Discovered: Revolutionary War Veteran's Homestead!

paleomaxx

Hero Member
Aug 14, 2016
824
6,764
Upstate, NY
🥇 Banner finds
6
Detector(s) used
Deus XP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As usual with my best spots, I stumbled on this site virtually by chance! I can't do deep woods cellar holes at the moment due to hunting season so I've been following up on long shots next to existing roads. None of the maps had anything in this particular spot, but it was a little flat area next to a road and a stream which is always worth trying. There was a small depression, but the forest around here is full of natural sinkholes and there were zero foundation stones poking out of the walls so it didn't look promising at first.

I circled it once without any strong signals, but scattered iron tones were around so I dug after a higher sounding one. That ended up being a very crusty pewter button in the hole with a rosehead nail; that's a good sign!

A foot away was a low tone that ended up being a small tombac. At this point I was sure I was onto something so I did a tight grid around the depression and finally got a nice strong tone which was a rat-tail pewter spoon bowl!

The targets were sparse and spread apart very evenly which tells me the site wasn't occupied for very long. The buttons are universally 18th century:

DSC09897.JPG


Some nicely engraved tombacs, cast pewter, one bone-backed gilt button, and half of a blowhole button so definitely an early spot for the area!

DSC09898.JPG

DSC09899.JPG


There was one section towards the river that could have been the trash pit. I say that because the targets were extremely deep and it was the only spot that I found any sort of relic concentration, but even that was only a half dozen or so. This included two full Georgian period shoe buckles, one brass and one iron.

DSC09902.JPG


I was chasing after a deep iron signal in the same spot and I ended up pulling out a rod stuck between some roots. Fortunately I spotted the handle of a spoon sticking out of the sidewall, and to my surprise it belonged to a full rat-tail pewter spoon! :hello2:

DSC09900.JPG


DSC09901.JPG


It cracked a little during the extraction (seriously, this was 12 inches down between a half dozen roots), but remarkably it's still intact and actually pretty solid. I never find these whole and the books place the height of rat-tail spoon manufacturing between 1710 and 1740 so this is a very old spoon!

There were only two coins, one a toasted copper, but the other was a modestly well-preserved 1787 Connecticut Copper:

CT Copper.jpg


Pretty sure it's a Miller 36-I.1 which is R-5 (Rare), but it's definitely not my best preserved CT copper.

I found one mystery piece that I'm hoping someone recognizes and can identify. It's a long, rolled brass tube that has regular holes along the seam; almost like it was stitched together, but it's thick and sturdy brass sheet so it doesn't bend or flex at all. It tapers slightly from one end to the other too.

DSC09908.JPG


DSC09909.JPG


DSC09910.JPG



Very odd, and I don't have any solid guesses about what it was from.

I had circled the foundation about a dozen times and I had only found those twenty or so pieces and I couldn't believe that I had found everything. It was getting late, but I wanted at least one more find so I did another sweep and got a very faint and crummy tone from right under a tree at the edge of the hole. I knew it would be a pain getting it out, but I went for it anyway. After some hacking and cursing I teased out another small pewter button, but this one was a bit different from the other two:

USA Button.jpg


Yup, Revolutionary War pewter USA button!!! :hello2: Now that's the way to end a hunt!

I put it in a bag with some dirt and called it a day!

The USA was pretty clear in the field, but pewters don't always look as good after the dirt comes off. Fortunately this one was very solid with only the slightest of edge crumbling so I might have got away without a glue coating, but I did it anyways to be careful.

DSC09906.JPG

DSC09907.JPG


I think it turned out pretty well; definitely a keeper and a perfect display button.

Awesome site, awesome pieces of history, and a really good day! Gotta love it when those long shots pay off. :laughing7:
 

Upvote 39

crashbandicoot

Gold Member
Sep 27, 2020
12,129
27,099
Dumas,AR
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As usual with my best spots, I stumbled on this site virtually by chance! I can't do deep woods cellar holes at the moment due to hunting season so I've been following up on long shots next to existing roads. None of the maps had anything in this particular spot, but it was a little flat area next to a road and a stream which is always worth trying. There was a small depression, but the forest around here is full of natural sinkholes and there were zero foundation stones poking out of the walls so it didn't look promising at first.

I circled it once without any strong signals, but scattered iron tones were around so I dug after a higher sounding one. That ended up being a very crusty pewter button in the hole with a rosehead nail; that's a good sign!

A foot away was a low tone that ended up being a small tombac. At this point I was sure I was onto something so I did a tight grid around the depression and finally got a nice strong tone which was a rat-tail pewter spoon bowl!

The targets were sparse and spread apart very evenly which tells me the site wasn't occupied for very long. The buttons are universally 18th century:

View attachment 1991343

Some nicely engraved tombacs, cast pewter, one bone-backed gilt button, and half of a blowhole button so definitely an early spot for the area!

View attachment 1991345
View attachment 1991346

There was one section towards the river that could have been the trash pit. I say that because the targets were extremely deep and it was the only spot that I found any sort of relic concentration, but even that was only a half dozen or so. This included two full Georgian period shoe buckles, one brass and one iron.

View attachment 1991347

I was chasing after a deep iron signal in the same spot and I ended up pulling out a rod stuck between some roots. Fortunately I spotted the handle of a spoon sticking out of the sidewall, and to my surprise it belonged to a full rat-tail pewter spoon! :hello2:

View attachment 1991350

View attachment 1991351

It cracked a little during the extraction (seriously, this was 12 inches down between a half dozen roots), but remarkably it's still intact and actually pretty solid. I never find these whole and the books place the height of rat-tail spoon manufacturing between 1710 and 1740 so this is a very old spoon!

There were only two coins, one a toasted copper, but the other was a modestly well-preserved 1787 Connecticut Copper:

View attachment 1991352

Pretty sure it's a Miller 36-I.1 which is R-5 (Rare), but it's definitely not my best preserved CT copper.

I found one mystery piece that I'm hoping someone recognizes and can identify. It's a long, rolled brass tube that has regular holes along the seam; almost like it was stitched together, but it's thick and sturdy brass sheet so it doesn't bend or flex at all. It tapers slightly from one end to the other too.

View attachment 1991353

View attachment 1991354

View attachment 1991355


Very odd, and I don't have any solid guesses about what it was from.

I had circled the foundation about a dozen times and I had only found those twenty or so pieces and I couldn't believe that I had found everything. It was getting late, but I wanted at least one more find so I did another sweep and got a very faint and crummy tone from right under a tree at the edge of the hole. I knew it would be a pain getting it out, but I went for it anyway. After some hacking and cursing I teased out another small pewter button, but this one was a bit different from the other two:

View attachment 1991356

Yup, Revolutionary War pewter USA button!!! :hello2: Now that's the way to end a hunt!

I put it in a bag with some dirt and called it a day!

The USA was pretty clear in the field, but pewters don't always look as good after the dirt comes off. Fortunately this one was very solid with only the slightest of edge crumbling so I might have got away without a glue coating, but I did it anyways to be careful.

View attachment 1991357
View attachment 1991358

I think it turned out pretty well; definitely a keeper and a perfect display button.

Awesome site, awesome pieces of history, and a really good day! Gotta love it when those long shots pay off. :laughing7:
Good finds,even better story to go with it!Nicely done.
 

Gene Mean

Bronze Member
Dec 22, 2016
1,829
3,947
Central NJ
Detector(s) used
Garrett ACE 350
Equinox 800
Eyeballs
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
What a great site and great group of finds! Your research paid off big time:hello2:
You must have been in awe standing on sacred ground.
 

Last edited:

Digger RJ

Gold Member
Aug 24, 2017
19,312
33,446
SW Missouri/Oklahoma
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030; Minelab Equinox 800;
XP Deus 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As usual with my best spots, I stumbled on this site virtually by chance! I can't do deep woods cellar holes at the moment due to hunting season so I've been following up on long shots next to existing roads. None of the maps had anything in this particular spot, but it was a little flat area next to a road and a stream which is always worth trying. There was a small depression, but the forest around here is full of natural sinkholes and there were zero foundation stones poking out of the walls so it didn't look promising at first.

I circled it once without any strong signals, but scattered iron tones were around so I dug after a higher sounding one. That ended up being a very crusty pewter button in the hole with a rosehead nail; that's a good sign!

A foot away was a low tone that ended up being a small tombac. At this point I was sure I was onto something so I did a tight grid around the depression and finally got a nice strong tone which was a rat-tail pewter spoon bowl!

The targets were sparse and spread apart very evenly which tells me the site wasn't occupied for very long. The buttons are universally 18th century:

View attachment 1991343

Some nicely engraved tombacs, cast pewter, one bone-backed gilt button, and half of a blowhole button so definitely an early spot for the area!

View attachment 1991345
View attachment 1991346

There was one section towards the river that could have been the trash pit. I say that because the targets were extremely deep and it was the only spot that I found any sort of relic concentration, but even that was only a half dozen or so. This included two full Georgian period shoe buckles, one brass and one iron.

View attachment 1991347

I was chasing after a deep iron signal in the same spot and I ended up pulling out a rod stuck between some roots. Fortunately I spotted the handle of a spoon sticking out of the sidewall, and to my surprise it belonged to a full rat-tail pewter spoon! :hello2:

View attachment 1991350

View attachment 1991351

It cracked a little during the extraction (seriously, this was 12 inches down between a half dozen roots), but remarkably it's still intact and actually pretty solid. I never find these whole and the books place the height of rat-tail spoon manufacturing between 1710 and 1740 so this is a very old spoon!

There were only two coins, one a toasted copper, but the other was a modestly well-preserved 1787 Connecticut Copper:

View attachment 1991352

Pretty sure it's a Miller 36-I.1 which is R-5 (Rare), but it's definitely not my best preserved CT copper.

I found one mystery piece that I'm hoping someone recognizes and can identify. It's a long, rolled brass tube that has regular holes along the seam; almost like it was stitched together, but it's thick and sturdy brass sheet so it doesn't bend or flex at all. It tapers slightly from one end to the other too.

View attachment 1991353

View attachment 1991354

View attachment 1991355


Very odd, and I don't have any solid guesses about what it was from.

I had circled the foundation about a dozen times and I had only found those twenty or so pieces and I couldn't believe that I had found everything. It was getting late, but I wanted at least one more find so I did another sweep and got a very faint and crummy tone from right under a tree at the edge of the hole. I knew it would be a pain getting it out, but I went for it anyway. After some hacking and cursing I teased out another small pewter button, but this one was a bit different from the other two:

View attachment 1991356

Yup, Revolutionary War pewter USA button!!! :hello2: Now that's the way to end a hunt!

I put it in a bag with some dirt and called it a day!

The USA was pretty clear in the field, but pewters don't always look as good after the dirt comes off. Fortunately this one was very solid with only the slightest of edge crumbling so I might have got away without a glue coating, but I did it anyways to be careful.

View attachment 1991357
View attachment 1991358

I think it turned out pretty well; definitely a keeper and a perfect display button.

Awesome site, awesome pieces of history, and a really good day! Gotta love it when those long shots pay off. :laughing7:
Sweet!!! Nice Finds!!! Congrats!!!
 

ToddsPoint

Gold Member
Mar 2, 2018
5,204
12,164
Todds Point, IL
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
That tube with the holes might have been part of a gas burner.?? Picture flames where the little holes are. Great spot. I'm still looking for one like that.
 

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,820
45,226
ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
27
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great bunch of 18th C finds - congrats.
Not sure what the rolled up cone is but it's made of copper-sheet rather than brass.
 

ARC

Gold Member
Aug 19, 2014
37,156
130,941
Tarpon Springs
Detector(s) used
JW 8X-ML X2-VP 585
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Normally i am not into buttons... but those are super cool.

Well done... great post.
 

OP
OP
P

paleomaxx

Hero Member
Aug 14, 2016
824
6,764
Upstate, NY
🥇 Banner finds
6
Detector(s) used
Deus XP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great bunch of 18th C finds - congrats.
Not sure what the rolled up cone is but it's made of copper-sheet rather than brass.
Initially I thought it was copper too, but I filed off a little bit on the end and it's brass under the patina.
 

Silvermonkey

Silver Member
Apr 24, 2013
4,546
10,007
Eastern Massachusetts
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
AT Pro, XP Deus
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
That's a ridiculously wonderful bunch of finds. The engraved tombacs are quite lovely. Big congrats on finding the Rev War button too. Outstanding!!!
 

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,820
45,226
ENGLAND
🥇 Banner finds
27
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Initially I thought it was copper too, but I filed off a little bit on the end and it's brass under the patina.
Sorry, not convinced. They look the same after filling, plus you don't roll brass like that in that period.
 

Hunk-a-lead

Bronze Member
Dec 20, 2020
2,093
3,257
Kansas City
Detector(s) used
Nokta Legend, Predator Phoenix Shovel
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
As usual with my best spots, I stumbled on this site virtually by chance! I can't do deep woods cellar holes at the moment due to hunting season so I've been following up on long shots next to existing roads. None of the maps had anything in this particular spot, but it was a little flat area next to a road and a stream which is always worth trying. There was a small depression, but the forest around here is full of natural sinkholes and there were zero foundation stones poking out of the walls so it didn't look promising at first.

I circled it once without any strong signals, but scattered iron tones were around so I dug after a higher sounding one. That ended up being a very crusty pewter button in the hole with a rosehead nail; that's a good sign!

A foot away was a low tone that ended up being a small tombac. At this point I was sure I was onto something so I did a tight grid around the depression and finally got a nice strong tone which was a rat-tail pewter spoon bowl!

The targets were sparse and spread apart very evenly which tells me the site wasn't occupied for very long. The buttons are universally 18th century:

View attachment 1991343

Some nicely engraved tombacs, cast pewter, one bone-backed gilt button, and half of a blowhole button so definitely an early spot for the area!

View attachment 1991345
View attachment 1991346

There was one section towards the river that could have been the trash pit. I say that because the targets were extremely deep and it was the only spot that I found any sort of relic concentration, but even that was only a half dozen or so. This included two full Georgian period shoe buckles, one brass and one iron.

View attachment 1991347

I was chasing after a deep iron signal in the same spot and I ended up pulling out a rod stuck between some roots. Fortunately I spotted the handle of a spoon sticking out of the sidewall, and to my surprise it belonged to a full rat-tail pewter spoon! :hello2:

View attachment 1991350

View attachment 1991351

It cracked a little during the extraction (seriously, this was 12 inches down between a half dozen roots), but remarkably it's still intact and actually pretty solid. I never find these whole and the books place the height of rat-tail spoon manufacturing between 1710 and 1740 so this is a very old spoon!

There were only two coins, one a toasted copper, but the other was a modestly well-preserved 1787 Connecticut Copper:

View attachment 1991352

Pretty sure it's a Miller 36-I.1 which is R-5 (Rare), but it's definitely not my best preserved CT copper.

I found one mystery piece that I'm hoping someone recognizes and can identify. It's a long, rolled brass tube that has regular holes along the seam; almost like it was stitched together, but it's thick and sturdy brass sheet so it doesn't bend or flex at all. It tapers slightly from one end to the other too.

View attachment 1991353

View attachment 1991354

View attachment 1991355


Very odd, and I don't have any solid guesses about what it was from.

I had circled the foundation about a dozen times and I had only found those twenty or so pieces and I couldn't believe that I had found everything. It was getting late, but I wanted at least one more find so I did another sweep and got a very faint and crummy tone from right under a tree at the edge of the hole. I knew it would be a pain getting it out, but I went for it anyway. After some hacking and cursing I teased out another small pewter button, but this one was a bit different from the other two:

View attachment 1991356

Yup, Revolutionary War pewter USA button!!! :hello2: Now that's the way to end a hunt!

I put it in a bag with some dirt and called it a day!

The USA was pretty clear in the field, but pewters don't always look as good after the dirt comes off. Fortunately this one was very solid with only the slightest of edge crumbling so I might have got away without a glue coating, but I did it anyways to be careful.

View attachment 1991357
View attachment 1991358

I think it turned out pretty well; definitely a keeper and a perfect display button.

Awesome site, awesome pieces of history, and a really good day! Gotta love it when those long shots pay off. :laughing7:
oh my, what a haul. great saves and so interesting, thanks for posting
 

OP
OP
P

paleomaxx

Hero Member
Aug 14, 2016
824
6,764
Upstate, NY
🥇 Banner finds
6
Detector(s) used
Deus XP
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Sorry, not convinced. They look the same after filling, plus you don't roll brass like that in that period.
I took a little more material off for a photo; definitely brass:

PXL_20211117_175718723.PORTRAIT.jpg


It wasn't machine rolled, there are hammer and file marks all over the piece which leads me to believe that someone took a flat strip of brass and hammered it over a rod to shape it into a tube.

PXL_20211117_175810252.PORTRAIT.jpg


PXL_20211117_175824671.PORTRAIT.jpg


I agree that working with brass like this would have been a huge pain due to the work hardening of the metal with each strike, but if they continually annealed the metal as they worked the brass would have stayed ductile.

I'm curious, is there another method you would expect to see with late 18th century pieces?
 

Silver Tree Chaser

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2012
1,371
2,992
🥇 Banner finds
8
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Paleomaxx: An excellent range of finds offering both quantity and quality. The narrative of your hunting adventure was written so well I felt that I was along for the trip. Certainly, the USA button is the best in the lot and one incredible last find before ending your hunt. The shape of all your finds is terrific - ground is typically very harsh on pewter. You've got my vote - #30.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top