British SWORD guard/pewter - Coastal SC relic hunt

Patriot Relics

Silver Member
Feb 6, 2014
3,708
5,567
Lowcountry, South Carolina / Richmond, Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
5
Detector(s) used
CTX-3030, Deus XP II
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Hey guys,

Was finally able to get out this past week and take advantage of an ultra low negative tides. Put the NOX (beach 2) and CTX to battle in some very mineralized black coastal mud to compare the two machines side by side. Both produced keepers, but it seems I'm not retiring the CTX anytime soon. The best finds of the week were both British relics from the Revolutionary War. The NOX takes the win with a killer 18th century, British sword guard.

Here's what it looked like fresh from the pluff mud

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After a long soak in mineral oil, and a bit of toothpicking, most of the black crust slipped off. Here's the cleaned up pictures and a matching British example

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Once I had cleared the area with the NOX, I broke out the CTX and swung the same lines...she missed one. This pewter came in strong and deep at around 9 inches. It's definitively a British enlisted cuff, but other than the pie crust it's impossible to name the regiment. These rev pewters are the reason I detect so in any condition I'm thrilled.

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Not far from the pewter, got another slamming 12-34 and out pops a 17th century heavy brass 2 piece. Fairly certain the top is solid brass as it's as heavy as a musket ball

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Here's my favorite relics for the week

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Did recover quite a bit of colonial as well, although the salt is brutal on copper and brass

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Shoe buckle frame

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Pewter spoon handles

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Key/furniture hardware and lock covers

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Interesting plate/boss and reins guide

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Trapezoid buckle

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Lots of musketballs

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This 1772 KGIII was a nice surprise as I rarely find coppers. Just inland from the water otherwise it would certainly be a shiny slug like the flat buttons.

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Surface finds - Native American pottery, pipe stems, and partial Charleston distillery bottle

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That about covers the spread, sword guard, pewter rev button, and a 1772 KGIII...not to shabby with 2 machines. Final thoughts on the NOX 800- major advantage is the weight. It is significantly lighter than its big brother and does have nice target separation. On highly mineralized soil though (the coastal sites I hunt) it doesn't hold a candle to the CTX on deep low conductive targets. Much like my Deus...even with the HF coil, would not perform well in these conditions. The NOX will still have it's place for endurance hunts and on heavy iron, but for me I'm going to keep my Deus for inland hunt and my CTX for the coast. As always good luck out there and thanks for looking.

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Upvote 38

Fyrguy86

Full Member
Sep 15, 2013
119
260
Landenberg, PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX3030, Minelab Equinox 800, Minelab GPX5000, Garrett pro pointer
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Sweet recoveries brother! It was great to play in da mud!!! I agree, the NOX is a good machine, but I think the CTX has a slight edge in the salt/black/water.
 

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