XP DEUS Saves a LIFE on relic hunt!

[Patriot Relics]

Hey guys,

Got out in the 100 degree heat over the weekend with Stef and Gheenoe78 for a bit of relic hunting. Little did I know what I would stumble across deep in the woods...

After about 2 hours of swinging, I came across a clearing in the woods. While swinging the detector I got a nice grunt from the XP and to my surprise, a small motionless thing was laying beside the target. I reached down, it let out a whimper and rolled slowly to its side...baby raccoon



Given the heat, and the fact that moma was no where in sight (especially given they are nocturnal) I decided to call off the hunt and get the little guy (affectionately known as Garrett) to the local keeper of the wild program. I dropped off a cash donation and with that the little guy was on his way to recovery, in the care of the local vet hospital.



Back to the relics, scouted a few new spots with varied success. With the deep overgrowth in full effect, surface finds are harder to come by. That being said, Stef's research landed us on an old avenue of oaks. Among the relics was a smooth copper coin...perhaps a farthing.



Also managed a tombac, copper, and killer basket weave pewter button. The basket weave dates from 1770-1790.



Also a strange lead domed...button perhaps...with a star? ID help appreciated.



On an old CW site with Gheenoe I managed a few roundballs, carved bullet, and .44 caliber round.



Among the surface finds was a partial mortar, pottery, and SC dispensary bottle.



Fresh out of electrolysis also managed a large iron saddle buckle.



All in all another outstanding weekend and a bit of karma on my side for next weekend! Good luck out there and keep your eyes on the ground

 

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[Patriot Relics]

look up sandcast buttons -- often due to the shortage of buttons replacement confederate uniform buttons were often made of lead --they were made "in the field" using a real button as a mold by pressing it into sand then pouring hot lead into the sand impression and adding a wire loop while the metal was still hot ...

to my knowledge --star type cuff buttons were used by officers from Texas -- Mississippi and on various general staff officer level officers from many different states ... if made of lead it might be a civil war era sandcast uniform replacement button...
which are highly sought after..near the st marys river along the fla / ga border at a place called thompkins landing --there used to be a confederate picket post (on the fla side) during the civil war as it was a low water crossing spot ... close to the river I found several bullets that had been made into fishing weights and a partial button (about 60% of it )--- a sand cast "texas" type coat button it had 3 star points with the letters t ..e..x at the tips of each point ..clearly they were making coat buttons and trying to catch some fresh fish for food while doing "boring" picket duty .. the button partial I found had not been fully filled and so it got left behind ...

Thanks for the information regarding star button, it's definitely lead and crude...bit more research definitely required for a definitive ID

 

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[GeoW]

One good deed...

 

[Loco-Digger]

Kudos to you for doing the right thing. I also agree this deserves an honorable mention.

 

[Diggin Dude]

Great thing you did there for that little guy. Deserves honorable mention.

Great collection of finds! That info on sandcast buttons is really interesting , hope it turns out to be one. Congrats and HH

 

[Davers]

Nice finds.

Here in Northeast Ohio they air drop poison cubes to reduce the raccoon population. Any raccoon visible in daylight hours has a high likelihood of being a carrier. If I remember correctly each year there is a couple dozen rabies cases traced to the raccoons. I love animals but raccoons can be invasive pests. In my house they climbed the cedar batten board, pulled down the aluminum soffit and got into my attic. They tore up the insulation, urinated and defecated in the inaccessible crawl spaces. About 3000 in damages. Just saying.......the life expectancy of a raccoon that shows its face near me is next to -0- .

Enough about the Rabies thing , VMI is a Smart Guy.
(heck I walk around Spider Webs , seeing all the work they put into them ) .

Great "Saves " all the way around.