There arent any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

[BuckleBoy]

There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Of course not...


I went out day before yesterday to rehunt an old spot that something just kept calling me back to--and I wanted to share those finds before I got to the good story. Keepers were thin, but I got a bridle rosette, a toasted late 1860s IH, a .69 cal round ball with the sprue still attached, a neat silver plated buckle that was wadded up and close to a foot down, and a very cool little key which was the find of the day.











And now on to the better story... Yesterday, HB invited me to go back to his 8 Reales spot for another rehunt and I couldn't say "yes" fast enough. We got out there on the site and got digging. HB hit a button patch almost immediately and dug two pewter buttons and a good many brass ones. I was worried that I might get skunked, but I continued to clear Big Iron off the site so that I could find the goodies. Pretty soon I dug a target that sounded fairly good and once it was out of the hole I knew it had to be a copper. Here's what I saw laying in the dirt:











It was a beautiful 1825 LC. Meanwhile HB started to rack up some nice brass targets like part of a teardrop style stirrup, more buttons, and some other bits. Well...I took it easy because I didn't want to be the only copper magnet hunting on HB's spot. So I cleared some more iron, finding a nice cast iron stove leg (I clean them up and turn them into door stops).

Pretty soon I had another iffy target that I thought would be iron. I dug down and down through the busted up stones and iron-infested soil, then checked the hole. The target was out. I expected the signal to break up like it does with much of the big junk iron when the halo is broken, but the signal was even louder. I told HB that he would probably kill me, but that I thought I had another copper. When he came over, I was looking at a really worn copper in the dirt:











I was hoping for an oldie, but I couldn't see anything on the face of the coin. Turning it over, I could read "ONE CENT" plus the fraction under the wreath and knew that I had a Draped Bust LC.

We hunted a while longer, and HB got a whole pocketwatch and a piece of a spur. The last signal I got was a whole harmonica reed and what looked like a tin-foil-thin piece of brass in the hole. I picked up the harmonica reed, then rechecked the hole. Another signal blared through the speaker. It was another whole harmonica reed. I almost walked away from the hole before I realized what the thin brass pieces were: the outside of the harmonica. (I have only found a piece of one of the outside covers before.) So I switched to all-metal and gathered up as many pieces as I could find.

Then we headed out, took some finds photos on the truck tailgate, talked over the game plan for the weekend hunts, and went home to clean finds. Here are HB's finds, just dug:











And mine:











Here are HB's goodies cleaned up. The spur has decorative "dimples" on it, which if I recall correctly may mean that it was an officer's item. The standard issue spurs had no such decoration. The pocketwatch (photo is in the first reply), I think he is going to soak it in mineral oil and see if it will open. Any tips on how to get the watch open are much appreciated. This is the first pocketwatch I have personally seen dug that was complete.











There are more photos below:

 

[PBK]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Hey, BB, hit it hard with a stiff wire brush and plenty of Brasso, and that 1825 should really shine! (J/K)

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Nice coppers Bucks!!!

Thanks romeo! It's always nice to hear kind words from the Northerners. Nice avatar!

My kind of finds ... nice relics, buttons, and LCs (especially the beautiful 1825) ... congratz on some great hunting!

Jimmy

Jimmy, I love coins just as much as the next guy, but I think we're overdue for a really good relic this year. Thanks for the reply, my friend.

That LC is great. Not to say everything else is bad......wow nice stuff all the way around. Congrats. jgas

Research. Permission. And a little luck.

Looks like we both put a tectin beatin on the PA bros this week!

LOL! Well...I'm not in any competition with anyone. They live in PA where there are coppers everywhere. I have to work really hard for mine here.

Great finds as usual BB... Lovely patina on that Large cent too! And great story to go with it. Mike HHHH

Thanks--you've been making some great old finds lately too!

Buck, you have been a copper-digging machine these last two weeks. That Draped Bust's reverse is very nice for a field-dug copper. I'd love to see a pic of the obverse.

I feel some early silver coming from that site. I can feel it, Buck!

Kyle

Kyle, yes--most of the Draped Busts found in this state are worn to hell and beat into a pulp. The one I found in the spring I could hardly even ID. I'll post a photo of the front--and a photo of the back of the 1825 soon too. I would like to see some Capped Bust silver head my or HB's way.

 

[Kirk PA]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Nice finds! I have to disagree with you saying, "Coppers are everywhere in PA. I have to work for mine." Yeah, there may be more coppers around our area than your area, but we still need to research the best sites possible to even hit a decent amount. We have some buddies in our same area that aren't even close to our copper amounts. In two years, they only have 32 coppers compared to our 140-150.

Research, research, research...Yes, and a little bit of luck is what does it.

Keep the passion high, Buck!

Kirk

 

[history hunter]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

WTG!! It would be nice to find a large cent.

 

[pjroo33]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Love the key!!! Great hunt!

 

[Hardy]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Darn great hunt you had there with great finds and good friends , ya gotta love it.

 

[Ironman!]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Congrats on the finding of the two "Ladies"! Looks like you guys had a great hunt!! Keep em coming!!!

Ironman!

 

[JerV3]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

There is now lol

You guys gotta be pulling the oldest stuff in kentucky. I really enjoy these early finds man. I have found a bunch of homesteads this yr. But they have all been 1870's era.

It has been dissapointing at times lol. I would really like to have some older maps on hand. Sometimes though I will find that they have been occupied earlier than that. I will get lucky and pull some coppers. Just one homestead this spring gave up early 1800 finds. You got yourself some nice maps man.

But you just never know. That spanish reale I found came from a foundation site that doesn't show on my map of 1876. It came afterwards and that coin probably circulated for more than 50 yrs before lost. Spanish money was not legal tender anymore after the 1850's. I'm sure you know that already. So what good would they be.

So I am assuming they drilled a hole in that one and made a charm out of it. It came from a site that was already hunted to. They looked it over as a mason jar lid I think. I found that one somewhere around the 12 to 14 inch mark in depth under a nice big sandstone rock. I'm glad they missed it.

On another note also witch made alot of sence. The spanish owned this land for about 80 yrs. It was really cool to make this find on land the spanish actually owned

Take care man

Jeremy

 

[civilman1]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Need to start calling you "flat button boy" soon enough here.......Congrat's on the LC,my kinda diggin'

 

[VOL1266-X]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Great Finds BB!!! This looks like one of you best endeavors of '09 and you have many great hunts due to your many hours of research. WTG to you and HB and HH Bud!!

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Awesome finds. Nothing quite like seeing the big fat rim of an old copper sticking out of the soil (wish I'd see that more often).

That furniture brass is early. Off the top of my head, I'd say 1810 or so. Nice find in and of itself.

HH
R.I.

Seems like I'd seen furniture brass like that on something later, but when I tried to search for it I couldnt find it... so early it is. Anything old sticking out of the dirt is enough to get me motivated.

Very nice digs! My favorite is the watch and the harmonica plate pieces. Not to often do anything but the reeds seem to turn up. What is the "sprue" in the ball? The corkscrew piece to retrieve on back out?

Brian

Think your Harmonica is here http://www.patmissin.com/ffaq/q38.html

The sprue is the little piece of lead that overflows the bullet mold when they cast bullets. It has to be cut off in order for the bullet to be loaded and fired. Some CW troops (especially the sharpshooters) would mark where the sprue was cut so that each and every round could be loaded into the gun in an identical fashion for maximum accuracy. And you found my harmonica! Thank you SO much for a GREAT ID! I believe mine dates to c. 1906 or before, since it is made of brass rather than zinc.


Best Wishes,



Buckles

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Nice finds Buck. Hit the books and make this a weekly occurance.
Chris

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

LOL! Well...I'm not in any competition with anyone. They live in PA where there are coppers everywhere. I have to work really hard for mine here.

Everyone seems to think that Coppers are everywhere in Pa. I can assure you that I have been detecting for 17 years before Kirk and Kyle started and did many old houses similarly to the way Modern Miner does and only found 4 large cents and no half cents. Also you can look at all the other Pa detectorists here on Tnet and see that not a whole lot of coppers are found. It's all in the research that you can or can't do. I guarantee that if CKK up and moved to Ky we would still consistently find the goods.
Happy hunting Buck
Chris

 

[Iron Patch]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

LOL! Well...I'm not in any competition with anyone. They live in PA where there are coppers everywhere. I have to work really hard for mine here.

Everyone seems to think that Coppers are everywhere in Pa. I can assure you that I have been detecting for 17 years before Kirk and Kyle started and did many old houses similarly to the way Modern Miner does and only found 4 large cents and no half cents. Also you can look at all the other Pa detectorists here on Tnet and see that not a whole lot of coppers are found. It's all in the research that you can or can't do. I guarantee that if CKK up and moved to Ky we would still consistently find the goods.
Happy hunting Buck
Chris

I can relate. We find old stuff too but what many don't realize is our oldest finds is probably from finding sites on the .005% of the oldest dirt. Just a couple years in my diggin bud the Cladman was visiting a local coin dealer and the guy was blown away with what we were finding. He said he never seen anything like that from the guys who hunted through the 1980s & 90s. Now as for 100-150 year old finds... yeah get your bucket.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

If you can get a hold of a syringe, or some other item that can deliver a small stream of oil to the seam of that pocket watch, I suggest using a small amount of Marvel's Mystery Oil. It's a very mild and gentle oil, yet I have seen it free up engines that have been seized for 10 years in a motorcycle salvage yard. It is so mild and gentle it is more like a liquid than an oil, much more watery than brake fluid. You can find it at any place that sells automotive stuff and it comes in a red bottle with that imitation "old-tyme" type of label we seen from the early 1900's. Give it a try, if you decide you dont want to use it on the pocket watch, and don't have anything else to use it on, just dump it in your gas tank, it keeps your carburetor/fuel injectors clean and fresh. This stuff works better than they advertise it, I used it on my Honda GoldWing for years and never had a gummed up carburetor, and I use it for all my lubrication/cleaning needs.

Cap'n--thank you for your help with the watch.

bro once again you are a credit to our cause.

aa, I am glad to hear from you. Stay in touch. 8)

Hey, BB, hit it hard with a stiff wire brush and plenty of Brasso, and that 1825 should really shine! (J/K)

PBK, I am honored by your reply. Thank you.

Nice finds! I have to disagree with you saying, "Coppers are everywhere in PA. I have to work for mine." Yeah, there may be more coppers around our area than your area, but we still need to research the best sites possible to even hit a decent amount. We have some buddies in our same area that aren't even close to our copper amounts. In two years, they only have 32 coppers compared to our 140-150.

Research, research, research...Yes, and a little bit of luck is what does it.

Keep the passion high, Buck!

Kirk

I agree on the research part, Kirk. I guess I meant to say that since the sites there are on average 60 years Older than my sites here that there were many more coppers at PA sites. Finding the good sites is a matter of research any way you cut it. And we both do that very well.

Cheers,



Buck

There is now lol

You guys gotta be pulling the oldest stuff in kentucky. I really enjoy these early finds man. I have found a bunch of homesteads this yr. But they have all been 1870's era.

It has been dissapointing at times lol. I would really like to have some older maps on hand. Sometimes though I will find that they have been occupied earlier than that. I will get lucky and pull some coppers. Just one homestead this spring gave up early 1800 finds. You got yourself some nice maps man.

But you just never know. That spanish reale I found came from a foundation site that doesn't show on my map of 1876. It came afterwards and that coin probably circulated for more than 50 yrs before lost. Spanish money was not legal tender anymore after the 1850's. I'm sure you know that already. So what good would they be.

So I am assuming they drilled a hole in that one and made a charm out of it. It came from a site that was already hunted to. They looked it over as a mason jar lid I think. I found that one somewhere around the 12 to 14 inch mark in depth under a nice big sandstone rock. I'm glad they missed it.

On another note also witch made alot of sence. The spanish owned this land for about 80 yrs. It was really cool to make this find on land the spanish actually owned

Take care man

Jeremy

Jeremy, there are a good many places that we find that aren't on any maps. If you're interested I can send you a tip or two via PM about how to find these places. So it isn't essential to have a map--there are other ways of finding the older spots. Drop me a line if you'd like more info.


Best Wishes,



Buckles

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Everyone seems to think that Coppers are everywhere in Pa. I can assure you that I have been detecting for 17 years before Kirk and Kyle started and did many old houses similarly to the way Modern Miner does and only found 4 large cents and no half cents. Also you can look at all the other Pa detectorists here on Tnet and see that not a whole lot of coppers are found. It's all in the research that you can or can't do. I guarantee that if CKK up and moved to Ky we would still consistently find the goods.
Happy hunting Buck
Chris

It took a while to break the Iron Brigade members out of looking at still-standing sites and get them to start to see what used to be there.

If CKK or the IB switched places, it would take a solid year for either team to collect research, figure out what had been hunted and what hadn't, and start finding the goods.

I can relate. We find old stuff too but what many don't realize is our oldest finds is probably from finding sites on the .005% of the oldest dirt. Just a couple years in my diggin bud the Cladman was visiting a local coin dealer and the guy was blown away with what we were finding. He said he never seen anything like that from the guys who hunted through the 1980s & 90s. Now as for 100-150 year old finds... yeah get your bucket.

IP, it's the same anywhere. The very oldest sites will comprise only about 1% or less of the total sites possible.

210 years of age here is about the maximum we can hope for. That is the age for that 1% of sites here. Of course, it is profitable in terms of CW relics here too--so that is a nice consolation gift.



-Buckles

 

[Iron Patch]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

I often say it will be hell for the future detector guys here because all the obvious old spots are hit hard and we're working our way through the rest. But it will always be worth while to swing a detector because as long as you're in an old area even one stray target can make your day, month, or year. Plus we are no where near close to having done every field.... and i doubt we ever will be.

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

LOL! Well...I'm not in any competition with anyone. They live in PA where there are coppers everywhere. I have to work really hard for mine here.

Everyone seems to think that Coppers are everywhere in Pa. I can assure you that I have been detecting for 17 years before Kirk and Kyle started and did many old houses similarly to the way Modern Miner does and only found 4 large cents and no half cents. Also you can look at all the other Pa detectorists here on Tnet and see that not a whole lot of coppers are found. It's all in the research that you can or can't do. I guarantee that if CKK up and moved to Ky we would still consistently find the goods.
Happy hunting Buck
Chris

Well said, Chris!

Great hunt!

Neil

 

[coinmaster2db]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

It took a while to break the Iron Brigade members out of looking at still-standing sites and get them to start to see what used to be there.

It's as if I were waving my coil aimlessly in the air above my head until you came along.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Re: There aren't any 202-Year-Old Coins in Kentucky.

Awesome finds. Nothing quite like seeing the big fat rim of an old copper sticking out of the soil (wish I'd see that more often).

That furniture brass is early. Off the top of my head, I'd say 1810 or so. Nice find in and of itself.

HH
R.I.

Seems like I'd seen furniture brass like that on something later, but when I tried to search for it I couldnt find it... so early it is. Anything old sticking out of the dirt is enough to get me motivated.

I double checked. That style of pull was popular 1795-1810. Maybe 1815, tops.

You may have a point there, though, because I think I have seen it make appearances on later furniture. However, the only times I can recall (I think), they were either reproductions (1875 and newer "Centennial" pieces) that mimicked the design, or they were "recycled" brasses pulled off an earlier piece. Didn't you or somebody else have a post on here where there was an oval brass that was like 1860's? Can't rule out the occasional throwback, I guess.

Would like to see a more detailed pic after it's cleaned up. Since people so often took their furniture with them, it's nice to be able to guess what kind of furniture they actually used at that site.