19th Century Cellar Hole and Field

  I had a great hunt in the rain yesterday, around the remnants of an old cellar hole and a field in Pittston. The find of the day was a great 1863 Civil War Penny Token, the date of which was visible coming right out of the ground. These Civil War tokens were privately minted between 1862 and 1864, due to the lack of currency during the war, and were made illegal directly after. The rear says "Army and Navy", though it will take a little soaking in olive oil to clean it up.

  I also unearthed three Indian head pennies; an 1861, an 1886, and one still unreadable--a record number of Indians in one hunt for me. Two of them were actually stuck together in the soil, with their faces inward, which is why they look so good in the pics. They will clean up quite nicely.

  I found this great brass badge in the Pittston field. Apparently, it is circa 1930's and was issued for some "Boy Detective" comic strip. It is small, being less than 2 inches across. I was as excited to find this badge as I was to find the coins.

  Then there are the odds and ends: a few rusty knives, a tiny brass button, a large rusty iron button, watch cog, brass handle, unexploded artillery, an unidentifiable neat things. All in all, a fine day underground.

Back To The Park

  I returned to the park where I found the wheat penny yesterday morning. I was fairly depressed, the sky gray and drizzling, on my way to work on a Sunday, and I just needed some time to sit with my feelings before encountering any other humans. The park was quiet, but for the occasional musical forays of the downtown church bells and I plodded along with my metal detector in the shadow of the Civil War monument that watches over the park. Someone stopped and pointed out that the Union military statues are always facing south, just in case.

   The ground was fully thawed and the digging was easy. I left a while later with 1.07 in clad coinage, an unreadable wheat penny, an 1864 Indian Head penny, a costume ring, a heavily corroded belt buckle, a deeply buried fishing weight, and a beautiful brass skeleton key. It didn't solve my problems, but it took my mind off of them for an hour or two.

The Buckle

  I had pretty good luck hunting last year, as I spent the summer working on North Haven, a small island off the coast of Maine. The place seemed relatively untouched and I left in the fall with a small box full of trinkets and coins with dates as early as 1775. The most exciting find, however, was a Civil War-era buckle I unearthed from the backside of an old stone wall. I had followed the toppled structure through a field and into a stand of new-growth trees, where my detector started giving off multiple strong signals.
  I excavated a couple of caps still attached to some broken nineteenth century liquor bottles, followed by a silver-plated salt shaker and the sound-board from a harmonica.  I was immediately struck by how close to the surface these items were, as I am every time I hunt on North Haven. You see, a hundred years ago, there wasn't a tree standing on the whole island and the ones there now haven't been there long. Therefore, there has not been a lot of organic waste--such as branches and leaves--to decompose and turn into soil; that coupled with the fact that most of the island's sub-soil consists of ledge just inches below the surface, which prevents small objects from sinking and makes farming an impressive feat.
  A  few moments later I dug what appeared to be a small buckle, about three inches in diameter, with a wreath-like design around it. Wonderful, I thought, an old brass buckle. It was at least five minutes later and ten feet away before I found the other half, emblazoned with the unmistakable Naval symbol of the "fouled anchor", or the rope-encircled anchor. There was still a small strip of wizened leather attached to the end of one side. I put the two together and marveled at what I had just found. I knew it was military, but I had no idea of its age or origin.

  I did some research when I got to a computer and found that the buckle was known as a tongue and wreath buckle and was popular in style during and just after the Civil War. I searched the internet diligently and found many similar buckles, but was ultimately unable to come up with a match. I took it to antique dealers and even a Maritime Museum, but no one could give me any more information. Over the winter, I listed it on ebay and it sold for 500.00 to a man in Barbados who was very happy to find it. He wrote me back later and said he thought it was British.