Return to an old house site, detecting, lots of pictures, need help with ID!

[NJKLAGT]

Hey Everyone,

I haven't posted in a while but I've been following along. You've all been finding some awesome stuff! I'd like to share with you one of the first real hunts I've had this year, from a couple days ago. The English three-piece mould beer sticking out of the ground was from a different spot a few weeks ago (the one on the left, for colour comparison), but I thought I'd better include it because this is the Bottles & Glass forum, and yet I've got a habit of sharing my metal detecting stories here, because you guys are my homeboys.

So, I went back to this old house site that I found last winter. I originally went there looking for bottles, and found a rocky dump not too far away that produced some nice stuff. But yeah, the place is beautiful, there are some veeery old red/bur oak and black locust trees, and it just gives you that peculiar feeling. It feels so old, so ghosty, and when you're there it almost feels like you're being watched. The house itself has been bulldozed, but there's a nice little intact cellar hole and barn foundations. I tried some metal detecting this time, and was very happy with the results. There was a lot of trash, but none of it was modern, which I like. I'm hoping that this place continues to produce, and considering the age of these finds, if I can find the oldest privy there, I'm sure it will contain some nice old pontiled bottles - I'd like that a lot!

One of the first signals I dug that wasn't trash was this 1845 seated Liberty half dime. It was a jumpy signal and mingled in with a bunch of trash, and the ground was still somewhat frozen so I was chopping a bit to get to it, thinking it might just be more trash, and in the end I grazed the one side pretty bad. A tough lesson learned. Oddly enough though, I wasn't upset at all. I was perfectly content with finding anything that old, in any condition, and the day was only getting started. Haha, here was my first ever chance to kiss Liberty, but instead all I could say was "I'm sorry", and move on. But after finding a brass buckle and a nice big musket ball, I got my second chance at a kiss. This coin was hit by the plow and not by me, and so I didn't hesitate to give Victoria a good smooch. An 1859 penny, and my first holed coin! I had always wanted to find a holed coin, it was a bucketlister, so to speak. I love this coin.

I went on to find some very nice buttons: a great little shirt button perhaps, with a beautiful flower/star decoration and intact shank, and a couple flat buttons, one being a gilt Benedict & Co. button from sometime between 1820 and 1850, with plenty of gold still there. I also found the larger part of a busted suspender buckle that appears to have some gold on it. Then I found a great big Bank of Montreal token of sorts, a half penny dated 1844. The ants liked this coin as much as I do. Before Canada was minting its own coins, I guess we used a strange mix of currencies, including American, and also tokens issued by the larger banks here.

Most interesting of all though - and I was hoping that you guys could help me with this one - was this strange copper coin of sorts, with the bust of a man facing left, and some other almost indiscernible stuff on the other side. What I found interesting was that there was an X carved into each side. I've heard about soldiers melting down their bullets and carving numerals in them to create poker chips. Could this be some old coin or token made into a poker chip? I'd love it if you guys could help me find out what this thing is. I think that this was probably my favourite find!

Anyway, most of this stuff was found between where the house and barn stood. I look forward to swinging over the rest of the area before the grass gets too tall, and I especially look forward to finding a privy. I'm used to probing around in clay, but the soil is more sandy than usual at this place, and so it's harder to find the soft spots. There are no obvious signs of a privy, so it's going to be a matter of probing up and down the place until I get lucky. I have an idea about where to get started.

Thanks for looking, good luck and happy hunting, and have a good Easter weekend,


NJ

 

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[can_slaw]

Wow, that looks like a heart stopper of a hunt! Congratulations on some absolute beauties!

 

[NJKLAGT]

Over in the 'What Is It?' forum, user Iron Patch just identified the strange copper disc as a blacksmith token! So cool.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacksmith_token

 

[GB1]

nice finds love the old bottles my oldest is 1870's

 

[villagenut]

Glad to see you out getting after it. You make the B&G forum lively.

 

[Bass]

Excellent post and great in situ photos. I definitely enjoy the detector finds. when I saw that last mystery piece I knew it had to be a token of some sort. All are great finds. Not if but when you found the privy(s) you are going to get some real goodies. When you talk about the eerie feeling you get there and the thought of being watched I know exactly what you mean. I get that feeling too at some of the places I’ve hunted

 

[patiodadio]

Whats on the other side of that One Cent coin ?

 

[Goldenplug]

Major metal scores

 

[Blak bart]

Wow !!! Looks like a home run hunt to me !! Congrats. Sweet finds.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Thanks dudes! This may have been my best detecting hunt so far, and it's really only the beginning. There is a lot of interesting ground to cover there. It looks like there would have been plenty of good picnic areas where they could sit and eat lunch and drop treasure, even a pond area where they may have swam back in the day.

But the privy is the real goal here. I only have a bendy four foot probe, but I'll break my back hunching over if I have to. Considering that I've already found old silver (and gold if we're counting the button), then maybe they had expensive taste, and an insatiable appetite for pontiled stunners! I've got all sorts of things going through my mind. This might be the chance to find my 'holy grail' bottle, or some old stoneware bottles, or some umbrella inks, or some old wine bottle with an applied seal or something. My oldest bottle so far was made sometime between 1863 and 1873, so the potential for finding a bottle 10, 20, or even 30 years older here is making my head spin. Man, I've got to find that privy...

 

[NJKLAGT]

Whats on the other side of that One Cent coin ?

Sorry, it's too dark to take a picture right now, but it's very similar to this one, although Victoria looks younger and there's an old scar running through the coin because of the plow.

 

[RelicDude]

Awesome hunt dude. Congrats on the glass and the seated coin. But with copper I'd say you have hit the colonial era.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Awesome hunt dude. Congrats on the glass and the seated coin. But with copper I'd say you have hit the colonial era.

Thanks, 'Dude! I guess the blacksmith token thing was made sometime during the 1820s or 1830s, so maybe not quite colonial, but certainly the oldest dateable thing that I've ever found. I'm hoping there's some more, maybe a big ol' half gallon fruit jar full of 'em, haha.

 

[jgas]

Holy crap. Awesome hunt. The pics are fantastic too. I found one of the bank of Canada coins one time. They are neat finds. The three piece molds would get me super jacked to find the privies. Coins that old suggest several privies. Sure hope you can narrow the search to locate them. It’s crazy hard to find them on farm properties from my experience. I sure hope you continue on the successful hunt. Nice work!! Jgas.

 

[NJKLAGT]

Holy crap. Awesome hunt. The pics are fantastic too. I found one of the bank of Canada coins one time. They are neat finds. The three piece molds would get me super jacked to find the privies. Coins that old suggest several privies. Sure hope you can narrow the search to locate them. It’s crazy hard to find them on farm properties from my experience. I sure hope you continue on the successful hunt. Nice work!! Jgas.

Thank you, jgas! I'll try to channel some of your privy god energy. You're right, it's going to be a challenge, farm privies are different. I've only dug farm privies in the past though, and so I hope my intuition (and that's almost all you can go by) serves me well. I'll start on the northeast side of the house, downwind (to blow the smell away), because there's a gradual slope going down away from the house, and I think that's where I'd want my stinkhouse if I lived there, haha. Hopefully I'll get out there sometime within the next few days.

*Looks like I'm going today, wish me luck!

 

[NJKLAGT]

Here are the finds from yesterday, using the Garrett with my trusty patented rubber band and hockey tape coil mount. The thin plastic eye holes on the coil slowly turned to butter over time and broke off, I think from the alternating hot and cold. They've gotta make those thicker. Anyway, a 1919 penny, sterling silver watch frame, nice old button, another musket ball, and some interesting brass. I didn't get to probing around, I'm going to get some string and a couple stakes first, to keep track of where I've probed.

 

[jgas]

Take yourself a can of markers spray paint. You know the upside down spray paint can so when you probe. Spray a dot there. Move on and keep going. I do this on larger lots. It helps out a lot. Especially if you can’t do it all in one day. Go back for a week or more and the dots of paint are still there. Just a thought for ya. Good luck and keep us posted. Jgas.

 

[Blak bart]

Wow....something tells me were gonna see some great posts outta that spot !! Looks like a good future there !! Congrats !!