1773 VA Half Penny, Awesome Iron, Lead and more...

[OutdoorAdv]

Here is my take from my last two hunts. The first hunt on 2/6 was a half day hunt that produced the 1773 VA half penny, tombac button, V-Nickel and that was about it. So I saved those few finds to share after my next hunt, which happened this past weekend and I was able to put in a whole day. Once again, the iron stole the show with a killer pair of scissors. The second full set that I got from this location. I waited to zap them before I shared them. My hunt last weekend ended a 6 hunt streak where I pulled large coppers... I was sticking it out as long as possible to try and find something to keep the streak going.

The scissors were my favorite find, the VA copper a close second. Another great surprise was the fired musket ball that was loaded with a buck and ball load.









When I cleaned this musket ball I noticed that it was fired on the sides, then I noticed the three dimples on it. This sort of find I really enjoy. The impression of the three buck shot on the back of the ball when the musket was fired is just awesome! That piece of buck shot was not found with the ball... I dug it from the trash pit last summer not too far from the musket ball.



The shoe buckle fragment in the bottom right of this picture, matches perfectly to a buckle frame piece I dug months ago. At the bottom of this post I took a big picture of all the buckle frame pieces from this site. I am starting to find a lot of pieces that fit together.



The tines on these buckles are hand forged and the frames look decorated with some punch marks. Hard to tell and they were in rough shape, but tumbling did clean them up a lot.



This was a nice surprise on my 2/6 trip of the few non-ferrous items I dug. I thought it was a kg3 farthing for a minute until I made out the shield on the back. I'll take a state copper over a KG any day



I really like pipe pieces and this one turned up while digging some nails. Once I got home and cleaned it, I noticed that its actually glazed. Never seen a pipe bowl that was glazed. I would guess that its a later style pipe bowl, probably post CW.



This knee buckle fragment has a nice flower and scroll design on it.



Any idea on this brass item? Seems to have a rivet type thing on the back... I would guess its a cabinet latch and it swiveled on the rivet?



This is my tumbled iron from my last two trips. I do a lot of electrolysis on the larger iron, but the small stuff I started tumbling with excellent results. I only tumble iron! Then it get the same hot wax bath that the electrolysis iron gets.



Only a few rose heads were in the pile of nails. Probably 50+ nails from the last two trips... 95% are square nails and the rest are rose heads at this place.



Thee whole horse shoes were also found. I have about a dozen complete shoes from this site, and no joke - a 5 gallon bucket full of half shoes from here. There is at least 50+ half shoe pieces!



After electrolysis and before the wax



The whole mess of shoe buckle pieces from this site. Most of the ones that fit together were not found together. Persistence and keeping these finds separate from everything else is starting to pay off with some really cool pieces that are starting to fit together.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[A2coins]

Wow nice I see all these posts like yours all close to banner finds compared to what I get... nice jobs

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Tnmountains]

Digging the iron on a site such as this really helps tell the story. I have a few hammered iron buckles myself. The half shoes are possible mule shoes....... and what do we ever do with all the horse shoes we dig?
Nice hunt. Been some very nice hunts on the forum of late!
HH
TnMtns

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Wow nice I see all these posts like yours all close to banner finds compared to what I get... nice jobs

Thank you A2Coins! Some great posts on here lately makes it a fun place to hang out. You can tell when the east coast starts to thaw. ha

Digging the iron on a site such as this really helps tell the story. I have a few hammered iron buckles myself. The half shoes are possible mule shoes....... and what do we ever do with all the horse shoes we dig?
Nice hunt. Been some very nice hunts on the forum of late!
HH
TnMtns

Thank you TnMtns! Absolutely... more people should dig more of it at older sites. I got the War of 1812 Springfield Bayonet here, Rev War Bayonet here and a few colonial stirrups... and tons more. One bayonet I was learning the Deus and digging all iron and the other it was 25 degrees out and I wanted to stay warm digging iron. ha Anyway, those relics are some of my favorites and would still be in the ground if I didn't choose to dig iron. Not to mention the countless targets I have unmasked after removing iron from a plug. (I think I'm up to 6+ totally masked coppers at this site)

I only found two oxen shoes here (the half shoes). The bucket is all horse though... most were worn at the toe in half, but some were broken by the plow.

 

[Scrappy]

Thanks a ton Steve. I found 2 VA half cents in Dec and once I realized what they were, I had a stupid grin for the rest of the day. I got a CT copper last summer too. Now I need to stir up a NJ copper. Ha. It took me a minute to realize the dimples on the musket ball, but once I did I just thought it was awesome. I saw that x-ray Brown Bess image on the Brown Bess wiki page... That buck and ball wiki is very interesting... Oddly the x-ray shows the buck loaded behind the ball, but the the wiki says the ball was loaded behind the buck to provide a seal. Personally, I think buck behind ball would fire best and that would make sense for the dimple marks from the buck shot being compressed into the ball. I thought it might be a hunting load too, but it sounds like it might have just been antipersonal. I might have to scout a bit more at this site.

I'm dying to find a state copper other than a NJ - I found 2 of them! Lol.

I read the page before posting the link and saw the same thing in that Brown Bess x-Ray. i can see both ways working in regards to the buck-n-ball. Quick question; does your site have a history of battle? It says in the wiki "article" that this type of load was used in war, but I could equally see it being used as hunting shot.

 

[treblehunter]

Hey Brad cool finds, man do I have a site you would love. I'm telling you, it's where I was early Dec. I have not been back there because I walked into a guys deer hunting setup/ tree stand. I found my iron iron in there along with a skeleton key. I didn't spend any real time, just walked through listening for a screaming 8 Real to jump out at me, lol As soon as I seen the guys setup I didn't want to scent up his area and ruin his hunting in there. The three of us should go hunt it, you, George, and I. The window of opportunity is closing, as the weather warms up the ticks and chiggers come out!

 

[collector01]

Nice seeing somebody saving the iron relics so many people don't like them or walk over them. They are just as much the history of a site as a va half penny congrats on all the awesome finds. Hh!

 

[Carolina Tom]

Very nice post, and exceptional finds. WOW... don't really know what to say!

 

[Isaac]

Great finds Brad!!!really like the scissors. That's a honey hole location!!!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Fantastic narrative OutdoorAdv with even better pictures. The buck & ball and colonial copper are great finds, but the iron scissors and chain tell a story. I don't always dig iron signals, but when I do...I hope it's stuff like this

 

[DownNDirty]

Man you've been killin' it lately! Great job with the electrolysis; your tank must've been running 24/7. I like the scissors & buck & ball round ball but the Va halfpenny is my favorite. An no sifting required! Keep up the great work.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Hey Brad cool finds, man do I have a site you would love. I'm telling you, it's where I was early Dec. I have not been back there because I walked into a guys deer hunting setup/ tree stand. I found my iron iron in there along with a skeleton key. I didn't spend any real time, just walked through listening for a screaming 8 Real to jump out at me, lol As soon as I seen the guys setup I didn't want to scent up his area and ruin his hunting in there. The three of us should go hunt it, you, George, and I. The window of opportunity is closing, as the weather warms up the ticks and chiggers come out!

Thanks Brad! You had me a "iron iron" haha Lets talk with George at the DIPA and try to figure something out.

Nice seeing somebody saving the iron relics so many people don't like them or walk over them. They are just as much the history of a site as a va half penny congrats on all the awesome finds. Hh!

Thank you collector01! When I started hunting in the 90's I didnt know what electrolysis was and the internet didn't exist yet. ha I took some time away from the hobby and got back into it a few years ago. First thing I did was build an electrolysis tank and preserve all the flaking iron that I had saved from 20 years prior. Now iron is some of my favorite stuff. It's a lot of work, but every now and then something really cool turns up.

Very nice post, and exceptional finds. WOW... don't really know what to say!

Thanks Tom! I had the day off and got up at 4 am to spend today hunting... I have another batch of finds to post in a minute, that (i think) are better than this post. If things go as I plan, you'll still not know what to say. (I don't know what to say either I'm so tired. ha)

Great finds Brad!!!really like the scissors. That's a honey hole location!!!

Thanks Isaac! Those scissors are pretty cool. Its great to get something that is complete and not in pieces.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Fantastic narrative OutdoorAdv with even better pictures. The buck & ball and colonial copper are great finds, but the iron scissors and chain tell a story. I don't always dig iron signals, but when I do...I hope it's stuff like this

Thanks vmiairpwr07! I like the chain links that are worn down and thin. Its really neat to see wear marks on the stuff we dig. I have dug a lot of chains at this place and tumbled most of them. I have one that looks totally hand made since each link appears to be a little different size. While it might seem like I did ALL iron signals... I don't! ha I dig some, but one can only take so much of that in a hunt. Typically I start off a hunt strong and dig some iron, but after a few hours I get sick of it. Still, a lot of questionable signals end up being iron, so I always end up with a lot.

Man you've been killin' it lately! Great job with the electrolysis; your tank must've been running 24/7. I like the scissors & buck & ball round ball but the Va halfpenny is my favorite. An no sifting required! Keep up the great work.

Thanks DnD! Cant wait to sift this summer. Still way too wet up here, but I have a few spots that I have dug plugs in and look very promising.

 

[villagenut]

You get some pretty good sites to dig, very impressive. I love digging old iron and appreciate it when you show off your iron finds like you do. Keep 'em coming. Here is a pair of scissors I recently found and just finished them up. You reminded me of them by your post, hope you don't mind me sharing them here. They aren't easy to get to this shape, as you well know.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[OutdoorAdv]

You get some pretty good sites to dig, very impressive. I love digging old iron and appreciate it when you show off your iron finds like you do. Keep 'em coming. Here is a pair of scissors I recently found and just finished them up. You reminded me of them by your post, hope you don't mind me sharing them here. They aren't easy to get to this shape, as you well know.

View attachment 1276779View attachment 1276780View attachment 1276781

Thank you villagenut! I don't mind at all, I actually encourage it... I'm here to learn after all. And, that is an AMAZING job on those scissors. I'm guessing those were a salt water find. I've done electrolysis on iron that is well pitted, to hardly oxidized, but never on something that was encrusted as those scissors. Really nice work on those.

View attachment 1276894

Thank you Casper!