1773 Virginia Half Penny (x2), "Pligrim Hat" telegraph insulator and more..

[OutdoorAdv]

I did a bit of pit sifting in search of the rest of my Cannon Bottle (http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/486088-cannon-bottle-side-lc-buttons-etc.html) I opened up a small section of the pit and uncovered a little colonial pocket spill of two VA Half Pennies in decent shape. I was more than thrilled at this. Lots of coins have come from this pit... US, Spanish, British, Connecticut and now Virginia coppers. Both these were within detector range, but 100% masked. I love moving a bit of dirt around and uncovering a slamming signal.

I have always wanted to find a Virginia Half Penny. I thought they were KGIII for a while... when I realized they were Virginia it totally made my day.



The telegraph insulator was a big surprise. It certainly looked older than most I've ever seen (I haven't seen many ha). It wasn't until I got home and realized it is what you call a "Pilgrim Hat" insulator, then I realized its actually pretty rare. This one also appears to have some value to it was well.



Some recent auction listings of similar (same) insulators.



Here are the keepers... only a few old tombac buttons and a woman's or child's copper ring.



The whole reason for me sifting today was to find more to the cannon bottle. Unfortunately, all I found were these few pieces. I have the "Ca" with some grapes from the "Capt" in Capt Bragg. I also found most of the "A Little More Grape". Hopefully enough turns up for me to get the bottle back together to display. "Grape" is canister shot or grape shot. This is a famouse quote from the Battly of Buena Vista in the Mexican-American war.



Here is what the complete bottle looks like. Its a political bottle from the Taylor Presidential campaign in 1847 or so.... I just like it because it has a cannon on the side... and that's pretty awesome.



And finally the rest of the glass from my little pit sift today. There are some nice colonial bits and pieces on there. I will put some back together for displaying.

 

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[The Dirt Pirate]

Nice finds. I like the insulator. I've found a few insulators but that one is cool. The half penny is cool too.

 

[ironhorse]

Nice day of detecting and nice bunch of finds!
My pilgrims hats off to you on that insulator find!

 

[Vino]

Great hunt today Brad!
2 killer coins. Congrats on the Virginia half pennys.
And that insulator is really cool.

 

[Ahab8]

Killer coins and glass buddy. Feels so good when you dig up some dirt and move stuff around an PF a beautiful high tone appears. Almost feels like you stole one you never would have found

 

[Brian W]

Nice Virginia half Pennie's...the are in decent shape...hope you find the pieces of that bottle...never heard of that Pilgrim hat before..pretty cool

 

[PACO]

Hey OutdoorAdv, Great finds, I have 2 Virginia half pennies also. I live in Central Pa. and wondered how they got up here.

 

[Awbsro2017]

Awesome Finds!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Nice finds. I like the insulator. I've found a few insulators but that one is cool. The half penny is cool too.

Thanks CaliforniaKid! This is my first insulator... I never look for them so it was just dumb luck that one happened to be in the pit. Its pretty awesome that its one of the early ones and very collectible.

Nice day of detecting and nice bunch of finds!
My pilgrims hats off to you on that insulator find!

Haha. Thank you IH! Sure does look just like a pilgrim hat. ha

Great hunt today Brad!
2 killer coins. Congrats on the Virginia half pennys.
And that insulator is really cool.

Thanks George! I had a blast today... although I learned that too wet soil sucks for sifting. I really wanted to open more of the pit up, but it'll have to wait for dryer weather.

Killer coins and glass buddy. Feels so good when you dig up some dirt and move stuff around an PF a beautiful high tone appears. Almost feels like you stole one you never would have found

Thanks Abe! Yeah man, there is no better sound than creating a sweet high tone from quiet ground. I have sterilized this whole area... even dug the nails. ha These coins were only about 6-8" deep, but silent masked with some small bits of iron or something in the pit. I got a tombac and pewter piece from this section too... all totally masked. I have a ton more to do, but it'll have to wait for the summer.

Nice Virginia half Pennie's...the are in decent shape...hope you find the pieces of that bottle...never heard of that Pilgrim hat before..pretty cool

Thanks Brian! I hear they are typically pretty rough. I really lucked out with these two being in an area that wasn't planted... 20 yards over and they would have been blank copper disks by now. Thanks man, and I hope to find the rest of the bottle... everything is destroyed in this pit... I think people had a blast breaking things when they threw them in.

Hey OutdoorAdv, Great finds, I have 2 Virginia half pennies also. I live in Central Pa. and wondered how they got up here.

Thanks PACO! I had been wanting to find one for a while now. I couldn't believe I got two today. Good little bit on them here Virginia Halfpence: Introduction if you haven't already seen it. Really cool story behind them. I wonder if after they arrived in NY to wait for distribution, if they were shipped down to VA or perhaps after written permission, distributed from NY. If so, maybe how some ended up in PA. Or perhaps just a traveler stopping by. Pretty awesome coppers though.

Awesome Finds!

Thanks KJenkins!

 

[bill from lachine]

Your old half penny is a sweet find.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

As we discussed earlier Brad, I think that insulator is a fabulous find with the style and color being quite unique. I think I'd take that any day over a couple of halfpennies, but in your case you got both .... lol! Congrats on a few more firsts, and good luck finding the rest of that bottle.

 

[pepperj]

Very nice Brad you really hit a homer with the insulator what a beauty! Looking at this link and a person could get a power pole looking at this link of glass. Well done on the coppers and getting more of the bottle as it's all there probably just have to sift you way to it.
Pole Top Discoveries & Glass Discoveries | Auction #68 Review | Peachridge Glass

 

[Gridwalker306]

What a great place you have to dig, those are some inspiring finds. Congrats on the rare insulator!

 

[port ewen ace]

MEGA DIGS!!

 

[Steve in PA]

VA Halfpennies are nice and would usually make my day, but they don't hold a candle to that insulator. Heck of a find Brad. With insulators like that, oftentimes where ther's one, there's more!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Excellent collection of digs, love the pair of half pennies

 

[Z.K.]

Great bits of history there! Nice work, Outdooradv.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Your old half penny is a sweet find.

Regards + HH

Bill

Thanks Bill! I found the first one and thought it was a KGIII, threw it in a film case with cotton balls. 20 min later the second one turns up and I saw the shield on the back... was confused for a bit and then realized the first one also had a shield. Was very happy about those finds.

As we discussed earlier Brad, I think that insulator is a fabulous find with the style and color being quite unique. I think I'd take that any day over a couple of halfpennies, but in your case you got both .... lol! Congrats on a few more firsts, and good luck finding the rest of that bottle.

Thanks a ton Bill! As you know I was flipping out about the VA half pennies and thought this dirty piece of glass was just a junk insulator! ha



I still like the half pennies more than the insulator ... but it seems all you guys think this insulator is pretty special... so Its growing on me. I'll need to have some relic tryouts and move another round of relics into a storage box to make some more room.

Very nice Brad you really hit a homer with the insulator what a beauty! Looking at this link and a person could get a power pole looking at this link of glass. Well done on the coppers and getting more of the bottle as it's all there probably just have to sift you way to it.
Pole Top Discoveries & Glass Discoveries | Auction #68 Review | Peachridge Glass

Thanks Jim! I actually posted that screenshot along with another. "Estimate $1,800 - $2,200"... everything has a price and that's well above my price for this thing. SOLD! haha The other one I had in the original post sold for $527... that's still a lot of money. Maybe more turn up and I can get some new machines with them. ha

What a great place you have to dig, those are some inspiring finds. Congrats on the rare insulator!

Thanks J.Cache! This place keeps things exciting as I never know what will turn up next. I turn to tnet for my inspiration and motivation to go swing more, so its nice to have something interesting that people can enjoy too.

MEGA DIGS!!

Thanks Ace!

VA Halfpennies are nice and would usually make my day, but they don't hold a candle to that insulator. Heck of a find Brad. With insulators like that, oftentimes where ther's one, there's more!

Thanks Steve! Man.. if there is more I want to find them. Like 2 to 4 per pole right? I don't sell stuff, but if I had a few of these, I think I could part with them for some new detector equipment.

Excellent collection of digs, love the pair of half pennies

Thanks vmiairpwr! Me too... I think I really lucked out with them on their condition. Very happy that I have readable dates (even though the are all the same date) and their not totally toasted.

Great bits of history there! Nice work, Outdooradv.

Thanks Z.K. This section of the pit has some nice surprises.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Great finds, absolutely awesome!

 

[treblehunter]

Wow sweet finds, I love the glass too, nice!