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Hunted around an old 1830's Military Fort today

F

Florida-Hunter

New member
Well I got tired of beach hunting lately and decided to take a trip up to an old Florida military Fort and surrounding area that was founded sometime around the late 1830's. I didn't find any really old coins which is what I was hoping for, but I did find some interesting things.

That dime is a silver 1948 Franklin. That bent coin is a 1945 wheaty. The other two coins are clad.

The thing at the bottom left is apparently some kind of belt buckle that is bent in half... Clearly says "Ecco" in a script writing.

That half circle arch appears to be half of some kind of bezel, brass most likely... Looking at the edge of it reveals a nice decoration of leaves and a ribbon... Kind of similar to what you might see on an old US coin. Anyone have any idea what it could be?

Also, does anyone have any idea if those bullets are old? Could that round one be an old musket ball? Seems kind of small, however if it is a musket ball.... It's the first one I've ever found.

Oh yea, in one area of a field, I found several melted blobs of pewter, or lead... probably lead actually? I read about these being found at old sites... anyone know the dates you'd find these melted blobs from?

All and all, a good day of MDing... I'm totally wiped out from todays digs... I really had to work for todays finds, trash was literally everywhere... Mostly Canslaw!...

It was fun detecting in the old fields nearby, that are now derelict orange groves.
 
Neat relics and coins. Just a heads up it is a Roosevelt dime.
 
LOL..I was like a Franklin dime..dang did they sneak a new/old dime design past me when I wasn't looking??? Nice digs Florida-Hunter!!! stay after it and once you get past some of the trash you might find some older stuff a little deeper :detecting:
 
@Grumpymedic... I've done little relic hunting... Is that sort of a method to work by? Keep working one area, pulling up everything... Once the trash is gone, the good stuff starts coming? I'm just curious, since my relic hunts are few... I'd love to go back there... I think there's much more to be found! Too bad it's about an hour away from me.
 
Congrats on the silver.
 
Thanks Tony, actually, this is the first silver I've ever found with this detector, an MXT... However I used to find many more silvers when I had my old Garrett, Coin Commander, if I remember correctly. I went without a metal detector from from early 90's till fairly recently.
 
Florida-Hunter..If I had a chance to work a place that old I would work it pretty dang hard before I gave up on it..The junk will sometimes mask some of the good targets. Just take it slow and have fun. Lot's of good info on here from guys that have been doing this a lot longer than me..
 
Hey Florida-Hunter, don't know what part of the state you're in but a few of us here in central FL relic hunt a lot. If you ever want to get together for anything from a cup of coffee to a hunt let me know!
 
like grumpymedic mentions don't give up on the place. You know the historical significance of the area and that alone would make this place a keeper. If it is real dense with trash, try a small coil. I was in a very similar situation at an old 1700's homestead. The junk / iron was horrendous right next to where the house stood but as soon as I moved away from the house things quieted down. Then it was that little ways away that I found my large cent. Seeing what you found on this trip, there is certainly more there to be uncovered. In my opinion, there isn't just that silver dime and two pennies lurking in there.... Best of luck! - Jim
 
@Sailorman, Yea, that might be a good idea... I'd be up to meeting sometime, ever go on searches with others in the area? I'm located on the West coast... Lee/Collier area, so fairly S on the West coast.

@Earthlypotluck.... Yea, same thing happened with my digging... Actually there's not much to the area... Only a few streets and a bunch of open lots, and old orange groves. As I got further away from where "I think" the fort was... I started finding less junk.. However I think the People tending to the old orange groves used to drink a lot of Budwiser... Because I was still finding Bud Can halves, and tops out in the middle of one big defunct grove, same place I found the silver and the wheat cent..

I like how you learn the area the more you work it... As for example, I hit concrete about four to six inches under the dirt at one spot of a field... Seems like it was part of a road, or maybe even a building, however, I think it was put there later, probably in the 1940's... I'm planing on up dating my maps of the area. Also... I found many of the brass items in mainly one single, smaller area. Might have been a spot where garbage sat, or, umm, it's hard to say exactly.

I like to go back there today... I think I need a day or two to recoup though... Digging targets with only a large flat screwdriver as a probe, turns your hands into raw meat after a few hours.
 
Here's a close up of that brass bezel... I dunno, but from the looks of that decoration, I'd say it's the possibly the oldest thing I found yesterday. It has that typical, leaves, and ribbon decoration you'd see from US issued stuff from the early to mid 1800's. It may have held a piece of glass. I don't think it was an old brass pocket watch, but I'm not throwing that out completely either, it is about the right size. An old part to a compass? Looks like it had a hinge where that straight groove is. I'll probably never know, but my guess is that it was part of an old compass..
 
I also just discovered the source of one of the shells I found was a rimfire casing made by the United States Cartridge Co. Which was sold to Winchester in 1926. So that cartridge is at least that old. A little reading and discovered the company was founded in 1869.

The back end of the larger cartridge I found, has the same "US" stamped as is shown on this link, mid way down the page... Old Ammo

The smaller casing in the picture was made by Peters Cartridge Co. Founded in 1916, however they are still in business I believe.

I love researching, and pin pointing dates to the stuff I find.
 
Hey, we're up around the North Orlando area but who knows, might have to make a road trip sometime!
 
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