Gold ring leads to digging w. a backhoe

[RIBottleguy]

Two days ago I finally got back to a spot I was saving for cooler weather, although I let it get a little too cool! It's a large town dump dating from ca. 1900-early 1930s. The deal I have with the landowner is $1 per good (undamaged) bottle I want to keep, plus he has to be there (which he is quite often). He has had problems with people trespassing to dig in the past, so he checks regularly for signs of activity. (I'm just saying this to discourage any potential site hijacking. So, tempted as some might be, please refrain from trying to locate this dump, he will chase you out with a shotgun!)Anyway, I started digging in a newer part of the dump to warm up. I didn't find much besides a cobalt R. DeAngelis medicine (these are like Bromo-Seltzers in this dump). At one point I noticed a gleam in the dirt, and picking it up I saw it was a ring! I wiped off the inside and saw a stamp that said 14k!!! I have never dug gold before, so this was a really exciting first. It wasn't easy, but I texted the landowner and he came over right away. He was so happy with the find that he offered to dig me a hole with his backhoe. He picked a spot that I wasn't particularly keen on, but in a matter of minutes he hit the old layer. As uneasy as I was about using a backhoe to get out fragile bottles, it went surprisingly well. It was also exciting to watch the backhoe do all the hard work, and have bottles just pop out of the ground like candy. The dump varies in depth from 1-3 feet on average. I got a bunch of sodas, some medicines, a few ginger beers, and a few other neat keepers. I wasn't planning to come back the next day, but the spot was so promising I decided to. Day 2 was warmer but featured on and off rain. The landowner did some prep work on the site, cutting up a few downed trees that were in the way of our planned dig path. Meanwhile I worked the hole the good old fashioned way, unearthing two more ginger beers for a total of 6. Once he was ready, I tried having him skim the cap off the dump. It was slow going with my long handled 3-prong rake, so I eventually took the gamble and asked him to dig deep. A few members of the Little Rhody Bottle Club joined me later on, despite the inclement weather. After a small lull in finding bottles, he hit another pocket. Once he took a scoop and the bucket came up loaded with soda bottles. Despite being soaked by the end of the day, we were all happy with our finds, and I had to make two trips to get the keeper bottles. The ring that started it all:

Italian bottle with a guy carrying firewood, sadly cracked :-(

Ink, and two of the abundant DeAngelis bottles

A nice Ferro China Milano

This was a real crier. Identical to the Ferro China above, but marked DeAngelis Chemical Industrial Co. Providence, RI! This would have been the rarest DeAngelis bottle yet. Fingers crossed!

Cute pharmacy and a damaged but gutsy blob

More blobs

Cobalt in excess

Davis with the whole front panel indented, and a Canadian med.

Roger Williams Bottling Co., the crown is my 13th variant from this company!

Plain English soda, but man, what an applied top!

A nice late toss, applied top quart whiskey

This was an exciting find, Queen Cordial Co. Providence, RI. Unlisted!

 

[blobbottlebob]

Cool. Do you get to keep the ring? That alone should pay for a few $1 bottles.

 

[antlerman23]

I was just gonna say, trade the ring for all the bottles you keep!

 

[RIBottleguy]

I gave the ring to the landowner, so all the bottles were free that day, plus I now have a backhoe on standby. He has already dug what would have taken me a week to dig by hand, so I think it will definitely be worth it!

 

[deenodean]

Hey RIBG, great story and bottles. Those Ferro China Milano bottles sometimes show up in dumps up here also.

 

[GEEMAN]

WTG Taylor. You have found some nice stuff there. I too was wondering what happened to the ring. LOL I would have done the same thing you did.Keep me in mind if you find any more of those green food jars if you would. Thanks

 

[nostalgia]

Davis with the whole front panel indented, and a Canadian med.

This Canadian medicine bottle originates from Montreal, Quebec; here's the scan of a token from the same company:

Great story by the way! Can't beat it when a backhoe helps you out! Scan and more pictures can be found here: http://medicaments.bouteillesduquebec.ca/medicaments/baridon_baume.htm

 

[bottlerocket]

Thanks for sharing. The weather is turning so it is nice to see what others are finding.

 

[cannibalfromhannibal]

VERY nice and looks like loads of fun.......I had a backhoe trench dumpsite a couple years ago similar to what you describe, and not being familiar with the difference in ground disturbance vs. hand dug holes, I got into trouble. Was at the bottom of about a 12' deep trench and got up and turned around and before I knew it and WITHOUT WARNING WHATSOEVER, the side wall collapsed and knocked me into the opposite wall 3 feet away. It slammed me with such speed I didn't have time to even raise my hands to brace the impact and busted my lip as my face slammed into the dirt wall. In addition, I was buried up past my waist but in a late panic managed to jump literally out of my shoes! (There was still a bit of overhang threatening my safety, causing my reaction.) My point is, when heavy equipment is used, it loosens the dirt more in unseen areas and depths than most of us are use to and creates a false sense of security. Those walls can give with no warning! When digging by hand it's more like hard rock mining as opposed to blasting......so be CAREFUL! It's why we still read about workers getting buried alive! My experience put me on injured reserve for a couple weeks while I healed and figured out what had happened. One thing for sure is I will never forget that lesson! Jack

 

[PoisonBottleGuy]

I wish I had a spot to dig!