Patriot Relics
Silver Member
Hey guys,
Made use of the incredibly low tides this weekend and returned to my Revolutionary War honey hole. This site has been producing a mix of British Regiment of Foot, Patriot Buttons, and most recently a large war of 1812 pewter button found by Gheenoe78. While these conditions reek havoc on copper and bronze, it seems to perfectly preserve pewter. Given the conditions, I left the Deus XP at home and broke out old faithful- my Minelab Safari which seems impervious to the highly mineralized conditions of the low country's salt marshes. After arriving at the site I was greeted by an incredibly low tide and decided to wade out into the deep mud. Surprisingly, there was very little trash and almost immediately I began hearing the familiar tones of pewter. First out of the mud were 3 War of 1812 Infantry buttons- 2 with intact shanks.
Nearby I dug varying sizes of musket balls, 2 that had clearly been fired. Working my way back towards the river crossing, I dug a brass buckle, key, tombac flat button, and brass 2 piece button.
Among these relics, I dug an out of place coin- bearing "Elizabeth XI Regina" along with a bust on the front (1955 South Africa Farthing). The last find came as I was making my way back to the shoreline where I had previously dug the P/N patriot buttons. I pulled the plug and noticed a strange marking on the front of what looked like a ruff pewter button. I didn't give it much thought until returning home to clean and seal the day's finds in wax. Staring back at me was an S and partial A centered on the button...U S A pewter! Definitely my best day of relic hunting yet- thanks for looking.
Made use of the incredibly low tides this weekend and returned to my Revolutionary War honey hole. This site has been producing a mix of British Regiment of Foot, Patriot Buttons, and most recently a large war of 1812 pewter button found by Gheenoe78. While these conditions reek havoc on copper and bronze, it seems to perfectly preserve pewter. Given the conditions, I left the Deus XP at home and broke out old faithful- my Minelab Safari which seems impervious to the highly mineralized conditions of the low country's salt marshes. After arriving at the site I was greeted by an incredibly low tide and decided to wade out into the deep mud. Surprisingly, there was very little trash and almost immediately I began hearing the familiar tones of pewter. First out of the mud were 3 War of 1812 Infantry buttons- 2 with intact shanks.
Nearby I dug varying sizes of musket balls, 2 that had clearly been fired. Working my way back towards the river crossing, I dug a brass buckle, key, tombac flat button, and brass 2 piece button.
Among these relics, I dug an out of place coin- bearing "Elizabeth XI Regina" along with a bust on the front (1955 South Africa Farthing). The last find came as I was making my way back to the shoreline where I had previously dug the P/N patriot buttons. I pulled the plug and noticed a strange marking on the front of what looked like a ruff pewter button. I didn't give it much thought until returning home to clean and seal the day's finds in wax. Staring back at me was an S and partial A centered on the button...U S A pewter! Definitely my best day of relic hunting yet- thanks for looking.
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