Hot Field Time Machine: Big Brass, Baubles, A Block And A Barber

[Chase Goldman]

Had the great fortune to get out with Bob again to explore a new time machine, er field.  I've commented before on Bob's situation being a detectorist's paradise.  He lives in an area steeped in history dating back to Colonial times and older if you take into account the artifacts of Native American presence that pre-dated the Colonists.  Furthermore, he has convenient access to history right out his front door or he can choose from a number of permissions that each are unique in terms of the finds they produce both in type and timeframe.  Finally, from a technical perspective, the digging is ideal consisting vast flat farm fields of harvested soybeans or corn and sandy unmineralized soil.  The choices that are available for selecting an outing is like having a time machine you can you can dial back to just about any point in US history.  Pre-Colonial or Colonial - no problem, War of 1812 - it's there, Civil War - not plentiful, but definitely present, Victorian - check, early 20th century - you bet.  

This time out was a new field that had a mixture of almost all of the above and we were able to benefit from what it was willing to give up.

It was a long, exhausting but fantastic digging day and I appreciate that Bob let me accompany him on the new field and appreciated his advance research and surveys that enabled us to efficiently tackle the immense acreage.

Bob had been out already getting a few targets in an adjacent area we had hit previously waiting for me to finally get there after my 2 hour drive.  I was able to get the day going by digging a keeper flat cuff button on my first recovery.  At that point it was game on for both of us.  Bob got on the board with the first coin, a very nice 1907 IHP.  We both dug a few brass whatzits and then Bob dug a rare (to this area) dropped Minie Ball.  Great, we were less than an hour in and covered Colonial, Civil War, Victorian, and early 20th century.  It's unusual for a site in that area to give up finds that spanned such a wide time frame.  That increased our motivation because we knew that there were going to likely be additional surprises.  And we were not disappointed.  We recovered mostly a lot of miscellaneous brass targets, some identifiable, others had us scratching our heads.  I managed a couple of firsts and was elated.  

I managed to get on the silver board with a Mercury dime to keep my silver streak alive, dug some miscellaneous brass stuff including a heel plate and some pocket knife parts and briefly chatted with the adjacent property owner (really nice guy)

Then we headed to an iron hotspot that Bob had previously identified.  There we started alternating horse tack finds that confirmed the area was likely a stable.  I got a nice star shaped decorative piece and a part of a fancy bit boss.  Then I got surprised with one of my firsts - a Civil War Block A coat button face that once belonged to a Confederate Artillery Officer.  Only my third Confederate civil war button piece and first Civil War artillery button piece.   

I recovered some more miscellaneous brass and aluminum junk.  I then recovered a local aluminum trade token that rang up as a 91.  Then my second "first".   I have recovered a lot of silver coins and especially silver quarters of many varieties (Capped Bust, Seated, Standing Liberty, and Washington) but never a Barber.  In fact, I mentioned my Barber drought to Bob when I recovered the 1919 Merc.  We started detecting an old road bed on the site and I finally broke my Barber drought with a 1903 Barber quarter.  A common date, but I was as happy getting that one under my belt as the Spanish 2-Reale I recovered a month earlier. 

I wrapped up with an early 1900's Army General Service button and a 1944 P silver war nickel and Bob came home with an early 1800's silver spoon handle.  Hadn't had a three-silver day in quite awhile.  It made the post-hunt coffee taste great.  Thanks, yet again, Bob, for giving me the opportunity to add some firsts and bucket listers to my collection.  Tested some new gear that Bob has also discussed including the RCDigs mount on the standard shaft and also some limited testing of a tilted RCDigs mount variant for @steveg's excellent Carbon Fiber shaft setup that I primarily use for beach and water hunting.  I need to get some more swing time but I like both set ups a lot.  No more worrying about the remote popping off, and the angled variant I am using on Steve's CF shaft system provides great visibility of the screen and accommodates the Deus 2 waveguide aerial well.  Until next time - Happy Hunting.

 

 

[F350Platinum]

Excellent day Chase! 🏆

Glad you could come down, guess this trip was really worth it. 🤣

It's nice to hit a completely un-hunted field, we've had that opportunity before but probably not quite as rife with well, everything.

I was really happy with the farmer's enthusiasm, it's a blast to talk to these people, and they're so generous. Gotta say I hope I look half as good as him when I'm his age. It's the land, and we're in it.

It's odd, despite the fact that no Civil War events ever took place here, we still do find stuff from that period. You could probably go to a few DIV events and not score a block-anything button, congrats. Now I don't feel so bad about the block C I got way back when. 😁

You really followed some great hunches there, and I'm happy to have ya down. 👍

[JCR]

Very nice. You two are a pair to draw from.   The small Toothed disc looks to be a Spur Rowel.   I need to trade 350 some East Texas mineralized, relic/coin eating red dirt for some of that nice Virginia sandy loam.

[Chase Goldman]

18 minutes ago, JCR said:

The small Toothed disc looks to be a Spur Rowel.

Possibly, but the teeth are pretty small so I think it's more likely a clock gear.

[JCR]

Maybe. Arbor hole sure is big for a clock.

[ColonelDan]

Super day all around!!! 😊

[strick]

Nice hunt fellas... the duh-icky upper left any idea? Thinking Bob found something similar to that a while back?

strick

[Chase Goldman]

19 hours ago, strick said:

Nice hunt fellas... the duh-icky upper left any idea? Thinking Bob found something similar to that a while back?

strick

We're thinking some sort of fancy saddle or horse tack adornment.  It was found where near other decorative brass saddle studs were located.

[Chase Goldman]

3 hours ago, JCR said:

Maybe. Arbor hole sure is big for a clock.

Agree.  I noticed that too.  It's a mystery.

[Valens Legacy]

Nice hunt and some very nice pieces of history to sow for your time.

Wish the best of luck on your next hunt and stay safe out there.