jgas
Silver Member
- Apr 23, 2008
- 3,795
- 2,472
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 1
- Detector(s) used
- DFX, Pro 6000XL, SunRay Probe, Centech Pinpointer
Hello all T-Netters! It has been a while since I last posted on any finds. It's been a pretty busy summer both at work and treasure hunting. 
Don and I have been out a few times digging up the privies as the property owners allow us. So we have been in a few pits along the way during the dog days of summer. Hmmm, now the fall has hit and we like this weather better when we dig 4,000 pounds of dirt from an outhouse
So we gained permission to dig a yard that had a home on it but has long since been demolished. Our maps that we looked at showed the home there in 1893. So we really didn't know exactly how old it was. That is some of the fun of treasure hunting, doing research and not knowing just how old a property is or was. We had a start with the map, so we platted it out using an overlay of google earth over the 1893 map. It gave us a really close idea as to where the property lines were back then. Which in turn gave us a starting point to start probing.
Now we began to probe and within a couple of minutes we located a pit. Usually the privies end up being side by side. And this was no exception. There were 3 in a row running right down the property line.
So we dug the middle one first and ended up with a very nice amber whiskey bottle with Cunningham and Ihmsen on the base. So that dated the privy around 1866 to 1878. Most of the other items were broken hinge mold pieces that would coincide with the dates. Not much in this one so we finished up and moved to the next. Again we didn't locate much other than a couple of broken blob beers which would date this pit to the 1890's. So far so good as far as our research goes. That pit was closest to the house too. So we went back to the absolute corner of the property to begin the last pit. But we ran out of daylight
On to the next day we go and or hopes that this last pit would yield even older goodies. We started our dig and found a Piso's Cure for Consumption near the top of the privy, which is great to see because everything else below must be older! So down we went when we hit the "Use Layer" around 5 feet down. Out pops a nice wax sealer fruit jar from The Mutual Glass Co. Then a nice Radways Sarsaparillian Resolvent and a Killer but broken basket weave honey amber flask. It's seems like the good ones were shattered. There were several historical flask pieces including a a cannon flask, a double eagle and a Union clasped hands. Ugh, those hurt! But none the less we hammered on to find another wax sealer jar and a really nice Hawthorn Springs mineral water bottle. Several Ayers bottles showed after a long slumber and even the lid to one of the wax sealer jars. Always a good find in my book!
Clearly this was a privy that was made in the 1870's. No pontil bottles but what the heck, we ain't complaining now. Don always says " At least we have a chance." And he is right. We know not to give up even when we reach the bottom of the pit, because we always clear away the "hangers" that might be on the edges of the pits as we climb our way back out. Good thing we did. Don was in the pit doing just that as I stood on top watching what he was scraping away. He was about 2 feet or so below the surface when I pointed something out to him that was hanging on the north wall area. I initially thought it was a bottle base. He plucked it off the wall and knocked the dirt off of it to see an Eagle staring back at him. Wohooooo!!!! Turns out to be an 1851 Eagle Sword Plate. Are you kidding me?
Did we just find a belt plate from the civil was or what? You guys be the judge but it sure looks like the real deal to us. And with it being 2 feet down and lost in an 1870's privy I would think the percentages go up to it being the real deal. Wow, that's all we could say. 
Hope some of you Civil War buffs can chime in on this one. We thought the bottles were killer, heck I best be whipping out the metal detector to find some other goodies! Enjoy the pics and please let us know what you think of the plate and the bottles! Thanks for checking it out. As always, be safe out there and Good Luck with all your treasure hunting! jgas
Don and I have been out a few times digging up the privies as the property owners allow us. So we have been in a few pits along the way during the dog days of summer. Hmmm, now the fall has hit and we like this weather better when we dig 4,000 pounds of dirt from an outhouse So we gained permission to dig a yard that had a home on it but has long since been demolished. Our maps that we looked at showed the home there in 1893. So we really didn't know exactly how old it was. That is some of the fun of treasure hunting, doing research and not knowing just how old a property is or was. We had a start with the map, so we platted it out using an overlay of google earth over the 1893 map. It gave us a really close idea as to where the property lines were back then. Which in turn gave us a starting point to start probing.
Now we began to probe and within a couple of minutes we located a pit. Usually the privies end up being side by side. And this was no exception. There were 3 in a row running right down the property line. So we dug the middle one first and ended up with a very nice amber whiskey bottle with Cunningham and Ihmsen on the base. So that dated the privy around 1866 to 1878. Most of the other items were broken hinge mold pieces that would coincide with the dates. Not much in this one so we finished up and moved to the next. Again we didn't locate much other than a couple of broken blob beers which would date this pit to the 1890's. So far so good as far as our research goes. That pit was closest to the house too. So we went back to the absolute corner of the property to begin the last pit. But we ran out of daylight On to the next day we go and or hopes that this last pit would yield even older goodies. We started our dig and found a Piso's Cure for Consumption near the top of the privy, which is great to see because everything else below must be older! So down we went when we hit the "Use Layer" around 5 feet down. Out pops a nice wax sealer fruit jar from The Mutual Glass Co. Then a nice Radways Sarsaparillian Resolvent and a Killer but broken basket weave honey amber flask. It's seems like the good ones were shattered. There were several historical flask pieces including a a cannon flask, a double eagle and a Union clasped hands. Ugh, those hurt! But none the less we hammered on to find another wax sealer jar and a really nice Hawthorn Springs mineral water bottle. Several Ayers bottles showed after a long slumber and even the lid to one of the wax sealer jars. Always a good find in my book! Clearly this was a privy that was made in the 1870's. No pontil bottles but what the heck, we ain't complaining now. Don always says " At least we have a chance." And he is right. We know not to give up even when we reach the bottom of the pit, because we always clear away the "hangers" that might be on the edges of the pits as we climb our way back out. Good thing we did. Don was in the pit doing just that as I stood on top watching what he was scraping away. He was about 2 feet or so below the surface when I pointed something out to him that was hanging on the north wall area. I initially thought it was a bottle base. He plucked it off the wall and knocked the dirt off of it to see an Eagle staring back at him. Wohooooo!!!! Turns out to be an 1851 Eagle Sword Plate. Are you kidding me? Did we just find a belt plate from the civil was or what? You guys be the judge but it sure looks like the real deal to us. And with it being 2 feet down and lost in an 1870's privy I would think the percentages go up to it being the real deal. Wow, that's all we could say. Hope some of you Civil War buffs can chime in on this one. We thought the bottles were killer, heck I best be whipping out the metal detector to find some other goodies! Enjoy the pics and please let us know what you think of the plate and the bottles! Thanks for checking it out. As always, be safe out there and Good Luck with all your treasure hunting! jgas
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