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Thread: 1700's trade silver and other relics at my cottage!

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  1. #1
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    1700's trade silver and other relics at my cottage!

    I guess I will start this post by admitting that I am spoiled with the location of my cottage and the history that occurred all around it and even in my front yard.

    Last week I took 5 days off of work and my oldest son and I went up to the cottage to open it up and enjoy some fishing and detecting. I first visited a trade post site that I have found lots of War of 1812 Era buttons at. This trip I found a ball button and my first Script A 1st Artillery coat button.
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    I am sure that there are many more relics around this place but the downed trees and in and around the site are too big to allow me to easily detect it. If it was my personal property then I would be very tempted to at least take a chainsaw and my tractor and pull stuff around. So after awhile I decided to go deeper into the woods and I cam across 6 signals that were all within an 8ft circle. They were all raw copper of various sizes and probably dropped by Indians perhaps 300 or more years ago. Hard to say really. I took one of the pcs and ground of a side of it to confirm if it was copper.

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    My Mother got a copy of a book about Fort Mackinac (or Michilimackinac) that has a ton of information about the relics found at the fort and basic time periods of when these relics were used at the fort. Now that does not mean that these relics originated at the fort but more than likely were brought in via trade with indians and fur traders and perhaps colonial settlers. So here are a few pics from the book...

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    Now here are some pics of the trade silver that I found...in my front yard and also the Uncle's yard next door.
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    Pretty cool heh! I believe that this silver was US or Canadian made most likely. And probably made in early to mid 1700's. These small pcs were used as trade silver and it appears that the Indians would use them for decorations kind of like the tinkling cones which is why they have small holes in some of them. I found a pc last summer and another one 4-5 years ago and thankfully I checked and found them to be silver and saved them. These are pretty small and kind of look like aluminum siding clippings so I hope I have not thrown any out accidentally.

    The silver Ear Ring is very delicate and I am fortunate I did not damage it when I dug it. The book mentions that it is likely French in origin...not sure it that means that it came from France or if it means that it was produced here in America and when the French occupied the fort that they brought it with them to trade with?

    Here are more tinkling cones I found in another relative's yard. There are a couple that are partially bent and the I found a flat pc with one of the other cones. Perhaps it was just never rolled up or perhaps it is something else.
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    I did find a part of a trade ring. I searched all around for the other parts but I did not find anything. Also in the pic is a small item that I am 99.5% sure is a tip to a small harpoon. There are pictures of these in that book too. The left side is the dulled tip, top is the first barb, and the right side is where is snapped.

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    And some lead. The musket balls are all about 50 caliber. Not sure what the flattened pc is...perhaps a weight for fishing?

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    Here are the buttons I found. 2 I mentioned from above and the others were near my cottage along a sidewalk that goes in front of all the cottages. The oval one might be a cuff link? Two of them have drilled out shanks so I am thinking that they are 1700's but I could be mistaken.

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    And here are a couple silver coins I found. Oh and a small 14k gold pin thingy.

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    Thanks for looking! Jared
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    Last edited by Bucknut; 05-16-2022 at 11:58 AM.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  2. #2
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    Sorry folks! The pics are all mixed up a bit. At first they would not load and when I reloaded them they are out of order. I think you guys can figure it out.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  3. #3
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Amazing finds ! love he early buttons and Native American artifacts . its funny the book is about the fort only during that dateline (1715 to 1781) but the buttons are all well after that timeline suggesting that the fort was used long after .

    Dan
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

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    Click here to view my finds album


  4. #4
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by del View Post
    Amazing finds ! love he early buttons and Native American artifacts . its funny the book is about the fort only during that dateline (1715 to 1781) but the buttons are all well after that timeline suggesting that the fort was used long after .

    Dan

    Thanks Del! Yeah that book is a wealth of knowledge but only for the first half of the existence of the fort. The British occupied it until the War of 1812 and then they peacefully surrendered it to the US. I think we occupied it until the mid 1800's.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  5. #5
    Administrator del's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bucknut View Post
    Thanks Del! Yeah that book is a wealth of knowledge but only for the first half of the existence of the fort. The British occupied it until the War of 1812 and then they peacefully surrendered it to the US. I think we occupied it until the mid 1800's.
    Any British buttons turn up yet ?
    "Honesty is an expensive gift ,
    so don't expect it from cheap people"

    XP Deus II , DFX ,TDI sl -

    Click here to view my finds album


  6. #6
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by del View Post
    Any British buttons turn up yet ?
    British items are not found very often where my cottage is located. I have only found 1 button. It was one of the first old buttons I found that dates back to the War 1812 era.

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    I found it about 8-10 years ago in front of one of the cottages in my area. It is a staff officer's 41st Regiment of Foot coat button. I think it dates between 1792-1812.
    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  7. #7
    I remember you digging a ton of other great finds from that site! Amazing!!
    On Instagram- oxshoedrew

  8. #8
    Elite Member Digger_O'Dell's Avatar
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    Wow, you really hit the jackpot! I highly suspect you stumbled onto an Indian pow wow site. A camp would likely have a lot more daily items such as arrowheads, cooking items, etc. while the more decorative items would be safely stored away. Those jingle cones are a big clue to the location's use as they are used only during ceremonial dancing. Name:  cones.jpg
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    Equipment:
    Minelab: CTX 3030, GPX 4800, X-Terra 705. Whites TDI SL.

    2023 Silver: 1 Gold: 0

    Best finds: 28 silver dime spill, 1800s Dutch customs seal.
    Oldest/best coins: 1837 Upper Canada large cent, 1877 Seated Dime
    Oldest find: 1800 Sailors Luck token
    You Tube: Rediscovering America

  9. #9
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    Wow, those are some amazing historical finds. I can see where you might think something is junk that actually has great history. kudos on recognizing what you have found. I'm not sure I would be as sharp. Congrats on the great finds. WD
    Total silver 3 - Goal 50 (2024 Finds) - 0 Washington - 0 Barber Dimes - 0 Mercury Dimes- - 3 Roosevelt Dimes - 0 V Nickels - 0 Buffalos - 0 War Nickels - 0 Indian - 10 Wheats - $ 3.44 in clad
    Relics: MILESTONES since 2012: 1700 silver coins - 8000 Clad Quarters - 500 Roosevelts - 750 Mercury Dimes

  10. #10
    Elite Member The Rebel's Avatar
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    That site you have is a gem!
    Minelab Manticore / SPECTRA V3i, Pro-Pointer II. Lesche Digger.
    Oldest Copper: 1694 William & Mary Halfpenny. Oldest Silver: 1663 1-Reale
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  11. #11
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    Jared - yes, you are spoiled, but at least you are sharing with us all. I am so happy for you that you are finding these relics/silver. It is absolutely amazing.
    Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Waterproof Pinpointer, CTX3030 with 6,11,17" coils.

  12. #12
    Native American trade silver!
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  13. #13
    Elite Member Bucknut's Avatar
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    Here are the pics of the buttons that failed to show up on my original post. The Script A Coat button and the ball button were found at the Trade Post site. The others were found near my cottage along the side walk. Two of them have drilled out shanks.
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    Detectors I use: Minelab Equinox 900 & Manticore
    Favorite finds I have made:
    1,000+ silver coins
    92pcs of 1700's Trade Era Silver
    Copper Culture Indian Artifacts
    125+ War of 1812 Era buttons and relics
    My wife
    (probably should have started with that one)

  14. #14
    Senior Member
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    Wow, those are nice looking buttons!
    Garrett AT Pro, Garrett Waterproof Pinpointer, CTX3030 with 6,11,17" coils.

  15. #15
    Nice!
    Best finds GW Button and John Adams Cufflink.
    Trust in the Lord...

  16. #16
    Jeez! I'm jealous of your front yard! Congrats!
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