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Dig(s) O' The Day, 7/30 and 7/31/05 (or, "What I Did On My Summer Vacation", by LordM)
lordmarcovan
Posts: 43,859 ✭✭✭✭✭
On Saturday, July 30th and Sunday, July 31st, my wife and daughter and I took a much-needed vacation to Southwood Manor, a bed & breakfast inn in central South Carolina. We had visited there previously, back in November of 2003 or thereabouts, so I knew the owners were friendly to the idea of my detecting there. On a previous visit, with only an hour or so to detect, I found about a dollar's worth of change and an 1895 Indian cent. So I knew the place had potential.
The grand, columned old home looks like a relic of the Old South, and there are many such antebellum homes surviving in that area, as Sherman's troops didn't pass through there. Although the old home that once stood on this site may have escaped Sherman's torches, it did succumb to fire at some point before the present brick house was built in 1918. So the inn as it exists today "only" dates to the end of WW1, not to the Civil War or earlier. But the long, graceful, U-shaped drive lined with 100-year-old pecan trees was around long before the current house.
It was a lovely place to visit, as you can imagine. Never once in all the times we have stayed at old B&B's like this have the owners refused me permission to hunt! It's great. This place even had a pool, so my wife and daughter were happy and entertained, and I had acres and acres of old dirt to hunt! And the weather was friendly- overcast and therefore cooler, but not too rainy. Perfect. There were a few skeeters and gnats out at times, but they were wimpy and few in number, compared to what we have here in Coastal GA.
Here's just a part of the long horseshoe drive with the old pecan trees. I couldn't even get half of it in the frame.
Here's the house, built circa 1918, but obviously made to resemble one of the old antebellum homes typical in the area. It was built on the foundations of an earlier house that burned. Our bedroom had the two left-hand windows on the second floor.
While on vacation, I decided to do some of my digging for the Virtual Treasure Hunt II that we are currently having on the Metal Detecting Forum (see the link in my sig line to participate as a player- pick the lucky target numbers ahead of each round and you might win a new detector or other prizes, including coins).
My rounds in the VTH2 are Round 1, Round 5, and Round 9. I decided to take advantage of this great opportunity to dig two rounds there at Southwood Manor.
This was Round 1. Not spectacular, but I did get some Wheaties.
1. old round brass knob
2. 1953-S Wheat cent
3. Winchester .22 caliber long rifle shell casing
4. round pulltab
5. 1968 Memorial cent
6. 1962-D Memorial cent
7. piece of heavy brass wire
8. 1968-D Memorial cent
9. 1944 Wheat cent
10. old brass spigot handle
11. tiny aluminum button (plain, with no design)
12. 1972 clad dime
This was Round 5, dug on the following day. The results were a little better, though I did not get "silvered" as I had hoped.
49. 1968 Memorial cent
50. 1972 clad dime
51. 1982-D clad dime
52. spent musketball, early to mid-1800's, probably .58 caliber
This was an encouraging sign. The conical Minie bullets used during the Civil War pretty much made the round musketball obsolete, so musketballs like this are a good sign of antebellum occupation. Of course, some hunters may have used muzzle-loading smoothbore guns and round musketballs up into the 1880's and later, but usually it means you have a site that was occupied before the Civil War. This musketball is flattened on one side, so it was fired, but it had obviously lost most of its velocity before it hit the ground. (This is why it's referred to as a "spent" musketball.) Perhaps it was fired from the pecan grove which adjoined the property.
53. 1980 Memorial cent
54. old aluminum religious medal
It looks fairly old but not ancient. Perhaps it is from the days when aluminum was harder to make and therefore considered a semiprecious metal, unlike today. I'm pretty sure it's a Catholic medallion of some sort- I see the IHS monogram at the top of the front. The Greek letters Alpha and Omega are on the left and right sides, respectively. And there is a Chi-Ro symbol at the bottom. I'm not sure if it's Christ or the Virgin Mary who's portrayed in the center. Probably the former, with a halo. The reverse has a fleur-de-lis at the bottom and features some other lettering or symbols I can't make out.
55. 1917-D Wheat cent
I had to hack through some roots to get it, though it wasn't really that deep.
1908 Indian cent
My second Indian cent from this site. The first, an 1895 found on a previous visit, was found only a foot or two away from where this one showed up. It has a little blip of corrosion below the wreath that made me wonder if an "S" mintmark was hiding there. (That would have been awesome!) Alas, it appears not to be a 1908-S, but hey, I'm not complaining. I never tire of digging Indian cents, no matter how crusty they may be. This one's about average for a dug coin from these kinds of soils.
57. Faceplate from a 19th century padlock
Down here, some relic hunters call these "Mickey Mouse locks" because of their funny shape with the round "ears". This might be another relic that points to a pre-Civil War occupation of the property. It was found not too far from the Indian cent hotspot.
58. 1944 Wheat cent
59. A (circa 1935) "lucky" magician's token
Yes, folks! Drink Green River Whiskey, The Whiskey Without Regrets!
I did a little websearching on this piece and came up with another here. Apparently this was an advertising promo that came out around 1935. Not only does the token have the "lucky" symbols seen so frequently on tokens of the period (this one has a horseshoe, a wishbone, and a four-leafed clover), but it was also distributed to magicians to use in their stage acts. So it is both a "lucky" token and a magician's token. I was night hunting when I found this and it was a rather iffy signal for something so large (it's bigger than a half dollar- not quite silver dollar sized). I thought it was gonna be another .22 shell so I was shocked when this big brown disc popped out of the dirt.
It is a great companion to this lucky token I found here in Brunswick a decade ago, which has always been one of my favorite finds.
I could tell that Mr. Adamick, one of the innkeepers, really liked this token and wanted it, but I wanted it for my dug album, too! So I bought the one I found online, above, and had it shipped to him. The "Green River" name on this token made me think of the Green River Killer (yikes!), but there's also the CCR song, "Green River". That's a much better association.
60. An octagonal 5-cent trade token (Company M, Sixth Infantry), probably circa late 1800's
The Green River lucky token above worked its mojo pretty quickly. I had gone back inside the house for a few minutes after I dug it, but then I put my headlamp back on and resumed detecting, out in the darkness at the edge of the yard. The Green River piece had come up near the base of a big cedar tree, and as soon as I resumed detecting on the spot, I got another signal, just a short distance from where I'd dug the lucky piece. It proved to be another old token, and a fascinating one at that! First of all, it has an octagonal shape. I love old octagonal tokens. Secondly, it has the 5-cent denomination on the back like many trade tokens, but it has the name of a military unit on the front of it! This will take some research. So far I have come up blank. Similar octagonal tokens like this were made as early as the 1870's and using the Rulau book, I find a lot in the 1880's, but nothing like this one. Perhaps it was for a post exchange at a military base or for sutlers (merchants who followed the troops and sold them various things). It looks a bit late to be of Civil War vintage, but it almost has to predate the Green River token. Since they were fairly close together, though, I think there is a possibility they were lost at the same time, maybe by a kid. Chances are, this piece was used during the 1880's or Spanish-American War period, almost certainly no later than WW1.
If any of you can provide information on this piece, I would be most appreciative!
Neat old tokens like the two I found are equal to old coins in my book. I consider those as good as having found silver, or an Indian cent.
Now, completely off topic, and back home again, I leave you with three shots of the sunset the other night. I was driving home and there was this little piece of the sky with a Hawaiian Punch-colored glow. It was neat. I pulled over and shot a few pics before the sun went below the trees. Here are some future sig line pics for when I resume my "Scenic Series".
The grand, columned old home looks like a relic of the Old South, and there are many such antebellum homes surviving in that area, as Sherman's troops didn't pass through there. Although the old home that once stood on this site may have escaped Sherman's torches, it did succumb to fire at some point before the present brick house was built in 1918. So the inn as it exists today "only" dates to the end of WW1, not to the Civil War or earlier. But the long, graceful, U-shaped drive lined with 100-year-old pecan trees was around long before the current house.
It was a lovely place to visit, as you can imagine. Never once in all the times we have stayed at old B&B's like this have the owners refused me permission to hunt! It's great. This place even had a pool, so my wife and daughter were happy and entertained, and I had acres and acres of old dirt to hunt! And the weather was friendly- overcast and therefore cooler, but not too rainy. Perfect. There were a few skeeters and gnats out at times, but they were wimpy and few in number, compared to what we have here in Coastal GA.
Here's just a part of the long horseshoe drive with the old pecan trees. I couldn't even get half of it in the frame.
Here's the house, built circa 1918, but obviously made to resemble one of the old antebellum homes typical in the area. It was built on the foundations of an earlier house that burned. Our bedroom had the two left-hand windows on the second floor.
While on vacation, I decided to do some of my digging for the Virtual Treasure Hunt II that we are currently having on the Metal Detecting Forum (see the link in my sig line to participate as a player- pick the lucky target numbers ahead of each round and you might win a new detector or other prizes, including coins).
My rounds in the VTH2 are Round 1, Round 5, and Round 9. I decided to take advantage of this great opportunity to dig two rounds there at Southwood Manor.
This was Round 1. Not spectacular, but I did get some Wheaties.
1. old round brass knob
2. 1953-S Wheat cent
3. Winchester .22 caliber long rifle shell casing
4. round pulltab
5. 1968 Memorial cent
6. 1962-D Memorial cent
7. piece of heavy brass wire
8. 1968-D Memorial cent
9. 1944 Wheat cent
10. old brass spigot handle
11. tiny aluminum button (plain, with no design)
12. 1972 clad dime
This was Round 5, dug on the following day. The results were a little better, though I did not get "silvered" as I had hoped.
49. 1968 Memorial cent
50. 1972 clad dime
51. 1982-D clad dime
52. spent musketball, early to mid-1800's, probably .58 caliber
This was an encouraging sign. The conical Minie bullets used during the Civil War pretty much made the round musketball obsolete, so musketballs like this are a good sign of antebellum occupation. Of course, some hunters may have used muzzle-loading smoothbore guns and round musketballs up into the 1880's and later, but usually it means you have a site that was occupied before the Civil War. This musketball is flattened on one side, so it was fired, but it had obviously lost most of its velocity before it hit the ground. (This is why it's referred to as a "spent" musketball.) Perhaps it was fired from the pecan grove which adjoined the property.
53. 1980 Memorial cent
54. old aluminum religious medal
It looks fairly old but not ancient. Perhaps it is from the days when aluminum was harder to make and therefore considered a semiprecious metal, unlike today. I'm pretty sure it's a Catholic medallion of some sort- I see the IHS monogram at the top of the front. The Greek letters Alpha and Omega are on the left and right sides, respectively. And there is a Chi-Ro symbol at the bottom. I'm not sure if it's Christ or the Virgin Mary who's portrayed in the center. Probably the former, with a halo. The reverse has a fleur-de-lis at the bottom and features some other lettering or symbols I can't make out.
55. 1917-D Wheat cent
I had to hack through some roots to get it, though it wasn't really that deep.
1908 Indian cent
My second Indian cent from this site. The first, an 1895 found on a previous visit, was found only a foot or two away from where this one showed up. It has a little blip of corrosion below the wreath that made me wonder if an "S" mintmark was hiding there. (That would have been awesome!) Alas, it appears not to be a 1908-S, but hey, I'm not complaining. I never tire of digging Indian cents, no matter how crusty they may be. This one's about average for a dug coin from these kinds of soils.
57. Faceplate from a 19th century padlock
Down here, some relic hunters call these "Mickey Mouse locks" because of their funny shape with the round "ears". This might be another relic that points to a pre-Civil War occupation of the property. It was found not too far from the Indian cent hotspot.
58. 1944 Wheat cent
59. A (circa 1935) "lucky" magician's token
Yes, folks! Drink Green River Whiskey, The Whiskey Without Regrets!
I did a little websearching on this piece and came up with another here. Apparently this was an advertising promo that came out around 1935. Not only does the token have the "lucky" symbols seen so frequently on tokens of the period (this one has a horseshoe, a wishbone, and a four-leafed clover), but it was also distributed to magicians to use in their stage acts. So it is both a "lucky" token and a magician's token. I was night hunting when I found this and it was a rather iffy signal for something so large (it's bigger than a half dollar- not quite silver dollar sized). I thought it was gonna be another .22 shell so I was shocked when this big brown disc popped out of the dirt.
It is a great companion to this lucky token I found here in Brunswick a decade ago, which has always been one of my favorite finds.
I could tell that Mr. Adamick, one of the innkeepers, really liked this token and wanted it, but I wanted it for my dug album, too! So I bought the one I found online, above, and had it shipped to him. The "Green River" name on this token made me think of the Green River Killer (yikes!), but there's also the CCR song, "Green River". That's a much better association.
60. An octagonal 5-cent trade token (Company M, Sixth Infantry), probably circa late 1800's
The Green River lucky token above worked its mojo pretty quickly. I had gone back inside the house for a few minutes after I dug it, but then I put my headlamp back on and resumed detecting, out in the darkness at the edge of the yard. The Green River piece had come up near the base of a big cedar tree, and as soon as I resumed detecting on the spot, I got another signal, just a short distance from where I'd dug the lucky piece. It proved to be another old token, and a fascinating one at that! First of all, it has an octagonal shape. I love old octagonal tokens. Secondly, it has the 5-cent denomination on the back like many trade tokens, but it has the name of a military unit on the front of it! This will take some research. So far I have come up blank. Similar octagonal tokens like this were made as early as the 1870's and using the Rulau book, I find a lot in the 1880's, but nothing like this one. Perhaps it was for a post exchange at a military base or for sutlers (merchants who followed the troops and sold them various things). It looks a bit late to be of Civil War vintage, but it almost has to predate the Green River token. Since they were fairly close together, though, I think there is a possibility they were lost at the same time, maybe by a kid. Chances are, this piece was used during the 1880's or Spanish-American War period, almost certainly no later than WW1.
If any of you can provide information on this piece, I would be most appreciative!
Neat old tokens like the two I found are equal to old coins in my book. I consider those as good as having found silver, or an Indian cent.
Now, completely off topic, and back home again, I leave you with three shots of the sunset the other night. I was driving home and there was this little piece of the sky with a Hawaiian Punch-colored glow. It was neat. I pulled over and shot a few pics before the sun went below the trees. Here are some future sig line pics for when I resume my "Scenic Series".
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Comments
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
Y'all be sure to check out the Virtual Treasure Hunt II. It is a lot of fun. And I am only one of four diggers who are finding stuff.
Goldrush00013 will be taking entries for Round 6, soon. When you get an entry in a particular round, you will pick a target number. Then, when the digger for that round announces the targets found, you get "virtual" credit for that target. (It might be trash and it might be treasure).
When all 144 targets from the twelve rounds are tallied up at the end of VTH2, the four diggers will act as judges and decide what the best single target found was. The person who has "virtual" credit for that target will win a new metal detector! (Or, if you don't need a detector, you have the option of getting some coins of equal value). There are also four second prize packages for the next best finds in the virtual contest.
Greg
<< <i>I could tell that Mr. Adamick, one of the innkeepers, really liked this token and wanted it, but I wanted it for my dug album, too! So I bought the one I found online, above, and had it shipped to him. >>
How often does this sort of thing happen to you? Do you find yourself not showing cool finds to the property owner just in case they decide they want to fight you for it?
Need more $$$ for coins?
But not at these B&B's. Most of the time they aren't that interested.
"Oh, you found a 1914 penny with a little D under the date. Big deal."
(Ha. I wish.)
When folks see how much trash is dug and realize that detector finds are seldom worth big money, they usually lose interest.
I still have two ant bites on the back of my hand from the night I dug those tokens, which haven't healed yet. It's not as easy as some folks make it look.
But it is a blast. And I get a bigger thrill out of say, for instance, that grungy 1908 cent above, than I would a BU 1908 cent I'd bought. Because I dug it.
******
Thanks again for sharing.
collections: Maryland related coins & exonumia, 7070 Type set, and Video Arcade Tokens.
The Low Budget Y2K Registry Set
Some really great finds you recovered! I love the 6th Infantry token! It would be a great find in any diggers collection.
I'm very envious of the IHC as well! Wish the soil here was as kind to copper as it is down your way.
Nice post and pictures.
(BTW - I had #6 in the VTH1. I missed out on the pull tab
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since 8/1/6
Watch out for Digger #4! (Phut)- this guy is an early copper finding machine! He's gotten several large cents, King George coppers, and a CT copper recently! If you can get in on one of his rounds, your odds will be better. The rest of us will struggle to keep up.