samk77•1mo agoProlific Poster

Dropped $60 on a trowel and found a 200 year old button on the first dig

I finally caved and bought one of those fancy Marshalltown trowels after using a beat up dollar store one for two summers. First time out at a new site near Richmond, I went to scrape a test unit and hit something solid. Turned out to be a brass button from the 1820s with a tiny eagle on it. The trowel paid for itself in one afternoon I guess. Has anyone else had a cheap tool upgrade lead to a lucky find?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.angela1mo ago

Have you ever had that moment where a tool just feels right in your hand, and then the universe rewards you? I was using my grandpa's old rusty hatchet (I know, not a trowel) to clear some brush near a creek bed, and I found a whole clay pipe bowl from the 1700s. It was wedged under a root, totally intact but with this weird zigzag pattern carved on it. I spent the rest of the afternoon staring at it instead of digging, which was a total waste of time but also the best waste of time ever.

kai_webb911mo ago

Grandpa's old tools always seem to carry a bit of luck, don't they! Nothing beats that feeling.

the_thomas1mo ago

Hold on, "totally intact but with this weird zigzag pattern carved on it"? That's wild. I've found a few pipe stems over the years, usually broken off at the mouthpiece, but a whole bowl like that in one piece is pretty much unheard of in my experience. A zigzag pattern too, that sounds like it could be some kind of fancy decorative work or maybe even a maker's mark I've never seen before. I'd probably be doing the same thing, just sitting there staring at it instead of digging, hah.