Flintlock Trigger Guard, 1817 Large Cent, and Flat Button

OWK · Sep 16, 2016

Back once again to the site which produced the NOVA Cent, the Draped Bust, and the Spanish Reale..... Put in another few hours before it got too hot. Very hard digging (hasn't rained in forever). This site is definitely colonial.. but it isn't very well documented. In fact, I don't think anyone knows it is a colonial site. It is hiding in plain sight. An empty 5 acre field, with nicely mowed grass. Off to the side of the entry of a public park.

I've done some more research, and I think I understand the site a little better. I don't want to give too many specifics until I'm satisfied I've hunted the site well enough, but the site reaches back to at least 1740 (which is the earliest of early for this area). My research shows there to have been a cabin on the site, but it was gone by the earliest maps produced for this area. It would have been gone by 1830. I suspect that it burned. (The 1 Reale coin I dug was fire damaged, and I teased it out of an area that was scattered with early rose-head nails). The trigger guard you see below also came from the same area of the field. The research I read on the site, placed it just north of what were even then called the Indian Old Fields, and just east of the _________ Indian Towne. (I leave the blank, as to not give away my location.) I'm pretty sure that's my field.

Anyhow... In three very short hunts (maybe 6 hours or so altogether) the site has produced... 5 LC's, a 1 Reale, a handful of flat buttons, and a Flintlock Trigger Guard. Very little in the way of trash (but tons of hot rocks).

Today's finds are an early Matron LC (1817) in surprisingly good shape for the site.... a very heavily made brass trigger guard for a flintlock rifle (pretty mangled, but no doubt what it is)... and a pre-1800 flat button.

Carolina Tom · Sep 16, 2016

Nice post. Congrats on the research, and last but not least... nice finds.

OWK · Sep 16, 2016

Thanks Tom...

Still learning my way around my new machine.

Bought a Fisher F75, as an upgrade to my F70.

They're supposed to be similar machines, but man do they perform differently.

I feel like the VDI was a more reliable indicator of what to dig on the F70... but with the F75 it seems to be all about the audio.

If it's a solid hit, and the audio is crisp (not squishy)... dig it. The VDI seems more like a suggestion.

Gridwalker306 · Sep 16, 2016

Sounds like a really great location. Great finds, and I'm sure more will come out of there.

Evolution · Sep 16, 2016

Congrats on the largie. The trigger guard is a sweet relic as well. :thumbsup:

weregolf · Sep 16, 2016

Nice coins

sutphin · Sep 16, 2016

OKW NICE FINDS ....

Loco-Digger · Sep 16, 2016

So do you see the F70 and F75 getting equal depth? I swing the F75 LTD SE and mainly dig by tone for high tones and a VDI that is solid or does not vary by more than one digit for mid tone targets.

A2coins · Sep 16, 2016

1740 colonial site wow that sounds like a great spot and you have some great finds Thanks for sharing em look for the rest of the pistol!!!!

Isaac · Sep 17, 2016

Great site. We have the same settlement patterns as you here in Loudon Co.

The trigger guard is really nice. Love the large cent too, great job on the research and looking forward to more posts!!

OWK · Sep 17, 2016

Loco-Digger said:
So do you see the F70 and F75 getting equal depth? I swing the F75 LTD SE and mainly dig by tone for high tones and a VDI that is solid or does not vary by more than one digit for mid tone targets.

The F75 is definitely deeper...

I have a 10x12 Butterfly Coil that I have swung on both detectors in this same field.

I'm getting targets with the F75 that I couldn't hear with the F70. (although I consider both machines pretty deep).

The VDI reads lower with the F75. By a considerable amount.

As for VDI variability, I dig a moderately bouncy VDI if the tone sounds solid. Didn't do that with the F70, but that approach found me the 1 Reale at 7 inches in dry soil, and also a 10 inch LC.

trapperart · Sep 17, 2016

Congrats on some nice stuff

OWK · Sep 17, 2016

Thanks.

This has been a good week for large cents.

Ahab8 · Sep 17, 2016

That's quite a site you have my friend. As early as it is you could easily pull something from the 1600s. You just never know buddy. Pay zero attention to the vdi on your F75. They're not great id machines but they're deep as heck and once your ear gets tuned in you will know a lot about footprint(size of the target, depth, and composition. It's all about digging tons of targets and learning something from every single signal

OWK · Sep 17, 2016

Ahab8 said:
That's quite a site you have my friend. As early as it is you could easily pull something from the 1600s. You just never know buddy. Pay zero attention to the vdi on your F75. They're not great id machines but they're deep as heck and once your ear gets tuned in you will know a lot about footprint(size of the target, depth, and composition. It's all about digging tons of targets and learning something from every single signal

Thanks Ahab.

I have been digging and learning over the last week.

And you're right, I'm mostly ignoring the VDI, other than as a general suggestion of material content.

The site I am in has very few modern coins, and not a lot of modern trash... so I'm learning to tell the difference between hot rocks (of which there are many) and legitimately deep targets. Targets 6 inches or less are solid and there's little question about what you're digging. Between 6 and 9, you have to think about it. I often spend a couple of minutes on a target, changing modes, changing directions, changing height, comparing the target's pinpoint center to the target's tone center. Also spend a lot of time listening to the character of the tone. With the F75 the tones seem squishy on entry and exit for "breakthrough trash" targets, and for hot rocks... But crisp and sharp for brass and coins.

I'm learning a little more every day.