First Spectacle Buckle And Another Cool Spigot!

[coinman123]

I went to a cellar hole today, located on an old abandoned road going through the woods (which is now a ATV/hiking trail). I quickly found an old brass oil lamp piece in front of the cellar hole, and then moved away from the cellar hole. I didn't get any signals in the woods around the cellar hole, so I moved back directly next to the cellar hole. I thought I might have better luck metal detecting right on the edge of the cellar hole, so I did that for half an hour or so. I found another oil lamp there, and right next to it a beautiful lead or pewter spigot. This spigot looks to be a Fenn Faucet, or one similar to it, the original Fenn Faucet was patented in 1810, and very popular during the first half of the 1800's. I moved along the edge of the cellar hole, and got another signal, which ended up being an ornate Victorian drawer knob. Five feet away I got strong signal and dug a complete spectacle buckle. I immediately knew what it was and was thrilled that I finally found one. On the road I also found a toy Texas Sheriff's badge from the 1950's. As I was leaving I quickly checked the cellar hole one more time, and found another Victorian knob.

According to the book "Buckles 1250-1800", my spectacle buckle dates from 1620-1680. Does this date range seem correct, I always thought they were a little newer.



Here's my current spigot collection, with the one I found today second from the top.

 

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[toasted]

Nice finds. Your buckle is actually referred to as a trapezoidal buckle and probably for spurs but you are correct, it is very early

 

[Hawks88]

Nice finds. I like the buckle. Congrats

 

[Relicific]

Very nice buckle-

 

[civilman1]

Yep,as Toasted referred, Spur buckle. Great find

 

[Whyme]

That's a nice old buckle!

 

[CRUSADER]

Nice finds. Your buckle is actually referred to as a trapezoidal buckle and probably for spurs but you are correct, it is very early

Correct its not a Spectacle buckle but it is a 17th C Spur Buckle, like you say.

 

[Steve in PA]

Congrats on the early buckle! it does seem out of place compared to the later finds from that hole, like the oil lamp parts and the toy badge.

 

[diggerranger]

[emoji106][emoji106]

 

[coinman123]

Congrats on the early buckle! it does seem out of place compared to the later finds from that hole, like the oil lamp parts and the toy badge.

Thanks! I was very surprised when I found it. The cellar hole is likely no earlier than 1750 (located on the outskirts of a town settled in the 1730's or 1740's), and was abandoned in around the 1890's (with the road still in use until the 1950's, when my badge is from). My guess is that it was probably already very old by the time it was lost, maybe in the late 1700's. The house was owned by people who didn't have much money, and probably held onto stuff for a long time. Another strange thing about the place was the it was located on the side of a rather big drop with a small brook below, an odd place to have a house, a lot of erosion around it. There was also very little iron around the cellar hole and inside of it (I even didn't dig any nails), at other places it would have been impossible to metal detect on the side of the cellar hole. It was also a very small cellar hole, that was built into the side of a hill, and looked like it was meant to be accessible from the outside (but definitely not a barn as I would have though, as it shows as being a house on old maps, and is tiny compared to the cellar on any bank barn). I was thinking that it may be a cabin, but do cabins have cellars?

 

[Steve in PA]

Thanks! I was very surprised when I found it. The cellar hole is likely no later than 1750 (located on the outskirts of a town settled in the 1730's or 1740's), and was abandoned in around the 1890's (with the road still in use until the 1950's, when my badge is from). My guess is that it was probably already very old by the time it was lost, maybe in the late 1700's. The house was owned by people who didn't have much money, and probably held onto stuff for a long time. Another weird thing about the place was the it was located on the side of a rather big drop with a small brook below. There was also very little iron around the cellar hole and inside of it (I even didn't dig any nails), at other places it would have been impossible to metal detect on the side of the cellar hole. It was also a very small cellar hole, that was built into the side of a hill, and looked like it was meant to be accessible from the outside (but definitely not a barn as I would have though, as it shows as being a house on old maps, and is tiny compared to the cellar on any bank barn). I was thinking that it may be a cabin, but do cabins have cellars?

I don't think it is unusual for them to have built on the edge of a drop off as I have found some cabin sites here in Pennsylvania built on drop-offs like that, possibly so they can have a lower level without building a two story cabin. What is unusual is for a cabin site to have been occupied from around 1750 to around 1890 with very little iron in the ground. Since the area is very old, perhaps the spur buckle was lost earlier and unrelated to the cabin site? You don't mention finding any 18th century buttons.

 

[Rookster]

Very nice buckle and other finds.Congrats

 

[coinman123]

I don't think it is unusual for them to have built on the edge of a drop off as I have found some cabin sites here in Pennsylvania built on drop-offs like that, possibly so they can have a lower level without building a two story cabin. What is unusual is for a cabin site to have been occupied from around 1750 to around 1890 with very little iron in the ground. Since the area is very old, perhaps the spur buckle was lost earlier and unrelated to the cabin site? You don't mention finding any 18th century buttons.

That's a good explanation of the drop off, it makes since why they had the cellar hole there now. Strangely, I didn't find anything from the 18th century strangely, normally I find buttons at most cellar holes I go to, even if I don't find anything else. The cellar hole is probably newer than 1750, that's just when that area of town was settled (I accidentally said no later than 1750 in my post, I mean't earlier). The spigot is probably from between 1830 and 1860, my earliest find besides the buckle. There was some iron there, a couple pieces of thin sheet metal, a late 1800's plow piece (only just below the leaves), and a couple big shallow iron signals I didn't dig, located right next to the plow piece I found. Nothing from the 1700's though. I found the buckle right on top of where the rocks of the cellar hole are, directly on the edge of the wall. I also spent a lot of time metal detecting in the woods around it, and didn't get a single signal. There were also a few bricks in and around the cellar hole, probably from a fireplace.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Awesome buckle recovery...