1855 Stagecoach Stop Site

[ANTIQUARIAN]

The owner of this property recently gave me permission to detect this site and 3 others he owns. On Thursday I spent 4hrs here and slowly gridded a narrow stretch of the yard on the east side of the oldest section of the building. The front portion of the building dates to the 1880's, while the back part dates to 1855. Consequently, most of my older finds came in the 1855 area of the side yard. A wrap-around porch had been removed from the 1880 front and side portion of the building in the 1960's. Most of the finds from the front portion of the yard dated from the 1950's onwards. I swept across the very front of the yard and got few signals and no finds. It was bit disappointing that I only found modern coinage and not a single baggage tag in sight! The one bright spot was that the old pocket watch face ring is silver!

My favourite finds were the shield buckle, the cover of a compact, the 1950's cap gun and the nickel-plated whistle. The whistle has some writing on it, so to read it better ... yup I have to tumble it!

There are two more properties attached to this one. Next door there's a concrete swimming pool built in the 1930's or 40's that apparently had rental cabins surrounding it, it's now attached to a 1970's built house. Next to that there's an 1890's built home, with a lot of open area around it, so I feel confident there's definitely more to be found here. In the last pic, the area in red is where I detected yesterday, in blue is the pool / cabin site and in green is the 1890's home site.
Thanks for looking and hope you all have a great long weekend,
Dave

 

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[Jyverb64]

Very nice buckle and the detail on the compact is great, I found the exact same cap gun 2 years ago.

 

[Ahab8]

That's a nice buckle bud! I know you're disappointed that no coins came out but you will find a small hot spot and nail a few there. There was a spot where people prob sat and waited or are and there will be some nice stuff waiting for you. Good luck on your next hunt bud and that's a good start

 

[K1DDO1979]

I found a buckle just like it recently at a old stone foundation site in the woods. Couldn't find any info on it. Good finds!

 

[K1DDO1979]

When I look closer mine is a little bit different shaped and slightly bigger I think. Still nice to see another one dug up!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Very nice buckle and the detail on the compact is great, I found the exact same cap gun 2 years ago.

Thanks for your post Jy!
Any thoughts on the date of your cap gun, love to see a pic of it.
Dave

That's a nice buckle bud! I know you're disappointed that no coins came out but you will find a small hot spot and nail a few there. There was a spot where people prob sat and waited or are and there will be some nice stuff waiting for you. Good luck on your next hunt bud and that's a good start

Thanks very much for the info Abe!
I like the idea of finding a "spot where people prob sat and waited".
Hope to get back there the week of the 20th, I'm kinda busy until then.
Best of luck to you,
Dave

I found a buckle just like it recently at a old stone foundation site in the woods. Couldn't find any info on it. Good finds!

Thanks for your post and for the pics of your buckles KIDDO!
The ones you found look almost identical except larger.
You know what they say, "bigger is better" ... when it comes to buckles anyway!
Dave

PS. I've been to Peggy's Cove at least a half dozen times.
I worked for 6 months at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax and lived on a Canadian Coast Guard ice breaker at the dock next door!

When I look closer mine is a little bit different shaped and slightly bigger I think. Still nice to see another one dug up!

Thanks again for your info!

 

[Old Dude]

Awesome finds Dave. My favorites are the buckle and the compact cover. Very, very nice hunt. Congrats sir!

 

[rodarian]

Those are some great relics, Dave. I found a whistle that looks identical to that one last spring. There is one minor difference, the one i found was broke in half...heh.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Awesome finds Dave. My favorites are the buckle and the compact cover. Very, very nice hunt. Congrats sir!

Thanks very much Dave!
Best of luck to you this weekend,
Dave

Those are some great relics, Dave. I found a whistle that looks identical to that one last spring. There is one minor difference, the one i found was broke in half...heh.

Thanks very much for your post Rod! Sorry to hear about your find being broken, the whistle is actually my favourite find of the hunt!

There's quite a lot of writing on it ... but all I cam make out is 'Made in . . .?
I think most of these types of whistles were made in England and they're still being made the exact same way today as they were back in the 19thc.
I'm going to put this in the tumbler this weekend and I'll post the final results, hopefully on Monday!
Dave

 

[Argentium]

Nice hunt - makes you wonder if it got cherry picked for coins over the 1960's - 1980's those earlier generations of detectorists
"hoovered up " a lot of the low hanging fruit . The heart piece cleaned up very nicely ! I like your buckle too !!!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice hunt - makes you wonder if it got cherry picked for coins over the 1960's - 1980's those earlier generations of detectorists
"hoovered up " a lot of the low hanging fruit . The heart piece cleaned up very nicely ! I like your buckle too !!!

Thanks for your post Arg ... actually I didn't think about that!
Most of the good finds came from within 20' of the original front door of the 1850's side of the house.
They were all 2" - 4" deep, as the root base was very thick here.

When I get back here, I'm going to grid that area or the yard in even more detail!
Dave

 

[treblehunter]

My favorite is the whistle or maybe the compact? I the compact.lol
I the pix too!

 

[pepperj]

Nice grab on the buckle, and other items.
It's always a when it comes to certain locations and it has history written all over the site but there's little to no coinage show for the hours put in detecting. This new site has the potential of producing some very nice keepers, and I'm thinking if the main activity was off the side. Lets say another smaller structure for the hitching of horses away from the main house, either way there's a sweet spot waiting for the coil to go over on a return hunt.

 

[Higgy]

Very nice digs, Antiquarian. Fun and interesting finds are always good if you cant find coins or jewelry in my opinion, and you certainly have done that!

Nice hunt - makes you wonder if it got cherry picked for coins over the 1960's - 1980's those earlier generations of detectorists "hoovered up " a lot of the low hanging fruit.

Maybe, but I also have a theory that there may be sites - no matter how old - that just dont produce. One of my permissions is a 1817 stagecoach stop, and the woman who owns it lived there for 47 years. She claims that no one has ever detected it. I have found a brass buckle, which I am assuming goes to some sort of saddle maybe - its too small for a shoe - and thats about it. After hours spent, I've only found a clad dime and a wheatie, and hundreds of nails and assorted trash. Not one silver.

So its probably okay to consider the notion that a there are sites that just dont produce or the targets are deeper than the capabilites of our detectors.

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Hey Dave, I like the buckle and the whistle. I dug up a whistle similar to yours a couple of years ago. Here is some info on them. Mine is a J. Hudson, metropolitan whistle.
http://www.whistleshop.co.uk/history.html
Good luck buddy,
ZDD

 

[highnam]

Nice digs, nice pics!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

My favorite is the whistle or maybe the compact? I the compact.lol
I the pix too!

Thanks for your post Brad!
The whistle is definitely my favourite too!
Dave

Nice grab on the buckle, and other items.
It's always a when it comes to certain locations and it has history written all over the site but there's little to no coinage show for the hours put in detecting. This new site has the potential of producing some very nice keepers, and I'm thinking if the main activity was off the side. Lets say another smaller structure for the hitching of horses away from the main house, either way there's a sweet spot waiting for the coil to go over on a return hunt.

I like you're idea of "another smaller structure for the hitching of horses away from the main house". Somebody moved an old school portable onto the rear of the property years ago, this seems to be the most likely location for where the stables would've been. There's open area around this structure ... think I'll hit it the next time I'm there.

I'm hitting an old farm paddock just north of here tomorrow morning, I'll probably find more old coinage there then I did here!
Best of luck to you J,
Dave

Very nice digs, Antiquarian. Fun and interesting finds are always good if you cant find coins or jewelry in my opinion, and you certainly have done that!

Maybe, but I also have a theory that there may be sites - no matter how old - that just dont produce. One of my permissions is a 1817 stagecoach stop, and the woman who owns it lived there for 47 years. She claims that no one has ever detected it. I have found a brass buckle, which I am assuming goes to some sort of saddle maybe - its too small for a shoe - and thats about it. After hours spent, I've only found a clad dime and a wheatie, and hundreds of nails and assorted trash. Not one silver.

So its probably okay to consider the notion that a there are sites that just dont produce or the targets are deeper than the capabilites of our detectors.

I agree whole heartily with this statement Higgy, "there are sites that just don't produce or the targets are deeper than the capabilities of our detectors"!

Soil is the key here, as it is in all on all of our sites ... the soil gives and some times it takes away!
If the soil is too loamy or rich, I believe the finds sink out of range of most manufacturers detectors ... except for maybe the CTX 3030!
Most of the finds in this yard were in the 2" - 4" beep range, a couple were at 6" like the cap gun.
Sorry to hear about your bad luck on your 1817 stagecoach stop site ... but it's the hope of what we 'might' find that keeps us going back!
Thanks for your post,
Dave

Nice digs.

Thanks!

 

[Old Dude]

Dave, Vino's super old, super productive site he has been gracious enough to share several times with several people has an enormous front lawn that has been the most productive part of the property. It is just so huge that it seems overwhelming to try and grid methodically. Perhaps yours would be the same?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Hey Dave, I like the buckle and the whistle. I dug up a whistle similar to yours a couple of years ago. Here is some info on them. Mine is a J. Hudson, metropolitan whistle.
http://www.whistleshop.co.uk/history.html
Good luck buddy,
ZDD

Thank you very much for the link to this site Dave, I can only wish that it might be a police whistle!
I currently have it in the tumbler, if anything interesting appears I'll be sure to post it!
Thanks again,
Dave

Nice digs, nice pics!

Thank you Sir!