A Dandy, an Elephant, a Teacup, some Iron and Brass

[OutdoorAdv]

I got out last week after work a couple evenings and turned up some interesting relics as well as a KG and 1861 fatty IHP. Some interesting iron turned up as well and it just came out of the electrolysis tank today.



This is the tail piece to a early musket trigger guard. I searched all over for the rest of it with no luck.



This find made the hunt for me. It was a deep, faint signal and when I picked it up, I knew just what it was. This is a toy pewter teacup for a young girl. The handle is missing, but otherwise its in great condition.



Here is the new teacup with another teacup, a bowl and plates that I've found at other sites. These were the iPhone's of their day



This is one of my favorite dandy buttons and its a big one too. It has a tombac patina to it, but it looks brass where its flaking away. So I'm not really sure what this one if made of.



I did a field wipe on this one and couldn't believe I was seeing a guy laying on top of an elephant. The backmark is "WADHAMS & CO. SUPERFINE" While google searching it, I came across an identical button posted on here http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/172844-elephant-button.html A big thank you to Cru (7 years ago) for all the info he posted on that thread. It appears to be circa 1847 or so.



These were my 5th pair of complete scissors from early sites throughout the years. I have quite the collection of these things now and they never get old finding them. I'd imagine these were as important as the thimbles that we find all the time.



Front and back.



I believe this is a KG with a right facing bust... III maybe. There is some interesting design on the back, but this thing was worn pretty smooth when it was lost. I think I used up all my "copper karma" with the 1833LC in my last post. But a coppers, a copper and I'm always pleased to dig them.





A couple months ago I dug my first button with thread still on it. I have dug 100's or even upwards of a 1000 buttons and I finally found one with thread.... well, I forgot to mention, but I had another one in my last post. And here is my 3rd. Funny how that happens where you can't find something and then you get a flood of them.



This hing pin is one of my favorites. I find these pretty frequently, but this is the first that the blacksmith put notches in. This was almost certainly made for masonry, so it could be set in mortar and the notches locked it in.





Thanks for looking and happy hunting everyone.

 

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[dirtdigginfool]

Awesome relics! I usually shy away from the iron, but you have me thinking otherwise now. Congrats, great hunt..Ddf

 

[trapperart]

Great bunch of finds and post congrats

 

[islamoradamark]

Thanks for the good pictures

 

[Silvermonkey]

Excellent group of finds. You're surely on some old ground there. The elephant button is very unusual, and very nice. I love finding different things like that. Great hunt.

 

[DIG ADK MTN]

Really great and interesting finds! Love the hinge pin

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Another stellar post Brad. You are certainly a dedicated seeker and preserver of history, and do a fantastic job with your write-ups and photos. I'm always looking forward to seeing what you come with next, and am never disappointed. I can't believe you recovered yet another pair of intact scissors to add to your already impressive collection. And I really like that elephant button, and it made me recall when I dug a similar one many years ago. I searched this morning but couldn't put my fingers on it, but if it does turn up I'll definitely post it up. Congrats man on another impressive hunt.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I am all about that Elephant button Glen.

The relics are also very nice, as usual.

Best of luck to you in the field.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Another stellar post Brad. You are certainly a dedicated seeker and preserver of history, and do a fantastic job with your write-ups and photos. I'm always looking forward to seeing what you come with next, and am never disappointed. I can't believe you recovered yet another pair of intact scissors to add to your already impressive collection. And I really like that elephant button, and it made me recall when I dug a similar one many years ago. I searched this morning but couldn't put my fingers on it, but if it does turn up I'll definitely post it up. Congrats man on another impressive hunt.

Thank you Bill... I really appreciate that a lot man. If you can locate your Elephant button in the archives of the Smithsonian of Virginia , post it up... I'd love to see it.

I knew you would like those scissors. I wanted to do a group shot of all 5, but 2 of them are in a wall hanging shadow box that requires deconstruction to get at them. So I just took these display insitu pictures of the other 4.

 

[Tpmetal]

Great bunch of finds. love getting into those personal items like the doll teacups and such

 

[pepperj]

Another great post up and make always so interesting with the diversity of relics that you've dug from the hunt. Always liking the iron in your posts it brings life back into them where its now a piece of art. Liking the elephant button as I can't recall digging anything elephant related except for an 49BC Elephant Denarius of Julie Caesar silver.
Little bit on the hinge pin. I've taken the same examples out of wood beams that have had the same notching along the sides. A permission has one that he recovered out of a beam as well before they repurposed the beam for his home. Great example of the 1800s blacksmithing work.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Another great post up and make always so interesting with the diversity of relics that you've dug from the hunt. Always liking the iron in your posts it brings life back into them where its now a piece of art. Liking the elephant button as I can't recall digging anything elephant related except for an 49BC Elephant Denarius of Julie Caesar silver.
Little bit on the hinge pin. I've taken the same examples out of wood beams that have had the same notching along the sides. A permission has one that he recovered out of a beam as well before they repurposed the beam for his home. Great example of the 1800s blacksmithing work.

Thanks a ton! And thank you for that contextual bit of info... very interesting. I just assumed they were for masonry... however I am sure they drilled pilot holes in the beams for these and those notches probably helped them lock into place. I have a clinched hinge pin somewhere that I cant find, however these notches would probably be just as efficient.

After reading your reply, you prompted me to grab a few of my pins from various displays... and in doing so, I noticed something on the far right (huge, broken) pin... the same notches. I guess I didn't notice it because I'm missing half of that pin.

 

[EasternShoreMetal]

I haven't been able to get out much lately and when I do, I just can't seem to find much of interest.. so I would be tickled with just about anything you found.
Great relics! History in your hands. Neat post and pics. Congrats from the dry zone.. keep em coming. HH

 

[Steve in PA]

Another great assortment of relics from by gone days brought to life. I love the elephant button. I have seen letters written by civil war soldiers describing how the "saw the elephant" which meant they got their first taste of battle. The iron piece with the blacksmith nothing is really cool as well.

 

[btjbtj]

Holy smokes, Brad...love it all!! Congrats. What a fun day that must have been. -Lisa & John

 

[DownNDirty]

And yet another varied and impressive arrays of quality finds Brad. You never disappoint with your finds or your posts-thanks again for putting in the extra effort.

 

[Z.K.]

Dude! Here I am trying to stay focused at work and not be on Tnet, and then you bust out another round of awesomeness. The fact that you can do this amount of quality finding and restoring when your time is limited makes me wonder what sort of museum you could create if you had 20 hours a week to play.

The elephant button and dandy are my favorites. Not "king of the brick mountain knock the silver buckle off" favorites, but a solid second tier in my book. : )

Nicely done

 

[BARKER]

Hi OA; Question: I know there is an Elephant Token that was minted in Colonial times. That the Elephant may have represented a Political statement against the early British Rule over the Colonies at the time. Hence today we say "I have a Monkey on my back." That back then they used the Elephant instead of a money. That it was all about the Symbolism back then.What do you think?? What say ye ?? PEACE:RONB

 

[Diggin Dude]

Great finds!! Scissors are really cool. My favorite is the elephant button... so cool!!
Well done, congrats and HH

 

[joeyfresh]

Whoever engineered scissors hundreds of years ago had to have been the smartest person in history because nobody has come up with a way to improve them.

Awesome post Bradley. The elephant button is super cool. Thanks for the write-up and the pictures.