The Colonial Buckle Weekend*

xcopperstax

Silver Member
Sep 3, 2018
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Massachusetts
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Garrett AT Max
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All Treasure Hunting
*Note I posted this in general discussion and couldn't figure out how to move it over here so I just posted it again.:BangHead:

Maybe there was something in the air (or the dirt!) but it seems that quite a few people found buckles this weekend.

Climate change gifted us an amazing day in the 60's in January... I think it hit a record of 70 degree's in the city. This spot involved getting up at 4:30am driving to the Silver Bandit's house then we carpooled down to a coastal area. Walk for an hr to get to the spot. It consisted of a homesite from the 1700's and one from the mid 1800's and lots of fields. First off I found a buffalo to make it my first find of the year! After a couple hrs of basically nothing but swinging and shotgun shells my buddy called with some enticing news: he had found the bottle dump by the 1800's house. I rushed over to there and we immediately began digging. It was now three of us digging about a foot down trying not to smash the bottles as we went. There were some nice 1800's era embossed bottles... I was almost frantic to find one. Sure enough I found one but it was cracked... shortly after I found a nice one and a couple others and a really interesting mason jar. I haven't cleaned the bottles yet so I'll make another post about those. The bottle dump kind of petered out so we filled it all in and went back to detecting... I went on to dig 2 pocket knives and a countless amount of shotgun shells and other various casings. I generally dig all signals but was really getting sick of these things as time was running out. The spot was being a bit stingy so I ventured up to one of the fields that we thought was too long to swing but it was semi-ok... wouldn't you know it I got a shotgun shell signal of around 60-61. For a second I had that thought of "I hate shotgun shells but what if it's not a shotgun shell" and jammed the shovel into the earth. I reached into the hole with the pinpointer got the signal and pulled out this beautiful yet slightly mangled thing that made my whole year so far! It's a 1700's shoe buckle! I'm thinking probably 1750-90's but I don't know for sure. I thought that I had broken it when I pulled it out, but on close inspection it had been bent by a plow at some point and it wasn't a fresh break. Phew! Complete colonial buckles are not commonplace for me nor my buds. What was the life of the person who wore this like? Probably pretty hard by comparison. I love finding these buckles! Since I first found one I've had about a year to marinate on buckles and now I'm even more interested in them and have an even higher appreciation for them.

A buffalo, some bottles and this buckle... needless to say it was a great day with friends and one of the most beautiful places most people will never see.

We had to go early due to an unexpected injury to my wife (who is fine)… We had to walk through a tidal area that was a foot deep completely soaking our boots (I didn't have the bright idea of taking off my boots and socks cuz it's jan!) then slog back through some sand blasting sands with heavy backpacks. It was a tiring hunt and I'm not that old. That night I woke up to the tell tale itch of poison ivy. I ended up getting it on my wrists, hands, knees and face! but for these finds and experiences... it was all worth it! I'm still stoked every time I think about the day!
 

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Awesome find! Congrats!
 

I'm glad you came out with the shoe buckle and some bottles. Sounds like one of those tough to access spots that you dread having to hike out of at the end of the day.
 

That buckle is awesome , and it cleaned up nice. Great story about a great day. Look forward to seeing the bottles posted. Hope you and your wife mend soon. HH!
 

I'm glad you came out with the shoe buckle and some bottles. Sounds like one of those tough to access spots that you dread having to hike out of at the end of the day.

You know it's such a beautiful hike that I don't dread it at all... it's all part of the adventure on this hunt! Leaving with treasure in hand makes it all worth it! and it makes my footsteps a little lighter! I was on cloud 9 with my buckle!
 

That buckle is awesome , and it cleaned up nice. Great story about a great day. Look forward to seeing the bottles posted. Hope you and your wife mend soon. HH!

Thanks we are doing well...I haven't even gotten to the bottles yet! My poison ivy is still raging! HAHA.
 

Very cool buckle and story! Good luck on your next hunt!
 

Great story and find. Congratulations :icon_thumright:
 

Great find, congrats! :occasion14:
 

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