Found An Early Site With Early Finds...

joeyfresh · Feb 10, 2013

Spent most of the day today wandering a 600 acre field searching for a very early home site the burned in the 1850s. There aren't any pictures or maps of the site just a hand drawn plat from a chancery suit from the 1820s which showed a spring about 20 yards to the rear of the house. The current owner didn't know of any springs on the farm but my topo showed a few potential spots so that's where I concentrated my efforts. All three potential areas had tons of iron in them but I wasn't finding any brick, pottery or glass. I gave up on those spots after finding a lot of modern trash and headed toward the river. Right up on a slightly elevated area close to the river, I started digging shovel full scoops of brick and oyster shells. This had to be the area I was looking for. There was tons of iron so I decided to search the perimeter since I only had a couple hours left. I didn't find any silver but I did make some early finds.

Found some flat buttons:

A nice early pewter flower button:

Furniture tacks:

Some buckles and bits:

Pistol balls...some with casting spurs:

And some other early pieces:

There has to be some early silver here and the owner gave exclusivity to the site so I'll be going back there until they plant.

JmCraz8 · Feb 10, 2013

I think your spot on for the home site lol nice finds!!!

G.I.B. · Feb 10, 2013

Very cool. Thanks for the story and the photos.

Gunrunner61 · Feb 10, 2013

Your resolution has paid off,! Ya have found the honey hole....Congrats...........HH

MNcoinhunter · Feb 10, 2013

Oh man . . looking forward to seeing what else you find there.

turf_aholic · Feb 10, 2013

That is already a great site. Nice going!!!!!!!!

gleaner1 · Feb 10, 2013

Nice group of old finds, some old coins must be waiting... :icon_thumright:

John Boy · Feb 10, 2013

You're hittin the mother load there.way to go

stewielouie · Feb 10, 2013

Looks like you found the spot! Congrats!!

joeyfresh · Feb 10, 2013

gleaner1 said:
Nice group of old finds, some old coins must be waiting...

The coins will come. I just have to dedicate a whole day and dig through the iron.

Bill D. (VA) · Feb 10, 2013

Wayda go there Joey! Sounds like you got yourself into a nice little spot. Glad those chancery maps were of some use. If you were digging bricks and oyster shells by the shovel-full you may be into a trash pit. Did you probe it or dig any test holes? I vote for that pewter button as the find of the day. Congrats again on some nice finds and a great job on the research.

Tony in Virginia · Feb 10, 2013

Bet you can't sleep thinking about going back. Good luck , looks like a good spot.

joeyfresh · Feb 10, 2013

Bill D. (VA) said:
Wayda go there Joey! Sounds like you got yourself into a nice little spot. Glad those chancery maps were of some use. If you were digging bricks and oyster shells by the shovel-full you may be into a trash pit. Did you probe it or dig any test holes? I vote for that pewter button as the find of the day. Congrats again on some nice finds and a great job on the research.

Yeah Bill, thanks for that chancery link. I've been to this site in the past because there is a 19th century house there but it wasn't until I read up on it in the Malcolm Harris book and saw the chancery map that I realized there was an earlier house site there. I didn't bring my probe because it's too long to fit in my Prius, lol, so I need to order the 4 foot one. I did dig a bunch of random holes where the iron was heaviest and there was brick, glass and oyster shells in them but they weren't trash pits. The owner may not let me dig pits anyway since he was hesitant about me going back out there to metal detect. He remembered me from the past which is why he let me out there and doesn't mind me coming back but I think someone from DHR has been out there brainwashing him.

SouthJerseyJim · Feb 10, 2013

Now thats my kind of hunt! Keep at it and give the owner something cool from the field. Itll go a long way.

Steve in PA · Feb 11, 2013

Defintely some early stuff there, especially the pewter button, the one buckle frag, and a couple of those decorative pieces. Hopefully, further searching will pay off with more colonial relics and some silver.