As you saw in Brian "cal_cobra" post : He and I have been doing research @ a "certain site on the west coast". We've been able to hit it 2x so far. The first trek netted me an 1849 French silver coin. And each of us had all sorts of cool age indicators. Eg.: green copper spikes, suspender clips, pistol balls, lantern parts, etc.... We couldn't wait to get back .

We finally got back for another go-round this last Saturday. We're trying some new angles on this site. It was a community of people in the early to mid 1800's. So I guess you could call it a "ghost town" of sorts.

We got into a particular camp or cellar hole spot, which turned up some juicy age indicators on this trek : Gold rush eagle tongue buckles, a gold rush era token (issued by a merchant in San Francisco), powder flasks, toe taps, buttons, hardware and household items from the mid 1800's, and lots of cool "whatzits" . While we never belittle cool relics, yet we were salivating for a super early coin or gold coin. But alas, the token was the only thing in the "coin category" this time.

Here's the pix. I'm sort of keeping pix (as per location within site) separated into various albums. So the pix might seem a bit random.

Here's a group shot of my portion of the finds, from an edge of the site :
Notice 2 male buckles (on flimsy and one heavy cast). And 3 females (flimsy).



Here's a closeup of the buckles :





Some "whatzits" . Please chime in with any ideas :



The powder flask to the left was split into the 2 sides, then someone folded them over, and crimped them. Found both in the same hole. At first I thought it was random copper scrap. But then figured out it was a powder flask. I'll try to straighten out later

The flask parts of the right were found scattered about.



At first I thought this was a religious medallion. But after cleaning it up and studying under magnification: It appears to be some sort of Masonic medallion. Any ID's on this ?

Notice the hand, which points to a seeing eye. To the right of that, is the 3 chain links. To the left of that, is two crossed shepherd's staffs (?). And at the top, above the hand, is what appears to be a lamb in a sitting position.





Here's some misc. age indicators :



A two-piece Eagle "A" button was a nice surprise. The lettering of the reverse indicates that it's 1850s (slightly before CW era). Right ?



And, of course, the obligatory copper junk. Blacksmith slag, kettle parts, etc... But they all "keep you on the edge of your seat "



And the obligatory "camp lead" and zinc-tin-like roofing material junk.



Then I progressed to another part of our site. It is still teaming with signals. So we will have lots of hunts to come @ this site. Here is a group shot of finds from this portion of the site :



A few "whatzits", that I welcome any input on. Especially that item on the upper right . And the bottom item is a shoe-horn, if I'm not mistaken ?



Here is the reverse sides of the last "whatzits" pix :



Here is 2 buttons (on bottom). One has gilt lettering on the back. The other is plain.

And on top, is a padlock sized squared off copper item. I think it's one side of a mold for something. Possibly a mold for an item we call "Indian pendants" (that resemble bell-clappers in ornate forms).



Another view of the "mold". This is the back-side, where you can see that perpetual squishing between 2 sides of a vice, have left a permanent indent mark in it.



And a 3rd view of the mold :



Misc. copper and doohickeys (some of which are probably post turn-of-century) :





For kicks and giggles, we stopped at an old-town park, which is rumored to eventually be undergoing renovations sometime. We didn't see much dirt moved around, except for a tiny stretch of sidewalk out . Which appeared to already be 2nd generation moved-around. Still managed to get this 1915 S barber dime. Brian got a '15 wheat.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2018 09:06PM by Tom_in_CA.

Great display Tom. You 2 hit a great spot. Outstanding research.

El

Cool finds buddy.

Super digs! Looks like you are on a really, really interesting site! Great job on the research, and nice digs!

Steve

incredible digs for sure! Your "masonic item" is likely from the IOOF, International Order of Odd Fellows. They use the 3 links of chains in their emblems.

Tom here's the Odd Fellows sterling silver badge I mentioned to you I dug, see how it matches the symbolism on yours:

Some nice finds.

Great finds!

Nice finds!

XP Deus
Minelab Etrac
Minelab Equinox 800
Garrett Carrot
22 silvers, 2 silver rings, 1 Gold Ring -YTD 2018


Some of my random digs: [www.youtube.com]

Nice finds saving history

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Nice digs...

Your shoe horn piece...Is actually a Arch support for you foot...turn of century like 1900's give or take a few years.....there was a few styles..I've dug a few different ones..

Dug this one couple months ago.



heres one for sale on ebay.

[www.ebay.com]

I think that piece next to the oil lantern piece above the arch support is a sling swivel of a rifle...Ornate..

That masonic piece looks like this...late 19th century Odd Fellows medallion




the thing with the two birds is i think a top portion of a fancy suspender clip.1870s

I like those eagle buckles ALOT!!

NICE A button Too!!

Long occupied spot.

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2018 05:18AM by Keith Southern.

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I think that piece next to the oil lantern piece a
> bove the arch support is a sling swivel of a rifle
> ...Ornate..
>
> That masonic piece looks like this...late 19th cen
> tury Odd Fellows medallion
>

Keith, great input. Thanx ! Your medallion matches the design on mine. Thus yes: Odd fellows.

As for the "sling swivel", that's the best I'd mused so far too. However, I'm not seeing any examples of my type, anywhere on the net (google images, etc....). And also, notice that mine does not have a hole all the way through, for a peg or connection point. If you look close at the 2nd pix of it, maybe you can see the solid side. Thus it's a bit of a mystery.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2018 10:42AM by Tom_in_CA.

Nice digs!!! WTG!!!

Very nice!

Really like the buckles.

HH
Mike

very nice finds! rifle sling = drawer pull? (Are there dimples or concavities inside of slot to attach to stud?)

Wayne

ncwayne Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>.... (Are t
> here dimples or concavities inside of slot to atta
> ch to stud?)
>

Hey Wayne : I'll have to take a 2nd look, when I get home to my collection trays tonight. But no, I don't believe there were an dimples or insets on the inside either. I'll double check when I get home tonight.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2018 05:02PM by Tom_in_CA.

Nice finds & display Tom.----I really like those buckles.----What detector(s)/coil(s) were you using?---------Del

Medallion piece not mine..just found a pic of it on net ...With description.

As far as the swivel??hard to say..I see a concave channel area on top side...is there a hole that goes through to rear???looks like on rear side I see a hole in center right behind that concave channel...it could of been a T-Bar type screw mount..stick it through and top of T held in concave channel then you threaded it into a item..if hole IS in rear and elongated it could still pivot back and forth??..


Those thin stamped eagle buckles never to hardly turn up here...They are pure decoration style..sash type...Your cast one is found here east coast but thin ones are usually attributed to Gold Rush camps...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Keith and Wayne, I will take some more pix, with more angles, in the days to come. Will post a new thread to "shout out" to you. Thanx for all your help !

Brian and I are researching new angles on this site. We should be getting some more goodies this winter, as soon as we can arrange more trips.

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Those thin stamped eagle buckles never to hardly turn up here...They are pure decoration style..sash type...Your cast one is found here east coast but thin ones are usually attributed to Gold Rush camps...
>
> Keith

This particular camp turned out to have a somewhat different flavor of finds then we had anticipated, we had envisioned earlier period targets, but I'm thrilled with the finds.

Given that the targets seem to be around 1840's-1850's, I'm wondering if this camp was either some type of trading area OR a gold rush staging area? Also between Tom & I we probably found about a dozen or so large iron tools - axe heads, hatchets, chisels, wedges, etc.

Oddly not a single firearm shell - which is perfectly fine by me as most of these camp/stage type areas we've detected in the past are loaded with them - lol

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Oddly not a single firearm shell - which is perfec
> tly fine by me as most of these camp/stage type ar
> eas we've detected in the past are loaded with the
> m

Oh but Brian, you LOVE rimfire shells, right ?

Tom_in_CA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Oddly not a single firearm shell - which is perfectly fine by me as most of these camp/stage type areas we've detected in the past are loaded with the m

> Oh but Brian, you LOVE rimfire shells, right ?

Meh The only shell casings I really enjoy finding a pinfires.

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keith Southern Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Those thin stamped eagle buckles never to hardl
> y turn up here...They are pure decoration style..s
> ash type...Your cast one is found here east coast
> but thin ones are usually attributed to Gold Rush
> camps...
> >
> > Keith
>
> This particular camp turned out to have a somewhat
> different flavor of finds then we had anticipated,
> we had envisioned earlier period targets, but I'm
> thrilled with the finds.
>
> Given that the targets seem to be around 1840's-18
> 50's, I'm wondering if this camp was either some t
> ype of trading area OR a gold rush staging area?
> Also between Tom & I we probably found about a doz
> en or so large iron tools - axe heads, hatchets, c
> hisels, wedges, etc.
>
> Oddly not a single firearm shell - which is perfec
> tly fine by me as most of these camp/stage type ar
> eas we've detected in the past are loaded with the
> m - lol

The site screams that of a mining camp type site more than a military camp/outpost. Especially given the civilian type finds, the stamped buckles, and multi periods of finds PLUS the lack of any bullets/casings and multiple buttons/etc that soldiers would have had/lost (and) the iron relics you're finding too.

MichiganRelicHunter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
....
>
> The site screams that of a mining camp type site....


Yes. Our research points to the fact that .... once the gold rush started ('49 to 50-ish), this place did begin to interact with that element of CA history. But I can't say more than that. Yes, these buckles are found by the scores in CA gold rush sites. As Ron Swenson's CA relic adventure videos show. And by extension, they spread to other locations that had trade/interaction with the traffic coming-&-going from the gold rush.

Very impressive finds there.

I love those eagle buckle tongues!! If you ever get too many of them and wanna sell one, keep me in mind.