Another colonial money pit withdrawal made yesterday

Bill D. (VA)

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F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
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Another colonial money pit withdrawal made yesterday + 2 coin weights

My good pal Dan and I decided to take advantage of yesterday's great weather by embarking on a 10+ hour marathon hunt. Our first task was to return to the infamous money pit where 5 colonial copper and silver coins had been recovered on a previous visit along with a pile of buttons and early pottery. We had not yet sifted the dirt from this enormous pit, so we felt it was time to haul all our equipment back to the site and make a day of it. Not long into the effort I was checking the already sifted dirt for the possible small button that may have slipped through the 1/2" mesh. But I was surprised to get a nice, crisp high tone that turned out to be the 6th coin from this pit - a cut piece from a 1736 two reale pistareen. That's the 2nd straight cut piece I've dug from this site that contained the last 2 digits of the date, so I must be living right. For the next 3-4 hours, however, we were unable to pull more than a few small flat buttons from the sifter so we decided the lack of productivity did not justify the effort so we moved on to some surface hunting. We were immediately drawn to a nearby elevated grove of trees that we had suspected might be a house site or cemetery. We had wandered around it before without much luck, but the recent deep plowing had brought brick and black glass to the surface which greatly renewed our interest. Upon nearing the knoll I eyeballed a giant base from a transitional onion bottle sticking out from the bottom of a large tractor rut. That was definitely a good sign. We were getting a lot of higher toned signals in that area, but most were musketballs or lead blobs. This is the spot where Dan found his nice cob, and I was also able to recover 2 early coins weights. One is tiny and has some interesting markings. I believe it dates to the 1600s but I've yet to do any research on it. We later left this spot and finished the day scouting and hunting a couple other sites with limited success. I was able to find, however, a triangular based barrel tap key. It was a long tough day, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Hopefully we can get in a couple more hunts before planted fields end our season.
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 16
WTG on the spectacular finds!
 

Great relics there Bill. That sifting method paid off. Well worth the effort. :thumbsup:
Did you make your sifter? I need to try that myself.
Congrats,
MM

Doug - yes, I've made a couple of homemade sifters and they're quite easy and inexpensive to put together. I'm re-posting one of Dan's pics below that shows my sifter on the far left. I made this one with the 2x4s sticking out about a foot on each side so it would be easier for it to straddle the hole. If you want more detailed info including close-up pics, dimensions, etc, let me know.

bill in money pit.webp
 

Doug - yes, I've made a couple of homemade sifters and they're quite easy and inexpensive to put together. I'm re-posting one of Dan's pics below that shows my sifter on the far left. I made this one with the 2x4s sticking out about a foot on each side so it would be easier for it to straddle the hole. If you want more detailed info including close-up pics, dimensions, etc, let me know.

View attachment 974249

Thanks Bill. That looks like fun to me. I see a lot of guys use those sifters that they rock back and forth too. I'll have to make one. I'm pretty handy. I wish I liked up there in VA. You guys are very lucky. Lately I'd be happy to dig one CW bullet. :tongue3:
-Doug-
 

nice digs Bill D
 

Nice finds as always! The button with the sun type pattern, do you have any information on it? I found one just like it the other day. My camera broke finally after many years of hard service in the field. My new action video camera should be in any day now so I can get back into the action before the season dries up on us. Thanks Bill and HH!
 

Nice finds as always! The button with the sun type pattern, do you have any information on it? I found one just like it the other day. My camera broke finally after many years of hard service in the field. My new action video camera should be in any day now so I can get back into the action before the season dries up on us. Thanks Bill and HH!
 

Awesome finds Bill. That's my kinda hunting right there.
 

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