🥇 BANNER I just found an oval CS "egg" buckle from the Eastern Theater!!!

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
It took 30 years of digging but I finally found the plate I have always wanted to find. I hadn't been able to do a lot of digging this year. Many already know my father has been ill for some time and between work and spending time with him and helping out my mom I just havn't had any free time. I had found an AVC coat button in January and then literally six months went by before I picked up my Nautilus again. Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day with the leaves just beginning to change on the Eastern Peninsula. I knew I was in a good spot and that it was Confederate. The last time at this spot 2 weeks ago I had dug 34 musket balls, 2 Gardners, 2 Georgia Teat bullets, and a lone Enfield. I had dug for about 3 hours and had 11 musket balls, a 69 Minnie, several case shot, and 1 carved minnie in my pouch. I had been slowly working an old road bed that I had discovered. The bullets were deep and in the hardest ground I had seen in some time. I literally had to chip away the orangish clayish soil a little at a time to get to the relic. This ground makes digging so time consuming and it is so easy to hit the object if you are not careful. The one thing I do like is the absence of roots but the rock like soil makes up for that! I got another bullet like reading and began to dig for it. Most of the musket balls were down about 6 inches but this relic was much deeper. I'm glad it was because it made me switch my entrenching shovel to the shovel position. I go down another few inches and the signal was still in the ground and LOUD! At 10 inches I pried a clump of the clay up and an object popped up and did a few flips and landed face down in the hole. I immediately saw the oval shape and time literally went into slow motion. I carefully removed the buckle and flipped it over and saw those magical letters that every relic hunter dreams of seeing "C S". It was exactly 1:07 PM and my day had finally arrived! Except for a small area where my shovel scraped against the back of the plate all the lead backing is intact. The 3 iron hooks are broken. What's even more amazing is the initials WW are carved in the back!The front of the buckle has a beautiful greenish white " crust " on it. After I took a few pictures and a short video I checked the hole. The plate was exactly 10 inches down. It was time to go home because I knew nothing I found could top my CS buckle. I immediately called my Dad but he was sleeping so I told my mom what I had found and not to tell my Dad. Then I realized I had nothing to transport my buckle in. My button container was to small and I was not about to put it in my pouch with all my lead.......so I opened my wallet and stuck it in the money fold, folded the wallet up, and placed it in my backpack. On the way out of the woods I kept stopping and making sure the wallet and buckle were still in my backpack. By the time I got to my parent's home my father was awake. I told him to come to the door and placed the CS Buckle in his hand. You should have seen the look on his face! I am so glad I was able to have him here to witness this find. He is the person who got me in this great hobby and he is the only other person to have held it so far. He took a picture of me holding the buckle and he was so excited for me he got his fingers in the picture! LOL. I am going to let the buckle air dry for a few days and then gently dry brush it with a soft toothbrush. It still seems so surreal to have found a marked CS plate. It was my one wish and I honestly had begun to think it would never happen. This is certainly a find of a lifetime for me and I feel a little different today...... It feels so good to accomplish a feat like this and turn a dream into reality! This just shows me that great relics are still out there and if you put the research and time in you will eventually dig them
 

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Upvote 49

mikeraydj

Bronze Member
May 19, 2014
1,288
1,513
Montana
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac, Deteknix X-Pointer, Garrett Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
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Nice find. I hope you will share some pictures of it closer so we can see the detail.
 

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Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
More pics

In situ and group pics. Forgot how to load all pics at once!
 

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Diggin-N-Dumps

Gold Member
Sep 9, 2009
6,046
3,781
Fort Worth,Texas
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CTX 3030 / AT PRO / Etrac w/ NEL
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All Treasure Hunting
Thats Amazing man!! Thats Great your dad was there to share that with you!!
 

Iron Patch

Gold Member
Sep 28, 2007
19,254
8,730
Dirtyville
🥇 Banner finds
3
Detector(s) used
Deus
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Good ole VA, probably the only place on the planet you'd see a Colonial Baltimore silver and CS egg buckle dug in the same week. Can someone please add a super rare GW button to complete the trifecta of wow.
 

texjim

Silver Member
Feb 3, 2009
4,336
2,702
schuylkill county pa.
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whites xlt,vx3
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Another find that i never get tired of looking at on the forum. Awesome job
 

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Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks Iron Patch. Yes me and Bill Dancy stay neck and neck with finds athough I go after Rev and Civil war relics mostly! On another note now everytime I see a Confederate roster and see a name beginning and ending with the letter "W", I will wonder if I found his buckle! I still can't believe I found this and to has his initials carved in the back is the icing on the cake!
 

Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,696
11,647
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What a great story and super find. It was like I was right there. Nothing any better than sharing things with loved ones. Great job :thumbsup:
 

Bill D. (VA)

Silver Member
Oct 7, 2008
4,711
6,212
SE Virginia
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6
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2
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F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
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Other
That is an awesome recovery John, and know it's one you'll always treasure. You definitely have yourself onto a very productive site, and I'm sure you make some more killer finds there. BTW - do I see part of a colonial spectacle buckle in the middle bottom of the first pic?
 

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Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Good eye Bill! I almost always find finds from both conficts and this time was no exception.
 

BigWaveDave

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2013
9,299
16,908
Mountain Maryland
🥇 Banner finds
2
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4
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Garrett AT Pro, AT Max, Minelab
Equinox 800
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Metal Detecting
Great story, and thanks for sharing with us your awesome find!!!
 

Gaspipe

Bronze Member
Sep 6, 2013
1,053
1,246
New England
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Garrett AT Pro; F75
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Biggest congrats a banner find if there ever was one.
 

parsonwalker

Bronze Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,491
2,856
Virginia
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2
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Modified GI Mine Detector (In the 60s)
Metrotech (In the 70s)
Tesoro Tejon (Now!)
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No words dude. Wow.
 

cjon455

Gold Member
Jun 4, 2012
9,207
11,541
Northeast PA
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Garrett Propointer
Garrett Propointer-AT
Sampson T handle shovel
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Man that's great, what a piece of American history. Must've been an adrenaline rush to see that baby!
Id love to find anything marked cs, great job!
 

treblehunter

Gold Member
Jun 18, 2013
9,675
11,295
New Jersey
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XP Deus
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Congrats! I'm very happy most of all for you that you were able to share that find with your mother and father. That was the best part and priceless!
 

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Devonrex

Devonrex

Sr. Member
Jan 6, 2012
351
1,260
SE Virginia
🥇 Banner finds
4
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats! I'm very happy most of all for you that you were able to share that find with your mother and father. That was the best part and priceless!
Thanks Treblehunter! What I forgot to tell everyone is my father is who got me in this great hobby to begin with. He has found many spectacular finds as well but a egg shaped CS oval with lead backing is one that he never made but always dreamed of finding too! This plate was made at the outbreak of the Civil War and is only found at 1861-62 early war battlesites. It is much rarer to find one of these than the tongue in wreath CS. Its been 2 days and I am still on cloud 9! I hope this feeling never goes away!
 

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