Geologyhound
Well-known member
I had an opportunity to go back to the place where I had found around nine buttons dating from the late 1700s to early 1800s. This is a fairly small area in a good sized field. I hunted around the perimeter of where I had hunted earlier and did not find much at all. So I decided to go back over the previous area. It was so dry, I was not even picking up as many iron signals as the last time.
However I did find a little possibly silver plated brass plate with two little nail holes on either side. I can’t make out any writing on either side. Then I found another flat button I had missed. This one looks like possibly brass spun cone and wire eye with a concave back. That general design may date from around 1760 to 1785. Within a foot or two of the button I hit a high 80s signal with my D2. I knew if there was a coin here it would be old, and I was right! An 1822 large cent! That is now my oldest coin ever! The only other large cents I have ever found were two last week at another site. Both of those read in the quarter range (around 93). I don’t know if the difference in ID is due to soil conditions, angle of the coin, or down averaging due to iron.
I took a few hours slowly cleaning it with my Andrés crayon set (after letting it sit for about a week to dry). There is even some nice fine hair detail left around the ear! I also took a picture of the coin shortly after starting cleaning.
I also found what might be a cufflink and another of those odd pellets which might be some sort of very worn button?
I wonder if this is some sort of outhouse given the small size? I scouted around the general vicinity but did not find any other nail beds indicative of a possible house. Of course I might not have made my scouting passes tight enough…
However I did find a little possibly silver plated brass plate with two little nail holes on either side. I can’t make out any writing on either side. Then I found another flat button I had missed. This one looks like possibly brass spun cone and wire eye with a concave back. That general design may date from around 1760 to 1785. Within a foot or two of the button I hit a high 80s signal with my D2. I knew if there was a coin here it would be old, and I was right! An 1822 large cent! That is now my oldest coin ever! The only other large cents I have ever found were two last week at another site. Both of those read in the quarter range (around 93). I don’t know if the difference in ID is due to soil conditions, angle of the coin, or down averaging due to iron.
I took a few hours slowly cleaning it with my Andrés crayon set (after letting it sit for about a week to dry). There is even some nice fine hair detail left around the ear! I also took a picture of the coin shortly after starting cleaning.
I also found what might be a cufflink and another of those odd pellets which might be some sort of very worn button?
I wonder if this is some sort of outhouse given the small size? I scouted around the general vicinity but did not find any other nail beds indicative of a possible house. Of course I might not have made my scouting passes tight enough…
