| Recently Excavated Relics Dug by NW Arkansas, Indian Territory, and Trans-Mississippi Diggers. |
8-12-07
Well, us old guys kinda like to fish, do all the chores, and keep cool in the summer months.
This earns us "points" so that when relic season arrives again about first frost, we can drop
everything and run to the field at every chance ! That's why I haven't had any new finds to
post here in a while. So, even though it's off the topic, thought I would share my buddy
Jack's nice find from last year. He decided to go locate some ancient artifacts, in Colchester,
England, with his friend Gary Cox. They spent a week metal detecting large parcels of farm
land, with the landowners permission and hospitality. Finds included roman era bronze coins,
hundreds of european flat and military buttons, and sundry other items. But, the prize of the
trip popped out of Jack's portion of the field, when he excavated a 150 B.C., Celtic Gold
Coin, about the size of a nickel !! First gold coin for him too, in almost 30 years of detecting !
You might imagine his disappointment when he was NOT allowed to bring the gold home !
The British Museum researches each piece such as this, and if determined that it is of cultural
significance, they then pay the finder fair market value. None of that crap with hordes of
Lawyers, Insurance Companies,and various local governments !! England has good treasure
laws, and the Museum determined that they had examples of similiar coins. So, after a wait of
nearly 6 months, Jack was granted an export license, and got his gold coin !
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| Beautiful Celtic Gold Coin over 2000 Years Old !! |
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| Jack's eyes were closed because he was saying a little prayer that went like this, "Oh Lord, Please don't let me wake up, and find this is just another one of those vivid Recovery Dreams !! |
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6-22-07 The last time Jack and I got out to dig in May, our little honey hole had grown up without any cattle to graze it down, and we had to go looking for another spot. Traveled a few miles south of home till we got to an area that saw a small engagement in 1862, and a brief occupation by the Troops of Sterling Price in 1864, returning from their last big raid into Missouri. Previous trips in the particular area we visited, had brought several Marshall Texas Enfields to surface, so we had high hopes.The grass was coming on strong at this site too, but we wandered around until we came to a little cabin site, that we're almost sure was standing during the war. Nothing above ground to see today, but with your detector on, you know immediately when you cross the site. Signals everywhere in a small area, and very hard to detect. Yet, we managed to come away with a few more pieces, that convince us even more of this cabin/structure having stood during the war. Just enough period items, that we will likely go back with small coils when hay is cut. Not much on quanity, but recovered items included a brass butt plate to a Kentucky Rifle, a nose fragment of a James Shell, nice brass pocket knife, flattened eagle coat button, and a sweet looking brass frame buckle. When the buckle popped out, I was just sure it was a Confederate Carbine Buckle. Beautiful green patina, and appeared about the same size, cast and not a stamped buckle. Once home we measured it and it's within 1 or 2 mms, of the example in Mullinax's Confederate Buckle book. But, the center bar has small dividers cast into it, so perhaps its not. Maybe an even earlier buckle of unknown origin, but man excepting those dividers, it is just about the spitting image of the CS Carbine pattern ! Not a bunch of relics, but we got excited about em', and had a good time anyway. SB
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| Brass Kentucky Rifle Butt Plate, James Shell Fragment, pocket knife, eagle button, and Frame Buckle that is almost identical dimesions to CS Carbine Buckle. |
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6-05-07 Made one more trip out to the multi use site that produced the Pelican button a few weeks back. Still no more Pelican buttons, but the grass is growing faster than the number of reasons a politician couldn't do the right thing ! Still had beautiful weather and a great day of "contact" with our historic past. Finds included: Top to a powder flask, Enfield tompion, eagle button, cannister ball, and several bullets of various calibers. Only modern disturbances in the headphones were a few shotgun shells, and the cowtag, so overall we had a great time. When you're hooked on this way of looking at the past, it doesn't matter if you dug a plate or a round ball, it's still worthwhile. As a friend of mine in Chattanooga, Tennessee, once said, "Every item, I don't care if it's shot bullet, has a story to tell."
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| Nothing extraordinary, but still a good day of digging relics that haven't seen the light of day in 146 years ! |
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May 23rd, 2007. Well, you know that I just HAD to go back to the Pelican button area again ! Made another trip, on May 2nd, but that grass is coming on strong, and there aren't enough cattle to keep it down. Still had what we call a good day around here anymore. My regular hunting buddy, Jack dug part of a gilted flower button, and a couple of eagles, one real nice and one mashed. After finally giving up in the Pelican spot, I walked almost across the camp, and dug a holed 1854 Half Dime. We each recovered several bullets, and a brass spoon and one lone cannister ball also surfaced. It was a beautiful day and we dug just enough to keep it interesting. Of course, this fall and winter, when the soil is moist, the cattle have grazed, and the grass looks like a golf course, this little spot will get an intense review ! SB
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| No more Pelicans, but it was still a fun day of diggin. |
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| I've dug 35-40 Civil War Coins over the years, but this is my first one with a hole in it. That may mean the soldier was wearing it on a string for "hard times" money. |
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5-6-07 My old hunting buddy from years ago, Tom Bowen, was here in Arkansas recently.
Now residing in California, Tom was on his way to the show in Mansfield, Ohio, and arrived
a few days early to do some detecting. Fortunately, I had recently gained permission on a little
site that was producing a few relics. So, Sunday, April the 29th, we loaded the truck and went
to see how tall the grass was. Once at the site, we decided where to hunt, and got serious.
Recovered a few .54 & .69 caliber round balls, and the third signal Tom got was the real
keeper of the day. A "purty" little Louisiana cuff button, not pushed, shank intact, and appears
to possibly be an LA7. Beautiful mixed plumb and green patina too ! Goes without saying,
we circled the area for an hour, digging every signal, but no more Pelicans. Moving a short
distance, before the day ended, Tom also came up with a lead filled US Rosette. This was
Tom's first Confederate Button ever, so you can imagine he was pumped ! It was a beautiful
day, we each came home with relics, and I developed a deep green patina myself,
From PELICAN Envy ! . . LOL . . SB
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| Beautiful little Pelican cuff with nice colors, lead filled US Rosette, and assortment of bullets, iron wrench, and shell fragment. A fun day ! |
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4-16-07 Well, I've been a little delayed in posting again, but here are some more items discovered at the little spot where the modified hat letter was found. Got a chance to return less than a week later, and had a blast. Dug round balls, a few pieces of brass, and the real surprise was two different sizes of cannister balls ! Discovered that the original roadbed is at the base of the little hillside where most items were found, and that may explain a lot. Evidently, the camp that we knew was there, is overlayed with a site where there was some artillery activity along the road. That's a nice bonus ! Most of the sites here where artillery/cannister might be dug are now public property, and off limits, so to find a few pieces still resting on private property is really nice. This little site is developing very nice, and with some recent rain, will soon require another visit. SB
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| Cannister measures out to be from a 12lb. howizter, and 6lb. gun. Several other iron pieces including a ball screw, I think for the M1842, and a cavalryman's hoof pic. |
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3-21-07 Well, I got tired of working, and snuck off Sunday afternoon to get some fresh air. Went to an early war Confederate Camp that has been hunted for several years, but mainly just for the atmosphere and sunshine. Found the grass very short and actually had a decent day recovering 7 .69 caliber round balls, a .28 Colt Root bullet, and the two neat items pictured below. They were my prizes of the day. The item at left is a little one inch tall solid cast Hat Letter -C- , and at right is a really neat carved roundball. When I first dug the Letter -C-, I thought "Shucks" looks like it's bent and broken. But, after getting home and washing it, it appears that the bottom was intentionally broken, then filed or sanded smooth, and the top bent down to it's present position. Maybe, . . . . the soldier was trying to get his Hat Letter to represent his New Company affiliation, Co. E ?? Just speculation, but it sure looks like it was broke and bent that way on purpose. Anyway, good to know that a few of these old camps still hold enough to let you make "contact." SB
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| Left is the little one inch, modified Hat Letter -C-, and right is a nicely carved .69 roundball. |
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03-08-07 [One hundred and forty-five years ago today, Confederate and Union Forces were engaged in the second day's contest, at the Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, or Pea Ridge. ]
Well, despite my trying to take care of him, my digging buddy, Jack Ferguson, fell under nefarious influences last Sunday. The names have not been changed, in order to implicate the guilty. Gary Cox and Doug Dorothy convinced him to go detect some with them at a Civil War Period Homesite. Nothing there today but an old well out in the field, and they had secured permission from the landowner. Turns out this old homesite was not far from an area that saw a major Cavalry engagement in 1862, and several camps of both North and South. Apparently, the site had not been seriously detected before, and they all soon began recovering various items including: a brass reins holder, a heavily gold gilted man's ring, an almost golf ball size chunk of lead, suspender buckle, buckshot, and a few other items. Before long Jack and Doug recovered the prizes of the day, in the form of Three Coat-size Union Staff Officers buttons, two with quite a bit of gilt remaining !
All have the same correct Extra Quality backmark, within two concentric circles, dating them to the Civil War. And, with the same mark on all three, it's possible they are all from the same coat !
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| Some of the items recovered at the Civil War Homesite. |
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| Nice Coat Size Staff Officer's Buttons ! |
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| All three have identical backmark. |
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| CLICK HERE TO GO TO JUST OUT OF THE GROUND PAGE 16 |
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