Virginia halfpenny and a few other interesting finds from yesterday

Bill D. (VA)

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Location
SE Virginia
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6
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2
Detector(s) used
F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
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Other
My good friend Joey made a last minute decision to play hookie yesterday, and we decided to make another road trip to the county where I recovered the Lord Baltimore sixpence 3-4 weeks ago. Unfortunately that site is now off limits due to the recent planting of winter wheat, but we hit a couple alternative spots. The first was a very early and promising site that we got permission for earlier in the month, but have been waiting on the soybeans to get cut. Some of them had indeed been removed, but not in the area we were hoping for. We found almost nothing in that spot except for a random Va halfpenny that was a big surprise. We then ventured into a huge adjacent cornfield and wandered around looking for a hotspot, especially on some of the higher ground. Joey ran into a large area of very heavy iron, but it appeared to be a turn-of-the-century house site. I found a small knoll that produced a couple finds that included a huge 2-piece gilted flower button that I thought was going to be something much better. I also recovered a smashed silver thimble. At that point we left for another of our old spots, and decided to first make a trip down to the water's edge at low tide to look for colonial bottles and relics. But the water was much higher than anticipated. And it was nearly impossible to get to the shoreline as we had to forge our way through a mucky 200 ft wide strip of very thick marsh reeds with shovels and detectors in hand. Although we didn't find anything except for a late 1700s mallet bottle base and a few large pieces of stoneware, we did locate what could have been the old wharf based on the deteriorated pilings and a few out-of-place rocks that could be early ballast stones. We definitely need to go back and check that out later when the tide is way out. At that point we hit the fields for the last couple of hours with little to show for our efforts since the place has been pounded. I was able to dig a few buttons, including a CW era eagle I, plus what might be a swivel from an 1800s folding ruler. It even had some of the original wood still in place. So in spite of not having a killer day, I at least came home with a colonial coin, and definitely enjoyed getting out on a nice day and digging with Joey again. Looking forward to doing it again soon.
 

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Upvote 22
Great finds as always, I always enjoy your posts as they're usually filled with my favorite type a of finds, colonial!

Great job!
 

Nice finds Bill, I'd be very happy with that hunt.
 

Good to see you dig a nice old copper bud. They seem to be much more scarce for you guys than the silvers
 

Nice finds as always. Sounds like you guys were all over the place. Looks like part if a ruler to me. Here's one I found last week. Not sure of the age.


image-3469508739.webp
 

Hey Bill, that copper has some great detail left on it and a silver thimble in any shape is still on my wish list. Congrats. Oh yea, thanks for IDing the ruler piece for me, I got one up today as well and couldn't figure out what it was but I new the thing was familiar to me.


ZDD
 

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Nice finds as always. Great coin and relics too!
 

Love the VA halfpenny. Wish the one I dug was that nice!
 

Nice half! Congrats!
 

Nice finds ...as always
 

Nice finds Bill. I love when those half pennies pop up and that one seems to have survived the fertilizers better than most.
 

Incredible finds Bill! You have some GREAT stuff there!
 

:hello2:You two were very busy & the results paid off! :hello2: Looking forward to more posts from SE VA, especially as I have fond memories of times our family enjoyed puttering around in a little boat doing some fishing in the river, eating mussels & oysters, catching crabs with a string off an old dock, way back in the 1950's when I was a kid, and not too far from Yorktown, VA. Have Fun! Andi
 

Shame about the thimble. But that gilt button is pretty unusual & will clean up good.
 

Nice relics! Congrats! I would like to find a half of any type coin, except zinc!
 

That Halfpenny turned out nice Bill. I had fun as usual and hopefully we can catch a low low tide soon to investigate those pilings a little more. Joey
 

That Halfpenny turned out nice Bill. I had fun as usual and hopefully we can catch a low low tide soon to investigate those pilings a little more. Joey

I bet Dan would get a huge laugh out of our feeble attempt at muck-larking. Good thing we didn't make a video. Oh well, we'll figure it out eventually.
 

Nice coin and button, good hunt!
 

I bet Dan would get a huge laugh out of our feeble attempt at muck-larking. Good thing we didn't make a video. Oh well, we'll figure it out eventually.

Yeah it was rather pitiful but you have to start somewhere.
 

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