STRANGE DISCOVERY! River Treasure from a Century ago found while Mudlarking!

Added: 2026-05-15

[00:00:00]Today we're going to be scouting several creeks in search of valuable antique river treasure. You never know what you're going to find. We found everything from Native American artifacts to valuable antique bottles, purses, wallets, and stolen items all thrown into the local rivers here. So, without any further ado, let's go see what we can find.

[00:00:21]As we make our way down the small creek to the bigger creek, first find is a rooster tail. That's my favorite fish bait right there, guys. They do really well with small and largemouth bass, and occasionally you can catch a pretty big brim here in Alabama with them. So, that one's going in the bag. Right up here around this bin, though, we have found some amazing antique artifacts. And hey, look, there's a duck up there with his babies.

[00:00:51]I don't want to mess him up, scare him too bad. A Miranda was here. She'd have me trying to catch him.

[00:00:58]So, right around the bin, past the ducks though, we have found antique bottles ranging in age from about 1890 up into the 1930s. Some of these antique bottles can be extremely valuable as some sell here in the state of Alabama for thousands of dollars. So, let's go see what we can find. I almost stood on this guy, believe it or not. He blended in really well and he is being really, really still.

[00:01:25]Oh, this is like one of those soft shell type turtles. And they're pretty rare to see. These guys are lightning fast on land and in the water, though. We're going to leave them be. So, ducks and turtles. Maybe that's a good sign there's bottles, right? So, the main creek that we're on now has a very fast current if you can't tell. And it is murky, so I have to take my time. But with the good bottles that we found in here in the past, it's always worth taking a chance to see if we can spot anything today.

[00:01:55]I cannot see like I can in a lot of my coal mining ghost towns. This is not one of those, but I do have my fingers crossed something good is going to pop out for us today. So, you guys hang in there.

[00:02:06]Let's see what we can come up with.

[00:02:08]First bottle of the day I see is right here. Let's see if it's anything good.

[00:02:13]Looks like it's shaped like a beer.

[00:02:16]And it is a beer. And it's a modern one.

[00:02:18]I can tell by the serrated edge. That's okay, though. Doesn't belong in here.

[00:02:22]So, let's take it out.

[00:02:24]I got another bottle right there. Looks like it's got a sheared top, but it actually looks like a soda. It's got the right size. Nope, I was wrong.

[00:02:35]Another beer. Another modern. Man, that hurts your feelings.

[00:02:42]See a bottle or a jar right down here.

[00:02:47]Oh, it's a little different shape if I don't drop it right back in the water.

[00:02:53]probably some some kind of condiment.

[00:02:54]May have had peppers or mayo or something like that in there from about the 1930s if I had to guess. So, we did find something that's older finally.

[00:03:05]Just snagged this beer off the bottom.

[00:03:07]The B1 on the bottom is a hint to the age, but also if you look at the seam stops before the lip up there. So, this is definitely earlier. It's thicker glass. I can tell how heavy it is. I would not have seen it. Actually felt it with my foot right here. and it was nice and slick. So, I decided to double check and I'm glad that I did. It's a nice little find. See a bottle right there.

[00:03:31]I got my hopes up on this one.

[00:03:34]Oh, yeah. There we go. Straight side Coke, boys. That's what I'm talking about. Looks like the lips in pretty good condition.

[00:03:43]Let's see if we can get where she's from.

[00:03:48]That's Aniston, Alabama. So, how about that?

[00:03:52]And it's the clear variant.

[00:03:55]I'm happy with that. I'm very, very happy. And that's why we walked this spot. So, this is going to be pre-1915.

[00:04:01]Probably right around 1913 or 1914 is whenever these shoulder scripts became prominent. Right before the Hobbles Kirk came into play. So, there again, you can't beat walking a creek and finding this 110y old bottle. That's for sure.

[00:04:15]It's got a nice little plate down here.

[00:04:16]You can kind of see where the line goes across. So you can see bottling company Aniston Alla. It says property of Coca-Cola. And again, doesn't appear to have any damage right off hand. What's funny is I walked right over there on the way in and walked right over it and decided that I better come back and do a double check because of how fast the current is. And I am sure glad that I did, guys. Heck yeah. Let's keep going.

[00:04:40]You know, it just hit me. I said, "Here we go, boys." I didn't say girls. And we have a fairly large following of women now. So I am going to give a shout out to all of you females that watch us and we appreciate you guys being here as well. We are very appreciative. Our family is for you guys watching. That's the side to a ketchup bottle. The straight side Coke was right there. I just kind of started shuffling my feet around to make sure that I didn't feel anything slick because the way the moss bottom is here, you could easily walk over top of something. I did see a snake slither in back there. So I'm being a little mindful of that. He did not appear to be venomous, however. So, I'm just taking my time down through there.

[00:05:20]I don't know if you guys just saw that log foot up over there. I probably dislodged it. So, right in this little stretch though, there has been some fantastic finds like that straight side coke. Aniston by no means is an easy straight side coke to get. Uh Birminghams were very, very, very common. Uh Aniston, not so much. I feel something kind of slick down there. May just be a rock. There's a lot of what I call that. Yep, that was a rock. what I call uh filling with my feet.

[00:05:47]And as I walk, as I said, I'm just kind of shuffling, doing that stingray shuffle. For those of you that swim in the Gulf of Mexico, you know what that is. You shuffle your feet in July to keep from standing on a stingray. Well, this is how I find bottles when I can't see.

[00:06:00]So, we'll turn the c camera back on if we spot something else cool. So, let's do an experiment. Check this out. This is what you guys are seeing without the polarized glasses.

[00:06:09]This is what I'm seeing with this. kind of makes the shadows pop a little bit more and I can see better directly in front of me. So, check that out. A little bit harder to see, right? So, polarized glasses are a must in this murky water, too. So, again, it's just kind of a matter of there is a skill to finding bottles in the river. It may not seem like it, but if you're not prepared, you could definitely miss some good stuff. Feel something down there.

[00:06:34]Maybe a log. Yep.

[00:06:37]One of these days, I'm going to find a snapping turtle.

[00:06:42]I'm about to show y'all something really, really creepy. Maybe if my camera will catch it. Let's do the polarized.

[00:06:52]Maybe you guys can see. There's a snake right there in front of me in the bottom. I'll point an arrow to it where you guys can see it hopefully.

[00:07:01]But holy cow, I almost stood on him. I mean, he is right down there. Maybe you can see him right there. Look in the left part of the screen.

[00:07:09]That's what you got to watch out for, guys. I mean, this isn't for the faint of heart. Going to give him pretty plenty plenty of room and go around this way, but wow.

[00:07:20]I need a polarized filter for you. But man, I'm glad I saw him. All right, let's go this way.

[00:07:26]So, we have swapped creeks and we are back in that really urban creek where I found that Asheville bottle about a month and a half ago. And man, the reads have really, really grown.

[00:07:40]It is super, super thick in here, but that doesn't mean that something good didn't wash out. We have had a little bit of rain. So, I'm going to take my time and walk through here and see what pops out.

[00:07:51]I've seen a few good pieces already, but nothing whole. So, we'll turn the camera back on. We spot something really good. Check that out. I don't know what that is. When I first saw it, I thought it was like a wheel off of a chair. Then I picked it up and I thought it was a rock. Then I shook it and it's got something inside of it. So I actually don't know what this is. I guess it could be a strange fossil of some type.

[00:08:16]Kind of makes you want to split it open and see what's inside. We're going to take it with us. It may just be a rusty wheel, but it kind of looks like stone, too. Been finding some weird objects the last couple of weeks in the rivers.

[00:08:29]So, the main reason we're walking this creek today is actually I'm headed to a site that I spotted from the riverbank that look like stone ruins to an old home. And I'm really wanting to go check it out. It looked really cool from the side. So, we're going to get out up here in just a minute and take a look at it.

[00:08:48]It doesn't mean we can't look for bottles along the way. Again, tons of these 1915 Cheracola pieces in here everywhere. I am seeing some cobalt blue glass and pottery. Like that piece right there would be fantastic for Miranda.

[00:09:03]Look at the crazing in it. She would have make some jewelry out of that one.

[00:09:07]But again, this is one of those city creeks where we can't carry everything out. But we'll definitely grab the stuff that we can upcycle today.

[00:09:15]It more than likely is just a piece, but we're going to turn the camera on. Yep, it is just a piece. And that would have been another Cheracola. You can see the CH right there on the bottom. I think I see the hill to something right there.

[00:09:28]It may just be a can, but I don't think it is.

[00:09:32]Let's find out together.

[00:09:35]Oh man, what the heck were you? Oh, it was a circle circle slug Raola. No freaking way.

[00:09:46]Holy cow. You guys have no idea how tough that bottle is. Every one of them pretty much has damage. But man, you know what's crazy is I think this one's Aqua and I think the known one may be clear. This may be unknown.

[00:10:02]Holy cow, guys. Ryola Company Birmingham. This will be like the second crazy rare Riola that I found in here.

[00:10:12]And man, I know that it's got damage, guys. And I know you're probably like, "Man, this idiot's getting excited about something that uh is broken." But you know me, I'm into the history just as much as I am the value. And that is a very historic and tough to find bottle.

[00:10:27]Holy cow. Well, that's got me excited.

[00:10:30]If I didn't see that last time, there could be anything in here. Kind of makes me want to stick my hand up in there and noodle and see if I feel any more bottles.

[00:10:39]We got a groundhog saying hello over there.

[00:10:43]He was scurrying across pretty quickly.

[00:10:46]Those guys love kudzu and creek banks.

[00:10:50]And uh he's just letting me get a little bit closer and I imagine he's going to jolt. So as we make our way up the creek bank, you're going to see what I saw back during the winter. I wouldn't even known this was here with all the leaves on the trees. You always kind of keep your eyes peeled.

[00:11:06]Look at these ruins, guys.

[00:11:10]And even the tree type is different here. If you look up, that's a huge cedar. And that's some kind of type of cedar, too, that's not really natural to the area. The trees caught my attention.

[00:11:21]And then I spotted this. Look at that.

[00:11:26]Wow.

[00:11:28]Looks like it was a house.

[00:11:31]The stone that's on it makes me think turn of the century.

[00:11:35]Zoom out where you guys can see a little better. There is a lot of modern trash around here.

[00:11:43]Boy, that is scary. It look like a dag on rib cage. Must be a Halloween decoration.

[00:11:50]Look at that big old pieces of angle iron bent. This would have had rock all the way up and over the top of it.

[00:11:58]This is a big house if it was a house.

[00:12:00]The foundation looks like it continues way back there. And possibly there's a seller right there.

[00:12:08]Looks like there's a more modern couch on the front and some luggage. There was a bad homeless person problem around this area. Uh, a lot of drug camps and stuff. So, it's possible that one of those guys made their camp right here for a while.

[00:12:23]But that's pretty neat. That is really neat. Let's go this way.

[00:12:29]This would have been the front porch that we're standing on right now.

[00:12:35]Looks like I see more foundation over that way.

[00:12:39]I'm really kind of interested in the seller. If it's only 1,900, it's probably not worth digging the seller, but who knows? I may bring the probe back in the metal detector and see if we can find any silver.

[00:12:51]See, the foundation's still going over here.

[00:12:56]Goes around like this. And right here, there's a deep spot. So, this would have more than likely been the seller of the home right here.

[00:13:05]And there is a bamboo forest over there.

[00:13:08]So, if I was going to come down, I would probably probe all in this area and see if I hear any glass. Obviously, I don't have my probe with me today. I was just trying to see how accessible it was.

[00:13:18]But, isn't that something neat to really see when you look up out of the creek bank and see these huge stone pillars?

[00:13:27]It was definitely worth checking out.

[00:13:28]Let's get back in the water. To go from the creek that we were in earlier to this small river is night and day in the clarity and the visibility. The reason for that is is this is springfed.

[00:13:39]So the springfed creeks here in our area are absolutely gorgeous. And depending upon the color of the water could mean whether you're in a limestone deposit.

[00:13:49]So the greener the water in our videos usually we're in an area that's heavy in limestone, the clearer the water or close to a spring head. And the good part about these springs, springfed creeks are obviously Native Americans frequented these areas as well to get fresh water. For years and years, people would go there with their horse and buggy to be able to get water for their horses. And they were heavily heavily traveled. So again, these waterways are really the key to the past. And that's why we focus in on them so hard. You see something right down there looks broken.

[00:14:28]It looks broken.

[00:14:32]It's a little bigger than I thought it was.

[00:14:36]That would have been a good bottle. Look how thick that glass is. But no identifying marks. How about a Matchbox car? I can see the body to one.

[00:14:46]Oh man, that one's seen better days.

[00:14:48]Looks like a 1980s car to me though, based off that rear window. Almost looks like an Escort. Why would you want an Escort as a Matchbox car?

[00:15:00]Let's see what this is right here. Oh, just a half. It was a Christmas Coke.

[00:15:06]You can see right there. December 25th, 1923 from Birmingham. But it's too far gone to salvage. Got to hurry before the cloud catches me. But I see the heel to a bottle right there.

[00:15:18]Let's see if it's anything any good.

[00:15:21]Oh, it's broken.

[00:15:24]Oh, that would have been a nice lead circle slug, though. That hurts your feelings. That was a beautiful light aqua. Another killer bottle to find. So, I cleaned a couple of good bottles up just so you guys could take a look at them. This is after 24 hours in myriadic acid, like what you use to clean a swimming pool. And what you couldn't see before was the air bubbles in this straight side Coke over here. It's got some beautiful air bubbles in it. And that thing is in great condition, guys.

[00:15:48]Pretty excited to have that bottle. But this one over here, the reason I cleaned it up is to my knowledge, the only known circle slugs are clear. This may be the very first of its kind known being aqua colored. Super cool find even with the damage. Very historic as mentioned. And heck, it may be one for the bottle book that we didn't know about. With that being said, we're going to take just a second and we're going to go split open that funky rock we got real quick.

[00:16:12]Marina's excited to see what's inside of it. So, I brought the strange rock home that has something inside of it. We're about to crack it open.

[00:16:20]You're brave doing it with the claw side.

[00:16:22]>> Well, I want to do it all the way around it like this so I can do it evenly.

[00:16:28]>> She does that a lot.

[00:16:33]>> Hope it's a dinosaur.

[00:16:35]>> Oh my.

[00:16:42]>> There it went. What's in there? What's in there?

[00:16:48]What the crap?

[00:16:50]>> What is that?

[00:16:52]I don't know what that is.

[00:16:53]>> It's a paint rock, but it got wet somehow. Why was it moist in there?

[00:16:57]Wasn't no cracks in it.

[00:16:59]>> I don't know. And it's just mud. I told y'all I heard something rattling around in it. That answers that mystery. We really hope that you guys enjoyed the adventure today. I know it's different with me being solo. Miranda had some stuff come up this week that kept her pretty busy, but I had fun with just me and you guys. If you enjoyed what you saw and you're new here, be sure that you're subscribed and we will see you guys in the next adventure.