Back to the 1800s House Site

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Back to the 1800's House Site


I spent 3 hours at this heavily pounded site today and managed to find an interesting early heavy piece of brass with an inscribed letter on it. I first hunted this site in the spring of 2013 and found an 1808 – 1811 US Infantry Button here. I noticed a large stone close to the small road that runs along the water, I believe this was the entrance to a colonial house that stood on a little knoll at the edge of this field. Based on my finds I would say the building was torn down in the mid-1800's. I concentrated on that knoll quite a bit last year and never found anything more than early hand-made nails. I'm sure there has to be a few more goodies hidden in the iron there though. This I spring spoke with one of the locals walking his dog and was told that he had heard of 3 or 4 – 18thc coppers being found in the low ground, that's also where a Spanish silver 2-reale was found! I always wondered what else was found here … too bad I located this site a tad late!

If you head over further along this field, it gets wet and there is a rise in the ground near another telephone pole. I understand a couple of LC’s were found over there but there’s a lot of iron … I have good reason to believe there was a late-1800's or early-1900's house there.

‘The finds’ …
Early hefty brass ‘shield’ with inscribed letter, Barbados One-Cent, 1940 Canadian Penny & a 1950 ‘Wheatie’. I've included pics of the 'shield' before and after I brushed it with a light coat of beeswax/silicone.
Let me know what date you all think the ‘brass shield’ is and what its original function may have been.

Thanks for looking and best of luck,
Dave

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

I'll bet there are some goodies still in the iron, "almost" always that's where the best stuff is.
If you don't already have the smaller coil for that ATP, I would strongly suggest you get one and try it. It is vastly superior to the stock in those places.

That's an interesting piece with th"J" on it.

 

[dirtlooter]

really nice

 

[Argentium]

That's a bit of a mystery - the absence of any holes whereby it could be riveted or tacked down has me scratching my head on this one .
I suppose it could have been inlaid flush (cemented down ) on a fine gentleman's humidor or cigar box - but I would expect the piece
to be silver not brass , and I would certainly expect two or three letters engraved for first, last, and middle names .

( as to the dating of this piece I'm thinking late 18th c. or very early 19th c. based on the profile shape and the style of the letter)

 

[alwayssearching]

Very nice indeed... And a good read. Thanks for sharing.. HH

 

[vpnavy]

Thanks for sharing...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I'll bet there are some goodies still in the iron, "almost" always that's where the best stuff is.
If you don't already have the smaller coil for that ATP, I would strongly suggest you get one and try it. It is vastly superior to the stock in those places.

That's an interesting piece with th"J" on it.

Thanks for your post and for this advice Rick!
I am already using a 5" x 8" coil on my AT Pro, it's much better at separating the signals out.
Dave
You and Dave are having a great year so far!
Dave

really nice

Thank you DL, best of luck to you!
Dave

That's a bit of a mystery - the absence of any holes whereby it could be riveted or tacked down has me scratching my head on this one .
I suppose it could have been inlaid flush (cemented down ) on a fine gentleman's humidor or cigar box - but I would expect the piece
to be silver not brass , and I would certainly expect two or three letters engraved for first, last, and middle names .

( as to the dating of this piece I'm thinking late 18th c. or very early 19th c. based on the profile shape and the style of the letter)

I think you're probably right about it being "inlaid flush (cemented down ) on a fine gentleman's humidor or cigar box" Arg.
I've been trying to figure out why there's an iron 'smear mark' on the back of this plate, maybe it was in contact with a nail while it was buried in the ground?
You're right as well in saying, "I would expect the piece to be silver not brass , and I would certainly expect two or three letters engraved for first, last, and middle names".
The presence of only one initial on the face makes this a bit of a mystery.

Thanks for your post my friend,
Dave

Very nice indeed... And a good read. Thanks for sharing.. HH

Thanks for your post and for the compliment alwayssearching!

Best of luck to you,
Dave

Thanks for sharing...

Thank you Sir!

 

[Old Dude]

This might be one of those unsolved questions, Dave. I have a few of those unfortunately too. Since you know some history, and nice finds have been made already, that would be one of those plan "B" sites to return to when my first choice didn't work out. The font on the shield sure looks old. Perhaps it could have even been part of a door knocker....who knows?

 

[Greylock]

Nice finds. I really like that badge/shield.

 

[johnnyblaze]

Nice pics and finds man

Interesting plate for sure...

Blaze

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Nice pics and finds man

Interesting plate for sure...

Blaze

Thanks very much Johnny, great to hear from you bud!
Dave

 

[Evolution]

Judging by those finds it looks like there are still a few strong signal hits there to be dug by a detector. Keep up the good work.

 

[HISPAN]

I too long without seeing their findings ..... a hug and good luck in the hunt!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

This might be one of those unsolved questions, Dave. I have a few of those unfortunately too. Since you know some history, and nice finds have been made already, that would be one of those plan "B" sites to return to when my first choice didn't work out. The font on the shield sure looks old. Perhaps it could have even been part of a door knocker....who knows?

Thanks for the info Dave ... unfortunately this is one of those mysteries that's been lost in the mists of time.
Best of luck to you buddy,
Dave

Nice finds. I really like that badge/shield.

Thanks for your post my friend!
The badge is rather 'hefty' too ... just like me!
Dave

Judging by those finds it looks like there are still a few strong signal hits there to be dug by a detector. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for your moral support Evo!
Hope to get back there next week to work further-a-field.
Dave

I too long without seeing their findings ..... a hug and good luck in the hunt!

Thanks mate!
Hope you and your family are all well,
Dave