LAST FIELD HUNT OF THE SEASON TIL FALL

Hey all,

took the CTX and Deus out for a final spring hunt,

crops are all in now so fields are off limits til fall now here in W Michigan.

Last week I spent a few hrs on a new site 2 evenings in a row for about 2.5 hrs each night and found some goodies :-)

Not showing the pile of junk this time - just the good stuff - too lazy to take and edit the extra pictures and all!

This site (an 1850s site) is next to an existing 1920s farm house currently empty so I found a mix of stuff from all eras (1850s ~~ 1920s or so).

The large coin like object has a date of 1853 but whatever it was is corroded so bad that there's no hope for it!

Found a fatty 1863, a 1883, 1892, 1901, 1907 and 1908 (no S mark!!) Indians

A cool .50 cent bank token of sorts and the prized coin this hunt is the 1876 CC quarter dug out of a hole WITH a square nail laying rgt on top of it! Bad thing is though that it looks to have been hit by a plow at some point in time as evidenced by the scratch/gouge on the back :-( but I'll take it anyway! lol

A silver thimble (marked sterling) and a locket back engraved with CW period looking engraving.

2 crotal bells (one's broken and the other is in working cond.)

A silver plated spoon, iron buckle, lantern parts, etc. etc.

It's now time to focus on water hunting for the summer with my newly purchased Whites Surfmaster II I got from a guy out in NH for a steal (been looking for 1.5 yrs for one)!

Sent it down to Keith Southern and he switched out a couple resistors in it to make it hotter on tiny gold and it also gave it an added 3" of depth!! (Thanks again Keith)!

Anyway - pictures tell the story ;-)

HH all































Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/2014 02:37AM by MichiganRelicHunter.

Nice haul with a good mixture of finds. MRH.

Great finds. Love all those coins. You have a rich coin area that is for sure. WTG.

El

Sweet finds.

Good luck in the water. Hope to see some gold bling bling.
Corey

Nice hunt!!!

I like that seated Quarter dollar!!!

I love seated ....

you are in a good area for coins for sure..

I was hunting a spot once and found a real nice gold plated patriotic Button.. shakin hand type with union forever wrote on it....called a buddy of mine over to look at it and he checked the area around my hole maybe a foot away and got a hit and dang if it wasnt one of the prettiest 1862 seated Quarters I had ever seen....

Should of kept my mouth shut till at least our Vienna Sausage break LOL!!!!!

Keith

Too bad your seated quarter is scratched. Fortunately, you do have a date off of your “extremely” corroded 1853 coin like object.

But excellent finds anyway. Congrats.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

MRH,
Those crotal bells, can you give me a measured diameter on them, and have you been able to look them up for approximate ages or manufacturers?

EXCELLENT-looking hunt! WTG! That CC quarter is an especially nice coin dig (particularly with the nail sitting on top of it!)

Steve

Thanks a bunch guys --- I guess I do find my share of good old coins around here ;-)

ROD-PA

the diameter of these 2 crotal bells is 1 & 1/8 inches (relatively small ones compared to some).

Does that indicate something to you? I haven't done any research on them as to age/etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Keith

that really sux

whoever that guy was/is should've had the respect to not detect your immediate area :-(

No Biggie Wayne..

I was glad to see it come to light and my buddy get it...

Now if it was a Rebel Button.......

Keith

Keith
I got an almost intact one of 1.75" and another closer to 2" recently a though it is in pieces. The style of the one on the left looks a lot like one of them. Are there letters or numbers near the slot?

Rod-PA Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keith
> I got an almost intact one of 1.75" and another
> closer to 2" recently a though it is in pieces.
> The style of the one on the left looks a lot like
> one of them. Are there letters or numbers near
> the slot?


Rod

on one side of the slot there's a picture of a horse (crude looking)

and on the other there's initials "W.E.B."

I found one earlier in the spring that's larger (1 & 1/2 inches diameter) but it doesn't have anything on it other than a design similar to these two...

Rod, I have one that is probably 3" in dia...it's cracked, but in good shape. I have dug quite a few....I like finding them.....they are sounds of the past.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2014 09:52AM by ozzie.

Great finds!! It's all good...Looking forward to fall field hunting when the fields are cleared out again.

Keith,

William E. Barton (b 1826 or 1830?, d 1895)

W E B and a running horse logo on petal bells.
No maker's mark on his other styles of bells.

William E. (Edward?) Barton was the son of Hiram Barton and grandson of William Barton. Barton manufactured sleigh bells at his father's East Hampton foundry until it was destroyed by fire in 1874. William E. relocated the business to a nearby foundry originally built by the Union Bell Company and resumed making bells. By 1881, the business had been sold to new owners and renamed the Barton Bell Company. (9)

William E. patented several innovative designs for sleigh bells and bell straps in the mid 1800s. One of his patents from the 1860s describes the way he drilled and tapped the base of bells so they could be fastened to a strap with machine screws, rather than the more common rivets. Another patent covers a unique method for attaching buckles to bell straps. (5)

From the bells we have seen, William E. made petal, round ridge, egg, stamped egg, and "Eastlake" style bells in the 1 1/4" to 1 3/8" size range. Many of these bells were plated with soft nickel or tin. Although only his petal bells had his initials and running horse maker's mark, all of his bells can be identified by his patented machine screw fasteners.

Many of his cast egg and round-ridge bells show another innovation -- they have a separate oval-shaped metal collar between the bell and its strap. According to his patent, the collar raises the bell off the leather to improve the sound. (5) In our restoration work, we have seen collars made of plated steel, copper, and lead. The oval collar detail was eventually incorporated into his bell molds, so the bell and collar were cast in one piece. Barton's stamped egg bells have a separate cast-brass base crimped into the bottom of the bell to improve the sturdiness of the bell.

William E. did make cast-brass petal bells larger than 1 3/8", although they are not as common as his smaller bells. These larger bells are marked with his running horse logo, but some have a cast shank and others have his patented machine screw fastening. Although the machine screw fastener works well for the smaller bells, it is not so successful for a larger, heavier bell. A traditional cast shank is a better design.

William E. was married to Harriet Watrous in 1853. (12) His son Abner Watrous Barton was part owner of the Barton Bell Co.