Sword belt plate, spanish cob, and some cool colonial iron

[Bill D. (VA)]

Team Dan & Bill got out again over the weekend to make a return visit to our site that's recently produced a ton of buttons and other early artifacts. After dealing with some partially frozen ground for a couple hours we decided to check out the adjacent woods which quickly sloped down to a nice spring stream. We started noticing a lot of iron as soon as we entered the woods, but decided to head down and check out the stream first. It was at the bottom of a narrow gorge and was loaded with smooth river rocks as well as plenty of huge scallop and clam shells which had been eroding into the stream from the steep bank. We also noticed a lot of brick as well as some black glass. Soon we were getting some large, deep iron signals and began to quickly pull out some interesting items. I started out with a little mini colonial plantation hoe that had an offset collar which was rather unique. I quickly followed that with a huge early, rectangular hoe in nice shape. Both of these items were 18-24" down and it was tough digging through all the rocks and shells to recover them. All this time Dan was working on his own deep iron signal, and ended up digging the best find from the stream which he'll tell you about in his post. I also recovered a colonial flat iron minus the handle and a giant iron bell with an intact but heavily corroded clapper. I definitely have my work cut out for me in the electrolysis department. I also recovered some iron pot frags as well as a large piece to the base of a colonial brazier. The pic below shows what the original brazier would have looked like.

We decided to end our hunt here so we could move on to check out a new site we had just gotten permission for. We knew from our research that a well-know CW home used to exist on this site, and we believed it dated back to colonial times as evidenced by our land patent study. As soon as I walked out into the field near the iron patch my first target was a large, high tone signal that I was sure would be junk. But I was quite shocked when I unearthed a sword belt plate with a great green patina, although it had been damaged by the plow. Not sure of the exact age of this item, so if any of you CW experts can help with that it would be appreciated. We hunted the site for about 3 hours, and the overall quantity of finds was a little disappointing. Plus, we hadn't been able to recover anything purely colonial which was puzzling. That was until near the end of the hunt when I was again surprised when a heavily clipped spanish cob revealed itself in the mud soup. It's not in the best shape and the details are not sharp, but I'll take it. The pic below shows the sloppy mudhole I pulled the cob from. Shortly thereafter we called it quits for the day, and started looking forward to returning to both sites again soon. Had a blast as usual Dan!

** Sorry for the random order of the pics but the system jumbled them up during upload (which seems to be a common problem).

 

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[ModernMiner]

Awesome finds Bill. Congrats on the belt plate.
-Doug-

 

[flatbutton]

You guys are always pulling out the good stuff! I feel your pain on the wet conditions. I didn't even go out this weekend because the whole area down here is like stepping on a wet sponge. Congrats on the great finds!

 

[joeyfresh]

You're killing it with the cobs this year Bill and the sword belt plate is cool too even if it's relatively modern for you, lol. Have you done any research on the small hoe? The iron should display well after electrolysis and lacquer bath.

You have some good weather coming up Bill so I hope to see more posts this week.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

You're killing it with the cobs this year Bill and the sword belt plate is cool too even if it's relatively modern for you, lol. Have you done any research on the small hoe? The iron should display well after electrolysis and lacquer bath.

You have some good weather coming up Bill so I hope to see more posts this week.

That he is - but just don't ask him about the silver and copper coin count - but then again he will probably tell you how I locked the keys in my truck (beat you to it bill)
You know you have the colonial bug when you see two guys more excited over the cob than a sword belt plate.

 

[mangum]

Awesome finds Bill! Nice colonial assortment there & sweet belt plate! It looks like you also got a few good candidates for electrolysis.

 

[Tnmountains]

Most excellant hunt. The finds are spectacular. I need to move to where they had civilization to continue my hunts! On a serious note the mussel shells eroding out of the bank could possibly be from an Indian trash pile or the recent guys that left the cobb and belt plate. They are worth digging out and checking to see who's trash pit it is.
Good luck and thanks for sharing.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Most excellant hunt. The finds are spectacular. I need to move to where they had civilization to continue my hunts! On a serious note the mussel shells eroding out of the bank could possibly be from an Indian trash pile or the recent guys that left the cobb and belt plate. They are worth digging out and checking to see who's trash pit it is.
Good luck and thanks for sharing.

They're not from a trash pit but are naturally occurring as this area used to be under the ocean.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

You're killing it with the cobs this year Bill and the sword belt plate is cool too even if it's relatively modern for you, lol. Have you done any research on the small hoe? The iron should display well after electrolysis and lacquer bath.

You have some good weather coming up Bill so I hope to see more posts this week.

Thanks Joey. Dan has my colonial hoe book so I'll have to get him to do the research ..... haha. The first hoe is already in the tank but I'm just about out of anode material (stainless steel) so I need to start looking to replenish my supply. These hoes take quite a while to clean but I'll post as they get done. See ya.

 

[Ifoundit69]

Wow Bill awesome finds ! I hoping the snow will be gone by saturday ive been going stir crazy not being able to swing !

 

[hamiddetecting]

Cool finds!!

 

[metalev4]

Successful couple of hunts Bill. The patina on the sword plate is stunning, too bad about the run in with the plow. You guys did very well, nice hunt all around.
-Evan

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Good hunt!

Those guys were eating some mighty big clams back when !

Those huge clam and oyster shells we found in the stream were natural to the strata as this area used to be under the ocean. They were just being eroded out of the bank and were not throwaways from the early settlers.

 

[ironhorse]

Those huge clam and oyster shells we found in the stream were natural to the strata as this area used to be under the ocean. They were just being eroded out of the bank and were not throwaways from the early settlers.

That's different! It's curious, being there that long and still gleaming white, many I've seen that old and from deep underground have been grey and black; but different conditions I guess.
Still, prehistoric is now historic! I enjoy seeing natural finds made by eye as much as the found metal ones, thanks for the update.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Fantastic finds Bill, you are having a great year dispite the cold weather. I really like that cob. nothing says colonial like a Spanish cob and for me the more crude the better. Well done.
Your clam appears to be an Atlantic Surf Clam, we call them Bar Clams up here and if they are done up right they are the tastiest treat in the ocean.
ZDD

 

[ironhorse]

Fantastic finds Bill, you are having a great year dispite the cold weather. I really like that cob. nothing says colonial like a Spanish cob and for me the more crude the better. Well done.
Your clam appears to be an Atlantic Surf Clam, we call them Bar Clams up here and if they are done up right they are the tastiest treat in the ocean.
ZDD

"Bar" none, Barclams are the tastiest!

 

[Pirateofthewaste]

Looks like y'all did pretty good. I found grass to day. I hope I can get back to hunting soon.

 

[birdman]

No matter what the shape is, both are phenomenal targets. The plate should be able to be restored . Killer hunt Bill!
I am envious.

 

[matt092079]

That he is - but just don't ask him about the silver and copper coin count - but then again he will probably tell you how I locked the keys in my truck (beat you to it bill)
You know you have the colonial bug when you see two guys more excited over the cob than a sword belt plate.

I'd be more excited over the cob, too. I have my sword plate, but I don't have a cob yet!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Man oh man, when you're bringing back belt plates, cobs, and cannonballs--you know you're doing something right!

You two are really on fire this year!

Shanegalang and I are in "summer mode" (and by that I don't mean camelbacks, moisture wicking clothing, and Delcambre Reeboks!). That means we're trying to find us a new site on a recently rolled, razed, or fallow plot. Otherwise, we'll be out of a site from late June till early November! Summer of 2015 we'll be back in-cycle and one of our better spots will open up freshly plowed and razed again. There's also the sense of just coming down off one of the best years of my life at this hobby, and just sort of sitting back and taking it all in, rather than trying to power on through to the next good find... So we hit the fields this past weekend and scouted for two days straight, picking up a couple marbles, clay pipe stems and one or two flat buttons that were random farmer drops over the centuries. No concentration of anything. Will try again next weekend.

In the meantime, congrats on your First-Rate finds!

-Buck