Possible Shoulder Belt Plate, 1/4 Franc, Louisiana Pelican Cuff, Half Dime, CW Relics
UPDATE: This brass plate was identified as a medallion from the side of a Mexican War Officer's Stirrup. I had actually dug the broken side of the stirrup, and it is a perfect match with the size and location of the hole to receive the post from the eagle piece. I just never put the two together. See the side of the stirrup on the top left of the post of my finds below. Now I just need to find the rest of the stirrup and the other medallion!
Hello All,
Went out today for what would be a very memorable hunt! Returned to the site where I'd dug a couple of dropped Civil War bullets last hunt, and we actually walked further into a definite CW site. Enjoy the video below:
Shanegalang and I started, and the first thing I dug was an old silver ring, missing the stone. It had a sugar cane root growing through the ring itself when I dug it.
Then I managed to dig a nice .69 cal round ball with a big casting seam on it. This was followed by another Maynard Carbine bullet and a dropped, swaged Minieball.
Shanegalang got a nice cupboard key and a one-piece flower button, and I dug a small, fragile two-piece cuff button that I put in my cotton ball jar and didn't give much thought to... Here's Shang's key:
Then I hear him saying "come over here, dude!" and I go running across the field, because I know he's got something great. It was an unusual looking tiny silver coin laying right on top where it had washed out of the dirt:
I was originally puzzled by this coin, but once we saw that the edge was reeded, I could rule out 1700s, so I felt quite strongly that it was mid 1800's-ish.
Turns out, the coin is an 1845 1/4 Franc. First one of those I've ever seen dug!
At that point, I was saying "My turn!"
Didn't take long until I had a great signal, which turned out to be a silver dime. An 1899 Barber. Not great repayment for such a cool, pre-CW, interesting coin...but any silver was good silver at that point for me!
We took a break and ate some snacks at the truck. Then we got out butts back out there and kept digging!
Shang had a hunch about a little field we'd passed on the way in. So we decided to get in there and try it out. The field was quiet as a mouse. No iron. No lead. No brass. There was one signal in there, and Shang dug it--it was a beautiful 1853-O w/Arrows Half Dime!
At this point, Shangalangalangalang said that he was woe out and satisfied with his finds. We said bye and he took off for home. I couldn't let his killer half dime be the last thing dug. It just fired me up too much to see such a nice piece of Old Silver dug. So I resolved to stay one more hour and see what came up.
I went back to the original spot and quickly dug a flat button on the very first row...then in that same spot I got a great high signal and thought for sure I was going to dig a silver quarter. Instead, a thick oval of cast brass popped out. I snatched it up excitedly and was shocked to see an eagle and stars on its face!!
Folks, this relic is either the breastplate from a horse harness/martingale or a c.1840s Militia Shoulder Belt Plate! I will update this thread once the experts in 19th c. militaria share more information about this find. At that point I decided to call it a day, so I walked back to the truck, digging a thick pack stud from a sword belt rig on the way.
When I got home, careful cleaning revealed two Awesome surprises. The disc I'd thought was a really low reading flat button was actually a toasted Flying Eagle Cent! I haven't dug many of these over the years, but all of them have been toast--this one included. No point in showing the other side of this coin. Ain't nothing to see! But the style of wreath is certainly FE not IH.
I also carefully started to clean the little, fragile, two-piece button and was SHOCKED to see that it was a Louisiana PELICAN Civil War cuff button! Not certain that it can be restored, but I'm hoping so. I don't seem to see Pelican cuff sized buttons very often, so I was really happy to dig this!
And the Plate... It's bent by the plow (of course!)
But it may be able to be straightened. I'll wait for the positive ID of the piece before I take any more action on it. On the bright side, the plate cleaned up very nicely! If anyone has any information about this relic, PLEASE drop me a line!
Here are the total finds for the day:
Best Wishes,
Buck
UPDATE: This brass plate was identified as a medallion from the side of a Mexican War Officer's Stirrup. I had actually dug the broken side of the stirrup, and it is a perfect match with the size and location of the hole to receive the post from the eagle piece. I just never put the two together. See the side of the stirrup on the top left of the post of my finds below. Now I just need to find the rest of the stirrup and the other medallion!
Hello All,
Went out today for what would be a very memorable hunt! Returned to the site where I'd dug a couple of dropped Civil War bullets last hunt, and we actually walked further into a definite CW site. Enjoy the video below:
Shanegalang and I started, and the first thing I dug was an old silver ring, missing the stone. It had a sugar cane root growing through the ring itself when I dug it.
Then I managed to dig a nice .69 cal round ball with a big casting seam on it. This was followed by another Maynard Carbine bullet and a dropped, swaged Minieball.
Shanegalang got a nice cupboard key and a one-piece flower button, and I dug a small, fragile two-piece cuff button that I put in my cotton ball jar and didn't give much thought to... Here's Shang's key:
Then I hear him saying "come over here, dude!" and I go running across the field, because I know he's got something great. It was an unusual looking tiny silver coin laying right on top where it had washed out of the dirt:
I was originally puzzled by this coin, but once we saw that the edge was reeded, I could rule out 1700s, so I felt quite strongly that it was mid 1800's-ish.
Turns out, the coin is an 1845 1/4 Franc. First one of those I've ever seen dug!
At that point, I was saying "My turn!"
Didn't take long until I had a great signal, which turned out to be a silver dime. An 1899 Barber. Not great repayment for such a cool, pre-CW, interesting coin...but any silver was good silver at that point for me!
We took a break and ate some snacks at the truck. Then we got out butts back out there and kept digging!
Shang had a hunch about a little field we'd passed on the way in. So we decided to get in there and try it out. The field was quiet as a mouse. No iron. No lead. No brass. There was one signal in there, and Shang dug it--it was a beautiful 1853-O w/Arrows Half Dime!
At this point, Shangalangalangalang said that he was woe out and satisfied with his finds. We said bye and he took off for home. I couldn't let his killer half dime be the last thing dug. It just fired me up too much to see such a nice piece of Old Silver dug. So I resolved to stay one more hour and see what came up.
I went back to the original spot and quickly dug a flat button on the very first row...then in that same spot I got a great high signal and thought for sure I was going to dig a silver quarter. Instead, a thick oval of cast brass popped out. I snatched it up excitedly and was shocked to see an eagle and stars on its face!!
Folks, this relic is either the breastplate from a horse harness/martingale or a c.1840s Militia Shoulder Belt Plate! I will update this thread once the experts in 19th c. militaria share more information about this find. At that point I decided to call it a day, so I walked back to the truck, digging a thick pack stud from a sword belt rig on the way.
When I got home, careful cleaning revealed two Awesome surprises. The disc I'd thought was a really low reading flat button was actually a toasted Flying Eagle Cent! I haven't dug many of these over the years, but all of them have been toast--this one included. No point in showing the other side of this coin. Ain't nothing to see! But the style of wreath is certainly FE not IH.
I also carefully started to clean the little, fragile, two-piece button and was SHOCKED to see that it was a Louisiana PELICAN Civil War cuff button! Not certain that it can be restored, but I'm hoping so. I don't seem to see Pelican cuff sized buttons very often, so I was really happy to dig this!
And the Plate... It's bent by the plow (of course!)
But it may be able to be straightened. I'll wait for the positive ID of the piece before I take any more action on it. On the bright side, the plate cleaned up very nicely! If anyone has any information about this relic, PLEASE drop me a line!
Here are the total finds for the day:
Best Wishes,
Buck
Last edited:
Upvote
25
