A couple of hunts...Rev War, Loyalist Homestead and 7 Years War

ColonialDude

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Managed to do a bit of digging. My finds represent 3 different sites. The first was one of the first loyalist homesteads that turned up some Rev war goodies in the past, as well as some great American coppers. I pulled a very nice Spanish Silver 2 Reale from he iron. I initially thought it was a 4 Reale. Unfortunately it’s holed. There are a few small marks where it looks like the owner started to pinch it and decided to move to the final location. 1721...my oldest silver to date. Or is it?? The green crap has me wondering if it’s a counterfeit or it’s simply not pure silver and some copper is bleeding through. It’s difficult to see but based on the hole it does look like it’s silver all the way through. Also found a small 1806 British copper, a British navy button and a pile of plain buttons.

I had a plan to hit another site but that was out due to winter wheat. Ended up trying a random overgrown grassy lot on the edge of the town I was in as it’s an old town and on the water. Worked out ok although it may have been detected before or I was on the edge of a site. Got some old finds but signals were few and far between. One of the pewter buttons is a Rev war 60th regiment of foot button although quite worn. I dig another similar pewter button that looks plain. Managed a Connecticut copper but it’s pretty worn so unlikely I’ll ever know the variety. Believe it’s a 1785. Also got an early knife, a large button and a heel plate.

i got rained it eventually at the previous site, and decided to try a 7 Years War (French & Indian War) site. Got a beautiful 1st model Brown Bess side plate. It has a nice broad arrow marking on the back but unfortunately is broken. I’ve often found multiple targets in one hole on various sites but never this size! 2 dirty hoes or adzes and a nice pick. I’ll get them cleaned up eventually and share the after photos. still in pretty good shape for 1750’s.
 

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Upvote 29
Great finds! The corrosion on the Spanish silver is probably due to the fact that the Pistareens minted in Spain were made from debased silver which had a higher copper content than the Reales minted in the colonies. As a result they were worth proportionally less in circulation and it took five 2 Reales Pistareens to equal a standard 8 Reales coin.

Thanks for you info. I learned something here. It's a little unsightly but still beautiful to my eye! haha
 

Wow those are some awesome finds bucket listers for me Well done

Thanks. I'm sure you've found a few of my bucket listers as well! haha
 

Great group of finds. Love the sideplate with the British Broad Arrow. Of course Spanish silver always looks good in the group. That Iron is in amazing condition!

Thanks! Yeah it's a beauty piece in great shape with the exception of the damage. I compared it to some images and it seems to be from the first model Brown Bess which makes sense based on what I know of the site. I've got a few similar pieces of iron which I have already treated and preserved. It's definitely good right out of the ground though.

Fort Ticonderoga apparently had a very nice collection of similar early iron tools found from the construction of the fort. I've attached a photo. You can see some similar tools in here for sure. One identical. The interesting part is the construction of the hoe or adze. The appear to have been made like an axe and then simply twisted over. You can see the twists at the opening. Seven Years War Etnrencing Tools.webp
 

Fantastic digging. Looks like you've done your homework as per sites. Thanks for the good pics and read. Congrats and GL.

Thank you sir. I have definitely put in some effort in terms of research. One of the sites (60th regiment button and Connecticut copper) was just a luck shot in the dark. Sometimes it seems to work that way. I'll research the heck out of something and expect big things from a site only to be completely disappointed, and other times I'll try a random spot just on a hunch and it turns out to be one of my best spots ever. Research certainly helps though.
 

Excellent finds and the pistareen!!! That coin looks so nice! The copper and the hole tells part of it's story so it's not really a bad thing in my eyes. Those tools look really nice as well! Congrats on all of it!
 

Some great coppers there and that Reales is super cool. Congrats
 

Colonial Dude, what an amazing couple of hunts you had. The 2 Reale looks like it was dropped yesterday after someone picked it up at the mint - great condition. The 60th Regiment button is also a great find - believe I read on the board where someone else also found one of these recently though I could be mistaken after seeing all the great finds on this board day after day. The green crap is me being green with envy, kidding aside, great hunts. Good luck with your hunts. Walt
 

Good on you my friend! Fantastic Colonial finds and congrats on the Reale!
 

Excellent finds and the pistareen!!! That coin looks so nice! The copper and the hole tells part of it's story so it's not really a bad thing in my eyes. Those tools look really nice as well! Congrats on all of it!

Thanks! That’s true enough. If only this coin could talk.
 

Colonial Dude, what an amazing couple of hunts you had. The 2 Reale looks like it was dropped yesterday after someone picked it up at the mint - great condition. The 60th Regiment button is also a great find - believe I read on the board where someone else also found one of these recently though I could be mistaken after seeing all the great finds on this board day after day. The green crap is me being green with envy, kidding aside, great hunts. Good luck with your hunts. Walt


Thanks very much! There’s definitely some serious detail on the silver. All of the reales I have found look like they’ve gone through the ringer. I’ve found quite a few 60th buttons. I recognized it right away just based in the leaf design around the outside.
 

Nice bunch of finds, it looks like you have some good area's to search, lots of Canadian history.
 

Nice bunch of finds, it looks like you have some good area's to search, lots of Canadian history.

Thanks! I do but these sites aren’t easy to find that’s for sure.
 

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