2012: OUR INCREDIBLE YEAR

[BuckleBoy]

Hello All,

Here is the 2012 wrap up. This post was delayed for a while due to Quindy and Dman's visit here, then further delayed by the amount of time it took to fetch and photograph every display case, every good find from the year. Inevitably something has to be missing from the photos below, but I don't have the energy anymore to figure out what. So, without further ado, here is a tour of the CaneField Bandits' Incredible Haul from 2012.

I want to start off the post (ladies first) with Diggergirl. She didn't have a chance to hunt much in 2012 with us, perhaps only 3 times or so, but she still acquired a very nice display case. Highlights were her first Confederate button (Pelican!), McClelland Saddle piece, silver thimble, half a daguerrotype frame, and a beautiful shield nickel:



January 2012 found me traveling. I was actually in Kentucky hunting with Hill Billy for a lil' Iron Brigade reunion when Shanegalang found the first Spanish Silver of the year down here in Louisiana. Little did we know that we would dig EIGHTEEN MORE before 2013! Here are my finds from Kentucky. I dug my first Capped Bust dime ever, which will always be a highlight for me. Also found a solid silver engraved spoon with a Louisville KY hallmark and a pre-CW Eagle Button. This was a special trip to relive great memories, have excellent company, good food, and great digging. Thanks again HB, you will always be digging family to me.





Now on to the non-metal, eyeball finds. As you know, the soil down here is deep plowed every three years for the cane. This means that you hardly need a detector at times, since things wash out to the top of the ground. It was quite a year for pottery, china doll arms, trade beads, clay pipe stems, marbles, and more. Shanegalang's son even found an emerald setting from a Georgian era ring on top of the ground! Here are some photos. First off, some of my more appealing pottery shards:



Clay pipestems, 1700s /early 1800s



Assorted interesting CW era clay pipes.



The China Doll Morgue, along with some chandelier crystals and beads.



Like Buttons? Only my half of the porcelain buttons that were found:



CW era pottery inkwell, missing the lip.



This is a photo of only my half of the marbles from the year. I think we are pushing 150 marbles eyeballed so far in the Louisiana fields.



An interesting early 1800s hatchet with hand-forged nails still in the top, and a sugar cane knife (rare to find one whole in a plowed field):



Some finds were strange and interesting, like this bronze figurine I dug:



I also got a nice lid from a Georgian era ale jug:



Shanegalang as I said earlier was digging the first Spanish silver in January. Wish I was there to see it, because it was his first silver coin EVER. We could go through the list of "firsts" for Shane this year, but it'd be way long. He had an amazing year. Here is a display case filled with coins back to the 1700s, military buttons, a name plate off an 1850s steam pump, marbles, doll pieces, you name it.



I am going to update this post later in the day with a few more photos of Shane's awesome display cases here...

Here's some aluminum finds I dug. All Louisiana related. LA Tax Tokens from the Depression, Catholic Religious Medallions, and a Mardi Gras Doubloon:



Some of my finds: spur pieces, powder flask, brass horse bit (all pre-CW or CW era), hexagonal lead lids to large black powder cans, silver fork and silver walking stick topper, etc.



Some more of my finds: three Confederate Pelican CW buttons, Franklin half, a spanish silver half real, three seated coins, silver thimbles, cloak clasp, Georgian era drawer pull, brass spur rowels, eagle buttons, barrel tap keys, a kepi buckle, glass beads (the small dark blue one may be a trade bead), 1932 Louisiana Chauffeur's Badge, and an embarrassing amount of wheat cents.







A display case of my finds from our tavern site. Flat buttons, pipe bowl pieces, two "Russian Blue" trade beads, pocket watch winders, two jews harps (1 brass 1 iron), shoe buckle pieces, newer farmer-dropped nickels, etc:







My Civil War bullets, Enfields, and Colonial Era Musketballs:



Shanegalang's military buttons: Revenue Marine (1850s), GS Eagle and Eagle "A" cuff, 1820s Navy, two c.1808 1st Regt Artillery buttons, and some Great Seals:



EIGHT Spanish silver dug by me (1740-1809). (My ninth Spanish is in another display case.) All half reales except for a really worn one real. Three pewter "U.S." militia buttons, eagles, a one-piece eagle, early (likely British) Navy cuff, Three 1812-Era Artillery Buttons, three seated coins, and farmer-dropped silvers (walker half and barber dime), and of course the Spanish Shako Cap Badge:



TEN Spanish Silvers dug by Shanegalang, including a killer 2 Reales and a BIG 8:





All the silvers Shane dug this year, in addition to the Spanish are FOUR Seated Silvers, a Capped Bust Dime, a Capped Bust Half Dime, and a Philippines Occupation coin:



And now it's time to highlight the finds of the year for each of us. Diggergirl's favorite two finds are her first Confederate Button (she has now dug a CS button before she dug a Yankee button!). At any rate, her pelican was the nicest of the four we dug this year:



And of course her other choice for favorite relic went to the black powder, CW-era shotgun she found in the same field we dug all the Pelicans in. This one got the "sacred mantle" placement, it was such a good find.



Shane's favorite finds were his Revenue Marine button and Flawless 2 Reales:





And my single greatest find of the year has got to be this Spanish Colonial Shako Cap Badge. According to several experts, this is the only Spanish Cap Badge ever found in the U.S. I am in a dialogue right now via e-mail with an expert in Spain who believes that the coat of arms is from Potosi, and there is an active dialogue going on right now between several knowledgeable collectors and authors in the field of spanish colonial relics. This cap badge most likely from a Spanish regiment that was formed and stationed here in the US, and as such this is giving the experts fits because they know it is of Spanish origin, but have not seen it before, since this piece is so far the only surviving example. One expert has suggested that the badge was from one of the regiments that was sent to the area for the transfer of Louisiana to the United States in 1803. There will be more information to come on this find. And I am sure I'll recover the other pieces of this relic in future hunts.



I'm not sure we could ever top 2012, but it's now onward and upward to 2013, and I think this will be a very good year.


Best Wishes to ALL for a FANTASTIC 2013!!


The CaneField Bandits

[VOL1266-X]

This is an incredible post and we had a very memorable adventure hunting with you, Molly, and Shane in the Pelican state. I now full appreciate how hard you guys worked in heat, cold, and muddy conditions and the time required to recover this quantity and quality of great recoveries. It was an honor and privilege to finally meet and hunt with you. Continued luck in 2013 and don't dig it all-LOL. HH, Quindy.

[BuckleBoy]

This is an incredible post and we had a very memorable adventure hunting with you, Molly, and Shane in the Pelican state. I now full appreciate how hard you guys worked in heat, cold, and muddy conditions and the time required to recover this quantity and quality of great recoveries. It was an honor and privilege to finally meet and hunt with you. Continued luck in 2013 and don't dig it all-LOL. HH, Quindy.

Quindy,

I'll leave a couple relics in the ground for ya. Hopefully when you two make a trip down here again we'll be in the upswing or middle of searching some new sites, rather than finishing out some old ones.

Keep at it,

BB

[Produce Guy]

MAN!,all I can say is WOW!,neat,just wondering does the MD find marbles,or do you find them when your digging something up?

[BuckleBoy]

MAN!,all I can say is WOW!,neat,just wondering does the MD find marbles,or do you find them when your digging something up?

The marbles wash out from the plowed fields. We find them laying right on top.

[Steve in PA]

You guys certainly put the time in and were rewarded for your efforts with an lot of keepers and some real killer finds! Keep us posted on the Spanish shako hat badge.

[Bass]

Congratulations to the CaneField Bandits for all their finds this year. And thank all of you for sharing your finds with the rest of the us. This is what makes this site such a great joy. I wish all of you the best in 2013 and hope that you will continue to share your finds with us

[Tnmountains]

I spent forever just looking at each picture on its own and enlarging it. The photography is flawless and the relics are fantastic. I am so glad that you are recovering the bits and pieces from the fields as they also tell a lot of the history. Some people could just study the pottery and china. I liked the silver, buttons and badge. Of course that shotgun is where it deserves to be. I can imagine the hours cleaning all the porcelain buttons. Looking forward to hearing about what the experts say on the Shako badge. All of you had a great year and you are right it will be hard to beat it but am sure you will as you are just getting started.
Thanks for taking the time to share. Great post!
HH
TnMtns

[River Rat]

Superb!! Y'all sure had some remarkable finds for '12, best of luck for '13. Hopefully one day soon I'll be able to join y'all for a quick hunt. Happy Hunting!!

[EODsweeper]

Very nice finds from a fellow LA hunter.

[BuckleBoy]

I spent forever just looking at each picture on its own and enlarging it. The photography is flawless and the relics are fantastic. I am so glad that you are recovering the bits and pieces from the fields as they also tell a lot of the history. Some people could just study the pottery and china. I liked the silver, buttons and badge. Of course that shotgun is where it deserves to be. I can imagine the hours cleaning all the porcelain buttons. Looking forward to hearing about what the experts say on the Shako badge. All of you had a great year and you are right it will be hard to beat it but am sure you will as you are just getting started.
Thanks for taking the time to share. Great post!
HH
TnMtns

thank you for your reply my friend. I was very pleased with everything dug. All the finds tell a story, which is why I like to organize by site, not by type of relic like I used to do. Even the porcelain buttons tell a story. I always pick up all of them that I can see, if for nothing else than the fact that I can go into that field six months from now and tell whether or not the furrows between the rows have been recut by a plow blade just by virtue of the fact that there will or won't be new porcelain buttons to eyeball on top. Besides, I think they're cool.

At any rate, hopes are running high for 2013, but 2012 is a personal triumph for me, and it will also be very tough to even come close.

Cheers,

Buck

[J.Cache]

Thanks for sharing your fantastic year with us. Great finds and pictures...

[wheatfinder13]

Amazing Spanish silvers

[hamiddetecting]

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[ModernMiner]

Will,
I am drooling Dude!!!! Unflippingbelievable!!!!!!!! I remember when you and the Cane Crew first started hunting that spot and the great relics you started uncovering, and even the awesome eyeball finds sitting on top. You guys started scoring Spanish silver on a regular basis and never stopped. I had no clue how much the CC had recovered, but now we know! :-) I am totally amazed. That shard display is way cool. Would make a great photo.
Congrats to you and the Gumbo Gang. I hope 2013 brings you continued success.
-Doug-