17th Century Pit yields 1600s Jetons and Charles ii Farthing,Marked Pipes and Whizzer

[Ahab8]

I finally found a little time for treasure hunting. Decided to go for the old stuff this time. I whipped up a small sifter and decided to go to the site I found the Latten spoons at. I was hoping to sift the more concentrated areas to see what turned up. I used the GPX to see if I could find some deeper targets that I could sift. Second target was pretty deep and I was blessed to find some ash in the hole. With hopes that it may be a trash pit I started to dig down and see if I could isolate the perimeter of the ash layer. I found a deep musket ball and a nice marked pipe stem. Suddenly the stems started coming fast and furious. I was psyched to say the least. These 1600s finds are tough here in the US. Occasionally I would pull out my pinpointer to scan for metallic objects. At one point I found 4 round metallic objects and hoped that one may be a coin. One of the objects had 2 holes in it and looked to be a button. This hunt was the most fun I've ever had treasure hunting. I could become very addicted to pit and privy digging. It was an incredible day and produced some incredible early finds. I'm hoping to get a little assistance on the coin and jetons. The pipe stems are massive and date around 1670-1680 (Llewelyn Evans) British pipe maker. Among the finds were what I believe is a small jeton, a larger jeton that was turned into a button which I consider a killer personal find. The coin I believe is a Charles ii farthing which would date from 1672-1680 I believe. There was also a nice lead whizzed toy in the pit and a strange mystery item that I can't even tell you the composition of. More than 20 pipe pieces were in the pit. So much fun pulling them out of there. I consider any 17th Century finds in the states to be very special. These will go in the 1600s display.













The mystery piece



This pic shows how massive these early stems are. I put them next to one that came from an 1812 pit.

 

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[TheGreatNorth]

17th Century Pit yields 1600s Jetons and Charles ii Farthing,Marked Pipes and...

Wow man... that is a nice spread. Love those pipe stems. The Jetons are very interesting as well and in pretty good shape for over 300 years in the ground! Thanks for sharing!

 

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[Diggin Dude]

Those are some really awesome finds!! I love the marked pipe stems, Jetton coin finds awesome! Congrats and HH

 

[70monte68]

Great day sifting/digging!

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Incredible work! You've got an awesome site. Keep it coming!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Absolutely a fantastic hunt!

 

[johnnyblaze]

Nice haul on the early finds Abe
Those pipe stems are absolutely stunning!

~Blaze~

 

[DownNDirty]

Wow Abe, you just entered the world of pit digging with a huge bang! Like you posted, any 1600s relics found in the US are special and you found quite a few. The jettons and pipe stem pieces definitely belong in the display. All found in your first sifting session at that site-you need to hit that pit hard until you can't find any more relics.

Let me know if you would like to build a rocker-type sifter. It's by far the best way to go ad will enable you to sift through a large amount of dirt with the least amount of effort. I'll be glad to step you through the construction of one.

 

[miboje]

GREAT finds! I adore privvy digging. That one was KILLER! Kudos to you.

 

[scruggs]

You uncovered some beauties!

 

[MrBlueSkyNM]

Wow! That's awesome! Congrats on some amazing finds!

 

[huntsman53]

Awesome finds Ahab! Congrats! I could be wrong but the mystery piece seems to be pottery and might be a seal for a type of container.


Frank

 

[FriscoT06]

I believe that mystery piece looks familiar to me too. Perhaps leftovers from when they made turtle soup. Could be part of the shell. Or some other animal part. Amazing finds. Can't wait to see what you find next!

 

[4x4x4]

....Zen-like dig , you dig ?

 

[huntsman53]

I believe that mystery piece looks familiar to me too. Perhaps leftovers from when they made turtle soup. Could be part of the shell. Or some other animal part. Amazing finds. Can't wait to see what you find next!

To me, the mystery piece appears to be made of early pottery clay not an animal part or turtle shell. Notice the concentric lines in a circle with a center dot.


Frank

 

[huntsman53]

After looking at the piece more, I am more inclined to believe that it was a knob on a pottery pot lid or a piece added to the side of a pot to aid picking it up but not quite a handle. In the first pic, it appears that it was added to a pottery lid or pot after they were made but before the firing.


Frank

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Abe - Awesome motivational post. Early marked pipe stems and 1600s jetons is an excellent day of digging my anyone's measure. I'm sure a lot of detectorists looking for the really early stuff have their sights set on finding an early jeton some day, but your day has come! I've had one site that produced some worthwhile results by sifting but little else. From what I see on your thread, I may need to push on just a bit more. Congrats.

 

[Ahab8]

Great recoveries Abe, looks like a lot of fun. Hopefully there is still a lot to be dug at that site

Ton of fun Steve. Something I'd like to really get into at early sites. You ever done any pit digging?

 

[Ahab8]

Wow! Crazy amount of goodies concentrated in that burn pit. Hope you can thoroughly search out some more treasures there. Well done with the sifting process.

Thanks Kurios it was some of the best fun I've had treasure hunting. Something really exciting about opening up a snapshot glimpse into the earliest of settlers

 

[Ahab8]

Sweet finds

Thanks buddy

 

[Ahab8]

Nice bunch of finds Ahab. This is the sort of stuff that I enjoy seeing on tnet. Too bad there is not more of the old stuff posted here.
That privy is holding a good amount of nice finds, good luck digging the rest of it out. Makes you wonder why they were throwing coins in it.
I think I read that jetons were also used as markers to mark certain places on maps, but I could be wrong.
I have dug one lead whizzer that at first I thought was a button. I always hear the word whizzer, but still unsure how they worked. anyone care to elaborate on this.
I think you tie a string to it and make it whiz . I want to hear mine whiz.. lol.
Congrats.
View attachment 1490308

Thanks a lot my friend. I too wish there was more of the really early history that we share a love for. This super early stuff is so special to me. I just imagine the trials and tribulations these hearty souls lived through. These people had to be the toughest of the tough. Remarkable to me. I had s few ancestors that came to Mass Bay Colony on the Mayflower in the early 17th century. Another few around 1718. Its fun to imagine what they thought as they entered this strange land. A vast wilderness with natives and a beautiful and rugged coast. Freezing cold winters and beautiful falls with the turning leaves. Ok I'll stop carrying on but if you are truly in this hobby because you love history like you and I do these early finds are incredibly special. Hope we get to share many more in the future.