rhedden
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2003
- Messages
- 374
- Reaction score
- 591
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Eastern NY
- Detector(s) used
- Nokta Makro Simplex
Today's detecting expedition was a long hike into the mountains to an isolated site with history from the late 1700s to early 1800s. I was there only 10 minutes when I received a strong coin signal with a crackle of iron on the Simplex+. After scanning it for several minutes and watching the detector change its mind with every swing, I walked away, only to turn right around and dig it. Right next to a rusty nail was a Connecticut copper, the first state-issued coin I've ever dug! The first three digits of the date (178*) are visible, and they were produced from 1785-1788. The coin has two holes drilled in it, presumably to create a "whizzer" toy for a child - or was it meant to be a crude coat button?
Another exciting find from today was a gold-plated brass cufflink, also the first of its kind that I have found.
I located a pair of these nickel-sized buttons that have a woven pattern on the front, almost like an apple pie. The backmark is a wreath with thin leaves that resembles the reverse side of large cents of 1794-96. There are three stars above the wreath.
Two other buttons turned up, and appallingly, both of them were surface finds. I suppose they are made of less dense metal that never sank into the ground, but it's a rare day that you can just bend down and pick up a 200 year old button. The site is on the side of a hill, so soil erosion might have helped.
The day would not have been complete without a final find that was resting just beneath some moss on top of a stone wall boulder. I thought I had another button, but it was a 1980s vintage pulltab. Yep - 1.5 miles out into the woods, and I still dug a pulltab!
Another exciting find from today was a gold-plated brass cufflink, also the first of its kind that I have found.
I located a pair of these nickel-sized buttons that have a woven pattern on the front, almost like an apple pie. The backmark is a wreath with thin leaves that resembles the reverse side of large cents of 1794-96. There are three stars above the wreath.
Two other buttons turned up, and appallingly, both of them were surface finds. I suppose they are made of less dense metal that never sank into the ground, but it's a rare day that you can just bend down and pick up a 200 year old button. The site is on the side of a hill, so soil erosion might have helped.
The day would not have been complete without a final find that was resting just beneath some moss on top of a stone wall boulder. I thought I had another button, but it was a 1980s vintage pulltab. Yep - 1.5 miles out into the woods, and I still dug a pulltab!
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