A not-so-colonial hunt produces a unique CS button, 3 cent silver, fatty IH plus more

Bill D. (VA)

Silver Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2008
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Location
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
6
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
Primary Interest:
Other
On the spur of the moment my buddy Dan got the opportunity to take off the afternoon on Tues, and we decided to hustle over to our usual hunting grounds in an attempt to get ourselves onto a new site. We eventually met up with a property owner we’ve dealt with before, and secured permission to hunt one of his more remote fields that had the potential to produce a few oldies. By the time we finished talking with him and made it to the site, it was already 2:30 so we only had a couple hours of daylight left. Turns out the field we wanted to hunt still had unharvested soybeans except for a 50 ft strip that had been cut around the perimeter. While walking that area we ran into a couple of small iron patches and started pulling out a few things here and there. Dan stuck first with a huge frag from a Georgian shoe buckle which was a great sign. We both then dug a couple buttons, and a short time later I was quite surprised when I popped out one of those tiny silver 3 cent pieces. Hadn't dug one of those for quite some time. Next for me was an IH cent, and it wasn’t until I got home and cleaned it that I realized it was a nice 1862 fatty. In the meantime Dan was steadily digging targets, but I'll let him post his finds (which include a coin). Just before we finished hunting the strip I got a fairly low-toned hit, and a dull silvery target appeared. At first I thought it might be some kind of a tombac button or a small leather ornament or rosette, but I brought it over for Dan to check out before cleaning the dirt off. Well, it didn’t take but a second for Dan’s jaw to drop, and then he proceeded to tell me I had dug a rarely seen pewter, or “white metal” as they’re sometimes called, CS Block I coat-size button (23mm). And I believe it’s a cast local variant with the mold seam clearly visible, but not sure of the exact ID. That obviously turned out to be the find of the day and got us pumped that this could actually be a small camp instead of a random drop at a house site. After returning home we both did a little additional research and discovered there was indeed were some other structures in the bean field. But based on our finds, this looks to be mostly a late 1700s to mid-1800s site – not quite as old as we were hoping, but it may still turn out to be a very interesting site. Within the next week or so we’re looking forward to venturing back to check out the hopefully cut field.
 

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Upvote 34
Great Button find! The three cent piece is very cool too. Can't wait to see what else y'all pull out of that site. Congrats and good luck!
 

OK - so I know it won't be as received by some as by me...this is a BANNER button. pewter Block I's are not a common find, especially in that shape. Ask any digger who looks for CS stuff and they will tell you that they are no as common and many have never found one.

I had fun man, I think this site will keep us busy for a while and hopefully open the doors to others in the area.

HH

Dan
 

WOW! Awesome button and in excellent shape too!
 

Certainly a lot of good things can come from a site of that era.
Great button. Those tiny silvers are as cool as big ones, and at least as hard to come by, luckly I got one a couple years ago from a site only a mile from my house, quite a surprise it was.
 

Congrats on the block I, very nice! Great 3 cent piece too, I've yet to find one.
 

Great button Bill in really nice shape. Finds definitely have the camp feel, especially with the 2 CW era coins and the sharps. I bet you guys are going to score some nice finds in that field including more CS buttons. Cant wait till the next hunt.
 

Nice variety of finds and congrats on the trime. I have only found two in all my years of detecting.
 


Now that's a hand full of keepers Bill! Great finds and great post. It sounds like you two might have a great new site. Hopefully if they cut the beans this late, it will also be too late to plant a ground cover. Maybe a go-to spot this winter for you guys. As a big plus, it looks like that soil is kind to pewter and brass, based on that fatty IH and block I.

Really looking forward to the next posts from this spot. Still on the hunt for my fatty IH, silver 3c and CS button. Great job :thumbsup:

Dan - looking forward to your post now too! It makes me wonder if your "coin" is cut silver. ha

Edit: Almost forgot... sweet iron! That'll clean up really nice too. Also still on the hunt for one of those as well. ha
 

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Looks to be a really promising site for you guys. From the little I know about pewter that button you found is in fantastic condition. Congrats, and looking forward to see what else you find there.
 

All great stuff!!
 

Period coins and pewter block I, that will get your CW juices pumping. Not your usual fare, but I know you have no problem digging CW relics. Good luck next trip.
 

Makes me want to leave work and go digin. Nice job, know I'm going to go wipe my chin!!
 

Such a wonderful experience to dig something as rare as that button. Just examining it and thinking of its uniqueness is reward enough - but I too think that little baby should be a banner find.
 

That's a hand full of goodies Bill, congrats. that shiny little trime looks awfully good to me!
 

Looks like yall had a great day, those are some nice finds for a short hunt.
Fatty, Trime, sharps, and Confederate Infantry button from just a little strip. Sheesh.
Cant wait to see what you guys end up with from the rest of the field.
 

Great little hunt Bill.
That ground is very kind to the IH and pewter. It looks like you guys are going to have some fun there.. Good luck on your return trip.
 

That is some sweet hunt there...a little bit of everything! WTG
 

Awesome button, three cent'er, and iron! Congrats!
I think the button should be banner!
 

Bill I know you love the colonial goods but that button is killer and obviously more scarce than I realized. That trime is something I would like to fund at some point as well. Hope to see you in the 17th century stuff soon my friend. Guess I gotta go study up on that Block I
 

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