Found a new tavern site - and it didn't disappoint

[BTV Digger]

Hi all and Happy Holidays. After some online research and a visit to a regional museum (about a 40 min. drive) I met some wonderful people and got access to an old hand drawn map showing all the first/early settlements in town and the original lotting plans from the 1770s. What a gold mine. After some cross referencing my first target was an old tavern/inn site that was in use from about 1790 to 1828. Finds came out of the ground slowly given the tall grass and thick clay soil common in this area which masks deeper signals, but they were steady enough to keep me coming back several times. The other difficult thing with this site is it's directly next to a modern and heavily traveled US highway next to an intersection, so the car and truck noise made it quite difficult to hear my pinpointer when I removed my headphones - sort of annoying. But I could ignore it seeing what came out of the ground from this site. Topping the list are a Phillip VI 1739 Pillar 2 Reales, a Ferdinand VII 1813 1/2 Reale, and 3 LCS (1803, 1809 and 1834). The corroded 1915 Barber Dime was clearly an unrelated and much later drop (the tavern was torn down in the 1830s). Relics were also quite numerous with about 25 buttons, a barrel tap key, small escutcheons, and some buckles and lead. I may return in the spring for a final cleanup as finds are getting quite thin now, but since I have pictures of the old map and have saved those to my PC, I'll spend the next few months reading, cross referencing, and narrowing down a few more early homesteads/cabin sites in this area. I've already found two others that I'll post about in a few weeks, and I'm sure there will be several others that I can pursue come spring 2022. Thanks for looking.

John

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[del]

:shocked03: wow John !

[Lodge Scent]

I'll take Dan's "wow" and raise it to a YOW! Great site you got there John. Looking forward to seeing more goodies from it.

[The Rebel]

John, I'll raise it further with Holy Cow! You've got a gold mine there!

[Bucknut]

Good night!! So many great old coins and relics!

[Jeff (or)]

OUTSTANDING! Congrats.

Jeff

[OxShoeDrew]

Holy poop!! Excellent work!!:shocked03::shocked05:

[DavidGC]

Another great job of researching my friend.
Congrats on all of those great finds.

[Iceman-ny]

Awesome work on the research, what a haul :congrats:Did ya do a :happy:?

[Tony Two-Cent]

This is the kind of site dreams are made of! Your diligent research paid off big time. I'm sure there is a lot more there under the tall grass. I am eager to see what else you find there!

:perfect10:

[Mr. Digger]

That is one amazing collection of finds. Boy I would love to find a 2R coin. Congrats!

[wisconsin digger]

Nice research and congrats on all the great recoveries. WD

[badgers325]

Great job on the research and it paid off. I am dumbfounded and awestruck at what you found. Finding one of those items in WI would be an awesome day. If I detected in VT and hit a site like that, I would be sitting there crying the whole time due to extreme happiness. Congrats John! Well deserved!!!!:omg:

[BTV Digger]

Thanks everyone for the nice words! Most of the finds have thinned out from this site, but wait, I'm getting the XP Deus II this spring! I'll definitely bring it to this site and hopefully sniff out a few more relics/coins in the thick iron that the AT-Pro missed (or myself by random chance - it's not all the metal detectors fault btw!).

John

[Digger_O'Dell]

John, I'll raise it further with Holy Cow! You've got a gold mine there!

I'll raise that to 2 holy cows, a yowza and an ox shoe!! There's proof that research pays off, and that all has not been found even in heavily pounded and researched areas. One may never know what is still lost until it's found!

[BTV Digger]

I'll raise that to 2 holy cows, a yowza and an ox shoe!! There's proof that research pays off, and that all has not been found even in heavily pounded and researched areas. One may never know what is still lost until it's found!

Thanks! Yeah, this was a virgin site from the start, but now, of course it's quickly approaching pounded status. Haha. Virgin sites are not all that uncommon here in VT if you take time to do the research. Now, you're not finding gold coins laying all over the ground I admit, but many of the undetected early sites around here date from 1780s so indeed, there are cool things awaiting the coil if you take the time and do the research.

John

[Digger_O'Dell]

Awesome to hear John, and I have to say you are SO lucky to have that kind of detecting available to you. My area had a rich history, although not quite as old as yours in most cases (other than a few explorers, traders, and trappers passing through). But in the name of "progress" in the last 50 years or so most everything has been built over, paved over, or removed completely. The few remaining areas to be found are either mostly pounded to death or made off limits by property owners or the government. But it's often strictly luck finding the rare undocumented little niches of soil that can pay off, such as a little 15x60 foot strip of grass along a railroad I scored my Canadian LC and half cent 2 years ago. Who woulda thunk it? :lol:

[fyrffytr1]

I am a little late to the party but I agree with everyone else's replies. I have not found a large cent since I have been here in south Georgia. Congrats on some very nice finds and keep them coming!