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Lol it's like nurses watching ER and picking it to death. I'm pretty sure they stated that it was the last battle of the rev war, not the only time pewter balls were used. Maybe your soon to be " published" book might have that in it. Sounds like it's going to be a thrilling read.
 

Lol it's like nurses watching ER and picking it to death <- True.
 

digbattles said:
This show posts more inaccurate information about artifacts than I have ever seen. I just accidentally caught an episode of the Diggers show where the two morons are digging a Rev War Fort site near Pittsburgh. They indicate that there is a legend that the Americans ran out of lead and melted down pewterware to make musket balls. When they find one, they indicate that this is the first one EVER found and that it is priceless!!! What a load of absolute bull! "Pewter" musket balls are quite common. I have an entire chapter on them in my soon to be published book "A Guide to Musket Ball and Small Shot Identification". We have excavated them at numerous Rev War battlefields. They found a large (probably Brown Bess) musket ball and state that large musket balls only come from Virginia. Boy am I learning alot from this show!! They also show backed marked REV WAR buttons. Back marking started in 1796. This is, in my opinion, misleading information that the public will take as fact. Is this the new look for the National Geographic Society? They give a bad name to metal detecting both hobbyist and archaeologist!!
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I find inaccurate info on any reality shows I watch...its for entertainment, not a college course...accidentally caught an episode.:laughing7::laughing7::laughing7::laughing7:...you accidentally helped the ratings.
 

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They also stated in a previous show that the Battle of Cedar Bridge Tavern (NJ) that took place in 1782 was the last battle of the Rev War. BTW - I did the analysis of the artifacts found and their "expert" archaeologist (not shown in the program) misidentified the most important artifacts and had major locational mistakes in her database. The Battle of Blue Licks, KY is also listed as the last Battle of the Rev War. Will the real last battle please stand up. What they insinuated on this show is that they found THE ONLY pewter musket ball and they listed it as PRICELESS. How many photographs of pewter musket balls would you like to see? Both are totally inaccurate as are many of their artifact analysis.
 

digbattles said:
How many photographs of pewter musket balls would you like to see? Both are totally inaccurate as are many of their artifact analysis.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree after seeing their " pewter " musket ball they may be a bit more common then they are aware.
I can't get to mine due to snow & Ice Depth here, But I am sure I have a few non lead musket balls especially if that is how they look.

I am not in Rev War area though.

I am however in French & Indian War area 1754–1763
 

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digbattles said:
They also stated in a previous show that the Battle of Cedar Bridge Tavern (NJ) that took place in 1782 was the last battle of the Rev War. BTW - I did the analysis of the artifacts found and their "expert" archaeologist (not shown in the program) misidentified the most important artifacts and had major locational mistakes in her database. The Battle of Blue Licks, KY is also listed as the last Battle of the Rev War. Will the real last battle please stand up. What they insinuated on this show is that they found THE ONLY pewter musket ball and they listed it as PRICELESS. How many photographs of pewter musket balls would you like to see? Both are totally inaccurate as are many of their artifact analysis.
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How do we know your artifact analysis is accurate? Its just a show.
 

I don't fill my holes.........the tides do it for me ;)

However, after watching the show last night, I find it kind of odd finding those 5 colonial coins in one hole in Newport RI. I have been metal detecting for at least 20 years, and metal detected revolutionary areas (parents backyard) and to this day haven't found one colonial coin. Maybe I am just unlucky.

Roundness in the hole in this nectar sector!!!
 

MuckyBottles said:
I don't fill my holes.........the tides do it for me ;) However, after watching the show last night, I find it kind of odd finding those 5 colonial coins in one hole in Newport RI. I have been metal detecting for at least 20 years, and metal detected revolutionary areas (parents backyard) and to this day haven't found one colonial coin. Maybe I am just unlucky. Roundness in the hole in this nectar sector!!!
Click to expand...
.. Could be you do not have a TV company salting the holes before you dig...
 

We did XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analysis for tin content on "pewter" looking musket balls excavated at several sites and compared them to white patena coated "lead" musket balls. Pewter is 80% lead and 20% Tin. So called pewter musket balls were found to typically contain less than 10% tin, but this is sufficient to create a galvanic action that created a blistered/pitted surface instead of the white patena. During the Rev War, the States did not have a good supply of lead. It came mostly from England. SO to stretch the lead supplies, they added a small quantity of pewter which has a very similar melting point. This created what we call a "pewter" musket ball - even though it is really a lead alloy. Pure lead shot from France began showing up in the spring of 1778 at Valley Forge, but much of the alloyed shot was still being used on the frontier and Southern campaigns in later years.
 

MuckyBottles said:
I don't fill my holes.........the tides do it for me ;) However, after watching the show last night, I find it kind of odd finding those 5 colonial coins in one hole in Newport RI. I have been metal detecting for at least 20 years, and metal detected revolutionary areas (parents backyard) and to this day haven't found one colonial coin. Maybe I am just unlucky. Roundness in the hole in this nectar sector!!!
Click to expand...

I went many years without more then one or 2 Colonials, Yet one of my Hunting Buddies,
with a much older detector pulled them out regularly.
in the last 3 years, I've been pulling them out a little more often.

Location & luck play a big part.

the large Colonial Drop was surprising, But I'll believe that.

If they would have found Custer's Payroll, & there was never a Big story in the Papers
& on CNN before the Show, I would call Fake like Boom Baby
 

BTW - this is not "just a show". It is not on the Travel Channel - it is on National Geographic. It is supposed to be Accurate and Informative.
 

digbattles said:
BTW - this is not "just a show". It is not on the Travel Channel - it is on National Geographic. It is supposed to be Accurate and Informative.
Click to expand...

ROFL
 

digbattles said:
BTW - this is not "just a show". It is not on the Travel Channel - it is on National Geographic. It is supposed to be Accurate and Informative.
Click to expand...

Is "Accurate and Informative" another television show on NatGeo? The capitalization is confusing me. Just trying to help you be accurate and informative. :D
 

digbattles said:
BTW - this is not "just a show". It is not on the Travel Channel - it is on National Geographic. It is supposed to be Accurate and Informative.
Click to expand...
If you rally want accurate and informative stay up late tonight and watch salon nails in minutes on natgeo wild.
 

Last summer while hunting a local lot in town i had a guy approach me and a friend....i thought here we go some busy body but to my surprise he was just there to ask questions about the hobby because he had been watching the diggers show....after 15 mins of talking he pointed towards his house and said thats my place and thats the old rail road station in the back yard...and then he asked if we would mind detecting at his place to see what we could find...and welcomed us back anytime we would like to hunt it ....some people like it some people dont your always going to get a mixed bag of people
 

That's great, but the problem is with the people who see the show, buy a metal detector, don't know the rules or don't join a club and simply detect protected historic sites. Incidents of this are at an all time high at national and state historic sites. Shows like Diggers are giving a bad rap to the entire hobby. Add that to misidentification of artifacts, and this just increases the gap between archaeologists and hobbyists.
 

It can't be a problem, those of us that have been prospecting for years love to point out the inconsistencies of the show gold rush but pretty sure that the prospecting hobby hasn't been tainted, or the gem hobby, or the tattoo industry or the tree house building industry:0)
 

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