1700's house in Boothbay yields brass buckle

I got permission to dig a 1700's house in Boothbay, Maine today.  It was a pleasant day for detecting with temperatures in the low 80's and light breezes keeping the bugs at bay.  I was hoping to find more relics, but after 2 hours the best I got was an iron ring that was possibly a piece of horse tack and part of a brass shoe(?) buckle.  $1.27 in modern change was found in the front yard where the family plays.  I'm not showing the trash - scraps of metal and bike parts etc.  The spigot handle was found way out in the lawn which was odd.  They have lived there over 25 years and it is a much loved home and property with deep history.  I'm planning on going back to see what else I can recover.

. . . After cleaning I discovered one of those pennies was a 1944 wheat, another one for my collection.

What I didn't find at Popham beach

I got a call from a very anxious guy who had lost his car keys at Popham beach when his beach tent blew over.  The park rangers had given him my card and I told him I could be there in half an hour.  As I drove down I got caught behind several school busses and then construction that added 10 minutes to the drive.  When I checked in with the rangers at the gate, they said he had just found the keys!  So I paid my $6 admission and figured I would do a bit of detecting.  I met the guy and he offered to compensate me (I charge $25 to come out and $25/hour)  He had $15 cash in his wallet which I gratefully accepted.  If not for slow traffic I might have been a hero!

It was a lovely warm breezy day, so I spent 45 minutes detecting and found 2 shiny coins and a bracelet, so it was not a total loss!

It's down to pennies and hardware at the playground

My second day digging the local school playground and I got mostly pennies and a lot of discarded stainless steel hardware - presumably from old playground equipment.  

I had a group of young 3 to 5 year-olds "helping me" as I dug and I let them keep a penny "treasure" each.  They were all so delightfully eager and one boy pronounced me a "Good Man" to his mom!  Cute!  They were very respectful of the equipment and understood how it worked very quickly as I took off my 'phones so they could hear the bleeps.  One girl got a surface find quarter right under the swings!

I guess I have almost played out the area and will now start ranging out into the long grass and walkways abutting the playing fields.  Obviously, I do not have permission to dig the athletic field areas.  I do however, pick up trash anywhere I see it.  The locals are pretty good about not leaving trash, but the kids . . . not so much.