Cleaning out iron?

[mangum]

Hello all. I'm going back home to one of my favorite colonial sites this weekend. The home was gone by 1800 judging by my recoveries. There is a patch where there is a lot of iron & I assume that's where the house sat (no visual indications). I've found over 30 flat buttons & other misc relics but not a single coin yet but I know its gotta be one there somewhere! So, my gut is telling me that I should clear out some of the iron to try to find goodies hiding underneath. I may even find some good iron relics since the site is so old. Has anyone had any real success in doing this? Is it worth my time & energy?

 

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[mangum]

Also- would it be a good idea to sift the dirt I dig out to possibly find some good non metallic relics?

 

[BC1969]

Clearing out the iron will drive most to insanity, but I am already insane so I have nothing to lose, at a site like that..heck yeah dig it all.
A long time ago my pops was detecting a old homesite like that, people never searched where the house was that burned down...iron city, dad went at it for a week straight, dug like 10 5 gallon buckets of nails and other iron, then found a melted canning jar with a huge clump of melted Morgan dollars and barbers and seated coins, most was unrecognizable but some were only partially melted..so I'd say dig it all.
Wish he had kept that, but when silver hit like 80 dollars a long time ago he sold it, along with all his other silver.

Mike

 

[mangum]

Clearing out the iron will drive most to insanity, but I am already insane so I have nothing to lose, at a site like that..heck yeah dig it all.
A long time ago my pops was detecting a old homesite like that, people never searched where the house was that burned down...iron city, dad went at it for a week straight, dug like 10 5 gallon buckets of nails and other iron, then found a melted canning jar with a huge clump of melted Morgan dollars and barbers and seated coins, most was unrecognizable but some were only partially melted..so I'd say dig it all.
Wish he had kept that, but when silver hit like 80 dollars a long time ago he sold it, along with all his other silver.

Mike

Thanks, I'm not sure ill try to dig it all, maybe just some big stuff... Sounds like it paid off for your pops! Neat story!

 

[mangum]

Crickets

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Any signs where the old cellar may be? any dips in the ground that indicate a cellar? here is a post I wrote about digging out cellar and also talks about some iron.. It may or may not be useful to you. Lot of artifacts under those iron signals just gotta get out them and dig test holes 12-20 inches deep and see what you hit like broken glass, pottery, etc.. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/general-discussion/356330-so-you-wanna-dig-cellar-hole-out.html

 

[mangum]

Any signs where the old cellar may be? any dips in the ground that indicate a cellar? here is a post I wrote about digging out cellar and also talks about some iron.. It may or may not be useful to you. Lot of artifacts under those iron signals just gotta get out them and dig test holes 12-20 inches deep and see what you hit like broken glass, pottery, etc.. http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/general-discussion/356330-so-you-wanna-dig-cellar-hole-out.html

Very interesting & informative post! There is no visible evidence of a cellar hole. This place is in an open field that has been farmland a long time. There is just one spot that is really concentrated with iron. I was thinking about digging some of the large signals to see if I could pick out any goodies. I definitely don't have the time to put in like when you're digging cellar holes.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

This is what I do a-lot around old home sites with iron issues.. Dig some test holes.. where there is a bunch of that iron - dig say 3 feet wide hole and dig down about "oh say 10 inches and get all the iron out" and then see if the machine is picking anything up in the hole or if you hit any glass,pottery,ash or red streaks of dirt that will indicate brick deterioration.. A old colonial house site like this, the artifacts are going to be very deep - i mean we are talking over 200+ years old.. Where there is iron there are relics, I wish i could explain this better to you with some drawings and demos, but - i can tell you there are probably relics under that iron that are at least 20+ inches deep and also lot of the times the old cellar may just be a slight little depression in the ground, you can kind of understand from this video I posted (sorry my video cuts short) but it can give you a understanding of the depressions to look for (these are huts but the same principle goes for any old house site,etc) you will see two "dug out huts" then two "non dug out huts" notice the little dip/depression in the ground that will indicate a hut site,trash pit or old foundation,etc....

 

[mangum]

This is what I do a-lot around old home sites with iron issues.. Dig some test holes.. where there is a bunch of that iron - dig say 3 feet wide hole and dig down about "oh say 10 inches and get all the iron out" and then see if the machine is picking anything up in the hole or if you hit any glass,pottery,ash or red streaks of dirt that will indicate brick deterioration.. A old colonial house site like this, the artifacts are going to be very deep - i mean we are talking over 200+ years old.. Where there is iron there are relics, I wish i could explain this better to you with some drawings and demos, but - i can tell you there are probably relics under that iron that are at least 20+ inches deep and also lot of the times the old cellar may just be a slight little depression in the ground, you can kind of understand from this video I posted (sorry my video cuts short) but it can give you a understanding of the depressions to look for (these are huts but the same principle goes for any old house site,etc) you will see two "dug out huts" then two "non dug out huts" notice the little dip/depression in the ground that will indicate a hut site,trash pit or old foundation,etc.... YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cj1IJVLgI

There really is no indication & I'm sure the field has been plowed repeatedly before. A lot if the buttons found in the general area weren't too deep. Ill dig a couple of test holes & see what happens. I'm planning on spending 2 days at the site so I will let you know the results. I'm bringing the land owner a display case with some relics as they are interested in the history. The man who originally owned the house was a Captain in the Revolution. Lots of potential & its only been hunted by me. Virgin ground is hard to come by!

 

[TNGUNS]

In the exact same boat. I have posted many times that I was on a coin drought. I just traded my G2 for a T2 due to the extreme depth on some of this stuff. I am sure mine isn't as old, but absolutely nothing past the mid 1800's. Here in TN this is among the oldest in my county per my research. Two are in the same hay field, and one in an Agricultural field less than a mile away. Now that I have the T2 I am just waiting for the hay field to be cut again.

This is the first day. About 6 hours hunting counting the time to locate it. I have dug at least twice this much at this site since this pic and not the first coin.

 

[Jason in Enid]

If the iron is that thick, dig and sift! You can dig WAY faster when using a shovel to open a pit or trench than trying to carefully excavate one item at a time.

 

[mangum]

In the exact same boat. I have posted many times that I was on a coin drought. I just traded my G2 for a T2 due to the extreme depth on some of this stuff. I am sure mine isn't as old, but absolutely nothing past the mid 1800's. Here in TN this is among the oldest in my county per my research. Two are in the same hay field, and one in an Agricultural field less than a mile away. Now that I have the T2 I am just waiting for the hay field to be cut again.

This is the first day. About 6 hours hunting counting the time to locate it. I have dug at least twice this much at this site since this pic and not the first coin.
<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=870634"/>

Yup, same boat I'm in! I'm not necessarily complaining because I love digging relics but a coin would be nice!

 

[mangum]

If the iron is that thick, dig and sift! You can dig WAY faster when using a shovel to open a pit or trench than trying to carefully excavate one item at a time.

I think that's the route in gonna take. I made a sifter I still need to break in.

 

[DiggityDiggity]

Hi Magnum. Good luck with digging the site (if you do end up doing it). There's a cabin that burned down in my area in approx. 1790's. I think I'm going to detect it. I am so curious to see your button finds from there. Any chance you could post a pic of the buttons in this thread? : )

Cheers,
Drewski

 

[mangum]

Hi Magnum. Good luck with digging the site (if you do end up doing it). There's a cabin that burned down in my area in approx. 1790's. I think I'm going to detect it. I am so curious to see your button finds from there. Any chance you could post a pic of the buttons in this thread? : )

Cheers,
Drewski

Here are a some pics if the finds coming out of this site, huge potential for something really special.

 

[DiggityDiggity]

Here are a some pics if the finds coming out of this site, huge potential for something really special.

Thanks for the pics, Magnum. That lock is BADA$$! I'm so envious of those buttons. What a great find. Yeah, by your finds so far, I think you HAVE to dig this site. The copper piece that you have a question mark under, did you ever find out what it was? From this angle, the tapered edge on the left hand side looks like a mouthpiece to something?

 

[Karevolla]

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[Karevolla]

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[Karevolla]

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[Karevolla]

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