bcbirdman
Full Member
I recently got permission from a farmer who had 5 homesites on his property in western central Indiana, 4 of which he wasn't aware of, that are now cow pasture. The homes are shown on the 1876 map of the area. These finds were accumulated over 3 separate trips, covering 4 of the 5 sites.
My favorite find is what appears to be a counterfeit 1828 Capped Bust 50 cent coin with a hole in it so it can be worn as a necklace. It's the first of its kind I've ever seen so I didn't know it was supposed to be silver until later when I researched it. This one is clearly copper or some alloy that was probably silver plated at one time? If anyone knows anything more, I'd love to know.
I also found my first large cent which has two holes probably also for wearing it as a necklace. The funny thing is they put one hole over the last part of the date so I can read "187-" I think under the right light I think. So I'm thinking 1870s but it's in such poor shape that I can't say for sure.
I found a bunch of flat buttons. Almost all I can say confidently were made in Britain during the early 1800s due to their backmarks that read:
The gold plated locket was super cool to pull out of the ground. It was in one piece when I dug it, but when I carefully cleaned it off, the hinge broke. The photograph was still in the locket, but unfortunately was deteriorated so badly that it was impossible to see anything on it. I assumed this locket was just as old as the other finds at first, but when I realized there was a clear plastic barrier covering the photo and not glass, I was surprised. haha Still very cool to me, but this likely dates to the 1930s-1940s as I found very similar ones from that time that also had plastic instead of glass frames inside.
Other cool finds were:
a child-sized, heart-shaped heal plate to a shoe/boot
A horeshoe shaped suspender buckle
A handmade lead fishing weight
And a broken Spur from a cowboy boot! Loved digging this. Unfortunately the spur spikes were partially intact when I dug it, but when I put it in my bag and kept digging other targets it must've broken the rusty spikes off so now the actual spur part is missing those.
It's been a great few hunts! Any extra info or insight is always appreciated.
My favorite find is what appears to be a counterfeit 1828 Capped Bust 50 cent coin with a hole in it so it can be worn as a necklace. It's the first of its kind I've ever seen so I didn't know it was supposed to be silver until later when I researched it. This one is clearly copper or some alloy that was probably silver plated at one time? If anyone knows anything more, I'd love to know.
I also found my first large cent which has two holes probably also for wearing it as a necklace. The funny thing is they put one hole over the last part of the date so I can read "187-" I think under the right light I think. So I'm thinking 1870s but it's in such poor shape that I can't say for sure.
I found a bunch of flat buttons. Almost all I can say confidently were made in Britain during the early 1800s due to their backmarks that read:
- Imperial Standard
- Will Cleaver * London * (I wish I knew more about this name because it appears to be the maker but I've done some searches and only ever find people searching for the same info without anything more)
- Orange Colour
- Rich Gold Color (probably the only one made here in America due to the "color" spelling I assume)
- one without any backmark but still has silver plating relatively intact
The gold plated locket was super cool to pull out of the ground. It was in one piece when I dug it, but when I carefully cleaned it off, the hinge broke. The photograph was still in the locket, but unfortunately was deteriorated so badly that it was impossible to see anything on it. I assumed this locket was just as old as the other finds at first, but when I realized there was a clear plastic barrier covering the photo and not glass, I was surprised. haha Still very cool to me, but this likely dates to the 1930s-1940s as I found very similar ones from that time that also had plastic instead of glass frames inside.
Other cool finds were:
a child-sized, heart-shaped heal plate to a shoe/boot
A horeshoe shaped suspender buckle
A handmade lead fishing weight
And a broken Spur from a cowboy boot! Loved digging this. Unfortunately the spur spikes were partially intact when I dug it, but when I put it in my bag and kept digging other targets it must've broken the rusty spikes off so now the actual spur part is missing those.
It's been a great few hunts! Any extra info or insight is always appreciated.
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