Dream permission! PIC HEAVY!! Continued updates!

[TommyJay]

Went out to the townsite today for a couple of hours, and recovered a 1944D merc, 190? IHP, 5 wheats - oldest 1909, 5 cent HUB SALOON token, two Monarch tags, a Carney coal tag, 2 buttons, and a vehicle/trailer reflector. My hunting buddy scored a 1905S Barber half!



Back at it again tomorrow!

 

[VA-REB]

Large modern button: The shank is bent, so I cant see the company letters on top, but the bottom part says Providence RI

Smaller older button: something MANN PHILIDELPHIA[/QUOTE]

Are we talking about the same button? This button would not be very modern. Hard to tell from the picture, but I believe it is the 1875-1902 version.

 

[JimR_TN]

That is an awesome permission. Congrats on the great finds!

 

[TommyJay]

Large modern button: The shank is bent, so I cant see the company letters on top, but the bottom part says Providence RI

Smaller older button: something MANN PHILIDELPHIA

Are we talking about the same button? This button would not be very modern. Hard to tell from the picture, but I believe it is the 1875-1902 version.[/QUOTE]

Thats the smaller general service button I found. Its kind of an enigma since the townsite started in 1903, but there were some earlier indian battles not far from the townsite. We're wondering if this was also a federal campsite, but until we find more evidence it could also have come from one of the early residents of the townsite who fought in those battles.

That is an awesome permission. Congrats on the great finds!

Thanks Jim!

 

[TommyJay]

Hunting started out slow today, but then picked up during the last hour. I found 4 tokens, along with a Chinese coin, 3 miners tags, old costume jewelry, 5 wheats, 2 buttons, and what appears to be a small bell?

I hunted mostly west of the old main street where a couple of rows of houses once stood. There is very slight evidence of a cellar hole or three, so its nice to have some old pics of the area, along with a hand drawn map to guide us.



Thanks for looking, and HH!

 

[NickelPlate]

Man what an eye popping haul! Thanks for sharing.

 

[TommyJay]

Man what an eye popping haul! Thanks for sharing.

Thank you.

 

[TommyJay]

I got off to a late start today and didnt get home until 7pm. This place is odd in areas. At first I was getting nothing but junky stuff, and had to return to the truck to transfer the weight in the pouch to a 5 gal. bucket I have in the bed. Lotsa brass here. I did find a cool looking hose nozzle that I think Ill polish and keep.

Then I started getting into the coins. First it was a wheat, then the 1912 V followed by the 1930S buff, then a couple more wheats. I crossed over main st. and hunted the side of the townsite nearer to the creek. At first I was getting all junk signals that I didnt dig, then I found the Canadian Engineers badge. I continued to parallel the creek, and just got more junky signals till I reached my turning point.

Then I scored the merc. When I wiped of one side, I saw the 1916 date! Unfortunately the mint mark was an S, but it would be my first first date merc! As I was heading back to the truck to return home, I scored the 1901O barber, and the rest of the items. Im taking the next two days off to rest my old bones.



Thanks for looking, and HH!

 

[VA-REB]

Smaller older button: something MANN PHILIDELPHIA[/QUOTE]

Sorry I didn’t pay attention when I read this...... likely to be Horstmann.....

 

[Chipk]

That IS a rich site. Congrats on a heckuva harvest of fantastic finds. Very impressive.

2 years ago I got a permission on a 50’x80’ lot near downtown Fernandina Beach, Fl, right across from the water. There had been a house that burned down many years before and a restaurant was recently razed. The first day I removed about 150 pounds of pipe, wire , appliances parts, etc before I found anything. But then it started pouring in.

I found a horseshoe, 4 axe heads, including a broadaxe, a double handful of musket balls from bird shot to grape shot and another handful of 2 and 3 ringer Minie balls. In 1 hole I found a rusty pistol, pocket knife and a brass drawer pull. I believe these were in a nightstand when the house burned down.

Then coins. Indian heads, wheats, Roosevelt’s , Mercuries, Barber dimes and quarters, a few V nickels. But the best (I thought) were a pair of seated dimes and another pair of seated half dimes.

After 3 days of hunting and rehunting I thought I was finished But 2 weeks later I saw 50’ of sidewalk was torn up so I went over it. Found another 2 ringer and what I thought must be a souvenir coin from one of the gift stores but it’s real. A 1718 Reale.

Doubt I’ll ever find another site like that. Good luck with the rest of the site!

 

[TommyJay]

Smaller older button: something MANN PHILIDELPHIA

Sorry I didn’t pay attention when I read this...... likely to be Horstmann.....[/QUOTE]

Thanks for finding that out. Does the manufacturer determine where those uniforms were sent, as in a specific campaign?

That IS a rich site. Congrats on a heckuva harvest of fantastic finds. Very impressive.

2 years ago I got a permission on a 50’x80’ lot near downtown Fernandina Beach, Fl, right across from the water. There had been a house that burned down many years before and a restaurant was recently razed. The first day I removed about 150 pounds of pipe, wire , appliances parts, etc before I found anything. But then it started pouring in.

I found a horseshoe, 4 axe heads, including a broadaxe, a double handful of musket balls from bird shot to grape shot and another handful of 2 and 3 ringer Minie balls. In 1 hole I found a rusty pistol, pocket knife and a brass drawer pull. I believe these were in a nightstand when the house burned down.

Then coins. Indian heads, wheats, Roosevelt’s , Mercuries, Barber dimes and quarters, a few V nickels. But the best (I thought) were a pair of seated dimes and another pair of seated half dimes.

After 3 days of hunting and rehunting I thought I was finished But 2 weeks later I saw 50’ of sidewalk was torn up so I went over it. Found another 2 ringer and what I thought must be a souvenir coin from one of the gift stores but it’s real. A 1718 Reale.

Doubt I’ll ever find another site like that. Good luck with the rest of the site!

Thanks Chip. Thats some work to get at the goodies. I think many people would have given up the first day. The finds here are getting more spread out from our harvest, so more patience is required. Even so, there are still spots that have been overlooked, and I mean by a couple of feet. Due to how big this area is, I have passed up some iffy signals, and signals that indicate a large object. The guy I hunt with dug down and recovered a miners lunch bucket that was still in good shape. The mine also paid the miners in gold coins in the early years, so Ill be looking more closely at the pull tab zone on my machine.

 

[VA-REB]

Sorry I didn’t pay attention when I read this...... likely to be Horstmann.....

Thanks for finding that out. Does the manufacturer determine where those uniforms were sent, as in a specific campaign?[/QUOTE]

Knowing exactly what the back mark says will help narrow down when the button was made. From the way the button looks, it looks like the last version of that button, made from 1875-1902. There are a lot of variations of the Horstmann back mark. The Horstmann/Philadelphia back mark was used from 1893-1935. So it is very likely that your button was made between 1893-1902. In 1902, the Great Seal button came into use and is still used today.

 

[TommyJay]

Thanks for finding that out. Does the manufacturer determine where those uniforms were sent, as in a specific campaign?

Knowing exactly what the back mark says will help narrow down when the button was made. From the way the button looks, it looks like the last version of that button, made from 1875-1902. There are a lot of variations of the Horstmann back mark. The Horstmann/Philadelphia back mark was used from 1893-1935. So it is very likely that your button was made between 1893-1902. In 1902, the Great Seal button came into use and is still used today.[/QUOTE]

Thank you!

 

[DiggingThePNW]

You are killing it. What a sweet spot.

 

[TommyJay]

Back at the mining townsite today, and found some unusually interesting items.


Another handful of miners tags, buttons, and keys...


Coins: 1944S merc, 1911 worn barber, 1917 & 1928 buffs, 1911 V nickels. 8 wheaties.


The shank broke off on the button to the left. Naval Academy? The one on the right, I believe, is a Canadian service button



This was interesting. A German nazi party pin??


Brass? ring with initials AF?

The wheat is starting to come up, so we're using extra care when digging and replanting it. This place is an amazing producer with more areas to cover. I was walking normally back to my truck and found the US pin and the merc, so just haphazardly walking at a normal walk, and swinging your coil in front of you will get results!

Thanks for looking, and HH!

 

[TommyJay]

You are killing it. What a sweet spot.

Thanks Jed.

 

[TommyJay]

Went back to the townsite today, but I didnt get a lot of hunting in due to chatting it up with one of the ranch bosses, and the rain that came. I did manage to find some coins and relics though:


Found a few more miners tags, a Tangee lipstick tube (top is stamped THE.GEO.W.LUFT.CO), a crusty 1897 Barber, 1907 IHP, crusty 1925D buff, belt buckle that I might polish up and use, and an 1893 Canadian large cent that was a near surface find.


Face of the large cent

Ill post some picks of what my buddy found later. The barley is coming up, so our time here is getting to an end. The ranch boss said they were going to bail it with alfalfa for the cattle so they dont care, but when it gets longer and more sturdy, swinging here will be nearly impossible.

Another guy who lives on adjacent property told us that the single miners had built dugouts next to the river a bit to the south on land that is permission property. So we may move over there and hunt it in the future. Could be some bottle dumps there too!

Thanks for looking, and HH!

 

[DiggingThePNW]

Dugouts smh man you have a sweet sweet honey hole.

 

[TommyJay]

Dugouts smh man you have a sweet sweet honey hole.

Thanks Jed. Not sure when we'll get to them, or if theyre even on ranch property. One of the neighbors said that the area has never been plowed, so it should be virgin ground. The grass is getting taller, and this place is loaded with rattlesnakes, so........

 

[TommyJay]

Took the day off yesterday to take care of some business, but today I went back to the townsite for several hours and had a pretty good coin day.


I found the 1918S Merc where one of the churches stood, and the 1900 Barber behind where the school was. The IHPs have been found all over the area, while I have found 4 buffs on a slight hill near where the school once stood. Lunch money?


No miners tags today, but the relics are always plentiful. The one cap has a bunch of late 1800 dates on it, but I cant make out the company name.

Thanks for looking, and HH!