paleomaxx
Hero Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2016
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- Location
- Upstate, NY
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- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Sunday was the last day before the hot weather came back so I resolved to hike out to a new cellar hole. It's a decent hike, at least 1 mile as the crow flies, and probably more like 1.5 accounting for natural obstacles. Occasionally trying to find a new cellar is a long, drawn-out process, but fortunately this time my instincts were correct and I found it more or less exactly where I thought it would be. I'm fairly sure it's either never been detected before, or it was done only partially because in most spots there were relics everywhere and plenty of good tones near the surface. The best find sounded like big iron, but turned out to be an extraordinary dig:
A pewter plate! I can't say for sure it's colonial since there's no visible maker's mark and I think this homesite was built right after the War of 1812 wrapped up, but it definitely has some age. It was unfortunately already fragmented when I dug it up and I'm actually proud that I only nicked a few pieces during the extraction. If this had been crisscrossed with roots there would have been no hope of getting it out as delicate as it is. As it stands I have the majority of the pieces and I think it was a nearly complete plate when lost. I actually wouldn't have even known what it was except Scrappy posted about one he found in Maine last year. The question now is how best to conserve it. I've heard tell that if you heat pewter up you can bend it back without snapping it; is that still accurate on pewter as old as this?
The next best find was also pewter and something I never expected to pop out of a hole around here. A US infantry eagle button (1815-1821)!
It's in phenomenal condition and the back mark is easily read if you can get the angle right. This one has "Eagle Factory" which I believe corresponds to Armitage, a Philadelphia firm. Not a lot of 1812 stuff turns up in this area and it's among the best preserved pewter buttons that I've found in this soil.
A ton of other buttons turned up, including one plain dandy.
In another first were the remains of brass scissors. I've found a fair number of iron ones, but this must have been a special pair to them.
I also found a beautiful half a cloak clasp. The chain was probably a little longer and there would have been another brass piece on the other side of the cloak that with a hook to hold the chain.
There were a ton of other non-ferrous finds including a nice saddle shield, watch winder, suspenders buckle, and a few whatsits. The brass tube is the oddest piece and I'm curious if anyone knows what it is. The brass is quite thin and the bottom hole is threaded.
One other thing this site had was almost literal tons of iron. Fortunately it wasn't just annoying iron flashing bits, but nice iron relics. I had to leave the heavier stuff like axe heads, and scythes, but I did hike out the more unusual ones including a complete stirrup!
I had only found three before this, but now I have a fourth. The hammer is also super cool and half a pair of wool shears is not something I come across often.
Oddly I didn't find a single coin at this site despite the multitude of targets. This is an extensive homesite so it may be that I need to search the further corners and clear out some more of the large iron, but I can't image that they didn't loose any coinage. Once it cools down I'll be returning, but for now that was a great first pass!
A pewter plate! I can't say for sure it's colonial since there's no visible maker's mark and I think this homesite was built right after the War of 1812 wrapped up, but it definitely has some age. It was unfortunately already fragmented when I dug it up and I'm actually proud that I only nicked a few pieces during the extraction. If this had been crisscrossed with roots there would have been no hope of getting it out as delicate as it is. As it stands I have the majority of the pieces and I think it was a nearly complete plate when lost. I actually wouldn't have even known what it was except Scrappy posted about one he found in Maine last year. The question now is how best to conserve it. I've heard tell that if you heat pewter up you can bend it back without snapping it; is that still accurate on pewter as old as this?
The next best find was also pewter and something I never expected to pop out of a hole around here. A US infantry eagle button (1815-1821)!
It's in phenomenal condition and the back mark is easily read if you can get the angle right. This one has "Eagle Factory" which I believe corresponds to Armitage, a Philadelphia firm. Not a lot of 1812 stuff turns up in this area and it's among the best preserved pewter buttons that I've found in this soil.
A ton of other buttons turned up, including one plain dandy.
In another first were the remains of brass scissors. I've found a fair number of iron ones, but this must have been a special pair to them.
I also found a beautiful half a cloak clasp. The chain was probably a little longer and there would have been another brass piece on the other side of the cloak that with a hook to hold the chain.
There were a ton of other non-ferrous finds including a nice saddle shield, watch winder, suspenders buckle, and a few whatsits. The brass tube is the oddest piece and I'm curious if anyone knows what it is. The brass is quite thin and the bottom hole is threaded.
One other thing this site had was almost literal tons of iron. Fortunately it wasn't just annoying iron flashing bits, but nice iron relics. I had to leave the heavier stuff like axe heads, and scythes, but I did hike out the more unusual ones including a complete stirrup!
I had only found three before this, but now I have a fourth. The hammer is also super cool and half a pair of wool shears is not something I come across often.
Oddly I didn't find a single coin at this site despite the multitude of targets. This is an extensive homesite so it may be that I need to search the further corners and clear out some more of the large iron, but I can't image that they didn't loose any coinage. Once it cools down I'll be returning, but for now that was a great first pass!
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Hope someone knows what that brass piece is. Looks pretty cool.
