189-Year Old Lady, Personalized Lead Knuckles and More

[BuckleBoy]

Hello All,



I went out yesterday with Rodeo Recon to track down an old homestead in a cornfield we had permission to hunt. As the spring window closes on us, I'm determined to hunt or rehunt all the field spots that I can. (Because I know that ticks, heat, and deadfall from the ice storm await us in the woods this summer )

So we got out in the field. It was a beautiful day. Here's a shot of Rodeo in the massive field:





Pretty soon I had a flat button, and was feeling pretty good about it, when some IH's started to come up. Here are some photos of two of them. (We ended up giving these coins and some other items to the property owner.)









Next thing I know I hear Rodeo yell "Coin!" and when I came over I saw this:









We hoped it would be Shield Nickel #8, but it was a "V." 1893.

Then I walked up on a cool little find. Normally I can expect to see an occasional shard of blue pottery or glass in a field, but this little beauty was a total surprise. I thought it was a robin's egg at first, the way it's perched on the corn stalks (was it somehow moved by a harvesting machine?). Here are some cool shots. It is a Bennington marble (glazed pottery)--late 1800s/early 1900s.















Rodeo also made a Very Cool surface find--it's a bird. I didn't get a photo of it in situ, but here it is before he cleaned it up. I think it is made of clay and hand painted.







Then I got the center portion of a pair of lead knuckles. We found some more buttons, lantern pieces, toe taps, harmonica reeds, and spoon pieces. I had a decent hit, dug the plug, and out flopped a BIG copper!









It seems like LC's have rained down on me in droves lately--but earlier this spring and during the late fall I had a bit of a LC drought. Funny how that works. Interesting thing is that every single copper has been a Matron Head this year--except for one Draped LC. Last year, every single LC was a Braided Hair.

Well this coin was likewise a Matron Head, dated 1820.


We hunted until signals were slim to none, then we packed up the gear and headed home. Here is a photo of all of our finds:






More Photos appear in the first reply below:

 

[donny nj]

Excellent hunt!!! super saves!

 

[{Sentinel}]

that's one of the best posts i've seen on here......great pics and story play by play. BANNER

This is the way i wish all posts were.....simply awesome.

Thanks so much for the reply matt. I like to share hunts like this because I enjoy reading posts that are done in this style.

Some nice finds there Buck. I tell you what though, that piece of the lead knuckles with the personalized name inscribed on it is my favorite find by far That is such a cool thing to find any piece that has been personalized like that! Congrats to you and Recon for the nice LC and Nickel as well. Y'all deserve it as that field looks to be a MONSTER and I'm sure took alot of time to hunt thoroughly

Ya, when Diggergirl found the last set of lead knucks a month or two ago, I thought I'd never get a chance to recover a pair. Even though I came back with two LC's and a seated half dime, I was brooding over the knuckles LOL. But this piece just makes my week.

We hunted out the housesite in that field. No barn there, and hunted all day to get what we found. The total area of the site was only an acre or so. Small one.

After it is planted in soybeans, then harvested in the fall, it will be easier to swing in. So we'll likely rehunt it then.

Well, here we go again, Buckleboy. Another summer of me slobbering all over my keyboard at your finds. Cool duck, too.

Well, if it's any consolation we do slow down a bit in the summers. We have to. There's a lot more we're up against then. (ticks, snakes, 90 degree weather, dehydration, overgrown woods, and this summer we'll have all of the deadfall from the ice storms too. )

simply awesome, i wonder what the odds are of anything like that here in washington state?

To be honest, I don't know... But my advice is to Always hunt the oldest sites you can find--no matter what geographic area you live in. Then you will find the best finds your area has to offer.



Regards,



Buckleboy

O I C....You had already found the housesite so you had it targeted in From the photo, it looks expansive..

 

[BuckleBoy]

O I C....You had already found the housesite so you had it targeted in   From the photo, it looks expansive..

Oh yes.  If we tried to thoroughly hunt fields that size...we'd never find anything. 


The site itself is a very small piece of that great expanse.

 

[Dman]

Nice finds. I like the large cent.

 

[Colonialhunter]

Neato.

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Congratulations on this assortment of cool relics. Bennington marbles are always a nice colorful addition to anyones plug. The 1820 largie is fantastic BB. Keep up the great detecting and research.
Chris