18th & 19th Century SILVER...Colonial PIT Relic Digging!

Patriot Relics

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Lowcountry, South Carolina / Richmond, Virginia
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CTX-3030, Deus XP II
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Relic Hunting
Hey guys,

After the tropical storm rolled through the low country I made sure to revisit a colonial trash pit that never seems to disappoint. Low tide in conjunction with the storm meant fresh erosion and a new layer of relics within range of the CTX. After arriving on site, the shear abundance of surface pottery and pipe stems had me stoked...here's a bit of what I picked off the surface.

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Interestingly I also recovered this champagne bottle top...GH Mumm & Co: these guys are actually German, and had been brewing champagne since 1827...until the French confiscated all of the Mumm's property after WWI. This one is likely turn of the century.

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Now for the good stuff- the challenging part of this pit is that it is on a salt flat. While the CTX is able to operate well in the mineralized conditions, most relics I've recovered come out toast...the exception...SILVER :laughing7: The big surprise was also my first cut silver, a 1773 Seville 2 Reale (cut to a 1/2 for change). Thanks to Don in the what is it forum for the ID assist.

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The second silver of the weekend came a day later- my second TRIME this year- 1853!

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Among the other relics was a handful of copper/tombac buttons (1 nice large dandy) and 2 partial 18th century pewter spoons.

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This was the most intriguing button, 6 point star wrapped in smaller stars- anyone recognize this one?

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A bit inland and out of the salt I pulled a nice 1900 IHP and a 1943 Steel cent (nearly gave me a heart attack as its grey color made me think it was another reale).

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Silver cased blood letter circa 1790! da13.webp

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All in all another outstanding weekend in the mud, as always thanks for looking!

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Upvote 35
Very well done sir. That cut silver is a thing of beauty.

Congrats on all of the other nice finds too!
 

Awesome collection of relics recovered. I always look forward to seeing your post as we hunt the same type sites. Congrats on your first cut silver. I dug my first quartered pistareen several years ago and remember it like it was yesterday.
 

Very well done sir. That cut silver is a thing of beauty.

Congrats on all of the other nice finds too!

Thanks Tom, crazy how a tiny piece of silver can get your heart pounding... It litterally fell out of the plug
 

Awesome collection of relics recovered. I always look forward to seeing your post as we hunt the same type sites. Congrats on your first cut silver. I dug my first quartered pistareen several years ago and remember it like it was yesterday.

Thanks screwy, I consider myself a button guy but that cut silver certainly put a smile on my face
 

Hi VMI; You should put some Moisturizer on your hands. Looks like they are peeling from all the digging your doing. Great finds. PEACE:RONB :icon_thumright:
 

Hi VMI; You should put some Moisturizer on your hands. Looks like they are peeling from all the digging your doing. Great finds. PEACE:RONB :icon_thumright:

Haha my wife said the same thing... 12 hours of digging in water logged muck and oyster shells takes its toll... WORTH IT :laughing7:
 

Great stuff as usually my friend. Love the cut silver and all of the great stems. That's quite a spot
 

Killer hunt Jon :headbang: Silvers, buttons, pipe stems and a whole mess of cool pottery. There is nothing like digging a piece of cut silver... I actually dug my second ever cut piece yesterday that I will get posted when I'm done processing the iron. That's awesome that you got the piece with the date.

I'm very interested in the ID of your mystery piece. I think I have one of those too! I'm pretty sure I never figured out what it was, or if I did, I have totally forgotten.

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Great stuff as usually my friend. Love the cut silver and all of the great stems. That's quite a spot

Thanks Abe, affectionately know as the pit I've recovered dozens of buttons and relics. The crazy part is that it's produced 6 War of 1812 era pewters. For the longest time I couldn't figure it out (no military history at the site) until I realized old uniforms were used to outfit slaves in the mid 1800s. I suspect after the civil war, freed slaves tossed them in the refuse pit
 

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Killer hunt Jon :headbang: Silvers, buttons, pipe stems and a whole mess of cool pottery. There is nothing like digging a piece of cut silver... I actually dug my second ever cut piece yesterday that I will get posted when I'm done processing the iron. That's awesome that you got the piece with the date.

I'm very interested in the ID of your mystery piece. I think I have one of those too! I'm pretty sure I never figured out what it was, or if I did, I have totally forgotten.

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Thanks bud, yep your mystery piece is a match for mine... no clue what it is. Congrats on your cut silver as well!
 

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Sweet hunt! All of it is great. The trime looks beautiful! Best of luck to the two of you and happy hunting!
 

THE SILVER ITEM AT FIRST THOUGHT WAS A BLEEDER KNIFE . SURE HAVE SOME NICE FINDS . THE BUTTON IS INTERESTING .
 

Awesome finds.
 

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