Fresh out of the dirt today! Some friends went diggin' on an 18th century site, and...

lordmarcovan

... and I'm gonna have to keep y'all in suspense while I edit and upload pictures.

STONE

UGH!!! Lord M, you are terrible...

Tdec1000

Rob, can't wait to hear the tales of your adventure!! Awesome!

CaptHenway

He found a Brasher Doubloon, but has to put a hole in it before he can take a picture.......

lordmarcovan

Don't worry, I won't string this out too long, except maybe on the final piece, which is proving quite difficult to image.

It doesn't help that this creaky old 'puter is running verrrry slooowwwly. Not just the internet connection- the computer itself. Ugh.

OK, I'll have a few preliminary pix up momentarily, unless I get another crash.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>Rob, can't wait to hear the tales of your adventure!! Awesome! >>

Not MY adventure, alas. I haven't been diggin' in months. I was at home, sleepin' off a graveyard shift, and I've got another in a few hours. This was my buddy Billy, who's found some past legendary finds (remember the 1798/7 Draped Bust cent that made Coin World? That was Billy's find.)

Billy and his brother Frank went north of here, near Richmond Hill, GA, on a colonial/Rev War era site that was occupied at least into the early 1800s. The artifacts and coins bear that out.

Photobucket is runnin' slow, too. Grr.

lordmarcovan

OK, let's start with a German States copper from Frankfurt. A 1795-F two-pfennig piece with "GB" mintmaster's initials. I've only heard of one other German States piece (a thaler, at that!) being found here in Georgia by my associates, but that one was rumored and not confirmed. I would've guessed this piece came over with Hessian mercenaries during the Revolution, but the date puts it a bit late for that. Still, this demonstrates what a mishmash of foreign coins circulated here in the early days of the nation.

This one is about the size of a quarter.

(Sorry 'bout the quickie pics. That's a crowned eagle on the obverse.)

Raybo

Very cool LM, you sure do know your "stuff"!

lordmarcovan

How 'bout a little Spanish silver?

Ack, more computer issues.

And I gotta head off to work. I'll post the rest later. Sorry. This computer is just too buggy.

Oh, and before this thread gets "poofed", I must add that there WILL be an early US coin posted. I'll let y'all take your guesses on what it will be.

Sorry for the technical difficulties. I'll continue later. Maybe the puter at work will be more cooperative.

There are four more items remaining, and I'm saving the best for last. These fellas had a helluva good day in the field today, if you ask me. And they're goin' back tomorrow.

Raybo

<< <i>How 'bout a little Spanish silver?

Ack, more computer issues.

And I gotta head off to work. I'll post the rest later. Sorry. This computer is just too buggy.

Oh, and before this thread gets "poofed", I must add that there WILL be an early US coin posted. I'll let y'all take your guesses on what it will be.

Sorry for the technical difficulties. I'll continue later. Maybe the puter at work will be more cooperative.

There are four more items remaining, and I'm saving the best for last. These fellas had a helluva good day in the field today, if you ask me. And they're goin' back tomorrow. >>




(insert popcorn icon)

keyman64

Hurry up and post more. Really cool to see an 18th Century date on a coin that came out of the dirt!

lordmarcovan

OK, I'm at work now. Still a buggy old computer, but better than the clunker I have at home.

I promised y'all some Spanish silver, didn't I.

Here is a 1746 1-real piece. That's the Pillar of Hercules type. Billy says this was the first Pillar coin he's found- all the others have been the portrait type. Granted, it's not in the best of shape- Billy called it "burnt up"- (i.e., corroded), but hey- Spanish silver is Spanish silver, and sometimes one is lucky to read the date on a dug piece!




Speaking of lucky to read the date, Billy also found a half-cut eight-reales piece! Wow. And he got the half with the date and mintmark, too.

How cool is that?



OK, I'm at work at the resort, alone at the Front Desk, on a Saturday night with a bunch of drunken wedding guests (and a church group too) milling around my lobby. Gonna be a busy graveyard shift. I'll leave you with those two for the moment. Maybe in the wee hours I'll drop the other shoe, and post the final piece by the dawn's early light, if anyone is around to express further interest.

Next up will be another piece of silver, though not a coin. Then the final pièce de résistance will be a United States coin that Billy's brother Frank found (and which I subsequently have purchased, along with the artifact which will be in my next post.)

keyman64

Cool, now post the rest of the goodies!

The half of the 8 is cool.

lordmarcovan

OK, since the drunks around here haven't been too big a hassle (yet), here's the next installment.

This one bear some further research. I am 98% certain it is a buttplate (pommel) from an 18th century flintlock pistol. Silver, too. What an expressive gargoyle face, eh? The mounting screw would've gone in where the mouth is open. I'll bet such a weapon, were it intact today, would be worth a pretty penny indeed. Even this one piece ("gun furniture", they call stuff like this), would probably have a pretty solid price, were it for sale on a military artifacts site.



Billy also showed me a sword handle he'd found at the same site, which had a similar (but not identical) creature's face on it. That was brass.

Last but not least will be the US coin. Are you ready for it?

Two words in THIS post will give you a tiny hint about what it is. After five or six folks guess at it, or somebody gets it right, I'll post it.

JamesMurray

Thats some excellent finds there LM Is the early US coin a wee 3c ?

Baley

if a face is the hint, maybe its a fugio cent? very neat finds, amazing they haven't seen the light of day in more than 200 years.

Swampboy

A disme.

Raybo

I gotta get me one of those metal detectors!

lordmarcovan

Yes, you should get a metal detector- they're a blast. Don't expect to find stuff like this right away, though. Or maybe even ever. Depends on where you live, but finds like these aren't exactly common, even for the most seasoned diggers. Billy and his family (brother and father) are master relic hunters, and make it look easy. It ain't. It's a lot of fun, though. Both Billy and Frank were using Tesoro Tejon machines today. (Umm... yesterday, now.)

OK, that's four replies since I posted the silver gun pommel doohickey. It's kind of quiet here, being the wee hours, but I'll go ahead and do the reveal after one more person takes a stab at it. (Fortunately it's turning out to be a bit quiet for a Saturday night at the hotel, too.)

Nope, not a 3c silver. It's earlier than that.

Not a Fugio cent, either, though that's a bit closer to the truth.

Nor is it a disme, but the dimes that circulated next to it were possibly referred to as "dismes" (deems) by the folks who spent 'em.

There are two words (right next to one another) in my post about the gun pommel doohickey that describe this mystery coin pretty well.

(Edit- since I've revealed the coin below, now, I'll tell you. The hidden hint was where I said "pretty penny". For the next find is just that.)

erickso1

It's a flintlock pistol for the butt plate. Please tell me it is a flintlock pistol.

lordmarcovan

Nope. One more coin guess. It's a US coin, as I mentioned.

(They did find some other gun parts, though. Billy showed me some rammer guides from Brown Bess or similar muskets.)

AuroraBorealis

Very very cool ! Love that kind of stuff and exploring...

AB

lordmarcovan

C'mon. Somebody make one more guess about the mystery coin, and I'll reveal it.

Tdec1000

Half Dime?

determined

Yes very cool! I'm envious.

I look forward to the final pièce de résistance.

Thanks for posting your finds.

lordmarcovan

Nope, not a half dime. That would've been nice, though. I've seen one pre-1800 dime come up around here, but no half dimes before 1829 that I can recall. Somebody probably has found some, though.



<< <i>Thanks for posting your finds. >>

Huh. Like I've said, I wish these were MY finds. I've made some nice digs, but not much stuff like this. Not very often. My friends found this stuff.

I did buy the pistol pommel from Billy and the following coin from Frank, though.

Speaking of which...

OK, here we go...



[drumroll]
















Ta-daaa!

determined

Sweet!

LotsoLuck

Wow! Man thats gotta be exciting!

lordmarcovan

I think I would've soiled myself, yeah. My first large cent was a Draped Bust, I could tell when I found it, but I tried to clean it up and coax a date out of it by using electrolysis, and I ruined it. Since then I've only found two others, and they were later (1837 and 1850).

This is perhaps the sixth truly remarkable 1798 cent I've seen dug on local sites. Several of my buddies have found 'em, but I haven't... yet. One was a 1798/7 that Billy found and sold me, and there was a Coin World article about it. This one is just about as nice, gradewise, though probably not worth what the overdate piece was. I dunno. I posted this on the "Copper 4 The Weekend" thread and am told it's a Sheldon-166. Note the major die crack across the reverse.

Redbook only goes up to EF40, and those prices are quite interesting.

I've bought the large cent, and the pommel thingie, and will probably submit the cent to PCGS and get it TrueViewed. My pictures stink. I don't know if it will grade or not, but even in a Genuine holder, I should think that this coin should be quite desirable with this level of detail. I'll bet it was a lovely red beauty when it hit the dirt two centuries ago.

Coin Finder

Hi Lord, it will holder with a genuine...environmental damage, but....how freakin awesome is that coin. Do a write up about it. When it comes time to sell many years after you have enjoyed it. it will sell!

Nice find!

PS...sell it to me!

Justlooking

COOOOL STUFF!!!!! I've always read they used to cut those pieces of eight, but I've never seen one cut like that! Awesome!

lordmarcovan

Billy's not only a master relic hunter and coinshooter, as it happens. He's also a freakishly adept savant when it comes to fossil hunting.

Check out this monster megalodon tooth he found. (Previously- not today, obviously.)

Those are not a child's hands in the picture, BTW. They're my wife's. And she has rather large hands for a woman- as big as mine.

This tooth is not only huge, it's in fantastic shape, AND it's a "pathological", meaning it has some anomalies which make it more valuable (like an error coin). Note the two spots where the tooth was damaged and subsequently healed- one on each side. That had to have been some really big and crunchy fish bait to damage a tooth like this. Of course Megs ate whales and other marine mammals, and I guess pretty much anything they wanted to. A megalodon would probably give the Loch Ness Monster a run for its money.

Dennis88

Very enjoyable thread to read I really like the '98 cent!

Dennis

rec78

WOW!! That 1798 is an amazing find! Was it in the ground like that or was it protected from the elements somehow?
Bob

TwoKopeiki

Amazing finds, LordM!

Nunfa0

Great thread! It's hard to pick the coolest part, the cut piece of eight is wicked but the Meg tooth beats that. Then there's the butt plate of silver and it is soooo coool!!
But the absolute winner must be your new 1798 cent. She is so pretty

lordmarcovan

<< <i>That 1798 is an amazing find! Was it in the ground like that or was it protected from the elements somehow? >>

Right outta the ground, believe it or not. Our sandy coastal GA soil is very kind to copper sometimes. That's not true if a lot of coniferous (pine) trees are around- they seem to make the soil more acidic, and in many of our local soils salt content is a problem, being so near the seacoast. But in well drained, sandy soil, you'd be amazed at how well preserved the early copper coins are. I've heard of Liberty Cap cents that nice being found on an island near here!

Though more modern and common, I once dug a 1919 Lincoln cent that was pretty amazing. It was EF+ to AU but sharp, and you would never have known it was a dug coin. It had glossy brown surfaces, right out of the dirt. Looked like it came out of a dealer's case instead of the ground. We've dug 1820s buttons that not only had the gilt left on 'em but still had thread attached.

notwilight

Wow. I'm amazed how well preserved that cent is. was it just found in the dirt or was it in a pouch or something the provided some protection? Copper doesn't usually do that well but if you say you've found others in similar shape, maybe the ph and chemistry of the dirt there is very favorable. --Jerry

DuPapa

awsome stuff from my favorite poster. LordM rocks....

DCW

Now that's a piece of American history! I love it

PerryHall

Great finds and thanks for sharing. Any ideas why the copper cent is in such good condition and yet the silver coin is heavily corroded? I would have expected a silver coin to survive better in the ground than a copper coin.

lordmarcovan

That's another freakish quality of our local soils, sometimes. The copper often fares better than silver from the same site does. I'm no chemist, so I couldn't say why. I've definitely noticed this on some sites with my own finds, though.

In North Carolina, and up in the red clay country in general, I found the opposite to be true. The silver came out nice and bright (one 1910 dime I dug didn't even need to be washed off!), but the copper was generally pretty nasty looking.

gonzer

Jeez Lord M, I could sit around a campfire and listen to your stories forever! Love these history lessons.

DorkGirl

Great story!!! I just love it when you do this kind of post.

ambro51

What brand metal detector are you using? Mine is like 40 years old...and Im thinking technology has came up a bit since then??

SaorAlba

<< <i>

>>



I would chit my breeches big time if I found that, an' I would even not worry about it all the whiles.

lordmarcovan

<< <i>What brand metal detector are you using? Mine is like 40 years old...and Im thinking technology has came up a bit since then?? >>



I use a Garrett GTI-2500. The guys who found these items were both using the Tesoro Tejon.

To use a completely unscientific automotive analogy, my machine is like a fancy Lexus or Cadillac with lots of digital bells and whistles. It has a large computerized graphic display which shows target ID, depth, approximate target size, etc, etc. It's good for urban coinshooting.

Their machines, by contrast, are more like a Humvee or a powerful 4x4 truck. Great for relic hunting on rural sites. They don't even have a meter. They've got a few knobs and it's all analog. The Tejon also has manual ground balancing, which I haven't the first idea how to do. Those who DO know how to do it, however, get fantastic depth from their machines. And relic hunting is all about depth and less about fancy bells and whistles.

Just like the Cadillac-versus-Humvee analogy (which is admittedly a bit flawed), there are some machines which are better for rural relic hunting in the woods, and others that are better for city parks and such. But generally speaking, their machines could be used in an urban environment and mine could perform adequately as a relic machine. Urban coinshooters like me find more coins than the rural relic guys, but when the relic guys DO find a coin, it's usually a good one. In fact, some of the best coin finds around here are actually found by the relic boys, who are mostly shooting for Civil War and Rev War military relics like buttons and belt plates. Coins are a "byproduct" for them. They like 'em, but show 'em a State Seal or Confederate Navy button, or an obscure militia belt plate, and that's what makes them salivate. Ironically, I'm a coin guy and my most valuable find was a belt plate (War of 1812 US Light Dragoons), while Billy the relic guy's most valuable was a coin (the aforementioned 1798/7 cent which had very similar detail to this one.) Hey, we all take whatever we can get!

Even a 40-year-old or barebones detector will still find metal. And if it will find a coin-sized target that's buried six or more inches in the ground, it's got what it takes to find the old goodies. But ground depth can be unpredictable. I've found an 1829 half dime at grassroots depth (barely a quarter of an inch down), and modern Lincoln Memorial cents at eight and ten inches. You never can tell. I'm told this 1798 cent was found at a depth of eight inches, which is probably pretty average for such a find in this area, but I don't know if the ground they were hunting was cleared (bulldozed and root-raked) or if it had grass or brush covering it. These backwoods relic guys go crashing into some pretty impenetrable thickets my sissyfied park hunting self would almost never think of exploring. (Then again, when Spanish silver and 18th century US coins start turning up, you can bet I'll get out the machete and plunge into the jungle with the best of 'em!)

ricko

Amazing finds LordM.... that cent is incredible. The buttplate is great as well.... thanks for the pictures and the information... Cheers, RickO

Nysoto

Great story and congrats on the 1798! Thanks for sharing, Lord M.

ambro51

thanks for those words on the equipment. I suppose its like anything else, technique is most important. And..of course, that nasty habit of assuming that thicket was always a thicket and not a cleared patch of ground where Issac lost his coppers while snoozing on grassy patch.....

I mostly shoot for semi urban, and try to get there after the ground is scraped. Nothing sensational yet, but some puzzlers, once a horseshoe on an old farm lot, and buried not five feet away..a coin hit, deep...a 1987 lincoln cent. go figger.

keyman64

Amazing 1798! WOW! It is amazing that thing came out of the ground looking like that!