Relic Hunting - The Usual And The Unusual

[F350Platinum]

Got out for a bit yesterday to see what I could find on some places I've hit hard locally. Started out fairly warm, but late the wind came up and that was the end of T-shirt hunting this week! 😵

The first place I went was this spot on the big plantation where a house once stood, it's grassy and full of trash. It rained the day before so I really didn't want to get all muddy, walking in grass is damp but better. 😀 I used the WS6 Master rig with both my relic program and a version of Silver Slayer that only finds objects ID'ing from 87-99, as you only get one notch. I hunted around here for an hour or so, got lots of high tones but they were mostly aluminum bottle caps and whole beer cans. Ended up with 5 coins, all modern. No Zincolns though!

Next I've been meaning to hunt this field right near the old house that was built around 1740. I had been told that it was heavily hunted before, so I didn't expect much. Only spent about 45 minutes here, nothing but can slaw and deep cans.

This time I used the 13", but the grass was kinda high for swinging the big coil.

Finally went out to the big field and hacked around randomly. Here's the take:

There I got the big D buckle, 4 buttons, some kind of knob, a buckle fragment and a very old syringe top, by far one of the odd finds so far.

The buttons were one ball button, one two flat, medium and small, and the top part of a two piece that looks like a rose:

The knob was a 93, and one of the stranger objects I've found:

it has a square hole on the small end and a set screw hole. Very heavy brass.

Last is the syringe top, kinda weird to find one this old!

I had to be really careful cleaning it up.

Trash was less than a handful in this field.

Old pocket knife end and the usual metal junk, pistol and buck balls. Not even a handful.

The relic program I'm using is pretty successful, if a few of you more experienced people are bored enough to want to try it, let me know. I doubt it will be great for mineralized areas, but in fairly clean farm hunting it is a killer. I'd like to get some impressions!

Notice I dig almost no iron, the discrimination makes it stay where it should be for the most part. It is an "all metal" program using full tones, it will really sound off when you hit shallow targets, and reactivity is so low that you will have to investigate every medium to high "blip" you hear. 🙂

 

[PI-Man]

Great job!  The syringe top is wild to see.  How old do you think that is?

Hoping to get my fill of flat buttons late spring.

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, PI-Man said:

How old do you think that is?

Anywhere from the 1850s to about the 1920s. Could be a fuel syringe.

[JCR]

Your unusual knob is the base of a Porcelain or Glass door knob, missing the part you would hold with your hand.  I've never found a base alone but several complete door knobs. 

[F350Platinum]

13 minutes ago, JCR said:

Your unusual knob is the base of a Porcelain or Glass door knob, missing the part you would hold with your hand.  I've never found a base alone but several complete door knobs. 

I should have known that, having lived in Victorian houses with those very glass doorknobs. 🤦‍♂️ Thanks again JCR! 😀

[CPT_GhostLight]

More cool finds, F350! In fact I would lump all those musket balls in with the good stuff as well! They're historical too whether they're military or not. Well done!

I was wondering if the syringe might have been from a local veterinarian back in the day. From the looks of the break he might have been kicked by the horse he was trying to help. 😉

I would be interested to try your new relic type program in my mineralized ghost town sites to see how it peforms and report back, that is if we can get more than a 2 day break between snow falls around here. Where's that global warming when you need it? 😆

[F350Platinum]

1 hour ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

More cool finds, F350! In fact I would lump all those musket balls in with the good stuff as well! They're historical too whether they're military or not. Well done!

I was wondering if the syringe might have been from a local veterinarian back in the day. From the looks of the break he might have been kicked by the horse he was trying to help. 😉

I would be interested to try your new relic type program in my mineralized ghost town sites to see how it peforms and report back, that is if we can get more than a 2 day break between snow falls around here. Where's that global warming when you need it? 😆

Thanks Cap'n!

I find so many of them I pretty much only keep the good ones in a box of stuff too big for Riker cases. 😀

I'm thinking it was probably a veterinarian too, there was a lot of activity with horses in this field. Probably about 100 buttons and various studs and horse tack pieces have been found. Could have been racing but we haven't found the cash drawer yet! Could also have been shows.

La Niña is alive and well here, we only had one cold snap at Christmas and have not as yet had snow. Might do some river hunting this week at an extreme low tide to test the 13". Looks like the 13s are trickling out again.

Check your mailbox, I'll be sending it to ya. Rather do it that way than post it. 🙂