Colonial to Civil War including 1600s silver!!!! Angel or Demon???

HomeGuardDan

Bronze Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2011
Messages
1,677
Reaction score
2,473
Golden Thread
5
Location
Williamsburg, VA
🥇 Banner finds
5
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Colonial to Civil War including 1600's silver!!!! Angel or Demon???

I got out yesterday for a few short hours to check on the status of some spots and even managed to get some digging in. Also in this post was a hunt from last week that I did not get around to posting yet. lets start there first.

This was a colonial site that had multiple house sites along a lone and long ridge. The earliest certainly was 1600's based on history and finds and the latest seemed to be just at the american civil war (1861-1865) due to other finds made there. This was an iron INFESTED site and I worked slow during my entire time there and managed to pick out a few targets. Seven buttons from the mid to late 1700s popped out, as well as plenty of brass and pewter. The U.S. marked lock face was an example of the type of tones dug...iron and brass combined.

At the end of the hunt I finally heard what I knew was going to be a piece of cut silver and what turned out actually was better. This was a 1600's spot based on the delftware tile frags and other items (copper heart stud). So while I was hoping for a nice cob, i instead was looking at an angel...or is it a demon??? hmmm. Not sure if it is a broken buckle or broach of some sort...will do some looking into it, but very cool indeed. I love personal pieces, especially early ones.

Well on to yesterday...short and sweet...almost every field was still planted, so I hunted two old standby fields on the same property that were open and both produced a little. Total for about 2.5 hours were 7 buttons and a neat little cuff link (did not know I had it until I unfolded it). This site ranges from 1600s to 1860s as well and I did manage to sniff out an Indian Head Penny (Fatty) (1859-1863). While it was not colonial silver...it did make my trip worth while. This one particular house had burned...wonder what the large brass item was? It is a heavy think that is for sure.

On the way home I stopped and checked out a local battle site and managed to dig a fired civil war three ringer. Also means I added 15 more colonial and 1800s buttons to the relic case!


HH

Dan
 

Attachments

  • 1a.webp
    1a.webp
    769.8 KB · Views: 232
  • 1b.webp
    1b.webp
    656.5 KB · Views: 231
  • 1c.webp
    1c.webp
    468.4 KB · Views: 210
  • 1d.webp
    1d.webp
    409.2 KB · Views: 200
  • 1e.webp
    1e.webp
    125.8 KB · Views: 284
  • 1f.webp
    1f.webp
    228.5 KB · Views: 205
  • 1g.webp
    1g.webp
    429.5 KB · Views: 183
  • 1h.webp
    1h.webp
    324.2 KB · Views: 176
  • 1i.webp
    1i.webp
    130 KB · Views: 184
  • 1j.webp
    1j.webp
    93.1 KB · Views: 186
  • 1k.webp
    1k.webp
    246.2 KB · Views: 187
  • 1l.webp
    1l.webp
    162.7 KB · Views: 176
  • 1m.webp
    1m.webp
    245 KB · Views: 177
Upvote 20
Wow! Nice finds. I wonder, since you got so many good dated artifacts on the ridge, if it wouldn't be worthwhile to go ahead and dig out the iron as you come to it. To see what else might be in the hole, and to open the area to more finds hidden by the iron signals ?
Or is there just way too many iron hits to make it worthwhile? Tons of nails and such..
It seems to be a pretty sweet spot. Congrats! HH

Absolutely would like to entrench that site some more...at least to find the rest of this thing.
 
Dan I went online and read a little about cherubs in colonial America. Funny enough I didn't get an exact answer but instead a very interesting article. Many on t-net share a thirst for knowledge so I figured you would find this interesting...

http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/deathshead.html

Steve
 
Interesting article Scappy. I never knew about death heads until just new. Very cool find Dan.
 
Dan I went online and read a little about cherubs in colonial America. Funny enough I didn't get an exact answer but instead a very interesting article. Many on t-net share a thirst for knowledge so I figured you would find this interesting...

Death's Head, Cherub, Urn and Willow

Steve
excellent article man! Thanks for passing along.
 
thanks Cru...how uncommon or common are these over your way?

Heart Shaped medieval Brooches are very rare, specially in silver. See the 2 14th C examples, yours shows similarities with the left pivet point for the pin & general shape, ie. with something on top. However, I've never seen a Cherub example although they were very popular & were used on lots of items.
Heart-Shaped Brooch - UK Finds Database -
Heart-Shaped Brooch - UK Finds Database -
Not sure how to date yours, but can't be much later than 17th C I would say.
 
Heart Shaped medieval Brooches are very rare, specially in silver. See the 2 14th C examples, yours shows similarities with the left pivet point for the pin & general shape, ie. with something on top. However, I've never seen a Cherub example although they were very popular & were used on lots of items.
Heart-Shaped Brooch - UK Finds Database -
Heart-Shaped Brooch - UK Finds Database -
Not sure how to date yours, but can't be much later than 17th C I would say.

Thanks man...dalftware came from the same hole. I certainly want to get back in there and sift it out for the rest of it.

Glad I got the business end at least.
 
nice assortment of finds --like that indian head
 
That cherub brooch is really good, even broken. Thank goodness the little face is still there!
 
Man I LOVE the early silver brooch. What a personal and unique find. Great hunt!
 
WAY TO HGD. WHAT NICE FINDS ...
 
Great hunt Dan! I love the silver piece, hopefully more pieces will show up on future hunts.
 
Great finds Dan! That's a very nice piece of early silver.
 
Cherub for sure, nice finds
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom