NJ Copper, CT Copper, Shoe buckle, CW and much more.

[OutdoorAdv]

I had Friday off work and was able to clear my schedule and get a few days of hunting in. The forecast was looking rough, with lows in the teens and highs in the low 30's, but with my limited hunting time recently I headed out to make the best of it. On Friday and Saturday I was wearing 2 pairs of pants, 4 long sleeved under shirts, a hoodie, a fleece and a jacket with gloves and hand warmers! Sunday was even colder in the low teens, so I added a 3rd pair of pants to the getup. I was able to hunt from sunrise to sunset with the hardest part being the transition from a warm car, to the freezing outdoors

I had been doing a lot of research lately and was looking forward to seeing if any of it would pan out. I had a rough Friday and Saturday with meager finds for the effort exerted in fridgid temperatures. I had a couple Indian Heads, a few buttons, a rosette and a very nice CW token. But on Sunday (yesterday) I had one of my best hunts ever with a NJ Copper, CT Copper, complete shoe buckle and two saddle shields along with some more buttons.

Here is the 3 day group shot



This is my first NJ Copper! I had no idea it was a NJ Copper when I dug it. The only thing I could see was a off centered shield. I asked Ahab8 and Scrappy what sort of coin has a off centered shield. After getting home and cleaning it off, Scrappy texted me back and said it was a off struck NJ Copper. I was thrilled. I did some careful cold HP soaks on it to reveal a little more detail before reaching out to Don for a proper ID. I cant thank Don enough for his invaluable knowledge on these coppers. He reached out to a couple others and the final consensus was that its a "1786 Maris 16-L variety, Rarity 2, common, offset". A huge thank you Don



The NJ as dug before removing any dirt and preservation



I got one other very toasted copper from the same site. It looked oblong to me and I could see nothing on it. After some cold HP soaking a little of the crust came off and I couldnt believe what I was seeing. Strangely enough, it was another off struck copper and I could see a left facing bust with "CTORI" wrapping around the side.... a CT Copper Its not pretty to look at, and the back is totally blank, but its offset strike is very cool. It appears oblong from where the dies smashed only half the panchlet.



The is my first Civil War token and its pretty freaken awesome. On the obverse it says "THE FLAG OF OUR UNION" and on the reverse it says "IF ANYBODY ATTEMPTS TO TEAR IT DOWN SHOOT HIM ON THE SPOT". It doesn't get much more patriotic than that. Here's a little more information on this token Civil War Flag Tokens




This was a slamming signal with a little grunt and I was expecting it to be a large piece of iron. I pulled a very nice rose head nail out of the plug and the signal cleaned up. This buckle came out about 9 inches deep and I was beyond thrilled. I dig lots of pieces to buckle frames and lots of chapes and tongues, but as most of you know (except Ahab8) complete buckles are hard to come by. This is my second complete one and its by far the best condition of the two. About an hour after I texted this to Scrappy he returns an image of a complete buckle he just pulled out at his site... your welcome Steve.





Last year I dug an odd tombac button back to a style button I didnt even know existed. Bill D. (VA) explained that they were the backs to a two piece button with a pewter or iron front and are rarely dug complete. The only other one I've seen dug complete was from DownNDirty earlier this year. Well I pulled this thing out and thought it was a tombac button, with crud on the front. While wiping the mud off, the front popped off perfectly at the seam. It turned out to be one of those hard to find complete colonial 2 piece buttons. Mine has a pewter front with a nice design, a tombac back with a broken iron shank. After cleaning it, I used some elmers to attach the front back on.



Two piece tombac\pewter button as dug. After sealing the pewter with elmers and drying, I applied a bead of elmers to the rim to glue it back together.



This really nice lead rosette turned up as my first target on Friday. After cleaning it it appears to have some gilt in the low relief areas. The two really nice saddle shields turned up at a different site and one still has some silver plating on it.



This brass piece is really awesome. I was certain I had another copper or another shoe buckle when I heard this thing. It was really deep and after cleaning it still has wood inside it. I am pretty sure this was the handle to a parasol and the wood inside makes it really cool.



A few of the nicer buttons including a nice eagle GS button.



I got two crusty IHP's and since I didn't care too much for them, I gave them an overnight cold HP soak. I couldn't believe what I found in the morning. The crust melted away and revealed a nice patina on these cents. Its not a fool proof preservation technique, but it sure worked well on a few of the coins I've dug recently. Thanks again Abe for telling me about this. I had done boiling HP in the past and didn't care for the results as much, but the cold peroxide really works well on those solid coins with crust on them.



And a few more group shots.





Thanks for looking everyone and hope you all can get some hunting in before the ground finishes freezing... if it already hasn't!

 

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[pepperj]

Very nice selection of finds, congrats on the copper and shields. It's always a good feeling to pop a keeper right off the start, it kind of makes the day and the rest is just icing. Good to see you brave the elements and reward your efforts. Everything is frozen up here so we're done for the season.

 

[treblehunter]

Wow, way cool stuff Brad, those state coins are off the cuff! All that stuff is great, nice work.

 

[Eastcoasthunter21]

That's what I call freezing for a reason !!
Great finds ,great story ,love them buttons hh gl

 

[dts52]

Those finds are absolutely amazing! ongrats.
HH
dts

 

[doninbrewster]

Great finds to say the least. What amazed me was to find 2 state coppers that were both so far off center. Makes you wonder if someone tossed them because merchants wouldn't take them looking like that. I've seen plenty of off center coppers, but these are way off center. Great job. Jealous here.

 

[OutdoorAdv]

Phenomenal hunt!! Good lord man your cleaning up!

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Thank you CoilToTheSoil! It was a ton of fun.

View attachment 1391747

Thanks Casper!

Very nice selection of finds, congrats on the copper and shields. It's always a good feeling to pop a keeper right off the start, it kind of makes the day and the rest is just icing. Good to see you brave the elements and reward your efforts. Everything is frozen up here so we're done for the season.

Thanks pepperj! I had the biggest smile when the shield popped out minutes into my hunt on Sunday. I told myself its all downhill from there.... and I think starting a hunt off like that gives you a positive attitude to be successful for the day. A big part of having a good hunt is a positive attitude.

Wow, way cool stuff Brad, those state coins are off the cuff! All that stuff is great, nice work.

Thanks Brad! You sure have been killing it lately man and you got a nice IDable CT too. I was lucky on mine since the back of it is totally toast.

That's what I call freezing for a reason !!
Great finds ,great story ,love them buttons hh gl

Thanks man! Even with this bitter cold that blew in last night, I would totally bundle up and head out there if I didn't have to work. ha

Those finds are absolutely amazing! ongrats.
HH
dts

Thank you dts52!

Great finds to say the least. What amazed me was to find 2 state coppers that were both so far off center. Makes you wonder if someone tossed them because merchants wouldn't take them looking like that. I've seen plenty of off center coppers, but these are way off center. Great job. Jealous here.

Thanks Don! That's a good theory too. The CT is especially off struck... so much so, that the shape is oblong where the die only struck half of the panchlet. Perhaps merchants were skeptical of odd coins like that.

 

[Scrappy]

I like Don's theory. Or perhaps they were collected since they were so off center. Early coin collectors certainly existed at that time, so maybe it was a momento of the forging of a nation?

 

[Patriot Relics]

Definitely late to the party Brad, but glad I stumbled across this post... incredible hunts! A pair of off struck state coppers, complete buckle, and a colonial 2 piece is certainly a hunt I'd remember for years to come. Glad to see your making the most of 2016!

 

[OutdoorAdv]

I like Don's theory. Or perhaps they were collected since they were so off center. Early coin collectors certainly existed at that time, so maybe it was a momento of the forging of a nation?

I hope they left me some more mementos for me to find I think you guys are right in that the owner was keeping those oddities for one reason or another. Finding two at one place can't just be chance... I guess it could, but the probability is so low.

Definitely late to the party Brad, but glad I stumbled across this post... incredible hunts! A pair of off struck state coppers, complete buckle, and a colonial 2 piece is certainly a hunt I'd remember for years to come. Glad to see your making the most of 2016!

Thanks a ton Jon! This is absolutely in the list of my best hunts. I hope to get out some in the next couple weeks and see if I cant have one or two more good hunts in 2016. Hope you can get out some soon too.

 

[CRUSADER]

Forgot to say, finding those 18th C pewter & tombac buttons complete is pretty rare. Probably got less than 6 complete examples.