Farming and Forestry Relics, central Virginia.

MisterHelix

Jr. Member
Feb 23, 2024
97
361
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex Ultra
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I only collect items from my own farm to build a mental picture of the human activity here over time.

My farm is the back corner if an old central Virginia estate, dating back to the 1750’s, but seems to have seen a lot of activity in the mid to late 1800’s through 1915-ish, then it’s pretty quiet except for some enthusiastic deer hunters in the eighties. Subdivided in the nineties, There were no houses within a half mile until the sixties. Our place was built in the late 2000’s.
Anyway, with that as context, here are some of the items I have found.

I will start today with a few plow points, as they’re called, that I dug out of the deep soil down here in the clearing near the house and road.

I have learned that these are from a “left handed turning plow” or a “walking or sulky plow” and though I have asked around a bit, I still don’t have an idea of the kind of plow(s) specifically, they were for.

If you know how I can know, let me know.

“Syracuse 503 C 363 1368”
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“10”
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Anyway, those are the plow points. There’s more big iron out there I just have to decide what to dig.

And shotgun stamps, as they’re called I guess. The brass ends of paper shotgun shells. Apparently rabbit and Turkey hunting was big here until the sixties, then whitetail deer became more common, or so I’m told. Anyway, lots of nice stamps, easily dateable, most from 1890-1915 or so.
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one more and I’ll have fifty of the things.

More exciting rusty bits of fencing to come, haha. I have a few axes and whatnot that need to be cleaned up and photographed.
 

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MisterHelix

MisterHelix

Jr. Member
Feb 23, 2024
97
361
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex Ultra
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Nails: little slivers of history.
Here are a few of my “best nails”.
Some of these are square in section, though most are rectangular cut nails.

I don’t really understand how a nail gets to be all by itself, hundreds of yards from any other artifact.

Anyway, since Thomas Jefferson’s Nailery is not too far away, and having seen the nails they produced, I am curious if any of my older nails came from there.
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MisterHelix

MisterHelix

Jr. Member
Feb 23, 2024
97
361
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex Ultra
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Group photos of logging gear, axes, crosscut saw. All of this stuff was dug higher in the hills where timber cutting was primary, though some of the tools are for digging, too, so I don’t know what they were doing, exactly.

Lots of horseshoes from draft animals, big chains, et cetera.

So many questions. What did they cut? When was this? How old are these trees?
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pa plateau hiker

Bronze Member
Jul 15, 2012
1,088
1,302
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
That's a bunch of shotgun brass. I used to leave my headstamps in the woods until I realized there were numerous makers. Now I bring them home. I'm with you, finding single nails deep in the woods, wondering how it got there and no other iron nearby.
 

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MisterHelix

MisterHelix

Jr. Member
Feb 23, 2024
97
361
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex Ultra
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Among other things, I have found a wide variety of cartridge cases. Not a high volume of cases, but two or three of a lot of different cartridges, including a few live rounds. Mostly center fire rifle brass.
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.22 short (1857-x)
.22lr (live)
.223 Remington
.22 magnum
.22-250 Remington (1965-x)
.243 Winchester (1955-x)
6mm Remington (1963-x)
.264 Winchester Magnum (1959-x)
.270 Winchester (1925,1945-x)
.32 S&W short (1878-x)
30 carbine (1942-x)
.303 British (1889-x)
8mm Mauser (live)
9mm Luger (live)
30-30 (1895-x)
30-06 Springfield (1906-x)
.308 Winchester (1954-x)
.338 Winchester Magnum (1958-x)
 

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MisterHelix

MisterHelix

Jr. Member
Feb 23, 2024
97
361
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Nokta Simplex Ultra
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
some interesting items. I especially like the wood working items.
Yeah, the woodworking tools tell a story that I’m interested in hearing.

Today I spent a while pondering the various “personal effects” that I have found.

-buckle (“iron roller buckle”)
-harmonica (German Clover brand c.1900)
-pocketknife
-key
-folding ruler (brass remnants)
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And, unrelatedly, the coins I have found.

Now…..all the coins are modern (1950-present) and were (almost) all found around the house. None of them date to the era of the big iron, plows, saws, axes, horseshoes, or shotgun stamps.

I’m not looking for treasure, but….where’s the coins? Where’s the one 1909 Indian Head that goes with the hundred rabbit hunts and timber runs?

Anyway.
One quarter (2004)
Three nickels (1975-2002)
18 dimes (1975-present)
17 copper Pennies (<1982)
59 Zincolns
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That’s ninety nine. No silver.
Oh! There is one piece of silver.

I almost forgot.
This one Edwardian sterling cufflink. For no good reason, right there in the yard.
So curious.
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