11-30-15 Thanks to R.D. Keever for sending these images of two .58 conical minie's that a soldier mashed or melded together, carved out petals, and just looks like he was trying to make a flower. I know there was a lot of down time, and soldiers got bored, but this guy really spent some time making this projectile art work !
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| A Super Unique Pair of Three-Ringers, mashed together by a soldier, and then carved to apparently resemble a flower in bloom. |
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| A Super Unique Pair of Three-Ringers, mashed together by a soldier, and then carved to apparently resemble a flower in bloom. |
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4-11-14 A little over a week ago, myself, Jack Ferguson, and Doug Dorothy made a short trip up the road to a small hard hunted little Yankee Camp. Didn’t expect to find much as the camp has been hit hard, but we were pleasantly surprised when we got there to see that the owner put a lot of cattle in the field, and they had eaten the grass low enough for any golf course ! A few hours in the cool afternoon and we all came away with a few relics. Among the finds were a couple of .69 three ringers, some .69 musket balls, several .36 caliber teardrops, a Merrill Carbine bullet, several other small caliber pistol bullets, and a small round piece of brass that looks like it may be a bridal rosette from the attachments on the back. Best of the lot were the two little .44 caliber Sharps slant breech carbine bullets that Doug found, but I can honestly say we all had a good time !
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| A few relics pulled from an old camp by Jack Ferguson, Doug Dorothy, and myself recently. Included are two nice dropped .44 Sharps that Doug found. |
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| A few relics pulled from an old camp by Jack Ferguson, Doug Dorothy, and myself recently. Included are two nice dropped .44 Sharps that Doug found. |
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4-11-14 About a month ago, Jim Trammell over near Harrison, Arkansas, sent these pictures of relics he was finding at a long gone home site, near a well-known camping area during the war in Carroll County, Arkansas. Among his finds were several bullets including three ringers, Colt pistol bullets, Sharps Carbine bullets, and Gallager Carbine bullets. Along with the bullets Jim also recovered a M1859 Yankee Spur, several eagle buttons, two lead solder filled but damaged period bridal rosettes, a harmonica reed, small decorative brass likely from a rifle, and a large unknown piece of stamped brass. All in all it looks like good fun to me !
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| Jim Trammell's house site relics from old Carroll County, Arkansas. |
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| More of Jim Trammell's house site relics from old Carroll County, Arkansas. |
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4-17-13 Sunday, April 14th, Jim Trammell decided to get out over near Harrison, Arkansas, and find a few more pennies to help pay his tax debt ! He had a good lead though on a Civil War period house site, and decided to check that first. Priorities you know, relics first, taxes second ! Upon arrival at the old long gone house site, first signal was an ancient tin can. Second signal sounded a bit better, and by golly it was too. Jim recovered a nice tinback Confederate Block –A- Artillery Button ! Further hunting produced little more in the way of relics, but at least Jim had the satisfaction of knowing he separated the wheat from the chaff right off the bat ! The Tax Man won’t get this one either ! Way to go Jim !
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| Jim Trammell's Nice Confederate Artillery Block -A- Button ! |
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| Jim Trammell's Nice Confederate Artillery Block -A- Button with tinback and shank intact. |
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| Jim Trammell's Nice Confederate Artillery Block -A- Button, after a light coat of mineral oil. The few other good signals included harmonica reeds, a fired bullet, and brass rivets. |
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12-21-12 Well of course, what better way to spend The Day The World Ends, than metal detecting !? Wish I’d thought of it, wish I’d thought of asking Larry Horton if he didn’t think it a good idea today ! I might have got to go with him when he was out this afternoon at his Super Secret Campsite. He managed to dig a few dropped .54 caliber 3-ringers, but best of all, a pretty doggone nice LA2 Louisiana State Seal Pelican Button ! No pushes or cracks, shank still intact, and partially legible maker’s mark ! He called while in the field, and then emailed a picture from his phone. I returned his call a few minutes after seeing the pictures, saying, “Can you see me, can you see me?” “What do you mean,” he said, “Where are you at.” I told him I was in the ultra-light aircraft coming over the tree line and about to land in the field beside him ! . . . lol . . . Way to go Larry ! Nice Confederate Button !
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| Nice LA2 Louisiana Pelican Coat Button Dug by Larry Horton |
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| Nice LA2 Louisiana Pelican Coat Button Dug by Larry Horton |
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9-13-12 Somewhere in Missouri, Mr. Jeff Parker recently had some very good luck metal detecting ! Searching in a possible Civil War site, he recovered Six Nice Silver coins in a small area. Clustered almost together the coins may be from either an individual “spilling” their purse or pockets, or even possibly from loosing the purse, and it rotting away in the ground leaving only the silver for future generations. Included in the group was an 1856-O seated liberty half dollar, an 1843 & an 1857 seated liberty quarter dollar, an 1857 seated dime, an 1858 seated half dime, and a late 1700s Spanish 2 reales too worn to positively date ! A Very Nice Bunch of Antebellum Silver that would make about anybody's day to unearth ! Congratulations Jeff !!
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| Ahhhh.......... That wonderful "Just Out Of The Ground" Look ! Nice Batch of Antebellum Silver that would make your digging day ! |
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| Cleaned up the seated silver is in very nice condition, and I wouldn't throw the 2 Reale back ! |
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8-1-12 Good Grief ! Well, surely NONE of us are silly enough to get out
in this extreme weather ! Right ? I mean come on, here in the mid-west
temperature in the low 100's every day now for a month, soil so dry you
need a jack-hammer to plant a daisy ! This old man only goes out to
check the mail, and walk the dogs. Mowed the yard 3 weeks ago, and it
looks like I did it yesterday ! Ooh, I MIGHT turn the detector on for
a short while, if I had permission to hunt CS Major-General Thomas
Carmichael Hindman's tent site, or the Old Confederate Foundry at
Camden, Arkansas, or even just a short traipse around the Elkhorn
Tavern, IF the National Park Service asked me to remove the post
war silver coins !! . . I've been laying plans for new ground this fall,
but SERIOUSLY …......
Well, I guess my young friend, Matt Longwith of Cane Hill,
Arkansas, just don't have ANY sense ! The guy is Still.......wandering
around with detector in hand, like it's a beautiful fall day ! AND, as
if that's not enough, he's digging some 15-18 inch holes, chopping,
hacking, prodding, waiting for the dust to settle, and then going
again, all in 100+ degree humid sunshine !
But, it paid off nicely for Matt ! Not two weeks ago he was
showing me the 6-pound solid shot he recovered, in a spot that
he only recently got permission for ! Beautiful projectile, and I
can't deny being a bit envious, until I remembered the
temperature ! Darn fine relic to see though, and glad Matt found
it, and didn't suffer Heat Stroke ! SURE makes me wish this long,
hot summer was over, and us Old guys could get out for half a
day without sweating so much we can't see the meter !
Congratulations Matt on a Real Nice Find, that I KNOW
you had to work for buddy ! SB
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| Matt Longwith's Six-Pound Solid Shot, still in the bone-dry hole ! |
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| Matt Longwith's Six-pound solid shot, finally out of the ground ! I'll take a dozen of em', long as I don't have to get out in this heat and dig em' ! |
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5-18-12 Sunday, Tom Bowen said we should check around and see
if any of the local farms with campsites had cut their hay. Took a drive
and by golly, one that contains both a US and a CS camp, had new rolls
of hay in the Yankee Camp. Couldn't see across the river to the CS
Camp, but figured "Heck, we can dig a few Yankee Teardrops !"
Monday afternoon, we headed to the site and unloaded, and once
out in the field Tom said he could see thru the trees, and the
Confederate Camp was fresh cut too ! I was lazy and perfectly
content to dig a few Yankee bullets and go home, but Tom said,
I'm wading the stream in my tennis shoes, so I HAD to go also !
The hay had just been cut, and except for the dry soil, conditions
were perfect. We each dug several musket balls, and buck balls,
I got a brass spur buckle, and Tom the center piece to a badge or
cockade. Best signal I had all day first appeared to be the edges
of a heavily gilted button, but turned out to be an actual gold
wedding band ! I've only ever dug one other gold soldier ring,
two silver, and a dozen or more plain brass ones. This is a nice
heavy band with a relief stamping, similiar to Rmdc on a button,
of just 18 . No K or carat mark, and being a relief stamp, I think
there's more than a good chance it is a soldier ring ! On the way
out at day's end, I was walking along the old road paralleling
the stream, and dug six percussion caps out of a hole ! Nice
way to end the day, and I haven't dug any caps in so long,
I was almost as excited about them, as I was the ring !
SB
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| Relics recovered Sunday, 5-13-12, include several musket balls & buck balls, nice conical .69 bullet, badge piece, spur buckle, percussion caps, & gold wedding band. |
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| Nice heavy gold wedding band, with rmdc or relief stamp, recovered Sunday 5-13-12, from a Confederate Campsite. |
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| Nice heavy gold wedding band, with rmdc or relief stamp, recovered Sunday 5-13-12, from a Confederate Campsite. |
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| CLICK THE .69 GARDNER TO GO TO JUST OUT OF THE GROUND PAGE 4 |
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