Lovely Old Enamel Pin

[Erik in NJ]

I got permission a few months back to hunt an old stone house that appears to date back to the mid-19th century. Like MontanaGold I'd been procrastinating for a long time, but decided to check it out today for a few hours. Within the first 10 minutes I found my first Merc in the same hold with a wheatie, this lovely old enamel pin (I didn't realize it had enamel or how detailed it was till I got home), and the face plate (?) to a very old lock. Rounded out the day with 2 more silvers, several wheaties, and old latch type lock, and old coat or hat hook, and a few whatzits. All in all not a bad day - each silver surprised me as they were only 2" - 3" deep - which is unusual for me (2 under a hugh old maple tree) i.e., I did not think I had silver under the coil in all three cases. Those deep hits I thought might be silver turned out to be wheaties. Anyway, I'm still in the process of cleaning these items, but wanted to post this item.

 

[Erik in NJ]

The plate is off an old heart shaped lock and is engraved with the text "W.W. Mfg. Co. Patd Jan 27, 74." and the latch on the complete lock says "NEW BRITAIN, CONN US" and the logo says CORBIN. They both still need a bit of clean up.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Top three coins were from the stone house site - each one surprised me as none was deeper than 3". Bottom two were from the barn site last week. Another cut merc - someone said this is from a lawnmower, but most of the mower hit coins I've found are bent. It looks like someone intentionally clipped this coin and it's about the 5th or 6th I've found like this. I tried to find the other piece, but could not. Any ideas on why these coins were clipped?

 

[Erik in NJ]

Found this towards the end of the hunt....this piece is heavy and is a lovely Victorian coat hook or hat hook. It was found very close to the lock which makes this mid to late 19th century as far as I can tell. It's a very nice piece.

 

[sangamon]

Any ideas on why these coins were clipped?

boredom in shop class?

 

[Great Republic]

Very neat pin Erik. Hope your weekend was fun. Can't be bad with this kind of weather. Continued luck and happy trails in the future.GR

 

[Erik in NJ]

Yes, that enamel pin for me was the highlight of the hunt....there can't be too many of those around anymore. Wish I could find some more info on it. Went back to the stone house today and didn't find much....looks like the pro coil did a prety good job yesterday. Scouted a new area that gave up some wheats and an IH so that's a good sign. Yeah, the weather's been great and the wife has been out of town for two days....haven't had so much time to detect in a long time! Party tmorrow with the family so I guess that endsmy great detecting run of '09....hope you had a good one so far and managed to get out.....lookin' forward to trying to get together this fall. Best, Erik

 

[Hotcz70]

The enamel pin is a sweet find Erik. The coloring in it is amazing ...especially considering how old it is.
When stuff like that pops out of the ground...it's always a pleasant surprise.

I'm glad you were able to get some good quality hunt time in...and congrats on all the nice finds.

I bet when you pound that place a few more times...you are rewarded with more surpeises.

 

[Erik in NJ]

based on the dates of the coins that thias place has unfortunately been filled - probably in the 40's....the old relics are OLD and this pin was my prize find.....the colors are quite surprising. This is an odd site as a house has been knocked down too, so it's tough going and several of the old relics were under the old maple tree - the silver was shallow and I tried my 12 x 14 SEF today to no avail. I'm sure if you were here, you'd show me how to hunt this site!

 

[James N.D.]

That will look great with all the other items you have found throughout the years. It'll add just a little more character to the collection I think. Sounds like a great day of detecting also. I think the reason for the Dimes not being Deeper is due to the branches of the trees. When it rains, if you've ever noticed before around the base of trees the ground only gets dripped on by the leaves and branches. I think the Coins you found there were shallow since the ground probably doesn't get moist enough for them to sink and the only reason for the Depth they were at would be from mowing the lawn for the most part over all them years. I could be wrong but something to think about. Good Luck and HH.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Thank you for the comments on the pin - definitely one of the more interesting items I've found over the years with all the different colored enamel on it. This was an interesting site as it's the small yard of an old stone house that probably dates back to the mid-1880's. I detected very inch of the site that I could and there were only 3 silver coins recovered all from the 40's. I got only 6 wheats - 1 1920 and the rest from the 40's or 50's. Although was pulling relics from the ground that were clearly period relics (coat hook, enamel pin, locks). So where did all the old coins go? I can only assume that maybe people didn't carry and lose as many coins in the older days or the strata is mixed up with fill or something, but that doesn't explain the absence of a single coin from before 1920. I hit this place hard with my Pro coil, 6 x 8 SEF, and 12 x 14 SEF.

 

[James N.D.]

Either that or the soil was turned but there should have been something older found. So.....I would imagine it had to be filled. That's too bad and we can only imagine what maybe deeper for Old Coins and other Relics. At least you got a shot at it and did find a few nice keepers to add to the collection. Good Luck and HH to you on your next site.