Bullets Buttons And Buckles - Updated

[F350Platinum]

6 hours ago, CPT_GhostLight said:

Excellent job sniffing out the goods again, F350! That giant thimble is georgious and congrats on getting all 3 pieces of the shoe buckle. Nice haul of button too, congrats! The Alaska spoon is a bit of a mystery. The only thing I could find, besides comemorative spoons, was a post on TreasureNet from 2012 from a guy who found a table spoon with Alaska on the back. He didn't post a photo of his but posted a photo of 3 dinner spoons that has Alaska embossed on the back where the makers mark usually is. Well done again!

Thanks Cap'n, I'm really comfortable with my program, I just increase Reactivity when I'm in trash, it still seems to skip the junk and get the goods. 😀 Of course there isn't much junk so that helps 🤣

Most Alaska spoons I've seen poking around are really fancy, whoever the maker is put out a lot of different styles.

The above is steel, a 1901 catalog I think. It's old! Found that spoon far away from the other stuff. Fun to track down those maker marks!

[F350Platinum]

5 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

I also like the thimble and still haven't found my first one. 

Thanks for the research, GB. 👍

Thimbles have been something I've found only in fields where gatherings occurred, or in this case horse training/racing. Later ones are found around houses.

A thimble was a special gift for a long time, I've never found a silver one which was usually a wedding present and had engraving on them. I was happy to get my first complete one, they generally aren't as tough as this one seems to be. It's also big, it fits my thumb.

It's ironic that I seen to always find thimbles in places I find a lot of buttons, this place is no exception as my next post updating this will show. 😀

[F350Platinum]

Well I went back to this place today, didn't have a lot of time but did well again.

It was nice and warm this morning. As soon as I got out in the field it got cloudy and windy, dropped about 4 degrees while I was there. 😵

Searched the trashiest area I found, and came away with more stuff among the iron:

More buckle bits, what might be part of an old knife handle, another thimble much more damaged than the first and smaller, and 7 more buttons, at least 3 Tombacs. 😀 In the trash I turned Reactivity up to 2 and they jumped out. Got another Dandy button but it's broken and not as large as the last one, the smaller button next to it is a Tombac.

Here's a size comparison to a really red clad dime:

The smallest button for comparison:

Really tiny. A weak 53.

Here's the second thimble, thin walled and brittle.

Again only a handful of trash, one very big nail got me, but I pretty much knew it was iron because it was throwing 95's.

The two big chunky lead things top left both have a hole through them.

[rvpopeye]

It looks like you were busy digging...

Looks warm too.😎

 

 

[F350Platinum]

47 minutes ago, rvpopeye said:

It looks like you were busy digging...

Looks warm too.😎

 

 

It was when I got there, 54, calm and sunny. Minute I got out of the cart and started walking around, it clouded up and got windy. Cold front came through like a freight train. Granted it only dropped to 50, but the wind chill increased. 😡

[rvpopeye]

Right now it's 30*  N winds gusting to 40kts. 

BUT the shovel sunk in 2" when I checked earlier when it was 45*. !

Should only be a couple of months or so......🙄

[schoolofhardNox]

Nice, old finds. That does look like a part of an old (17th century) folding knife. We found a couple of them with that curved, blunt bottom. Are those lead pieces net weights?

[F350Platinum]

10 minutes ago, schoolofhardNox said:

Are those lead pieces net weights?

Thanks! Loving the oldies. 🙂

Now that you mention it, possibly. 🤔

This peninsula is heavily invested in crabbing, oyster farms, and fishing. Your guess is as good as mine about why they would be found at a horse training/race track. 🤪

Digging in this area I've found broken kettles buried with burnt wood remains and oyster shells. My guess is they were cooking oysters for events there.

Thimbles found with complete buttons (with shanks) might also imply repairs were going on for riding apparel.

This place was heavily cherry picked, no silver coins in the area. There should be. 🙂

[George Kinsey]

Got to be some Spanish there. Keep digging.

[CPT_GhostLight]

Nailing those relic buttons again, congrats! Your Reaper program is knocking it out for you!

I can't use it in town right now because it goes way below the frozen ground and I can't get to the targets it hits. 😁 I played with it on a ghost town site a few days ago. I'm still tweaking it to for my area but it does go deep. I'm trying to keep notes so I can give you a more detailed report after a few more trips to unfrozen ground. 😏