After 15 Years of Hunting, I Finally Joined The Club...

FoxHound0985

Hero Member
Feb 5, 2005
582
1,567
Amber Waves of Grain!
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Primary Interest:
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...the Civil War Plate Club!!!

Let me back up a bit. My hunting buddy and I wanted to get out for a hunt today, but neither of us could think of a good place to go. We pondered on it for a bit and still couldn't think of a place close by, so we hopped in the car and decided to head to a local park that has produced a lot of silver and a few Minie Balls in the past. Once we got there, we noticed that a once wooded area has been completely cleared of trees and brush so we decided to start there. After finding nothing but pull tabs and shotgun shells for an hour, I finally got a decent signal and dug a nice Williams Cleaner bullet! A bit later I got into an area that had a lot of square nails, so I hit it hard for good targets and I got a really deep brass signal and out popped a nice Eagle I coat button! Another hour went by with only digging cans and other park junk, so I went back to the spot where the button came from and got another deep, iffy signal that turned out to be a small iron buckle. I walked about 5 feet from there and got a signal that nearly blew my eardrums out!! I thought it was another can because it was big, shallow, and read a 74 VDI on my MXT Pro. I almost passed it up, but I figured, what the heck... I dug down, flipped out the dirt, and what do I see??? This...

nikon 028.jpg

I knew immediately that I had just found my first plate!!! I pluck it out of the dirt, wipe it off a bit and saw the beautiful letters "US" staring back at me! I had just found a near perfect US Cartridge Box Plate :headbang:

nikon 029.jpg

I have found pieces of plates in the past, but never a whole one. I was so excited and still in disbelief over finding it. Anyway, it was starting to get dark by this time, so we hunted for another half hour or so and then headed back to the car. My hunting buddy did pretty well too. He ended up finding a partial Spencer cartridge, a toasted 1840s Large Cent, a brass rivet and a really strange lead item.

Here's my finds for the day!

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And here's my buddy's finds...

nikon 030.jpg

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Thanks for looking and HH!!! :icon_thumleft:
 

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Baldingboy

Bronze Member
May 17, 2007
2,240
34
Southeast Missouri
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Minelab SE Professional with 6" Coil
Let me be the first to reply....

Dang Man!!!!!!! That is a sweet box plate. I dug a part of one a year or so ago, but have always dreamed of a whole one. Yours is beautiful. Congratulations!

You both had a great day!! :headbang:

Baldingboy
 

Troyounce

Full Member
Nov 18, 2003
183
11
Clyde,Ohio
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Minelab CTX3030
GP3000
TESORO LOBO
GARRETT GTI 2500 + Eagle eye
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
:icon_thumright: :icon_thumleft: Way to go!!! Sweet plate!
 

cntrydncr1

Gold Member
Feb 23, 2007
7,806
777
Bradenton, Fl
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Great hunt!! congrats on the plate too! it is in nice shape. wow.
 

VOL1266-X

Gold Member
Jan 10, 2007
5,589
2,909
Northern Middle Tennessee
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Fisher 1266-X, F75 X 2
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A very nice plate PF!!! A plate with US on it has always eluded me for some reason and I'm on my 16 year of hunting sites with lots of US soldiers stationed there. That shows you how well they read with the early detectors. HH, Quindy.
 

swish

Jr. Member
Feb 28, 2008
79
3
ohio
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whites m6 and mxt pro
congrats on a great plate. still looking for mine
 

zaxfire69

Bronze Member
Jun 26, 2008
1,611
404
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That is a great story and nice photo's. Really brings the story to life. Man I would have had a heart attack if I would have dug that plate. My day shall come.. :notworthy: Congrats. :thumbsup:
 

kilmer

Sr. Member
Mar 30, 2005
295
61
Central Indiana
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SWEEEEEEEEET! I bet you just sat there and stared for a while. That is a beautiful plate. I know the belt plate I found is a beater compared to yours but any plate is special. Congrats. I think you have found the one item that all hunters think of when anyone says Civil War relic hunt.

Don
HH
 

Steve in PA

Gold Member
Jul 5, 2010
9,575
14,086
Pittsburgh, PA
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Congrats on a nice US cartridge box plate! Although I have found a CS tongue, a CS wreath, a Virginia militia sheet brass crossbelt plate, and a VMM....... I have never been able to find a US belt or boxplate or an eagle breastplate!
 

birdman

Gold Member
Jan 28, 2005
7,458
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Choctaw Beach Florida
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Equinox 800 and ORX, tesoro Cibola with garret,whites and minelab pinpointers
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Nice save! Love to get a plate one of these days. I dug a couple over seas but none here in the US. Got to get to the right sites!
 

mastereagle22

Silver Member
May 15, 2007
4,909
31
Southeast Missouri
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E-trac, Explorer II, Xterra30, Whites Prizm IV
Very nice!

I so badly want to find a decent CW relic. All I have are three little buttons, 1 three ringer, and a dropped confederate ball.......... :'(

Good job!
 

metalev4

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2006
1,165
565
Congrats on a beauty!!

Keep hitting that spot, should be more relics under the modern trash. Nice find!
-Evan
 

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FoxHound0985

FoxHound0985

Hero Member
Feb 5, 2005
582
1,567
Amber Waves of Grain!
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/AT Pro
Primary Interest:
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Thanks for the replies everyone! :icon_thumright: We went back to the same spot and found absolutely NOTHING :'( Oh well, I guess we can't win every day, lol.

HH!
 

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