HomeGuardDan
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- Joined
- Jul 15, 2011
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- Location
- Williamsburg, VA
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- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
My good pal and hunting buddy Bill and I got out twice in the last few days for short 4 hour hunts at our recent colonial honey hole. On Sunday we started out gridding a tight area that we felt confident would produce a few goodies – this was my day of teases. First I managed to locate and partially dig a nice looking pit. Quickly I saw a large shard of Milk Pan (early 1700s) in the bottom and for an instant I thought (due to the size of it) I would recover the entire piece. It was not to be – but I did locate enough of it to feel confident that at a return trip it can be sifted and pieced back together.
Second – I dug the first 2-piece button from the site (most everything has been pre 1800) and this one looked as if it was going to be a nice military button – instead I saw flowers. Third – at the end of the day I dug a nice 23mm pewter button with what looked like a number on the face – immediately I thought REV WAR!!! Instead I saw a dog surrounded by a ring of dots. The pooch looks to be a bulldug of some sort. It is a pewter button that is constructed VERY similar to some regimental buttons – any ideas from the experts across the pond? I managed some nice odds and ends throughout the day and totaled 13 buttons.
Yesterday we got out again for a quick afternoon hunt that yielded some volume but in patches. All in all I dug 29 buttons in about a combined time of 7 hours of digging along with probably close to 100 pieces of lead and buck-balls. I recovered a few pieces of shoe buckles, spectacle buckles, thimble and the top portion to an early candlestick. The trade weight was also a nice find that is not always commonly found.
This site has tons of small caliber balls from .36 to .45 and almost all have crude molds and sprus. I dug a few of the “clippings” and lead bars used for molding in one area – they are cool to find but I have never seen them in such volume as I do here. 75% of the balls I have dug from the site are all early – very few modern bullets and buckshot.
One unique piece that I did dig was a pewter disk – on one end is a raised design that looks either like an eagle (bird) or perhaps a four-legged critter (horse). On the reverse is a series of horizontal and vertical lines that looks etched in. Not certain, but just goes to show why you should clean everything off and not just consider it trash. As we have mentioned – this place is loaded with pipe stems and pieces – the right pit will certainly pay off in the future.
HH
Dan
Second – I dug the first 2-piece button from the site (most everything has been pre 1800) and this one looked as if it was going to be a nice military button – instead I saw flowers. Third – at the end of the day I dug a nice 23mm pewter button with what looked like a number on the face – immediately I thought REV WAR!!! Instead I saw a dog surrounded by a ring of dots. The pooch looks to be a bulldug of some sort. It is a pewter button that is constructed VERY similar to some regimental buttons – any ideas from the experts across the pond? I managed some nice odds and ends throughout the day and totaled 13 buttons.
Yesterday we got out again for a quick afternoon hunt that yielded some volume but in patches. All in all I dug 29 buttons in about a combined time of 7 hours of digging along with probably close to 100 pieces of lead and buck-balls. I recovered a few pieces of shoe buckles, spectacle buckles, thimble and the top portion to an early candlestick. The trade weight was also a nice find that is not always commonly found.
This site has tons of small caliber balls from .36 to .45 and almost all have crude molds and sprus. I dug a few of the “clippings” and lead bars used for molding in one area – they are cool to find but I have never seen them in such volume as I do here. 75% of the balls I have dug from the site are all early – very few modern bullets and buckshot.
One unique piece that I did dig was a pewter disk – on one end is a raised design that looks either like an eagle (bird) or perhaps a four-legged critter (horse). On the reverse is a series of horizontal and vertical lines that looks etched in. Not certain, but just goes to show why you should clean everything off and not just consider it trash. As we have mentioned – this place is loaded with pipe stems and pieces – the right pit will certainly pay off in the future.
HH
Dan
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. Even though I believe the easy pickins are mostly gone, the site should still have plenty to offer in the way of random finds. And of course the pits we love. BTW that Victorian era weight is probably about the newest item I can recall being dug at this site as it can't date any further back than 1837. Had a great time again, and hope the field dries quickly so we can get back in there over the weekend.
For the record I've sold plenty but kept a lot more, and early on the money did play a role in my decision, but not so much now. So for something I really like it would take a lot to pry it away from me, probably a lot more than it was worth in some cases, but if an offer came in like that it would probably be gone. I also hope to be tested, many many times! 
