Relic Hunting with Rodney In Central New York (Story 7)
The size of foundation suggested that the house was big. Too bad we did not know who and when lived here. What we knew right away was that this site had been searched, and probably "hammered," as the usual pile of dug iron junk was sitting on the foundation corner.
Two Large Cellar Holes Instead of One
Well, all we had to do now was to find a "hot" spot where other treasure hunters searched less, or missed it completely, or even were repelled by the high concentration of iron junk. So we began "swinging"...
Rodney is Looking for a "Quiet" Deep Signal
Who do you think was extremely lucky this time? Not me. Rodney was jumping up and down when he unearthed... no, not a large cent, a very very nice relic - a uniform belt buckle with eagle! It probably dated to the 1812 War, and belonged to the officer.
Superb Find!
Rodney was definitely rewarded for his painful efforts to examine a "landfill" of iron junk - a tough spot avoided by everyone and located on the slope of the foundation earth mound. Rodney dug through the sticky muddy soil down to the last rusty square nail!
After the Buckle Was Washed in Water Collected in One of Our Dug Holes
I felt so good for my buddy who did not step away from the annoying spot and used his strong will, perseverance and last physical strength to "crack" it!
New York State Militia Uniform Belt Buckle
I myself had a great physical exercise while digging up all the iron junk left by other detectorists. At some point, I recovered a "round metallic object" - "RMO," which turned out to be...
