This weekend's finds. We had SUCH a good time!

[mlutz]

We got out this weekend near Richmond on some private land that a friend of mine (Virginia Digger) got permission to hunt. We met some outstanding folks that own the land. They even set it up for us to hunt a neighbors property too! As it happens he has a ton of relics he has found over the years and showed a fraction of them to us. Belt buckles, plates, buttons galore and bayonets.
I was astounded.

After speaking with him and going over some of our maps that we found online, we hit the woods for about 7 hours I guess. Here are my finds above.

Of note, I found two sets of what appear to be rivets that were attached by leather. One of the sets fell apart in my hand, but the other still has the leather attaching them. I am guessing either they were something that was on a ammo pouch strap or maybe a bridle. In that same area I kept getting heavy iron hits so I dug them up and found the piece of shot that may have gone inside of a large mortar? Also 2 pieces of horse shoe.

I found some fired bullets as well. One of the bits of lead I am not sure about. It is fairly light so maybe it was a bit that was from an encampment and the lead spilled Not sure on that one. The 32 caliber bullet appears to be civil war era, but I am not certain. Any input on that one would be appreciated

End result was one heck of an exciting day with the added bonus of meeting a 34 year veteran of the US Air Force!

 

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[dsdigger]

Wow, looks like you all had an outstanding day! Great finds and maybe if no one responds to your questionable finds, put them up on "Today's Finds" or "What Is it?" to see if anyone that visits there would possibly know or have a better chance of directing you to answer. Hope your luck continues and if your still hitting those areas once the weather warms a little and are willing to welcome another VA hunter, let me know, I'll be glad to meet up, just got to get up early enough to drive out from Bridgewater to be there on time. Right now the cold weather kills my lungs and I get Bronchitis easily. Keep on finding the good stuff!

 

[mlutz]

Wow, looks like you all had an outstanding day! Great finds and maybe if no one responds to your questionable finds, put them up on "Today's Finds" or "What Is it?" to see if anyone that visits there would possibly know or have a better chance of directing you to answer. Hope your luck continues and if your still hitting those areas once the weather warms a little and are willing to welcome another VA hunter, let me know, I'll be glad to meet up, just got to get up early enough to drive out from Bridgewater to be there on time. Right now the cold weather kills my lungs and I get Bronchitis easily. Keep on finding the good stuff!

That would be quite a haul for you dsdigger. My friend has the permission so I would not want to offer it up as such. However, if he agrees, I have no problem. We also have an area we lease/hunt that you could maybe come join us on. I will speak to some folks and let you know when we hunt when it warms up.

 

[dsdigger]

Thanks, if no go, no problem and I just realized that you are out of the Tidewater area. You get the beach hunts and can try to find places in between sites that are near Williamsburg, Jamestown, etc. if you can find something that is not a park, National Historic site, etc., or private land unwilling to give permission. As for your finds, really a good day and still nice to see that not everything has been paved over and unreachable. Good Luck and hope you keep finding good relics!

 

[mlutz]

Thanks, if no go, no problem and I just realized that you are out of the Tidewater area. You get the beach hunts and can try to find places in between sites that are near Williamsburg, Jamestown, etc. if you can find something that is not a park, National Historic site, etc., or private land unwilling to give permission. As for your finds, really a good day and still nice to see that not everything has been paved over and unreachable. Good Luck and hope you keep finding good relics!

I will let you know when we go to the club in the spring. There are areas on our lease property that were on Lee's Retreat.

 

[dsdigger]

Awesome! Good Luck if you get back up to hunt for more of those relics! Maybe you will even hit a coin spill or two! I am looking forward to spring as I am eyeing the park down the road (next to Town Hall and the Police Station) but there are no MD'ing ordinances that I could find and there are areas that kids play and areas used for parking when the annual Fireman's Lawn Party is held. I may give that a shot and see if anyone chases me out or not. At least I can just walk to it and back.

 

[Carolina Tom]

There is a bullet in the 5th picture, with two rings on it. I believe this a modern bullet (post 1880). If you clean it up just a little bit, you "might" be able to see little vertical lines, inside of the two rings. Those lines are called cannelures, and would date the bullet as post 1880.

The attached pic only has one ring, but you get the idea.

Congrats on all of the nice finds!

 

[mlutz]

There is a bullet in the 5th picture, with two rings on it. I believe this a modern bullet (post 1880). If you clean it up just a little bit, you "might" be able to see little vertical lines, inside of the two rings. Those lines are called cannelures, and would date the bullet as post 1880.

The attached pic only has one ring, but you get the idea.

Congrats on all of the nice finds!

Thanks Carolina Tom. I will clean it up a little too and see if I see the cannelures. I was on the fence about that one. I will take more pics and add them to this thread after I clean the items.

 

[Carolina Tom]

Thanks Carolina Tom. I will clean it up a little too and see if I see the cannelures. I was on the fence about that one. I will take more pics and add them to this thread after I clean the items.

The CW bullets that you want to find are called Minie balls. If I am telling you something that you already know, just nod your head and act interested. I will be done in short order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minié_ball

Minie balls are large and heavy. Once you see one up close, you will never forget it. In your area, you WILL find one before long.

Best of luck to you sir!

 

[mlutz]

The CW bullets that you want to find are called Minie balls. If I am telling you something that you already know, just nod your head and act interested. I will be done in short order.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minié_ball

Minie balls are large and heavy. Once you see one up close, you will never forget it. In your area, you WILL find one before long.

Best of luck to you sir!

Thanks Tom. I accept any and all advice from people that have been doing this a long time. I am still new to it!

 

[Oldhand]

Very nice finds! Here on our farm in Virginia I also found the exact same rivets held together by leather! In the same hole beside it was a huge iron buckle and what looks like a wrought iron cotter pin. I was assuming some sort of horse tack but I am not sure.
In this picture you can see the large iron buckle and the two rivets with the leather attached