PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC POSSESSIONS 



This category embraces all small items of a personal 

 nature that do not fit into a specialized category. As 

 a collection, these objects might be expected to con- 

 triljute something to the portrait of life at Rosewell as 

 revealed by tlu- contents of the pit; unfortunately, 

 however, they serve only to raise more questions. 



The first small find to be recovered from the excava- 

 tion was a Louis X\' silver half-ecu (fig. 18). It was 

 found on the first day of digging in the first trial trench 

 (E) and in the top of the principal artifact-bearing 

 layer (2). The coin was minted at La Rochelle (H 

 mint mark) during the period that John Law was 

 handling French finances and when the Mississipie 

 Companie was the object of sulistantial investment 

 both by the go\-ernment and by pri\'ate indixiduals. 

 Much French coin came to America to promote the 

 development of the Mississippi \'alley. and as a result 

 French silver coins were not uncommon in the British 

 colonies in America. Spanish-Colonial was the most 

 prevalent silver coin in the colonies; French coin was 

 in second place and was far more common than 

 English silver coin. 



A series of proclamations and laws regulated the 

 value at which silver coins should circulate in the 

 American colonies. A proclamation of Queen Anne 

 on June 18, 1704, provided that French ecus should 

 pass at 4s. 6d. each, and fractional coins in proportion. 

 This ruling was disobeyed and avoided from time to 

 time but was the law after 1709 and remained in efTect 

 until the Revolution. There is no doubt that French 

 ecus were in circulation in \'irginia in 1750 and 1760. 

 Such specie was much more likely to lie obtained when 

 tobacco markets were prosperous, than when times 

 were financially dull. " 



The coin found at Rosewell was in excellent con- 

 dition, and the team of e.xcaxators became e.xcited at 

 the prospect of unearthing a hoard of silver treasure. 

 \Vhile such thoughts are generally quickly .suppressed 

 by professional archeologists, there is no denying 

 that the recovery of such a fine specimen at the top 

 might lead one to hope that it was but a sample of a 

 hoard lying deeper in the ground: howexer, this was 

 the only coin recovered. Furthermore, its early date 



■" Information supplied by Mr. Eric P. Newman cjf .St, 

 Louis, Missouri. 



had absolutely no bearins; on the dating of the rest of 

 the finds in the pit. 



The recovery of the coin raised the rather obvious 

 question of how it came to be in the Rosewell pit. 

 With an exchange value of an English half-crown (a 

 hisiher denomination than any coin found in the 

 excavation of the whole city of Williamsburg) and on 

 the site of a plantation known to have had a large 

 slave population, it is inconceivable that the coin 

 could have been carried to the pit along with refuse. 

 It can only be suggested that it was lost by someone 

 who had been tipping trash into the pit. 



The coin was not the only silver item found in the 

 pit. .Also uncovered was one pair of a set of silver 

 slee\e buttons (fig. 19, no. 4) of a type common in the 

 mid-1 8th ccntiuy. Here again, one is left to wonder 

 why such an item was in the pit. Had a servant seen 

 the buttons they would certainly have been salvaged 

 and sold for their siher value. But one of the curious 

 features of the pit was that it contained a number of 

 unbroken objects that could have .seen further service. 

 E\-en if they were no longer needed at Ro.sewell, 

 there would surely have been many hands ready to 

 salvage them for barter or sale. Among .such items 

 are the miniature padlock and key (fig. 19. no. 11), 

 brass buttons (in fig. 19), brass weight (fig. 20, no. 4), 

 and the fine harness buckle and silvered brass harness 

 ornaments (in fig. 22). 



A number of relics relatinsj to firearms were f(nmd 

 in the first exploratory trench, but here again the 

 early promise was not fulfilled as the excasations 

 progressed. Indeed, it was later shown that the first 

 trench (areas E-H) had cut through the heart of the 

 pit and that most of the artifacts were scattered on 

 that line but became less frequent toxvards the west, 

 indicating that the contents of the pit had been tipped 

 from the east. Among the firearm fragments and 

 associated items were an iron pistol barrel (fig. 36, 

 no. 1), a brass ramrod thimble (fig. 20, no. 5), two 

 i<un Hints (fig. 20, nos. 8, 9), and two strips of lead 

 w'aste from shot and bullet molds, one of which had 

 manufactured at least six balls at a time (fig. 20, nos. 

 11, 12). Of particular interest was part of a bullet 

 mold made from the local, shell-tempered, C'olono- 

 Indian pottery (fig. 21, no. 19). 



Relics of children's items were surprisingly lacking, 

 being confined to two pottery marbles, part of a slate 

 pencil (fig. 20, no. 14), and a rouohly made brass 

 '"buzz" (fig. 20, no. 3). The last two items, however, 

 were not necessarily associated with cliildren. Buzzes 

 ha\e been found on British militarv camp sites in the 



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BULLETIN 225: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY .\ND TECHNOLOGY 



