Recent Park Finds

Have been working in Camden this week, so I haven't been able to get out to any old cellar holes and have been limited to a few short hunts in the local parks. Nothing too mind-blowing: a very large 1800's brass button and a '51 wheatback, another video arcade token for my token collection, an interesting '77 British New Penny (only minted between '71 and '81, I believe), a small child's bracelet charm (circa 1970's), and a bigfat stainless ring with crucifix designs around the perimeter and a two-piece construction that allows for the outer ring to rotate around the inner. Fits on my pinkie.

Back to Union

I'm just going to keep hitting this site until I run out of finds. Went back yesterday afternoon for a fine 1939 silver Washington and well as two more Indians, one 1906 and one brutalized and unidentifiable. Also, a wheatie and a couple more nice musket balls, a fine little brass button with decorative back, two thimbles--one with illegible words and one with an "8", and a number of doodads and thingies.
Also, cleaned up that great little floral brass button and the old gold plating shone out from between the pistils like, well, like gold.

More Canadian Silver

Got back to the turned up site I mentioned yesterday for an hour or so and it was just as I had hoped. I found a nice 1939 Mercury dime and a little canadian silver 1880 five cent piece. Both of these coins were just inches below the surface. I know there is more there and I hope I have a chance to get back there before construction begins or whatever is going to happen. Also found live ammunition, a doll's arm, some kind of clay bead or marble, a tiny copper utensil, half of a skeleton key, and a large musket ball with verdigris that makes it look like a miniature planet earth.

Downside Up

Stopped by an old foundation site where I had previously found three or four old coins, one of which was a fine Civil War Token, and was shocked to see that the foundation was gone! As were the remnants of the old well and the old perimeter walls. I didn't even know such a thing was legal. Literally, every stone had been removed, the trees torn up by their roots and the earth roughly re-graded. I mourned the loss of the site for a few moments, also realizing that the upheaval and bulldozing might have pulled some old things to the surface. I turned on my machine and set out across the furrows, immediately turning up a number of ammunition shells from the 1800's laying right on the surface. I explicitly remembered digging a sackful of these same shells up on my last visit, but from a depth of 6 to 8 inches. The sun was going down and the cold wind was blowing hard, so i knew I didn't have much time. Firstly, I turned up a strange little copper ring, which I at first thought was a bracelet, and then some sort of animal tagging ring, and now believe is a kind of pocket-watch part or locket piece. Then I found a very tiny brass button, smaller than a penny. It was easy digging. Most of the finds were either on the surface or just one or two inches deep. I was just about to pack it in when I found the Indian, with an immediately visible date of 1863! A very early Indian Head penny. I decided then and there to come back on the following day, which is today, and which I am going to do.

Under the Boardwalk

Here are a few more items from the 19th Century foundation I have been hitting in Union. The gold plated change-purse was really exciting and I thought for sure there would be a pile of coins around it, but alas, no such luck. The last time I found a change-purse, it was filled with silver coins. That was beside an old well on North Haven and there is a past blog that goes into more detail. Also, a nice old spoon for my spoon collection and a fantastic little brass buckle that is thick and heavy and still has the ring on back. (Penny for size comparison)
The letters and the 8 were found beneath that pier I mentioned a few days ago and probably came off of boats. This is my third or fourth 8 and I never tire of finding them. Infinity...

Finally!

At last, the ground has mostly thawed and I have been able to get out here and there in the past few days. Some of this loot was found under a large pier at low tide, but most came from a nineteenth century cellar hole in Union.
Came out with a few good coins: a 1920 Mercury dime and a gorgeous 1870 Canadian dime, a 5-cent token from the 1800's, a unidentifiably worn large cent, and four wheat pennies. There is quite a selection of trinkets, too: a beautiful floral pattern brass button and a highly decorative little copper ring (I love the copper rings), a few simple brass/copper coat buttons and three stone/porcelain buttons, four buckles, one of which is a really amazing hand-hammered brass belt buckle, a fancy little ribbon clasp, pipe-stem, mystery devices and extremely large "shotgun shell" casings, a pocket-knife, some nice pottery shards and glass jar lids. Whew! All in all, a pretty successful few days hunts, considering I can really only get out in the early morning or evenings.