New Year!!.........Old Silver!!

hikermike · Jan 23, 2009

Woodspiritcarver and I went out Thursday morning to a little spot....well it's a big spot! It's roots date back to the mid 1700's and was part of a plantation that had over 6000 acres and as many as 139 slaves.This area has turned up some amazing finds over the last year.Coins,buttons,bullets,old jewlry,iron relics,brass relics,and even a cavalry sword buckle. Every time we go here we always find something and yesterday was no different! Woodspiritcarver had the best find with what looked to be a south carolina palmetto button,but I was lucky enough to find a 2 reale. It was deep and I almost didnt dig it....makes me wonder how many things I have left behind! This is the second oldest coin I have ever found. I also found a coin like piece that is very worn and looks to have had a hole through it.The last thing I found was the chain

It's 9.5 inches long x 1/4 inch wide and looks to still have a little silver plating on it. If anybody has any idea what it was please let me know. There is a pic of the buttons and ring Jeff Found and of his other finds. Im sure he will post some better pics as soon as he gets them cleaned up.
Its warm here in S.C. so lets go relic hunting!!

Thanks,
Mike

kuger · Jan 23, 2009

BuckleBoy said:
Nice work!

The chain piece I *believe* is horse-related. The name of it has escaped me, but I believe that chains such as the one you found were used up through the Civil War. If I can think of what the heck it's called, I'll reply again.

Best Wishes,

BuckleboyCurb strap or chain,but I think it is too long

SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS · Jan 23, 2009

hikermike,
congrat on the finds you folks made.

Sounds like you all have a nice spot for hunting.

Hope we will be seeing more.

have a good un...
SHERMANVILLE

hikermike · Jan 23, 2009

Absolutely the best single spot I have ever hunted :icon_thumleft:

Thanks woodspiritcarver for inviting me to tag along!!! Hope that South Carolina pametto button and the london extra rich gets you the banner. The sc button looked like it would clean up nice.............get some pics up...and post the buckle you found today. It's gotta be old!

xlt nh · Jan 23, 2009

How Sweeeeeeeeet!!!! .....and a BANNER to boot!! NICE!!!

As far as the chain....I dug one like it a while back...then dug another that had a tag that went to an old liquor bottle....

Great finds either way!

HH, Hank 8)

Old River · Jan 23, 2009

Congradulations on the banner, and all the finds.

Deno · Jan 23, 2009

Now that is a spot. I love that big Spanish silver. Still on my wish.

Mr_Mojo_Risin · Jan 24, 2009

A beautiful 2 reale..congrats!

Trond · Jan 24, 2009

Nice find.

I found nothing today.

crazyjarhead · Jan 24, 2009

Nice find. I;d like to break into the 1700's but probably not likely in Ohio

romeo-1 · Jan 24, 2009

Great find! Don't feel too bad about scratching it...look what I did to the 1st 8 reale I found...

carpetbagger · Jan 24, 2009

romeo-1 · Jan 25, 2009

Banner bump...this is a helluva find which should be seen!

DigginThePast · Jan 25, 2009

Congrats on the finds and the banner. :thumbsup:

Someone mentioned slave tag as a possibility for the coin like item, I was thinking the same thing.

hikermike · Jan 26, 2009

DigginThePast said:
Congrats on the finds and the banner. Someone mentioned slave tag as a possibility for the coin like item, I was thinking the same thing.

Cant see any distinguishable markings at all on it....and it's made of something other than brass or copper. Looks like silver...... very thin and around 1.25 inches across. One other thing against the tag are that we are nowhere near Charleston....but ya never know. Would love to find a slave tag!!

hikermike · Jan 26, 2009

romeo-1 said:
Great find! Don't feel too bad about scratching it...look what I did to the 1st 8 reale I found...

Glad to see Im not the only one .......youd think after scratching up some really good finds this could be avoided...I think I got it with the end of the shovel....It was deeper than I thought....i had the ole xlt jacked out to all but instability....it said 7 inches...it was more like 10-12.
Very nice finds you got there too!!

N.J.THer · Jan 26, 2009

I'm not sure if other would recommend doing this but since the tag item is in that condition have you thought about a quick electrolysis bath? I found a really worn half real on Saturday that was pretty dark and you could not tell it was silver. I hooked it up and watched it very closely. The crude peeled away rather quickly then I pulled it out. Since I knew from the condition it was not really worth much I wanted it to display nicely. Just a thought.

NJ