Colonial to Civil War - 1803 LC, Bone Tooth Brush, 41 Buttons, and much more!

OutdoorAdv

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Apr 16, 2013
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Metal Detecting
I got out twice this weekend to do some more sifting for a total of 12 hours moving and picking through piles of dirt. Its hard work, but as I said in my previous posts, an incredible amount of fun. The first trip this weekend was only 4 hours long and the part of the pit I opened up didn't have all that much compared to today. Today, I spent 8 hours and had one of the best days I've ever had in the field.

I've read articles and seen first hand, just how many targets are masked. Weather it be an audible iron masking or silent iron masking, we walk over much more than we actually find. With the exception of the thimble and CW "O" hat insignia, every one of the metal targets in these pictures were 100% masked. I'll show a picture of the iron that was masking them at the bottom, but its at least a couple hundred square and rose-head nails from today's pit with various other iron bits. The thimble and hat insignia I dug while swinging a few yards from the pit to give my back a break between digging.

Here it is:
41 buttons: 7 Bone, 7 Shell, 2 Black glass (one with an elephant), engraved Dandys, flat buttons, porcelain, lead, pewter and iron buttons!
Two Flint Lock Musket Flints - Some of my favorites
The Bone toothbrush is another favorite. I don't know how I didn't see it sooner, but I almost sifted all my dirt at the end of the day and that turned up
Two Pipe Bowls - A whole pipe bowl has been a goal of mine for a while. I shattered the first one removing the dirt from the pit and was pretty upset with myself. A few hours later a complete one surfaced (much older one too) and I couldn't stop smiling. I glued the one I broke back together.
7 1/2 clay marbles
... and lots more.

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*Check out the slate "pencils" and piece of slate tablet I found in the bottom left of the picture (above). Works just like it did in c. 1850. I have found 11 slate and one soap stone "pencils" in this pit so far. I'm sure the person who practiced their writing and math over 160 years ago, couldn't imagine someone would dig it up, write "T-NET 2015" and share it electronically. ha

This is my 3rd "Surprise LC" from this place. Two were silent masked and one was iron masked with no high tones on any of them. It makes my hunt when one of these surfaces totally unexpected. This is also my 1st draped bust LC that I could get a date off of - 1803. All my other Draped Bust LC's are identifiable, but too toasted to get a date.

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These two engraved buttons still have their silver plating. The appear to be a brass composition. The larger dandy one is a cast one piece button. Both still have shanks intact.

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When this "O" turned up I thought it might be a CW insignia... but was unsure because its missing its attachment point. The Howard Crouch CW Artifacts book has what appears to be a similar insignia in it... so I do believe that is what it is!

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I couldn't believe my eyes when a flint showed up in my sifter. I sorta knew what they looked like but this was the first one I saw in person. The very next screen of dirt had a second one. They are really cool relics to me and both are my first flints.

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This carved bone tooth brush was jaw dropping to me. Previously I had only found pieces of one. Its in great shape and one of my all time favorite relics.

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*Edit: Subterranean ID'ed this piece of bone as part of a "violin bow"... its not a wood planer like I guessed below, but a piece to a violin.*

And then there is this bone tool! Its carved and doesn't appear broken in any places. My very first thought when I saw it was that its a small wood planer for tapering edges... You can still buy planers this small and even smaller. The bottom has a small edge on one side with the underside raised. After the opening, the underside is no longer raised and the edge disappears. If it is a planer, then I am unsure on the blade attachment unless it was just wedged into the opening on the bottom. Open too all ideas\theories on what this might be...
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The rest of it from today. There is a couple hundred pieces of iron in there... mostly nails, but also cauldron pot pieces, scissor handles, knives, hooks, keys, tools... etc. If you find yourself in an area that produces old relics, and you locate an iron patch... dig a test hole! If you see pottery\shell\glass, SIFT! Its hard work, but totally worth it at the right spots. It doesn't matter what coil or machine, or how slow you go in the iron, you are missing some of the best stuff down there.... and its not all metal!
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Thanks for looking and Happy Hunting.
 

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I had time this morning to look through some of my pottery and as it turned out, I found the rest to a bowl I've been trying to reconstruct. I have many pottery pieces in different stages of reconstruction, but this is my first one I completed. Its a piece of pearlware made by "Davenport" in Longport, Staffordshire England. I had found the first half pieces in pits throughout the last few weeks. I had them glued back together and they have been in my signature image for a while. After this weekend I finally found the rest and got all the pieces glued back together.

Based on the impressed Davenport stamp, this was made sometime between 1805 and 1830. A great piece of earthenware "trash" from the pit that I will display proudly.

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That really turned out great Brad, and it'll make an outstanding display piece. That's exactly the results you're hoping for when embarking on a pit dig. BTW - what type of glue did you use?
 

That really turned out great Brad, and it'll make an outstanding display piece. That's exactly the results you're hoping for when embarking on a pit dig. BTW - what type of glue did you use?

Thanks a ton Bill. I have to first say that I never expected to find a whole piece... that said, I think I used the wrong type of glue. haha Super Glue Gel was the choice for instant gratification. Had I known that I would have found something complete, I would have researched some more. Since I figured I'd just be displaying a broken half of something, I didn't spend much effort trying to learn how to do it right. I know that Elmer's is an option and reversible. I also tried to read a how-to on one site and they said to use epoxy. Superglue is soluble in acetone, but I have read that the acetone could discolor the earthenware. So I don't know if I can reverse what I have already done if I wanted to.

For future reference, what would be the correct glue choice?
 

Being a Violinist myself i recognized the Bow Frog as soon as i seen it!!

That,to me is a killer find man:headbang:

That Tombac button is sweet also

~Blaze~
 

Being a Violinist myself i recognized the Bow Frog as soon as i seen it!!

That,to me is a killer find man:headbang:

That Tombac button is sweet also

~Blaze~

Thanks a ton Blaze. Any idea how old a bone Bow Frog might be? I'm sure its hard to put a date on something like that though.

I've found over a dozen or more tombacs at this site. Funny thing about that complete cast one piece is that this past April I found half of the same button 20 yards or so away from the complete one this past weekend in this post. Then a very small fragment of a 3rd one came out of the same pit this weekend. Kinda cool to think they might have all been on the same coat at some point.

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Then the smaller one I found this past weekend is very similar to a larger one I found a month or so ago... again, not too far from the pit where the small one came from.

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Man, it doesn't get much better than finding buttons with designs like this.
 

Thanks a ton Blaze. Any idea how old a bone Bow Frog might be? I'm sure its hard to put a date on something like that though.

I've found over a dozen or more tombacs at this site. Funny thing about that complete cast one piece is that this past April I found half of the same button 20 yards or so away from the complete one this past weekend in this post. Then a very small fragment of a 3rd one came out of the same pit this weekend. Kinda cool to think they might have all been on the same coat at some point.

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Then the smaller one I found this past weekend is very similar to a larger one I found a month or so ago... again, not too far from the pit where the small one came from.

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Man, it doesn't get much better than finding buttons with designs like this.

Man that is one early frog.The Violin im currently playing is from 1894..The bottom bow in my case is from the 1870's..
In all honesty i would say late 1600's for sure..They made most of the parts from bone back then,tailpiece,nut,etc..In the 1700's they started using ebony and is still used today..
Judging from the finds including the comb i would say your digging the 1600's right there and is worth going back dozens of times..You just dont find those sites anymore..

What state are you in? That could help date the site..

~Blaze~
 

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Man that is one early frog.The Violin im currently playing is from 1894..The bottom bow in my case is from the 1870's..
In all honesty i would say late 1600's for sure..They made most of the parts from bone back then,tailpiece,nut,etc..In the 1700's they started using ebony and is still used today..
Judging from the finds including the comb i would say your digging the 1600's right there and is worth going back dozens of times..You just dont find those sites anymore..

What state are you in? That could help date the site..

~Blaze~

Blaze, that is incredible man. Thanks a ton for that information. This frog is way more awesome than I originally thought. I built a case just for this site, and I just moved the frog from the 1800's section, to the colonial section! ha

As far as the date of the site goes...The oldest I can date it are from a fresh-from-the-mint 1722 cut pistareen, 1719 KGI, 1724 KGI, blowhole and 3/32" pipe stem c. 1680-1710. Then a whole bunch of late 1700's - mid 1800's stuff.

With the exception of a colonial button here and there, the section of the pit I found this in dates to early to mid 1800's. But that doesn't really matter since you're currently using a bow that is 150 years old... so if this frog was made in the late 1600's and it also got used for 150 years, it could easily have been broken and discarded with the trash in the early to mid 1800's. Whats insane to me is that it could be 300+ years old.

Thanks again for that info. Its hard to believe your Violin is 120 years old. Pretty awesome how well something like that is made to last so long.

I'll be keeping my eyes out for other bone parts to this bow.

-Brad
 

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Great Finds. I really enjoyed your post. I've tried sifting with some mixed results. Maybe it's time to try again.
 

Please forgive me--I am just learning this art/science. What is iron masking? My detector (White's CMX--forget the numbers, sorry) constantly shows up "iron".
 

That is a very nice write up and an incredible day
 

Please forgive me--I am just learning this art/science. What is iron masking? My detector (White's CMX--forget the numbers, sorry) constantly shows up "iron".

Iron masking is when the only thing your detector see is the iron, if there is something good under it, it cant see it. Some machines can separate the difference better then others.
George
 

ADV SAYS , DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DOO CANT TOUCH THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SAY THAT FAST 10 TIMES WHEW ....
 

That's an unreal number of artifacts- crazy to think how much stuff we are leaving behind

Thanks vmiairpwr! I think I doubled the amount I found in the first three trips. ha

Great Finds. I really enjoyed your post. I've tried sifting with some mixed results. Maybe it's time to try again.

Thank you Silver Tree Chaser! This is my first pit I've dug and while I have about 30 hours of sifting under my belt now, it is still new to me and I have much to learn. I think I really lucked out with this being my first pit. I posted the first three trips in separate posts a couple weeks ago, and the finds were plenty and consistent. I can imagine that most pits don't produce like this one... and certainly not like the day I had last weekend. Once I get into another pit at a different location I will probably come back to reality. haha

Please forgive me--I am just learning this art/science. What is iron masking? My detector (White's CMX--forget the numbers, sorry) constantly shows up "iron".

Detector Mom, Vino answered this very well in his reply. But if you want some more information, check this article out Beneath The Mask He explains how some targets can be masked with an iron tone and some can be silent if its a small piece of iron placed right. There's an interesting experiment he did in there that shows just how prevalent masking is. I will add to what Vino said in regards to some machines being able to separate different, which is very true in some masking scenarios, but I'll include that depending on the position of the iron and the object, there are other scenarios where no existing or practical machine can detect it! Its explained well in that link.

Oh, and might I add: These finds are making me drool!

Thank you Detector Mom!

That is a very nice write up and an incredible day

Thank you 46Wheat! Lucked out with the section of the pit I opened last weekend. Hopefully I have some luck left for my next trip. ha

Iron masking is when the only thing your detector see is the iron, if there is something good under it, it cant see it. Some machines can separate the difference better then others.
George

Great explanation George.... good luck on Sun and looking forward to seeing the results.

ADV SAYS , DO DO DO DO DO DO DO DOO CANT TOUCH THIS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SAY THAT FAST 10 TIMES WHEW ....

haha Thanks Sutphin!
 

Wow! You confirm the fact that we are missing a lot of non-metallic treasures. Break out the sifters. Nice work.
 

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