RIdirtdigger
09-01-2015, 03:20 PM
I haven't posted in the past few weeks so this is going to be photo-heavy and word heavy. I guess I will start about what happened on August 20. On August 20 I made the foolish mistake of not eating or drinking for at least 13 hours before going detecting at some really old cellar holes in what I would deem "The Jungle". I was intending to hit three sites but only made it to the first two before starting to feel ill. To make a long story short I suffered the nasty effects of being dehydrated and was probably lucky to make it out the woods without needing assistance. I sure learned my lesson with this one and will never go into the woods unprepared again. During the time I wasn't sick I was able to score an old brass thimble the only thing I found during my disaster of a hunt. So that was on the 20th.
The next day I was looking at some of my finds I've made this year from an area of woods in Rhode Island I have named "Swamp City". I have located at least 12 colonial sites in this area all basically surrounded by swamps which makes the place hard to access. I also like the place as all of the sites were abandoned prior to being on the historical maps. Anyway in July I found a cast drilled shank button that I always though was plain except for a little design on the back. That day I noticed a green patina underneath the gray surface and decided to scratch the crud away. Suddenly a crude looking eagle revealed itself and I was shocked. All of this time I had an early military button and I never knew it! The Eagle is facing to right, there are stars going around the edges and there are olive branches in the lower left hand corner of the eagle and it is standing on what looks like a crown or something. I posted it online and was told it was a War of 1812 button! The obverse matches the button I was shown in comparison but the back is different as my button has a drilled shank. I'm still a little confused on that but I am happy to have found such a great early military button. That made my day for sure. Later that day I went out to a site I hit with Jarrod before and decided to run the AT Pro in All Metal Mode. It worked out as I scored a nice two pronged fork and a cuff button that rang up like iron until I got it out of the ground. Just shows what you can dig when you don't have any discrimination on. The next day the 22nd I headed out with Jarrod to hit a few sites in an area we've hit before. Nothing spectacular but Jarrod got a nice 1864 indian head that didn't even register on my AT Pro when I swung over the target before he dug it. It was only 4 inches deep so I'm not sure what was up with that. I got some relics, two spoons, old lock,...the usual homesite finds. I got out with Jarrod again on Tuesday morning and I took him back to "the Jungle" where I got sick the week before. I was much better prepared this time and we both made the brutal hike into the mangrove infested woods. We found the first site where I found the thimble. The cellar is literally nothing more than a tiny depression with a few rock in it. The only way I know it is the cellar is the heavy iron concentration around the lip. We didn't find much here the people must have been poor as dirt, considering they settled in an unfriendly area. We hiked parallel to a river and made it to the 2nd site which was as I made it the last time. This cellar hole is much more defined as you can still see the stacked rocks of the center chimney. This place was hit before though. Our few finds came in areas of vegetation where a previous detectorist didn't swing. Jarrod and I got matching buttons, I found a musket ball and Jarrod got the best find, half of a shoe buckle frame with a design. We moved down a very overgrown colonial road to the third site which looked to be the wealthiest of them all. It also was the most hit but I did score a colonial dandy button and part to a mid 1700's rat tail spoon bowl. I have to give credit to whoever hit these sites before us, as they were very remote and difficult to access. Wednesday I headed up to New Hampshire on a family vacation for a few days. Beautiful scenery, some of the leaves were already starting to change. Friday morning I had only an hour to detect so I went to a spot that was the most remote and away from any encounters with people. Well I shouldn't have watched the stealth diggers episode the night before as like them, the site I chose had been destroyed by loggers. You could see the disturbance of the ground with random depression and boulders stacked together. It was disappointed but It was nice exploring a totally different type of woods than what I encounter in Rhode Island. I took a rock I found lying on top of another rock as a memento. Saturday Morning I went detecting with Jarrod in an area of RI I've always done well in. I had been wanting to hit these sites for some months but didn't find out it was public land until two days before. Jarrod hadn't gotten a copper yet this year so I was hoping today would be the day he got #1 for the year. I made the mistake of choosing to take a "shortcut' thorough the woods which including walking through several swamps when we should have just stayed on the old cart path/ hiking trail the entire way. Oh well. First site we arrived at turned out not to be a cellar hole but a barn site. We looked around for a cellar hole but had no luck. Jarrod got a colonial Lofting Thimble, his first ever thimble. I pulled what I believe is a two holed sewing button on the path leading up to the barn. We both had other commitments at noontime so we moved on to the 2nd area I had marked as a possible cellar hole. It took us a while to find it but when we did, we were in for a shock. I have never seen a cellar hole with as massive a center chimney as this one. It dwarfs all other sites I've been to. This must have been a massive wealthy home especially considering the barn was quite a distance away. The place was also loaded with iron, the most iron I've ever encountered. You really have to go slow and listen to the higher tone amongst all the grunts. We hunted it for several hours and didn't find much, we think this place fell victim to a group hunt. Just as we were getting ready to leave I get a mid tone about an inch deep very close to the lip of the cellar hole. I dig the hole and I see a penny sized coin with an eagle on it. I shout to Jarrod and say "I've got a flying eagle!". Great shape too. The date is 1858. My 2nd one of the year but the first one I can actually say for certain is a flying eagle. Jarrod's coil was having issues but he comes over to the lip of the cellar hole and says to me "I've got a perfect coin signal" He thought it was going to be clad cause it was so shallow but I told him its probably not as my flying eagle was only an inch deep. I swing over it with my AT Pro and get an 85-86. He digs the hole and we finally see a copper sized disk! Its an 1818 Matron Head Large Cent his first copper of the year. We both walked out of there very happy and 49765497674976649769497684977049772497734977149774 49775497764977749778 glad we were able to salvage the hunt with two awesome finds at the buzzer. I think there might be another site deeper in the woods and hopefully if there is a site, it might be less hit. Sunday I was on the road early heading over to CT to meet up with Isaac and Sam. We hit some cellar holes and Sam scored a cut King George II on the cart path which turned out to be the only find from that site. We then moving on to a cellar hole and midway through Sam decides to go get a permission at a house right near the cellar hole that we later found out dated from 1834. The owner literally happened to drive in just as Sam was at the house and he was nice enough to give us the go ahead to detect. We started popping out indian after indian after indian, Sam got 7, Isaac got 5 and I got 4. Sam also dug a nice braided hair large cent (his 14th of the year) and a few silvers. Isaac got an awesome small stirrup and also some silver. I decided to swing in an area near the barn that I figured people probably lost stuff over the years. I got a nice mid 80's signal and popped out a 1911D Barber Quarter! My first barber quarter since November of 2013. I then got a 80-81 signal right next to it but it turned out to be a memorial :lolsign:. After this house we hit a few more spots, Sam got some more silver but we didn't find anything amazing. Overall I had a fantastic time and I thank Sam for getting us that permission and Isaac for inviting me. You both had awesome finds as well. I'm sorry for such a long post but I just felt I couldn't make it any shorter without leaving stuff out. Overall Happy Hunting!
49779
The next day I was looking at some of my finds I've made this year from an area of woods in Rhode Island I have named "Swamp City". I have located at least 12 colonial sites in this area all basically surrounded by swamps which makes the place hard to access. I also like the place as all of the sites were abandoned prior to being on the historical maps. Anyway in July I found a cast drilled shank button that I always though was plain except for a little design on the back. That day I noticed a green patina underneath the gray surface and decided to scratch the crud away. Suddenly a crude looking eagle revealed itself and I was shocked. All of this time I had an early military button and I never knew it! The Eagle is facing to right, there are stars going around the edges and there are olive branches in the lower left hand corner of the eagle and it is standing on what looks like a crown or something. I posted it online and was told it was a War of 1812 button! The obverse matches the button I was shown in comparison but the back is different as my button has a drilled shank. I'm still a little confused on that but I am happy to have found such a great early military button. That made my day for sure. Later that day I went out to a site I hit with Jarrod before and decided to run the AT Pro in All Metal Mode. It worked out as I scored a nice two pronged fork and a cuff button that rang up like iron until I got it out of the ground. Just shows what you can dig when you don't have any discrimination on. The next day the 22nd I headed out with Jarrod to hit a few sites in an area we've hit before. Nothing spectacular but Jarrod got a nice 1864 indian head that didn't even register on my AT Pro when I swung over the target before he dug it. It was only 4 inches deep so I'm not sure what was up with that. I got some relics, two spoons, old lock,...the usual homesite finds. I got out with Jarrod again on Tuesday morning and I took him back to "the Jungle" where I got sick the week before. I was much better prepared this time and we both made the brutal hike into the mangrove infested woods. We found the first site where I found the thimble. The cellar is literally nothing more than a tiny depression with a few rock in it. The only way I know it is the cellar is the heavy iron concentration around the lip. We didn't find much here the people must have been poor as dirt, considering they settled in an unfriendly area. We hiked parallel to a river and made it to the 2nd site which was as I made it the last time. This cellar hole is much more defined as you can still see the stacked rocks of the center chimney. This place was hit before though. Our few finds came in areas of vegetation where a previous detectorist didn't swing. Jarrod and I got matching buttons, I found a musket ball and Jarrod got the best find, half of a shoe buckle frame with a design. We moved down a very overgrown colonial road to the third site which looked to be the wealthiest of them all. It also was the most hit but I did score a colonial dandy button and part to a mid 1700's rat tail spoon bowl. I have to give credit to whoever hit these sites before us, as they were very remote and difficult to access. Wednesday I headed up to New Hampshire on a family vacation for a few days. Beautiful scenery, some of the leaves were already starting to change. Friday morning I had only an hour to detect so I went to a spot that was the most remote and away from any encounters with people. Well I shouldn't have watched the stealth diggers episode the night before as like them, the site I chose had been destroyed by loggers. You could see the disturbance of the ground with random depression and boulders stacked together. It was disappointed but It was nice exploring a totally different type of woods than what I encounter in Rhode Island. I took a rock I found lying on top of another rock as a memento. Saturday Morning I went detecting with Jarrod in an area of RI I've always done well in. I had been wanting to hit these sites for some months but didn't find out it was public land until two days before. Jarrod hadn't gotten a copper yet this year so I was hoping today would be the day he got #1 for the year. I made the mistake of choosing to take a "shortcut' thorough the woods which including walking through several swamps when we should have just stayed on the old cart path/ hiking trail the entire way. Oh well. First site we arrived at turned out not to be a cellar hole but a barn site. We looked around for a cellar hole but had no luck. Jarrod got a colonial Lofting Thimble, his first ever thimble. I pulled what I believe is a two holed sewing button on the path leading up to the barn. We both had other commitments at noontime so we moved on to the 2nd area I had marked as a possible cellar hole. It took us a while to find it but when we did, we were in for a shock. I have never seen a cellar hole with as massive a center chimney as this one. It dwarfs all other sites I've been to. This must have been a massive wealthy home especially considering the barn was quite a distance away. The place was also loaded with iron, the most iron I've ever encountered. You really have to go slow and listen to the higher tone amongst all the grunts. We hunted it for several hours and didn't find much, we think this place fell victim to a group hunt. Just as we were getting ready to leave I get a mid tone about an inch deep very close to the lip of the cellar hole. I dig the hole and I see a penny sized coin with an eagle on it. I shout to Jarrod and say "I've got a flying eagle!". Great shape too. The date is 1858. My 2nd one of the year but the first one I can actually say for certain is a flying eagle. Jarrod's coil was having issues but he comes over to the lip of the cellar hole and says to me "I've got a perfect coin signal" He thought it was going to be clad cause it was so shallow but I told him its probably not as my flying eagle was only an inch deep. I swing over it with my AT Pro and get an 85-86. He digs the hole and we finally see a copper sized disk! Its an 1818 Matron Head Large Cent his first copper of the year. We both walked out of there very happy and 49765497674976649769497684977049772497734977149774 49775497764977749778 glad we were able to salvage the hunt with two awesome finds at the buzzer. I think there might be another site deeper in the woods and hopefully if there is a site, it might be less hit. Sunday I was on the road early heading over to CT to meet up with Isaac and Sam. We hit some cellar holes and Sam scored a cut King George II on the cart path which turned out to be the only find from that site. We then moving on to a cellar hole and midway through Sam decides to go get a permission at a house right near the cellar hole that we later found out dated from 1834. The owner literally happened to drive in just as Sam was at the house and he was nice enough to give us the go ahead to detect. We started popping out indian after indian after indian, Sam got 7, Isaac got 5 and I got 4. Sam also dug a nice braided hair large cent (his 14th of the year) and a few silvers. Isaac got an awesome small stirrup and also some silver. I decided to swing in an area near the barn that I figured people probably lost stuff over the years. I got a nice mid 80's signal and popped out a 1911D Barber Quarter! My first barber quarter since November of 2013. I then got a 80-81 signal right next to it but it turned out to be a memorial :lolsign:. After this house we hit a few more spots, Sam got some more silver but we didn't find anything amazing. Overall I had a fantastic time and I thank Sam for getting us that permission and Isaac for inviting me. You both had awesome finds as well. I'm sorry for such a long post but I just felt I couldn't make it any shorter without leaving stuff out. Overall Happy Hunting!
49779