Colonial Cufflink, Knee Buckle, and Pewter Buttons from the pit...

[OutdoorAdv]

After I found the King Louis XVI button in the pit last weekend (http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...ing-louis-xvi-button-trash-pit-much-more.html), I couldn't wait to get back and open the adjacent section. I had a few hours after work yesterday, so I made time to go sift this new section.

Not much pottery or glass turned up, but I got a KILLER cufflink and some sweet pewter buttons. I do owe the cufflink, knee buckle and large loop lead button retrieval to some advice metalev4 gave me a couple weeks ago. He recommended that I scrape the clay layer at the bottom of the pit, as he has found some of the best stuff in that hard layer. Previously, I was not seeing much in that layer, so I would begin my back filling. Yesterday the bottom of the pit had a bunch of ferrous signals... I was tired and almost just began my sifting but figured id clear out some of the nails with my pin pointer anyway. Doing this unmasked the knee buckle, cufflink and lead button. Makes me wonder how much I missed before and I will be spending some time searching that clay layer from now on. Thanks metalev4



This is my favorite link yet. It's been a great year for cufflinks for me. My typical links are smooth or toasted with no designs. When this thing turned up I sat there grinning for a solid 5 minutes. What do you guys make of it? Is it the Sun with a vine on the border? Or birds or hearts?




Some good buttons turned up too. Two pewters with designs and one cast lead button with a huge loop on the back. The knee buckle was complete, but folded in half with a large break. It fell apart in my hands, but its still all there. Looks like it has a pretty cool design on it.



A bone button, couple porcelain buttons and a tombac button turned up too. A few pipe stems (one is a large bore), 3 ringer minie, and a thimble piece also came out.



I keep finding pieces of blown glass that would have been incredible if the bottle was complete. I don't know much about glass, but I sure would love to find a bottle like this complete one day.



This is an old bottle lip... again, would be awesome if the whole bottle was attached to it.



Thanks for looking and happy hunting everyone!

 

[trapperart]

Congrats on some great finds thanks for sharing

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Awesome! I can't wait to see what else comes out of that site.

 

[Carolina Tom]

The cuff link is really nice. Congrats. Very nice post Brad.

Best of luck to you sir!

 

[Z.K.]

Exquisite cufflink, and you did an great job cleaning it.

Is that a bone lice comb on the upper right?! I want to find one of those sooooo badly. Such a great object as a window into everyday ways people once suffered.

 

[Scrappy]

Fabulous dig man. That cuff link is absolutely amazing and nice and early. That crossthatch pewter button is something I have found and was dated to c. 1770's from what I remember. The glass and pottery are also all no later than early 1800's and much earlier on the glass. Superb spot man, keep at it.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Congrats on some great finds thanks for sharing

Thanks Art!

Awesome! I can't wait to see what else comes out of that site.

You and me both dude This place has produced a little bit of everything. Its given me a hell-of-a cross section of colonial to civil war history. I'm down to the only productive thing left being the trash pit though. Maybe v4 (when it releases) on the Deus will squeeze out some more next winter though... who knows. I really want a CW bayonet to show up there to complete the "bayonet trifecta" haha

The cuff link is really nice. Congrats. Very nice post Brad.

Best of luck to you sir!

Thanks Tom! This cufflink is much heavier than my other oval ones I have found at this site. Both the other ones are toasted... I think one has a flower on it, but it was in the plowed section, so its rough.

Exquisite cufflink, and you did an great job cleaning it.

Is that a bone lice comb on the upper right?! I want to find one of those sooooo badly. Such a great object as a window into everyday ways people once suffered.

Thanks a ton man! I didn't get it wet since I didn't want the green to rub off or fade. I actually sharpened a toothpick with a razor blade and used the toothpick to get the dirt out of the tight areas.

I think what you're seeing is the scalloped edge of a piece of a plate... and my poor lighting when I took the picture. I did find these brass comb parts in another section of the pit last year.

 

[Steve in PA]

That is one sweet cufflink Brad. Nice smooth face with a beautiful patina and a nice design.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Fabulous dig man. That cuff link is absolutely amazing and nice and early. That crossthatch pewter button is something I have found and was dated to c. 1770's from what I remember. The glass and pottery are also all no later than early 1800's and much earlier on the glass. Superb spot man, keep at it.

You know.. I think I found another one of those crosshatched pewters here, but I cant find it in the case. This one was in much better condition than the one I cant locate. ha There's probably a few hundred buttons from this site now, so its no surprise that I cant find it. Thanks for the date on that. I cant stop looking at the link! I tried to get a good photo of the shank, but its drilled and tapers a lot from one end to the other. Almost like the bit was cone shaped or something... it definitely looks like an old one though.

 

[metalev4]

A really nice hunt Brad. The cuff link is killer and in great shape. The variety at that site is really something. Good luck with the rest of the pit, should be a few more good finds in there.

 

[Pacivilwarluke]

Killer link! Love it!

 

[DownNDirty]

Really like that cufflink, and the buckle is a good one too. Keep shakin' that sifter!

 

[Patriot Relics]

Nice work once again Brad, the cufflink is killer- I've dug a very similar pewter with the cross hashed pattern. That's some early dirt!

 

[Isaac]

Awesome cufflink, love the green patina on it as well. It held up pretty nice. Those are some excellent sifts. HH

 

[OutdoorAdv]

A really nice hunt Brad. The cuff link is killer and in great shape. The variety at that site is really something. Good luck with the rest of the pit, should be a few more good finds in there.

Thanks a ton man! Bill keeps saying the same thing about the variety here... I don't have a lot to compare it to though. Really appreciate the tip on that hard packed layer... I'll be back there in the next month to do some more. As far as "the rest" there is no end in sight that I can tell. I'll just keep digging in all directions until the artifacts fizzle out. If I can locate a privy then that would be sweet.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Looks like another fun day in the pit Brad, and I'm glad Evan gave you that solid piece of advice. Guess you'll have to go back now and re-dig all your old spots . And you're really on a roll with the cufflinks and pewters with more excellent examples showing up. And that bottle lip appears to be a "pig snout" from a late 1700s or early 1800s case gin bottle. Congrats on another excellent adventure!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

That is one sweet cufflink Brad. Nice smooth face with a beautiful patina and a nice design.

Thanks a ton Steve! Its much heavier than my other links and appears well made. I really lucked out on it... if it was 20 yards over it would have been fertilizer destroyed for sure.

Killer link! Love it!

Thanks a bunch man! Hope you guys get into some good stuff hunting this weekend man.

Really like that cufflink, and the buckle is a good one too. Keep shakin' that sifter!

Thanks man! I am going to put some legs on my sifter this weekend. I'm done with the back breaking hand held stuff. I might build a bigger one too with legs while I'm at it.

Nice work once again Brad, the cufflink is killer- I've dug a very similar pewter with the cross hashed pattern. That's some early dirt!

Thanks a bunch man! Looking forward to getting back there.

Awesome cufflink, love the green patina on it as well. It held up pretty nice. Those are some excellent sifts. HH

Thanks a ton man! There is nothing better than that green color (well maybe silver or gold. ha) out of the dirt. I contained myself not to snatch it up and since I had my phone in my pocket, I got an in situ picture. Its always the greenest right from the ground, but seems to fade once it dries out. Also, that reply-quote check feature saves me a ton of time. ha

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Looks like another fun day in the pit Brad, and I'm glad Evan gave you that solid piece of advice. Guess you'll have to go back now and re-dig all your old spots . And you're really on a roll with the cufflinks and pewters with more excellent examples showing up. And that bottle lip appears to be a "pig snout" from a late 1700s or early 1800s case gin bottle. Congrats on another excellent adventure!

Thanks Bill! That link really made my day. Evan joked about the same thing and I gotta say, I'd have to be really hard up to dig all that dirt back out for a chance at a button in the clay. Although, maybe I left even better stuff behind in the other sections. Mostly I find bigger iron down there. Crazy how the links and buttons have been showing up lately... before I was on a copper streak over the winter. I'm definitely enjoying this button streak and hopefully the next streak isn't aluminum or nails. haha

 

[Steve in PA]

Brad, here is my sifter. it is a collapsible A-Frame. Might give you some ideas.

 

[Ahab8]

Brad once in awhile I see a find that I just fall in love with. It doesn't ha e to be rare or valuable. I just love the look or design of it. This is for sure one of those funds for me. The design, the patina....I just love that thing man. I gotta start digging pits. God knows my sites are plenty old. But I'll use a long rod