Had an opportunity to dig some "newer" relics for a change

[Bill D. (VA)]

My good buddy Stan and I were all set to get back into our early colonial pit for some heavy duty digging on Friday. But we got a call from the owner at the last minute saying he had company in for the weekend and it would be best to come back at another time. So Stan's Plan B was to hit a CW site where he'd taken me to several years ago that was quite productive. Accompanied by his wife who has a new interest in detecting, we made it to the site by late morning. Since the fields were off limits due to winter wheat being planted we had intended to hunt the adjacent woods. But we were surprised when the owner said it would be fine to hunt a small pasture area next to the house that Stan had not been able to get into before. I started out with my big 15" coil on the F75, but it didn't take long to realize it wouldn't work at this site due to the red, moderately mineralized ground plus lots of iron everywhere. I switched back to the stock coil, but was able to keep my sensitivity high while swinging slow. Almost all of the signals were erratic and very questionable (and deep), but sometimes they'd produce a bullet or button. I had pretty good luck and ended up with 20 bullets, 10 buttons, 2 button backs, some brass knapsack hardware, a brass finial, and a few other odds and ends. Three of my buttons were NY, and one of them cleaned up great and even included some thread stuck in the shank. We were stumped by one of the bullets I dug, and Stan thought it might be a variant of a Maynard. Or could it be carved? Appreciate any input on that. All-in-all it was a fun day at a beautiful site, but now its time to move on to some serious colonial pit digging which will hopefully be this weekend. Thanks for the invite Stan!

 

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[Tired Rooster]

Turned into a pretty good day. I like the old buttons.........

 

[joeyfresh]

You really cleaned up on the bullets and buttons Bill! I saw you clean that New York button and that picture doesn't do it justice. It turned out really nice.

Did you post that bullet on any other forums to help identify it?

 

[tennessee digger]

Bill....I think that bullet is a Hanoverian. GREAT find and rare too!

 

[joeyfresh]

Have you measured and weighed the bullet Bill? That may help in identifying it.

 

[mirage83]

Great group of finds Bill. The condition of that NY button is remarkable.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

You really cleaned up on the bullets and buttons Bill! I saw you clean that New York button and that picture doesn't do it justice. It turned out really nice.

Did you post that bullet on any other forums to help identify it?

Yep Joey - I've got it on a couple other forums. So far the majority think it's a hanoverian, but the ones I've seen online look shorter and fatter than mine. Others have said it might be a dimmick, or a carved piece (and I'm leaning toward that).

 

[joeyfresh]

I don't think its carved. With so many foreign and domestic variants, it may be hard to identify but at least you know it's not common.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice! Really good finds! Congrats!
What device did you post the pics from? Some people are having trouble posting.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Nice! Really good finds! Congrats!
What device did you post the pics from? Some people are having trouble posting.

I posted from my PC earlier this morning.

 

[Valley Ranger]

A great day in my book any time.

 

[Ahab8]

Those are great finds and looks like a really nice site. Nice to have good buddies like Stan huh :-)

 

[metalev4]

Great recoveries Bill. The NY cleaned up nicely. Bullet looks like a Dimmick or a Lemat to me. Glad you and Stan had a backup plan..
-Evan

 

[wvwildman]

nice finds congrats HH

 

[The Rebel]

WTG on some super finds! It always amazes me to see thread still in the shank after being in the ground for so long.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice CW recoveries Bill. That bullet is a cool find.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Plan B turned out to be A ok. Nice score on the buttons and bullets there Bill.
ZDD

 

[Davers]

That,s a banner day for me . I love it all...
Davers

 

[Westfront]

Great finds! Love the buttons!