This Weeks Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

[Brendan M.]

This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Greetings!

There were a few decent days of weather here in NY last week, and I managed to sneak out for a couple of mid-week hunts, for about 2.5 hours each time. Not a bad week in all, considering I never even imagined I'd still be digging in late January, and best of all, I found my first Merc! (Silver gurus, please don't laugh )

I hit the new patch of cellar holes I've been working (see http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,135857.msg960738.html#msg960738). It's still producing well, and this time I also located what I think is an old dump area for this home (see the glass I recovered, below), but the ground in that spot was frozen solid, so I only recovered surface fragments and moved on.

Here's my take for the week:

• 1918 "D" Mercury Dime
• 1919 wheatie
• Three buckles (one on far left is stamped "Pat. Ofc. 1901"; the far right says "Smalpage" and "Solide")
• Two spoons (I've found about five there in two weeks; backmarks are illegible on these two.)
• Two-piece cone-shaped button (no backmark)
• Old tin-topped thimble (my first of these, too)
• Complete harmonica reed (and a big sucka!)
• Wood-handled pocketknife
• Brass ashtray
• Lead tobacco pipe fragment (shape of a face -- too bad it's not intact, woulda been sweet)
• Gilded copper whatsit
• Misc relics -- Another lantern, in nice shape; some kind of copper ring stamped "18K," but I doubt it's a real ring, maybe a piece of hardware?; the usual shotgun shells; and some various other whatsits
• Bottle glass & Pottery -- I like the large bottle, because it's stamped "East Islip," my hometown

Hope you enjoyed looking. I'll keep you posted on the finds.

Cheers and HH,
Brendan

 

[Joe G]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice digs Mr. B! You're working those depressions? I think those may be more like dumps than cellar holes don't you think? That area around the house sounded good when you and I were first there. You said there were tons of targets... I would have loved to have gotten out today but alas... the ground is like concrete. Would have hit the beach but couldn't get there during the low tide. Oh well. Only 40 days or so til spring.

So? When's the "package" arriving? Hope all is well.

Take care,

Joe

 

[SoreKneesDayton]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice stuff check the ring closely. 18K shouldn't tarnish but I don't know if furtilizer will damage it?

 

[Nate in Ohio]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Congrats on your first merc. I like those old spoons and buckles. Good luck with hitting the sites more, sounds like there should be more goodies. HH

 

[BEARDOGG]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Great finds! Love those old relics..... Stay on this site and work the heck out of it. SLOWLY!

Later BEARDOGG

 

[Bridge End Farm]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

nice finds

 

[stringfrenzy]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Good finds. Way to go.

 

[topdog]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Congrats on all of your finds.

 

[carpetbagger]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice finds bmanley, here is some info and a link for the pocketknife. Very sweet.

Jeff

Old Vintage 1910 E,C. SIMMONS Knife, Rare "Swell Center" 2 blade Jack
Order #GK8

1910 vintage E.C. Simmons "Swell Center" Jack knife - hard to find pattern. Great old knife with nickel silver bolsters and bow tie, inlaid shield - brass liners. Both blades have good snap. Large blade has long nail pull and is swedged on both sides at tip. Used but Excellent + condition.

Specifications:
(Blade) Steel - Carbon Steel
Handle - Cocobolo wood
Blade - Spear and Pen
Closed - 3-7/16"
Weight - 2 oz

Features:
Nickel Silver Bolsters
Nickel Silver inlaid shield
Brass liners

Our low Internet Price Only $109.95
www.jaysknives.com/antiqueknives.htm

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice digs Mr. B! You're working those depressions? I think those may be more like dumps than cellar holes don't you think? That area around the house sounded good when you and I were first there. You said there were tons of targets... I would have loved to have gotten out today but alas... the ground is like concrete. Would have hit the beach but couldn't get there during the low tide. Oh well. Only 40 days or so til spring.

So? When's the "package" arriving? Hope all is well.

Take care,

Joe

Joe, this is actually a different spot, although not too far from the ones we've hit together. The place in question does in fact have cellar holes, including one still lined with brick that drops down about a foot. It's kind of amazing. It seems like NO ONE else has been there for 100 years!

Yeah I don't get out much on the weekends myself these days, especially with the big day coming so soon. I find it easier to wrap up work early during the week when weather permits. You should play hooky with me one day.

Any day now, my friend. Any day and I'll be changing diapers for my future detectorist.

Talk to you soon.

Cheers,
B

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice stuff check the ring closely. 18K shouldn't tarnish but I don't know if furtilizer will damage it?

Yeah it's a weird item. Very heavy, yet only wide enough to fit on my pinky. You can see lustre on the inside, but the outside is corroded badly. Maybe it's counterfeit gold?

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Very nice variety of stuff. Congrats. Those bottle fragments look intriguing. I hope you return to the dumpsite with a rake and a sifting screen when the soil thaws out. Happy hunting!

Thanks and yes, I'll be back there. I LOVE bottle dumps. This one was neat -- there were corroded galvanized buckets laying around that have probably been there since the turn of the century. The whole site has a "Land That Time Forgot" feel to it. There's even an old outhouse still standing not too far from it. You don't see many of those on Long Island!

 

[Johnny Ringo Silver]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Sweet finds. Looks like you have been busy! Sending a big ATA-BOY your way on your first merc!! 8) 8)

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

PS, forgot to mention that the pattern of the first spoon (the one on the left in the photo) is called 1847 Rogers Brothers. It's a popular pattern from the mid to late 1800's. I have my great grandmother's sugar shell (spoon for sugar with a bowl that looks like a clamshell) which is the same pattern. I don't know if the 1847 refers to the pattern number or the year of introduction of the pattern, but it is a 19th century spoon. Made in America, btw. Nice find!

Thanks for the info. The dates definitely work for this site. Like I mentioned, this place is spoon crazy. I find it strange though that there are so many spoons yet I haven't found any knives or forks. Does anyone else have that happen? Are spoons lost more frequently, and if so, why?

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Nice finds bmanley, here is some info and a link for the pocketknife. Very sweet.

Jeff

Old Vintage 1910 E,C. SIMMONS Knife, Rare "Swell Center" 2 blade Jack
Order #GK8
1910 vintage E.C. Simmons "Swell Center" Jack knife - hard to find pattern. Great old knife with nickel silver bolsters and bow tie, inlaid shield - brass liners. Both blades have good snap. Large blade has long nail pull and is swedged on both sides at tip.

Jeff, thanks for the info on the knife. This find was a pleasant surprise. I've found a few knives before but never in any sort of decent condition. Too bad these blades rust -- the handle has held up well, especially considering it's wood!

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Also, thanks to Nate in Ohio, BEARDOGG, bridgeendfarm, stringfrenzy, topdog, and Johnny Ringo Silver. I'm glad you guys liked the finds!

Cheers and HH,
Brendan

 

[ModernMiner]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Holy smokes, it looks like you have a great spot that will be keeping you busy for a loooooooooong time. Great relics!
Congrats on the Merc. That's a old sucker too! I've never seen a tapered reed piece before like that. The ones I've seen here and dug up have been straight across. Neat piece, and full too. Great find. As far as your ring, I dug one of those up too awhile back, and learned the following from a fellow TN member. It's probably an 1800's ring too.
Way to go,
MM

Ring info:
The 1840s also saw the development of two techniques that would prove vitally important to the manufacture of inexpensive jewelry, which was beginning on a large scale in the U.S. and was already well under way in Birmingham, England. The first technique was electroplating, developed and patented in 1840 by the Elkingtons of Birmingham. The deposition of precious metal onto base metal using a direct electrical current was cheaper and much less dangerous than the age-old process of mercury gilding, though not as durable.

The second important process was rolled goldplating, brought to the U.S. from Great Britain in 1848. It was a big hit with New England jewelry manufacturers. Unlike electroplating, which is applied to a finished base metal article, rolled gold is a mechanical process for sheet and wire that is then used to manufacture a finished piece. The technique was derived from Sheffield plate, developed more than a century earlier, which is copper clad with silver and rolled to the desired thickness. Rolled gold is copper or brass clad with gold, also known as “gold-filled” in the United States. The metal “sandwich” was treated exactly the same as karat gold – stamped, engraved and fashioned into pieces that were identical in appearance to their solid gold counterparts. The French began to use the technique in the 1820s, calling it doublé d’or.

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Holy smokes, it looks like you have a great spot that will be keeping you busy for a loooooooooong time. Great relics!
Congrats on the Merc. That's a old sucker too! I've never seen a tapered reed piece before like that. The ones I've seen here and dug up have been straight across. Neat piece, and full too. Great find. As far as your ring, I dug one of those up too awhile back, and learned the following from a fellow TN member. It's probably an 1800's ring too.
Way to go,
MM

Ring info:
The 1840s also saw the development of two techniques that would prove vitally important to the manufacture of inexpensive jewelry, which was beginning on a large scale in the U.S. and was already well under way in Birmingham, England. The first technique was electroplating, developed and patented in 1840 by the Elkingtons of Birmingham. The deposition of precious metal onto base metal using a direct electrical current was cheaper and much less dangerous than the age-old process of mercury gilding, though not as durable.

The second important process was rolled goldplating, brought to the U.S. from Great Britain in 1848. It was a big hit with New England jewelry manufacturers. Unlike electroplating, which is applied to a finished base metal article, rolled gold is a mechanical process for sheet and wire that is then used to manufacture a finished piece. The technique was derived from Sheffield plate, developed more than a century earlier, which is copper clad with silver and rolled to the desired thickness. Rolled gold is copper or brass clad with gold, also known as “gold-filled” in the United States. The metal “sandwich” was treated exactly the same as karat gold – stamped, engraved and fashioned into pieces that were identical in appearance to their solid gold counterparts. The French began to use the technique in the 1820s, calling it doublé d’or.

ModernMiner, thanks for the congrats and the info on the ring. That's really neat. Had it not been for the "18K" stamp on it I would've just considered it a piece of copper hardware and thrown it into my whatsit/scrap pile. I'd rather have it be a ring! I'm still surprised by how heavy it is.

Glad you liked the reed, too. I almost didn't dig it because it gave off such a huge signal (+88, quarter) that I thought it might be another huge chunk of iron. However it was only about an inch down, if you can believe it, by this nice old tree, so I figured what the heck. Glad I did!

Thanks again, and HH,
Brendan

 

[ModernMiner]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Brendan,
No problem. There was another TN member (Danimal I think?) a few weeks ago that also found a copper ring stamped 18K.
Here are a few pictures of the one I found. Not near as nice or thick as yours, but I was glad it was from the 1800's.
Great finds,
MM

 

[Brendan M.]

Re: This Week's Digs: More Relics, and My First Merc

Brendan,
No problem. There was another TN member (Danimal I think?) a few weeks ago that also found a copper ring stamped 18K.
Here are a few pictures of the one I found. Not near as nice or thick as yours, but I was glad it was from the 1800's.
Great finds,
MM

Wow....Very, very cool. Thanks again for sharing. I'm still shocked myself at the goodies this spot has been giving up. Stay tuned.