Update!
Success! I went out to the old homestead Saturday morning. I left the house at about 5:15 and rode my motorcycle out to the property. It was a beautiful morning although it was a bit chilly! Once I arrived, I set up the metal detector and got started. For a while I wasn't finding much of anything - a piece of tin here, a chunk of rusted metal there. I wasn't having much luck in the immediate area surrounding the house, so I started to move a little further away from the property. Then I started getting a little more unique hits and less junk. I found a handful of bullet shells, some from shotguns and others from rifles of some sort. Then I found this:</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7325.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-26" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7325.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="242" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">It's a solid piece of metal. My first guess was that it's a hammer on a rifle. One end of it looks like it would be just the right size to strike a bullet, and the fact that it's kind of squished to one side (you can see it on the right side of the photograph) makes me think that's what this probably is. I didn't find anything else in the area to go along with it though.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">The next find took the longest to recover. I was getting a pretty strong reading from the detector so I started to dig. The rest of the stuff I had found was no more than an inch down. This one was two, maybe three inches deep:</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7326.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-28 aligncenter" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7326.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="276" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">I don't think it's a precious metal of any kind, as dropping it a short distance to my dining room table made a terribly unpleasant clang. I didn't see any sign of the jewel or whatever was supposed to be in the middle of the ring, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Next, I started moving further away from the house and poking around the area between the home and the barn. About halfway between the two, I got a really strong beeping from the detector. Squatting down to get ready to dig where the detector told me, I was surprised to find I didn't have to dig at all! There, just sitting on the dirt was a blackened coin:</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7327.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-27" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7327.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="293" /></a><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7328.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-23" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7328.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="256" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">I apologize about the first picture, it didn't come out as sharply as I had hoped. But sitting right there on the top of the dirt for who knows how many years was a 1916-S Barber dime. Pretty cool to not even have to dig for that one!</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">As I came even closer to the barn, the beeping of the detector all but stopped. It wasn't until I was right outside the crumbling remains of the foundation that I started getting a few signals. Then, another strong one. After a few minutes of digging, I discovered this:</p>
<p style="text-align:left;"><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7331.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-24" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7331.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">I have no idea what this is! I don't know if you can see it, but the bottom edge (and the top, although it's not visible in the picture) is ridged, kind of like a file. It's maybe three inches across and an inch tall. I thought it was pretty cool, so I grabbed it as well.</p>
<p style="text-align:left;">Now it was getting pretty late in the morning and I knew I had to get going so my wife wouldn't have to deal with the kids by herself for too long. But it was so tempting to just stick around for a little while longer, so I decided to do just a few more feet of sweeping. What a good decision! Maybe just three feet away from where I found the mystery tool thingy I started hearing a bunch of mixed signals. But most definitely there was something there. I was standing right near where the entrance to the barn would have been, which furthered my interest as to what was being picked up. I did a little bit of digging and then clank! I hit something metal. I did a bit of poking and prodding at the object sitting an inch and a half or so below the surface. To my surprise, here's what popped out:</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7329.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-25" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7329.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a><a href="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7330.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-22" src="http://funkysupreme.wordpress.com/files/2008/06/img_7330.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align:left;">It's the Great Seal of the United States! What the heck?! The thing is approximately 1 3/4" across and is a rather heavy metal for it's size. I am guessing that by the weight and the color that appears on the backside (where I scratched it when digging it up) that it's probably bronze. I'm thinking it's some sort of decorative button. There isn't any other identifying marks on it, although it's in really good shape considering it's been in the ground for who knows how many years! You can still even read the "E Pluribus Unum" in the banner!
So there you have it. Day one of my official scouring of this fantastic property. Not too shabby for an hour and a half of early morning detecting! I did find another dime close to the property, a 1982, but that doesn't count. There were a lot of signs that people had in the past come out to the property to drink beers and whatnot (what a shame). I also brought home a handful of various shotgun and rifle shells in hopes that I might be able to better put a time frame on the property. I'll be sure to continue sharing in my results as they happen.