10/16/2026
I was invited to metal detect at a historic house yesterday. The owners didn’t know what the date of the house was, but believed that the original back ell of the house was as old as 1720. Unfortunately, most of the ground was landscaped due to a large outdoor pool being built directly next to the house.
I started working around the outer edges of the property, which were less likely to have been landscaped, and was able to pop out a few old items.
There was not much left in the way of really old stuff, but I managed to find 3 items dating back prior to the Civil War. One tombac alloy button from the 18th century, a shattered pewter spoon, probably circa 1820, and a really interesting Rosette. It appears to have some sort of carriage wheel on it, but I am not 100% sure as the property owner is now in possession of these items!
I also managed to find a beat up Toe Tap which was on the end of a Civil War era shoe, a cufflink with a small pearl in it, a pocket watch piece, religious pendant, and a few oldish coins, three wheat cents, a 1938 Mercury dime and a 1952 Washington quarter.
Not bad considering the circumstances, and I know there is more in the surrounding woods where there is an old barn foundation, so I can’t wait to go back! Even when most of the original dirt has been moved, there’s always a few things the bulldozers missed!
