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

 

[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?

Sounds like a hobo hangout. Spoons are good for many more things than a fork would be. Just my theory, but a spoon can be used for eating beans from a can, stirring stew, eating from a plate, stirring a cup of coffee, etc. Spoons were also given to prisoners at mealtime because they were potentially less dangerous than a knife or a fork.

I doubt it's a hobo hangout -- I'm hunting a farm once owned by a wealthy family (active from the late 1800s until about the 1920s-30s, which is confirmed by the ages of all my finds) -- but it's an interesting theory you have regardless. I'm hoping to put together an entire set.

You might be interested to know that I went back last night and gave the spoon on the right side in the photo a thorough cleaning, after which I was able to make out the backmark, which says "Reed & Barton," who as you may know are a still-existing silversmith that started out in 1824. That led me to break out the silver polish, and after wearing my fingers out a beautiful shine is starting to emerge from beneath all the crud and tarnish. I'll post before and after pics as soon as I'm done.

Talk to you soon!

Cheers,
Brendan

 

[Brendan M.]

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

Can't wait to see the spoon's "after" picture. One more thing....is there a railroad within 1/2 mile of this place?

There's a railroad fairly close, but not a 1/2 mile. It's more 1.5 to 2 miles away....

 

[ModernMiner]

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

Can't wait to see the spoon's "after" picture. One more thing....is there a railroad within 1/2 mile of this place?

There's a railroad fairly close, but not a 1/2 mile. It's more 1.5 to 2 miles away....

OK, too far to be a hobo hangout. Maybe they let the prisoners work on their farm? Was there a prison nearby? Just grasping at straws!! LOL And having prison work teams on private farms was probably more of a Southern thing than a Northern thing anyway.

I've found quite a few old spoons at the 1830's house I MD at. It's down South here and sits only about 50 yards from the RR tracks. These tracks have been there since CW times and are still in operation. There used to be an old separate kitchen at this place, but it is long gone. I'm assuming these were just from the old kitchen. Some were broken, but some were whole spoons though. I have a few with the "Rogers" back mark on them.
I never took notice of that before, but you are right. There seems to be a lot of spoons out there, but not many forks and knives. Interesting subject.
-MM-

 

[Brendan M.]

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

Can't wait to see the spoon's "after" picture. One more thing....is there a railroad within 1/2 mile of this place?

There's a railroad fairly close, but not a 1/2 mile. It's more 1.5 to 2 miles away....

OK, too far to be a hobo hangout. Maybe they let the prisoners work on their farm? Was there a prison nearby? Just grasping at straws!! LOL And having prison work teams on private farms was probably more of a Southern thing than a Northern thing anyway.

Hmmm that's an interesting question about the prison. Not that I'm aware of. But you've got some good theories. Never thought of either the hobo or prison angle...

What's amazing is I've barely scratched the surface of this place. I can hardly imagine what's still waiting to be found. The only problem is that once the warm weather hits in the spring, the place will be overrun with enough ticks to bleed dry a herd of stallions, so it's strictly a fall/winter spot. I'm trying to pound it as much as I can before then.

 

[imafishingnutt]

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

AHHH
the first merc... what a feeling it is
I remember my first merc,



It was also my last...lol
i have found some old ones though since then but not mercs
congrats
ima

 

[Brendan M.]

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

Can't wait to see the spoon's "after" picture. One more thing....is there a railroad within 1/2 mile of this place?

There's a railroad fairly close, but not a 1/2 mile. It's more 1.5 to 2 miles away....

OK, too far to be a hobo hangout. Maybe they let the prisoners work on their farm? Was there a prison nearby? Just grasping at straws!! LOL And having prison work teams on private farms was probably more of a Southern thing than a Northern thing anyway.

I've found quite a few old spoons at the 1830's house I MD at. It's down South here and sits only about 50 yards from the RR tracks. These tracks have been there since CW times and are still in operation. There used to be an old separate kitchen at this place, but it is long gone. I'm assuming these were just from the old kitchen. Some were broken, but some were whole spoons though. I have a few with the "Rogers" back mark on them.
I never took notice of that before, but you are right. There seems to be a lot of spoons out there, but not many forks and knives. Interesting subject.
-MM-

Yeah it's really surprising how many spoons there have been. I've been averaging two per hunt, and they've all been nice old ones. It's kind of funny now when I keep finding more. What's interesting too is some of them are really lovely silver/silver-plated pieces, so I wouldn't suspect they would be lost so casually.

I think the spoons vs. knives/forks question warrants further study. Maybe I'll start a new thread on it....

 

[Brendan M.]

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

AHHH
the first merc... what a feeling it is
I remember my first merc,



It was also my last...lol
i have found some old ones though since then but not mercs
congrats
ima

Thanks, IMA. It's always been one of my favorite coins.

Cheers,
B

 

[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

MM, I forgot to mention -- that ring of yours on the right (the old-looking one), is really interesting. Have you found out anything about it? It DOES look quite old. Nice find.

Cheers,
B

 

[57sauce]

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

Its funny you brought up finding spoons vs. no forks or knives. I've worked in several restaurants and it always seemed that's what we ran out of/lost the most. Always seemed to be the utensil that got dropped down the garbage disposal too. I guess spoons are just the "socks" of the flatware world.

 

[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

MM, I forgot to mention -- that ring of yours on the right (the old-looking one), is really interesting. Have you found out anything about it? It DOES look quite old. Nice find.

Cheers,
B

B,
I found three different ladies rings that I think are CW era. They were found on two different farms with CW history. I also found men's rings at both spots. Only the mans wedding band so far has had any stamping in it.
-MM-

 

[Brendan M.]

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

Its funny you brought up finding spoons vs. no forks or knives. I've worked in several restaurants and it always seemed that's what we ran out of/lost the most. Always seemed to be the utensil that got dropped down the garbage disposal too. I guess spoons are just the "socks" of the flatware world.

Which again I find odd, because knives and forks are smaller in size than spoons, no? I'd think a knife would fit down a garbage disposal much easier than a spoon.

I think we're onto something here.

 

[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

MM, I forgot to mention -- that ring of yours on the right (the old-looking one), is really interesting. Have you found out anything about it? It DOES look quite old. Nice find.

Cheers,
B

B,
I found three different ladies rings that I think are CW era. They were found on two different farms with CW history. I also found men's rings at both spots. Only the mans wedding band so far has had any stamping in it.
-MM-

Well, very nice finds! I love finding old jewelry. It's such a personal item....

 

[dgaughan]

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

some very cool south shore finds congrats and hh