AirmetTango
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I got out to hunt a farm field that used to be an old home site today - not a new site for me, I've hunted it several times before. The hunting there is always slow - the site is riddled with iron, but with patience, the site grudgingly gives up a good find or two each time I go there. It's a convenient site: close to home, plus the soil is very sandy so it drains great - never a sloppy mess even after heavy rains...or a thaw
Anyway, about halfway through the hunt, I got over a nice sounding tone showing mid-20s on the VDI - pretty consistent all the way around the target. I was almost salivating, because this kind of signal is always something interesting at this site. I dug the plug, and after a brief search, I spotted the very edge of what had to be a coin sticking out of a clod of dirt. I grabbed the edge with my fingers and pulled...and that's all there was!! Just the barest sliver of a copper coin!! I re-scanned the hole and it was clean - the tiny piece of a coin was all that was there. Once I got it home and cleaned the dirt a bit, it was evident almost right away that it was a bit of a large cent - the curve of the coin, the "A" and part of the "M", and the stars match up nicely with another Largie that I've found. Coulda been my 3rd US Large Cent - now I just have to get out there and track down the other 98% of the cent!!
The really neat find from the hunt is the suspender ID badge from the Massachusetts Accident Company - apparently, if you were wealthy enough to have personal accident insurance, these were worn on your suspenders in the days prior to having a government issued ID so folks could identify you in case something went horribly wrong once you left the house. I absolutely love that it instructs the finder to "telegraph" to "identify me"...where's a Western Union when I need one!! Anyway, the badge rang up fairly low - I got the solid low tone while walking back to my car to find warmer gloves, and to be honest, I almost walked away from it. Looking at the VDI, it was a consistent 8-9. In this field, that's usually a no doubt "dig it"...but as I circled the target, in one direction it started to warble and drift up briefly to 12, and it was clearly right near the surface. There is some trash in the field from nearby road traffic, so I started to think "trash" and nearly resumed my trek to the car - but something about that tone quality just sounded too good...boy am I glad I decided to dig! Once I got it out of the ground, the warbling made sense - I'm sure the bent up attachment arms are what skewed the signal in the one direction. Included below is a picture of a prettier version of a similar item I found online - apparently they were somewhat common?? So far all I've dredged up is that the Massachusetts Accident Company was founded in 1883 by George E. McNeill, the "father of the 8-hour work day". They originally provided an early form of Workers Compensation Insurance to subscribers. The company was bought out in 1940, but I suspect the suspender clip is very early 1900s at the latest.
Another interesting find was a button marked "JWG&S N.Y." I found a similiar, but smaller button at the same site in December. Today's find didn't clean up quite as well as the smaller one - it almost looks like something iron was inserted through two of the buttonholes and corroded there? Anyway, I wasn't any more successful trying to find info on JWG&S than I was when I tried to research it in December!
Other finds included a decimated Wheatie that defied cleaning - I suspect it was in a fire. This one was pitted and corroded beyond belief, and started looking horrible as I unsuccessfully tried to get a date off of it. A modern shotshell headstamp, bits of copper, brass, & lead, etc. Pics below show the good and the bad... virtually everything that was dug (except the big iron, which were all surface finds).
Anyway, about halfway through the hunt, I got over a nice sounding tone showing mid-20s on the VDI - pretty consistent all the way around the target. I was almost salivating, because this kind of signal is always something interesting at this site. I dug the plug, and after a brief search, I spotted the very edge of what had to be a coin sticking out of a clod of dirt. I grabbed the edge with my fingers and pulled...and that's all there was!! Just the barest sliver of a copper coin!! I re-scanned the hole and it was clean - the tiny piece of a coin was all that was there. Once I got it home and cleaned the dirt a bit, it was evident almost right away that it was a bit of a large cent - the curve of the coin, the "A" and part of the "M", and the stars match up nicely with another Largie that I've found. Coulda been my 3rd US Large Cent - now I just have to get out there and track down the other 98% of the cent!!
The really neat find from the hunt is the suspender ID badge from the Massachusetts Accident Company - apparently, if you were wealthy enough to have personal accident insurance, these were worn on your suspenders in the days prior to having a government issued ID so folks could identify you in case something went horribly wrong once you left the house. I absolutely love that it instructs the finder to "telegraph" to "identify me"...where's a Western Union when I need one!! Anyway, the badge rang up fairly low - I got the solid low tone while walking back to my car to find warmer gloves, and to be honest, I almost walked away from it. Looking at the VDI, it was a consistent 8-9. In this field, that's usually a no doubt "dig it"...but as I circled the target, in one direction it started to warble and drift up briefly to 12, and it was clearly right near the surface. There is some trash in the field from nearby road traffic, so I started to think "trash" and nearly resumed my trek to the car - but something about that tone quality just sounded too good...boy am I glad I decided to dig! Once I got it out of the ground, the warbling made sense - I'm sure the bent up attachment arms are what skewed the signal in the one direction. Included below is a picture of a prettier version of a similar item I found online - apparently they were somewhat common?? So far all I've dredged up is that the Massachusetts Accident Company was founded in 1883 by George E. McNeill, the "father of the 8-hour work day". They originally provided an early form of Workers Compensation Insurance to subscribers. The company was bought out in 1940, but I suspect the suspender clip is very early 1900s at the latest.
Another interesting find was a button marked "JWG&S N.Y." I found a similiar, but smaller button at the same site in December. Today's find didn't clean up quite as well as the smaller one - it almost looks like something iron was inserted through two of the buttonholes and corroded there? Anyway, I wasn't any more successful trying to find info on JWG&S than I was when I tried to research it in December!
Other finds included a decimated Wheatie that defied cleaning - I suspect it was in a fire. This one was pitted and corroded beyond belief, and started looking horrible as I unsuccessfully tried to get a date off of it. A modern shotshell headstamp, bits of copper, brass, & lead, etc. Pics below show the good and the bad... virtually everything that was dug (except the big iron, which were all surface finds).
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