Items found when I renovated my 1790s - 1838 house. Enjoy!!

[MonkeyBoy]

I did a complete renovation on my house, oldest section being 1790s and the new section is 1838. I found a lot of cool, relics, papers and other period items if anyone is interested.

The first picture is a Civil War stencil I found when digging out part of the cellar. Theere was most of the brass from a haversack and some other odds and ends.. eagle buttons and a fee primer caps.

The second picture is the only large penny I found in the yard. I got some colonial coppers, but still need to shoot them

The third pictures is a 1786 2 Reale I found.

The forth picture is a letter and envelope i found together in the attic along with a nice ivory and gold pen.

The fifth and sixth pictures are 1830s era bank drafts. The owner of my house would lend money, through the bank of Baltimore to other people.. pretty interesting banknotes.

I have a tray of items found I need to organize and I will get that posted too.

I have all these items framed in shadow boxes so the pictures are a little rough with the glass..

Enjoy,
MonkeyBoy

 

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[coltdavis]

Sweet finds! nice display! keep it up

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Sweet finds! nice display! keep it up

Thanks!! slow process going through everything.. and getting in the boxes properly!!
More coming...

MonkeyBoy

 

[plumloko]

That is some great history!
Its amazing that any of that stuff was still in the house after all of those years.

 

[Detectingfreak]

Very nice finds!!! Cool displays!

 

[pepperj]

Very cool way of preserving history

 

[hogge]

Fantastic stuff. That 2-Reale looks like it's in great shape. Would love to see a closeup of front and back. Hogge

 

[Old River]

Congradulations on the finds. I did enjoy viewing them.

 

[Cynangyl]

Very fascinating stuff you found there....that would be really exciting and I am looking forward to seeing the other items you have found. I love that you put them all in displays!

 

[NGE]

Awesome finds and displays........Encore,Encore!...........NGE

 

[sniffer]

treasure is like beauty, it all depends on what you like.
great finds, time to go back for more

 

[crazyjarhead]

That is really neat. Definetely adds some history to your place. No ghosts or demons there , is there? I often wondered what it would be like to live in a house that old. The old McDonald house I hunted last year from 1836 would be fun to live in. Pearing through the old windows that others gone before me had done. No cars, only horses and buggies.

 

[treasurefiend]

Very cool!!!

 

[John987]

Very nice finds!! Congratulations on finding all that history.
Are you sure you looked everywhere? Maybe something is really hiding in that old house.
Happy Hunting!!

John

 

[MonkeyBoy]

That is some great history!
Its amazing that any of that stuff was still in the house after all of those years.

Thanks!! most of the stuff was under the attic floor. I removed the old flooring and turned the attic into living space. The pen was under the baseboard, looks like just got dropped and rolled under the gap. I guess you never know what you will find or where you will find it!

MB

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Very nice finds!! Congratulations on finding all that history.
Are you sure you looked everywhere? Maybe something is really hiding in that old house.
Happy Hunting!!

John

Ha! yes, well.. everywhere I could! I ended up doing a lot more demo then I expected.. guess that is true with any house project.. but there where not too many place that I did not at least poke into to.. either me or one of the tradesmen.. the cellar was the only place I wish I had more time. I was preparing to pout a slab, started leveling it off and digging a trench along the wall to tie into the foundation. The 2nd shovel of dirt turn over a Civil War knapsack triangle!! Having already dug a bunch of them I knew what it was the second I saw it... and that brought the whole project to a halt!! ;-) I didn't have my machine that day, so I went by hand with a cement trowel... and found more brass from the knapsack, 1 eagle button, a couple percussion caps and 1/2 of the stencil!! The other half was about a foot away.. it had been broken somehow. I dug it all out by hand... then took the dirt out into my yard and hit it with my detector the next day and ran it over the dirt in the cellar many.. many times.. got more brass.. more percussion caps.. and one flat button.. that was it. I already had the concrete ordered.. and they where pouring the cellar and my kitchen.. so I could not push that back. soo,, every time I go down there... I still wonder what I missed!!!

MB

 

[dfx willy]

great finds monkey boy!! i guess you wernt sratching your nuts on that one. i grew up in a house built in 1715 but i never found stuff like that. love the shadow boxes were did you get them? also can you show pics of your house. thanxs willy.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Very fascinating stuff you found there....that would be really exciting and I am looking forward to seeing the other items you have found. I love that you put them all in displays!
[/quote

Thanks! Took me awhile to figure out how and where to display them.. I found some deep picture frames on eBay.. they cam in a big package of different sizes.. so i ordered two sets.. and then modified them to be more like shadow boxes.. since I wanted to use smaller frames instead of just putting it all in two or three big ones. I still have a bunch of stuff I need to finish.. takes a lot longer then it looks!! ;-)

MB

 

[MonkeyBoy]

great finds monkey boy!! i guess you wernt sratching your nuts on that one. i grew up in a house built in 1715 but i never found stuff like that. love the shadow boxes were did you get them? also can you show pics of your house. thanxs willy.

Man, 1715!! There has to be stuff in that one!! I had this in another post.. but it was when I started pulling up the original attic floor.. I had to run wiring and duct work, that is when I hit the "mother load" there was tons of stuff.. papers.. shoes.. old clothes.. all kinds of stuff that had fallen either through the cracks or down into the rafters where the flooring stopped. This was all in the newer section, 1838, hence the 1830s dated bank drafts.. there was some nasty stuff to... i found a 1800s squirrel!!! They would store food up there, found a ton of corn and beans, and I guess the squirrel got in but could not get back out!! since it was an attic.. it had dried out and mummified!! Also found a tone of snake skins!!! ;-) and 5 live snakes during the renovation to!! I have some inside shots I can post.. have to dig them out.. my house was in a Historic Homes Tour a few years ago... I'll post some pictures from that.. since it was clean!!! I have a 7 and 11 year old.. it stays clean for...maybe 10 minutes tops!! ;-) I think the "best" thing I found was the attic flooring itself... better then 1" thick oak from the 1830s.. I decided to keep it.. replaced it was pine flooring and am saving it for something else.. not sure what yet.. most likely will use it for furniture some day.

MB

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Great story dude. You are lucky to have a historically significant home. Love how you displayed everything.
Chris