Bell and buttons... getting closer

[Hunting_Dad]

I finally got a chance to walk the high point of a new property. The hill is several hundred yards off the road and main house, both of which appear on a map from 1850. The hill itself is a couple acres and size and well drained compared to the hard clay soil around it. All ten buttons and the bell came out of a 150x150ft area in less than ideal conditions (disked very recently). There was tons of iron and i was only digging “clean” tones.... no coins yet but the owner does not think the property has ever been detected so I am optimistic. Based on my research, the buttons are all from the same time period as the main house appearing on the map. Would a worker’s/tenants house be shown on early maps? Or just the owners’? Could that be why the buttons are back so far?
i am brand new to the hobby, so any insights you can offer would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

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[Steve in PA]

Yes you have some mid 19th century buttons there. With that many buttons an a ton of iron like you say, the area saw lot of activity. You didn't mention whether you saw any broken pottery and other ceramics in the plowed ground, which are a good indicator whether the spot was domestic in nature. The place looks to have some good potential.

 

[Hunting_Dad]

Steve, I found two small pieces of the typical 'blue on white' pottery and a piece or two of older looking red brick...... thats it. I am usually a magnet for pipe stems but I have yet to find any here.
What I did dig for iron was a 50/50 mix of old square nails of various sizes and 'modern' tractor bits/pieces.
Closer to the main house, I found two KGIIs and a Indian cent this spring before the crops went in

 

[Digger RJ]

Nice!!! Congrats!!!