probably the mark for King George III
Another cool find I made was this thin brass ring with a stone, which is the 3rd ring I've recovered from this site. Hard to date but I expect is could go back to the late 1700s. It's fragile and I'm afraid if I try to bend it back into its original shape it'll break. I tried putting it in hot water for a while, but it still was risky so I left as is. A couple of interesting buttons also surfaced, and both had designs on the obverse and drilled eye shanks on the back. And lastly, what I thought was just a scrap piece of metal turned out to have a design of sorts. The pics don't do it justice, but it almost looks to me to be a bird resting at the bottom of the "V" which may be a branch. Other opinions welcomed. Anyway, hope we get one more chance to hit this site before the winter wheat is drilled, but that'll be any day so we might have to wait until next year. It would be a shame to not take advantage of the ideal hunting conditions present now, but it's beyond our control.
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starting the season with a bang with the trade weight!
Billy Boy those are some nice early finds man.
