Brooch and Emerald from Ghost Farm

Hi
I'm getting bored and posting some of my 2012 finds. I thought it might be interesting to show how using plat map overlays over satellite data can help you make interesting discoveries. It is also important because you can attach the names of the people who lived there, approximate dates, and gps data to your finds. The overlay is from a 1895 plat map and without it I would have never made this particular find given that there were no traces of this farm house left. It was in a wooded area and about 7 inches down. When I first pulled it out of the hole I thought it was junk, because the brooch was wrapped around the emerald. I believe it is a leaf brooch and is costume jewelry. I am 95% certain that the emerald is glass but this doesn't really disappoint me. Most farmers in the late 1800's were poor around here and I'm sure the farm wife really treasured it. If you look closely you can still see some of the gold gilding on it. It was a perfect day of metal detecting and I should mention that on the mile and half hike out to the site a prairie falcon followed me most of the way. I can't help but think he was hoping I'd flush something out of the underbrush.
Anyways
Cheers!

Re: Broach and Emerald from Ghost Farm

Great job on the research. That is a very intersing find, very cool

Re: Broach and Emerald from Ghost Farm

This is a great post, I love seeing the two maps. Research like this can lead to awesome virgin sites to hunt and great finds.

Very nice old brooch! Lucky that the green stone was still there, they always seem to be missing on the jewelry I find.

Tony Two-Cent link=topic=12481.msg133585#msg133585 date=1360283806 said:

This is a great post, I love seeing the two maps. Research like this can lead to awesome virgin sites to hunt and great finds.

Very nice old brooch! Lucky that the green stone was still there, they always seem to be missing on the jewelry I find.

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Thanks Tony!
I sometimes don't want to take the time to mark my finds with my gps. But I always regret it later, when I don't, since you can use them to create a site map which can point out hot spots, trails and choke points to you later. I've only been out to that site once and think I should get back out there this year before it's infested with ticks and chiggers.

Good post and congrats on a nice find, WTG |:cheering:

Fascinating! Something new for me to try this summer. What a cool find, too!

i do something very similar plus when i look at an area i will look at atleast five maps of the area because all the houses won't be on just the one you see . the older homesteads might have been abandoned or burnt down before a particular one (say if the one map is 1850) . the brooch looks like grape leaves and i bet the glass emerald was the grape on the piece , pretty cool .

Dan

:clapping: Nice Find ! Did you have the stone appraised ? I'm sure it's worth quite a bit. I found a brooch similar but no stone. It has a Lefluer design instead. Anyways, Congrat's again.

Sal66 link=topic=12481.msg133900#msg133900 date=1360921951 said:

:clapping: Nice Find ! Did you have the stone appraised ? I'm sure it's worth quite a bit. I found a brooch similar but no stone. It has a Lefluer design instead. Anyways, Congrat's again.

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I haven't had it appraised and although I'm not a gemologist I did stay at a holiday inn once. lol I figure it's a fake because it is to clear. It has no inclusions that I can see with the naked eye. So it's either a very high dollar emerald or a glass one and given that the brooch is gold plated copper, I'm guessing it's a fake. But if you still think I should get it appraised I might reconsider. After all I'm not a gemologist.