First 2 Dirt Hunts...very Promising!

[okara gold]

1 hour ago, UKD2User said:

Nice finds!

I found an incised 'dandy' button exactly like the one in your second pic here in southern England - I wonder if they were made in the same place?

A very similar button was found in this area a few years ago: https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/pictures-from-the-big-dig-in-petworth-park-in-august-2015-which-uncovered-some-exciting-finds-4010584?page=2

 

Thanks for that information! I didn't know they were called Dandy Buttons. I'm researching their history and it's really interesting. No idea where it was made. I guess by measuring it you can get an approximation of its age.

[F350Platinum]

Great hunt! ? You got some excellent relics.

Your Dandy button is made of Tombac, an old combination of copper and zinc, it may have lead and tin and arsenic as well. You'll notice the engraving might be irregular just slightly, many were hand engraved. Far less expensive to make than brass buttons. They are from the period of 1770 to 1795 if they are larger than 30mm. They were in use until about 1815, after 1795 they were generally smaller than 30mm. They were a status symbol.

I'd track down the text on that bicycle plate, that would be interesting, and no worries about the large cent, just be glad you got one, they are often unreadable but the bust can give you an idea of age. Look up large cents.

I like relic hunting best of all, glad you're enjoying it. ?

[GB_Amateur]

19 hours ago, okara gold said:

...Hunting in LC mode.

I assume you're referring to All Terrain (AT) Low Conductors (LC).  It's been discussed here a bit (and from the manual) that this mode is optimized for small targets.  I don't know if that's your optimum settings for the size targets you are finding.  AT High Conductors (HC) might be best and AT General would also be in my arsenal, particularly if I wanted the extra run time compared to AT-HC's 20-25% hit on battery drain.  It's not a huge deal but since you said the targets you're finding are deep you might actually be able to take advantage of those other modes' extra depth (under the right conditions, of course -- not a blanket statement for everyone, everywhere).

Obviously you're in a good spot when you find a USA Large Cent, so maybe even more oldies are lurking.  Hope you have more time to detect there before heading home.

[UKD2User]

3 hours ago, okara gold said:

Thanks for that information! I didn't know they were called Dandy Buttons. I'm researching their history and it's really interesting. No idea where it was made. I guess by measuring it you can get an approximation of its age.

This isn't my find, but another good example: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1030235

 

[okara gold]

3 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

Great hunt! ? You got some excellent relics.

Your Dandy button is made of Tombac, and old combination of copper and zinc, it may have lead and tin and arsenic as well. You'll notice the engraving might be irregular just slightly, many were hand engraved. Far less expensive to make than brass buttons. They are from the period of 1770 to 1795 if they are larger than 30mm. They were in use until about 1815, after 1795 they were generally smaller than 30mm. They were a status symbol.

I'd track down the text on that bicycle plate, that would be interesting, and no worries about the large cent, just be glad you got one, they are often unreadable but the bust can give you an idea of age. Look up large cents.

I like relic hunting best of all, glad you're enjoying it. ?

Thanks for the great information. The bicycle plate reads Empire State Express 999. I’ll look into it. So far 2 large cents, 3 unidentified coins? , and 5 buttons. 

[okara gold]

3 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

I'd track down the text on that bicycle plate, that would be interesting, and no worries about the large cent, just be glad you got one, they are often unreadable but the bust can give you an idea of age. Look up large cents.

I like relic hunting best of all, glad you're enjoying it. ?

Found this information.
This was the name given to a type of light-weight bicycle made by the thousands in Syracuse by E.C. Stearns & Co. Edward C. Stearns transformed his father’s hardware and wagon factory to a bicycle factory. An excellent rider himself, Stearns opened his business on Oneida Street in 1888 and eventually watched it grow to have four plants in Syracuse and 3,500 employees. Additionally, the company had plants in Toronto, Canada and Germany. At one time, Stearns was the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the world.

[CPT_GhostLight]

Very cool artifacts and coins, okara, well done!

[okara gold]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

I assume you're referring to All Terrain (AT) Low Conductors (LC).  It's been discussed here a bit (and from the manual) that this mode is optimized for small targets.  I don't know if that's your optimum settings for the size targets you are finding.  AT High Conductors (HC) might be best and AT General would also be in my arsenal, particularly if I wanted the extra run time compared to AT-HC's 20-25% hit on battery drain.  It's not a huge deal but since you said the targets you're finding are deep you might actually be able to take advantage of those other modes' extra depth (under the right conditions, of course -- not a blanket statement for everyone, everywhere).

Obviously you're in a good spot when you find a USA Large Cent, so maybe even more oldies are lurking.  Hope you have more time to detect there before heading home.

Yes. AT Low Conductors. I’ve played a little with the AT-HC but some intermittent EMI from nearby power lines makes the HC mode more noisy than LC. I’m able to run sensitivity higher in LC but will try AT General soon. Wife says we didn’t drive 1500 miles so I could metal detect every minute.  Guess she didn’t get my memo. ? 

[GB_Amateur]

28 minutes ago, okara gold said:

So far 2 large cents, 3 unidentified coins?

As with many of the early days of the USA mint, sizes of coins varied.  Best example is the Large Cent diameter which was anywhere from 26 to 29 mm over its lifetime (1793-1857) and some of that variation was even within the same design.  It seems their size was copied from the British halfpenny as reported in Q. David Bowers's reference work, (p. 2 of 2015 edition), at least with regards to coins minted prior to the 1792 created Philadelphia official federal mint:

After the Revolutionary War, several states had their own copper coins produced under contract....  These various coppers bore no denomination, were the size of British halfpence, and... were known as pennies.

As well as early USA cents and even possibly the more valuable pre-constitution ratification coins, it's not out-of-the-question you have some actual British coins from the first part of the 19th Century or earlier.  Be extra careful cleaning them as even water can cause the surface to flake off of some 100% copper coins that have been stewing in the ground for 1.5+ centuries.