Found under the Great Fire of 1906

[West Coast Fever]

So, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would just drive around and see what was going on in the area. After a couple bucks of clad from an old park I decided to drive around to see if any construction sites were available. I drove by a pit that was 20 feet deep on a lot that is in the old district of SF. Once I got inside I discovered that there was a layer about 2 feet below grade that was full of ash and brick and many other melted and fused pieces of debris (this was the remains of what was here prior to the 1906 Earthquake and great fire that resulted. All the area was sanded over and rebuilt after the fire). Lots of broken bottle fragments (sure would have loved to have a week to sift though that site with a fine tooth comb). Went down into the pit and started searching through the sand and got a nice signal (most signals were iron, and this one was reading +50 or so) so I started to sift through the sand with my hands.

Long story short, I found an infantry officers button, gold gilted, Waterbury Button Co. Ring shank soldered and intact but bent. Much of the gold still there and actually helped to preserve the button as the salty sand would have completely ruined the button if it were not for the gold covering.

Will post picture as soon as I am done soaking it in pyroxide. I want to clean it up a little bit so that I can see the finer details of the back mark.

Thanks for reading!

Dave

 

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[dugdigger]

w w thats what this "hobby" is all about.

 

[West Coast Fever]

Hobby? what hobby. Did you say hobby? Shhhhhh! dont tell my wife, she thinks I work late

 

[crazyjarhead]

That would definetely be fun if you had the time. That' s a forgotten layer of history under there and I'm sure there is a lot of artifacts

 

[Detectingfreak]

That is an awesome button!

 

[aa battery]

Great button now go out and get some gold

 

[ziphius]

You should be careful hunting that area of S.F. You run the risk of finding a gold coin there! Nice button.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,145244.0.html

 

[unclejesse67]

Thats a cool button. Way to rescue it from a permanent grave.

 

[nuggetshooter323]

West Coast,

I grew up in Walnut Creek, in fact I just moved from there about four years ago. My Dad was one of the supervisors in charge of digging the BART stations in San Fransico in the 70's, and he would come home with bags of bottles and other artifacts. In fact, he built a large patio in our backyard from all the cobble stones that he brought home. Last year there was an article in W&E Treasures about some treasure hunters that found some of the old trash dumps from the 1906 earthquake. If I happen to find it in my back issues I'll let you know.

 

[relichunters]

Very nice find! hopefully you can go back and look more.

 

[cammobunker]

When I was a kid I got to work as a helper in the excavations done around Old Sacramento. The digs were part of the renovation process to turn old town into a tourist trap shopping area. Old Sacramento used to flood every winter before the levees were built, so they simply buried the lower ten feet or so and built atop it. I saw TONS of old bottles, lots of various assorted coins, pins, trinkets, ect be pulled from these excavations.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Nice find, nice site, nice picture, nice post.

Nice!

Keep @ it and HH!!

 

[West Coast Fever]

Hey all,

Thanks for the nice comments. I have been having lots of fun digging lately. I think I finally had a chance to learn a little more about how to use my machine and have been having better success at finding deeper stuff. I found 8 wheats yesterday and two more today. Still hunting for silver, but much harder to come by in the parks I hunt. Cant wait to go back to SF for a day of fun hunting.

We are going on a trip from SF area to Cimarron New Mexico, two and half weeks driving and having fun. We have 3 kids, and I want to hunt our own souvenirs along the way. If any one has any ideas send them our way. We will travel interstate 80 to upper Colorado, then drop in on Colorado Springs area, then New Mexico (Cimarron, actually the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch for a week). After we leave, we will head south or southwest toward Flagstaff and Grand Canyon, then Vegas Baby! (never been there). I am hoping to convince my better half to let me stop at as many places as possible to hunt, and I have a spare machine for my kids (or wife) if they want to participate.

anyway, just wanted to say thanks.

David

 

[Old Dog]

David,

Hope you have a good trip.
You will pass through the upper end of my Sonoran type Deert.
If you get going quick it won't be too hot.
Temps are only into the 90s this week...!

LOL
Thom