Pacivilwarluke
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2013
- Messages
- 270
- Reaction score
- 441
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Detector(s) used
- xp deus
- Primary Interest:
- Other
I've been lucky enough to have an awesome start to the new year! Earlier this January I was in the Charleston SC area, and got to hunt a spot along the water with some early colonial activity! I got into a small trash pit that was mostly oyster but found a nice smashed silver thimble!
After this I wasn't really finding much other than a few buttons, but my father (who was hunting a different area of the site where a bulldozer had recently come through) texted me a picture of a cufflink he just dug. It was a stunning gold cufflink, with one of the links broken off! It is likely late 18th century based on the oval design and its construction as prior to the revolutionary war it seems most links were hexagonal. It is made of high karat gold and from what I've researched, gold coins were often melted to make gold cufflinks in this period! A truly rare and astounding find!
We decided to hunt this area hard and I got a crisp high tone on my detector, which was a 17th century spectacle buckle with a great emerald patina! Probably dates to about 1680 or so. Also pictured are the buttons, two 18th century tombacs and a 19th century flat button.
Spent some time in Washington DC as well and eyeballed this Oriental Fishtail projectile point, dates to about 3000 B.P! I also hunted a colonial field site in PA that I have pulled lots of artifacts from over the years, but it has pretty much dried up and all I found was a tombac, tiny silvered shoe buckle fragment, and a quarter of a cut musket ball.
Last weekend my friend Mark and I took a trip to Virginia to dig with forum member Isaac. Mark isn't a member of the forum so I will show some of his finds as well! We started out the day looking for civil war relics, which we hit some dead ends with but finally landed a spot and Mark dug his first civil war bullet, a .58 Williams Regulation minnie ball!
We slowed down a bit on a high rise in the field and I pulled out two large musket balls, a pistol ball, a Williams Cleaner and the zinc base of a Williams cleaner. I also found a flat button which the gold gilt came off in the dirt when I removed it from the soil. Sort of a bummer but made for a cool picture.
We moved on to a colonial site that nothing remains of after lunch, and right off the bat I got a beautiful mid 18th century open work knee buckle! Finally found one intact, I typically find fragments that are the victims of the plow, so very stoked this intricate relic is still intact. Also got a colonial brass ruler from this area which I really like!
Found some nice iron artifacts then, a complete heavy duty stirrup and a broken designed colonial fire back were my two favorite pieces. Pictured is an example of a complete fire back, these were used in colonial fireplaces as brick could crack under high heat and would need to be replaced if damaged.
We were finding all sorts of relics by then, and I got a bucket lister, a one piece 1820s artillery button with the backmark of L. Hayden and Scovill with 9 stars. For some reason the letter N in hayden is backwards, seen this on a few other buttons but can't find anything out about this one. The company was active under this name from 1811-1827.
Mark got a toasted Matron head large cent, and soon thereafter shouted that he had a seated. Sure enough he found a nice 1837 no stars seated dime! After that I got a dandy button with silver around the edges and a toasty matron LC as well.By then it was getting dark so we wrapped it up for the day.
On Sunday we returned to the site and hit a new area. Isaac started off with two astounding finds in a row but i'll let him share all of his finds! I got some shoe buckle frags from this area, all very ornate. I also got a worn out 1780's CT copper with a nice green patina. Cool to find a northern state copper down in Virginia!
Mark was trying out another area and came over to Isaac and I with a gorgeous colonial watch winder. Not really sure what it says, but has three children in colonial garb around a water pump. Any info would be helpful!
That area turned out to be very productive, Mark got an 1803 draped bust and I got a colonial silver piece! Not sure what it is, thought maybe an S hook from a watch chain or as someone suggested off a sugar bowl. Also got something that looks like a small anchor, found near a river so I suppose it's possible, not sure what it could be for being so small.
Rounded out the day with an intricate floral 18th century bit boss! Thankful for such wonderful hunts in the dead of winter!
After this I wasn't really finding much other than a few buttons, but my father (who was hunting a different area of the site where a bulldozer had recently come through) texted me a picture of a cufflink he just dug. It was a stunning gold cufflink, with one of the links broken off! It is likely late 18th century based on the oval design and its construction as prior to the revolutionary war it seems most links were hexagonal. It is made of high karat gold and from what I've researched, gold coins were often melted to make gold cufflinks in this period! A truly rare and astounding find!
We decided to hunt this area hard and I got a crisp high tone on my detector, which was a 17th century spectacle buckle with a great emerald patina! Probably dates to about 1680 or so. Also pictured are the buttons, two 18th century tombacs and a 19th century flat button.
Spent some time in Washington DC as well and eyeballed this Oriental Fishtail projectile point, dates to about 3000 B.P! I also hunted a colonial field site in PA that I have pulled lots of artifacts from over the years, but it has pretty much dried up and all I found was a tombac, tiny silvered shoe buckle fragment, and a quarter of a cut musket ball.
Last weekend my friend Mark and I took a trip to Virginia to dig with forum member Isaac. Mark isn't a member of the forum so I will show some of his finds as well! We started out the day looking for civil war relics, which we hit some dead ends with but finally landed a spot and Mark dug his first civil war bullet, a .58 Williams Regulation minnie ball!
We slowed down a bit on a high rise in the field and I pulled out two large musket balls, a pistol ball, a Williams Cleaner and the zinc base of a Williams cleaner. I also found a flat button which the gold gilt came off in the dirt when I removed it from the soil. Sort of a bummer but made for a cool picture.
We moved on to a colonial site that nothing remains of after lunch, and right off the bat I got a beautiful mid 18th century open work knee buckle! Finally found one intact, I typically find fragments that are the victims of the plow, so very stoked this intricate relic is still intact. Also got a colonial brass ruler from this area which I really like!
Found some nice iron artifacts then, a complete heavy duty stirrup and a broken designed colonial fire back were my two favorite pieces. Pictured is an example of a complete fire back, these were used in colonial fireplaces as brick could crack under high heat and would need to be replaced if damaged.
We were finding all sorts of relics by then, and I got a bucket lister, a one piece 1820s artillery button with the backmark of L. Hayden and Scovill with 9 stars. For some reason the letter N in hayden is backwards, seen this on a few other buttons but can't find anything out about this one. The company was active under this name from 1811-1827.
Mark got a toasted Matron head large cent, and soon thereafter shouted that he had a seated. Sure enough he found a nice 1837 no stars seated dime! After that I got a dandy button with silver around the edges and a toasty matron LC as well.By then it was getting dark so we wrapped it up for the day.
On Sunday we returned to the site and hit a new area. Isaac started off with two astounding finds in a row but i'll let him share all of his finds! I got some shoe buckle frags from this area, all very ornate. I also got a worn out 1780's CT copper with a nice green patina. Cool to find a northern state copper down in Virginia!
Mark was trying out another area and came over to Isaac and I with a gorgeous colonial watch winder. Not really sure what it says, but has three children in colonial garb around a water pump. Any info would be helpful!
That area turned out to be very productive, Mark got an 1803 draped bust and I got a colonial silver piece! Not sure what it is, thought maybe an S hook from a watch chain or as someone suggested off a sugar bowl. Also got something that looks like a small anchor, found near a river so I suppose it's possible, not sure what it could be for being so small.
Rounded out the day with an intricate floral 18th century bit boss! Thankful for such wonderful hunts in the dead of winter!
Last edited:
Upvote
32
quality digs there
