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Jan 08, 2019, 05:57 PM
#1
CANE FIELD BANDITS and IRON BRIGADE MEMBER
It's a CIVIL WAR DOG TAG! Louisiana Pelican Button Stunner, Eagle, Bullets, Silver
Hello All,
I just don't know how to even process the hunt we had yesterday. I've found something that was a bucket list, Dream Find for me for 25 years-something that I thought I'd never, ever dig. As I'm still cleaning bullets and brass pieces that I dug, I felt that I just had to get this posted to share with all of you. Here's the video:
We got up early and went to a new field that we've been wanting to try out. The rains have been horrible here in Louisiana this fall, with many crop fields complete failures and the soybeans rotting in them because they couldn't get them out due to the mud. Sugar cane is about a month behind schedule and the yield is poor due to the weather. We were supposed to host a good friend from Kentucky to come dig with us and he had to cancel because it was a flood of rain and we would've been unable to dig at all! Well it was still nasty but we just couldn't stand it any longer, we just had to get out. After parking and walking through the muck for a mile we got to our field, almost worn out before we even started. I'd seen a trash pit there and thought it'd be nice to give it a try.
Turns out the pit was 1920-40s and we werent interested. After digging our butts off for two hours for junk I decided to take a random walk into the next field back. It was quiet, unlike the machine gun chatter of iron I'd been putting up with in the trash pit. 
Getting a good beep (my second signal in that field!) I dug what looked like a gilded civilian flower button. I was pleased with it, thinking it was at least a good sign of something old in the area. But when I opened the clod for a closer look, I started to freak out. It was a BEAUTIFUL gold gilded Pelican Civil War button!!


Easily my finest condition Pelican button dug, this is the LA203A1 variety with the *SCOVILL, MF'G, CO* backmark.
Our digging went into overtime! Then the bullets started to come up. Mainly .69 cal round balls and buck from the "buck and ball" configuration rounds. Then I dug a flattened minieball and my buddy dug an eagle button:

Looked like a mixed-occupation site, North and South!
At this point we actually dug several coins--

first a Shield nickel for Shane, then one for me, then a wheat cent, a second Shield, and I got a fantastic high tone. Looking down I spied a Barber Dime poking out of the dirt. Beautiful 1905-O (not the micro-O variety, unfortunately).

Evidently a mixed site in terms of time period too! Funny thing happened when I thought I had another military button (laying face down in the mud). Picked it up and once I realized it was only the back the four letter words came out Plug your ears if u watch the video. 
All the while we were digging buckshot and .69 cal balls, as well as some pistol bullets. (Ended up with a NICE pocket full of lead!)
Then I got this good tone and opened up the hole and saw what I thought at first was a Large Cent staring up at me:

Then I looked closely and noticed the gilding. So I started thinking "token." (This whole dialog that's usually in my head is actually coming out of my mouth in the video, which is interesting!). Then I flipped it over and saw this:

Which made me think "Abraham Lincoln Campaign Token" (my wife has dug one). But then I saw "War of 1861" on the token and it started to dawn on me that it MIGHT be a Civil War ID Disc!! My heart started racing!!

Turns out that's EXACTLY what it is! These were manufactured so they could be purchased by sutlers and stamped with soldiers' names so their bodies could be identified if they perished in battle. ("dog tags" as we know them were not standard military issue yet--and in fact these are the first dog tags in use).
Here's a link to a similar, dug one:
http://www.horsesoldier.com/products...qqnVbkntbQO8VM
And a blank, non-dug one (this is how mine would've looked when new, before it was stamped with the soldier's name):

https://historical.ha.com/itm/politi.../96061-27067.s
I raced home, hoping--PRAYING--that the stamped side of the disc would be legible. (They are often lightly stamped and fare horribly in the soil.) After some careful brain surgery with a wooden skewer, and photographing each step of the way, some letters started to come out. (For those of you who clean copper and brass items with water, if I'd done that here, EVERYTHING would've been completely lost!). Eventually the name and other details emerged.

This Yankee soldier's name was Thomas Mason. He was born in Bangor, Maine in 1838 and enlisted on September 20th 1862 as a private in Company G 41st Massachusetts Volunteers (designation changed to the 3rd Massachusetts Cavalry in June of 1863--and this unit designation is what his war records bear). He was a part of the 2nd Brigade of the Army of the Gulf and participated in the siege of Port Hudson where he sustained an injury that sent him home disabled. Thomas wasn't done with military service though. After 11 months recovery, he reinlisted in the 13th Regiment Veterans Reserve Corps (a Corps for those rendered unable to serve due to disease or wounds, but who could continue to serve in garrison or lighter duty). He was honorably discharged at the war's end in 1865. He continued to stay active in the Massachusetts G.A.R. and died in West Bridgewater Massachusetts on March 20, 1896 of bronchitis at the age of 58.
I honestly can't imagine his thoughts, after growing up in Maine, once he enlisted in the summer and they sent him straight to Louisiana. Louisiana is still like no other place in the world today--but in the 1860s I'm sure it was like a foreign country with the rain forest levels of precipitation, deep mud, the spanish moss, plantation homes, French and Spanish language spoken everywhere, mazes of bayous and swamps, nutria rats, gators, snakes and sweltering heat.
I am in awe and humbled to have been the first person to touch this ID disc 156 years after it fell from Private Mason's neck in a Louisiana sugarcane field.
Best Wishes,
Buckleboy
Last edited by BuckleBoy; Jan 09, 2019 at 10:01 AM.
2020 CaneField Bandits Totals:
Republic of Texas Navy Cuff Button
US Civil War Belt Plate
Eagle Breastplate
Cast C Cavalry button (“T. Miller Houston”)
Three Louisiana Pelican Cuff Buttons
Louisiana Pelican Coat Button
3 gram gold nugget from a plantation site
Shield from an 1820-30 Artillery Shako Cap Badge
Corps of Artillerists and Engineers Button 1798-1802
Four CW eagle coat buttons
Two CW eagle cuff buttons
French Navy Equipages de Ligne button (1 piece, 1830-40s)
Two New York Staff Officer Cuff Buttons
Colonial silver sleeve link/button made from a half real
Monogrammed Silver Love Token
TWO M1858 Remington Revolver Trigger Guards
bone die eyeballed
Silver spoon made by Alexander McGrew 1805-1836
Coin Silver mid-1800s "Fede Ring"
1820s-30s silver eyeglasses frame fragment
End of a gold crucifix or mechanical pencil
Tip of a silver mechanical pencil
William IV farthing (1830-1837)
dateless half real
half-cut half real (“quarter real”)
1781 and 1807 half reales
1840 quarter franc French silver
1850 20 centimes French silver
1851-O, 1852 three cent silver and a dateless 1/4 of a three cent silver
Two 1839-O, 1840, 1842, 1848-O, 1851, 1851-O, 1852-O, two 1853's, 1856, 1856-O, 1857, Two 1857-O’s, 1858 (holed), three 1858-O, an 1859-O and a dateless Seated Half Dime
1839, 1854-O, 1874, 1891-O, one dateless Seated Liberty Dime, and one dateless half-cut Seated Liberty Dime
1896-O Barber Dime
1953-D Roosie
1877-CC and 1875 Seated Quarters
1858-O Seated Half Dollar
1892-O, 1899 and 1906-O Barber Quarters
1940 Washington Quarter
1942-P, three 1943-S and two 1943-P War Nickels
shotgun breechblock
iron prisoner shackles
picket pin
Spurs
Plantation tokens
Minieballs, Beefaloes, V and Shield Nickels, and some GawGag
OUR 2019 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...9-wrap-up.html
OUR 2018 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...nths-late.html
OUR 2017 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...ts-photos.html
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OUR 2012 YEAR END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post3120940
Any relics, coins, or other items appearing in my signatures were found on PRIVATE PROPERTY with total consent and permission from the owners of said property.
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:07 PM
#2
 Classic car lover
BANNER!! great start for 2019 !!
audemus jura nostra defendere
neque deditionem

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Jan 08, 2019, 06:09 PM
#3
 Three Amigo Detecting
Some more great finds you dug there.That civil war dog tag looks like a banner find to me.
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:10 PM
#4
 dan
dude.........tooo awesome......
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:11 PM
#5
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:11 PM
#6
Agreed, banner worthy. The story of the find, the story of the research after, all of it. That’s the find of a lifetime, well done and congrats!
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:12 PM
#7
 beachcomber, treasure hunter, fisherman
 wahoo caught in bahamas
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:14 PM
#8
Awesome. I'd be happy with the button!
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:21 PM
#9
 Hawks88
Great save. Great research and put together in a nice story. Congrats on all the nice finds. Definitely banner worthy.
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:23 PM
#10
 Lunch Bag
Absolutely unbelievable find! Congratulations!
Could you please explain using the wooden skewer.
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:26 PM
#11
CANE FIELD BANDITS and IRON BRIGADE MEMBER
 Originally Posted by gold boy
BANNER!! great start for 2019 !!
Thank you for the banner nomination. I am floating on cloud 9--or perhaps that's lack of sleep from researching this soldier's identity!
2020 CaneField Bandits Totals:
Republic of Texas Navy Cuff Button
US Civil War Belt Plate
Eagle Breastplate
Cast C Cavalry button (“T. Miller Houston”)
Three Louisiana Pelican Cuff Buttons
Louisiana Pelican Coat Button
3 gram gold nugget from a plantation site
Shield from an 1820-30 Artillery Shako Cap Badge
Corps of Artillerists and Engineers Button 1798-1802
Four CW eagle coat buttons
Two CW eagle cuff buttons
French Navy Equipages de Ligne button (1 piece, 1830-40s)
Two New York Staff Officer Cuff Buttons
Colonial silver sleeve link/button made from a half real
Monogrammed Silver Love Token
TWO M1858 Remington Revolver Trigger Guards
bone die eyeballed
Silver spoon made by Alexander McGrew 1805-1836
Coin Silver mid-1800s "Fede Ring"
1820s-30s silver eyeglasses frame fragment
End of a gold crucifix or mechanical pencil
Tip of a silver mechanical pencil
William IV farthing (1830-1837)
dateless half real
half-cut half real (“quarter real”)
1781 and 1807 half reales
1840 quarter franc French silver
1850 20 centimes French silver
1851-O, 1852 three cent silver and a dateless 1/4 of a three cent silver
Two 1839-O, 1840, 1842, 1848-O, 1851, 1851-O, 1852-O, two 1853's, 1856, 1856-O, 1857, Two 1857-O’s, 1858 (holed), three 1858-O, an 1859-O and a dateless Seated Half Dime
1839, 1854-O, 1874, 1891-O, one dateless Seated Liberty Dime, and one dateless half-cut Seated Liberty Dime
1896-O Barber Dime
1953-D Roosie
1877-CC and 1875 Seated Quarters
1858-O Seated Half Dollar
1892-O, 1899 and 1906-O Barber Quarters
1940 Washington Quarter
1942-P, three 1943-S and two 1943-P War Nickels
shotgun breechblock
iron prisoner shackles
picket pin
Spurs
Plantation tokens
Minieballs, Beefaloes, V and Shield Nickels, and some GawGag
OUR 2019 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...9-wrap-up.html
OUR 2018 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...nths-late.html
OUR 2017 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...ts-photos.html
OUR 2016 YEAR-END POST:
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OUR 2012 YEAR END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post3120940
Any relics, coins, or other items appearing in my signatures were found on PRIVATE PROPERTY with total consent and permission from the owners of said property.
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Jan 08, 2019, 06:27 PM
#12
CANE FIELD BANDITS and IRON BRIGADE MEMBER
 Originally Posted by billpa
Some more great finds you dug there.That civil war dog tag looks like a banner find to me.
Thanks so much, Bill! My buddy said he thinks I have a horseshoe stuck up my @$$ but I think he's just saving up karma to dig the first gold coin between us!
2020 CaneField Bandits Totals:
Republic of Texas Navy Cuff Button
US Civil War Belt Plate
Eagle Breastplate
Cast C Cavalry button (“T. Miller Houston”)
Three Louisiana Pelican Cuff Buttons
Louisiana Pelican Coat Button
3 gram gold nugget from a plantation site
Shield from an 1820-30 Artillery Shako Cap Badge
Corps of Artillerists and Engineers Button 1798-1802
Four CW eagle coat buttons
Two CW eagle cuff buttons
French Navy Equipages de Ligne button (1 piece, 1830-40s)
Two New York Staff Officer Cuff Buttons
Colonial silver sleeve link/button made from a half real
Monogrammed Silver Love Token
TWO M1858 Remington Revolver Trigger Guards
bone die eyeballed
Silver spoon made by Alexander McGrew 1805-1836
Coin Silver mid-1800s "Fede Ring"
1820s-30s silver eyeglasses frame fragment
End of a gold crucifix or mechanical pencil
Tip of a silver mechanical pencil
William IV farthing (1830-1837)
dateless half real
half-cut half real (“quarter real”)
1781 and 1807 half reales
1840 quarter franc French silver
1850 20 centimes French silver
1851-O, 1852 three cent silver and a dateless 1/4 of a three cent silver
Two 1839-O, 1840, 1842, 1848-O, 1851, 1851-O, 1852-O, two 1853's, 1856, 1856-O, 1857, Two 1857-O’s, 1858 (holed), three 1858-O, an 1859-O and a dateless Seated Half Dime
1839, 1854-O, 1874, 1891-O, one dateless Seated Liberty Dime, and one dateless half-cut Seated Liberty Dime
1896-O Barber Dime
1953-D Roosie
1877-CC and 1875 Seated Quarters
1858-O Seated Half Dollar
1892-O, 1899 and 1906-O Barber Quarters
1940 Washington Quarter
1942-P, three 1943-S and two 1943-P War Nickels
shotgun breechblock
iron prisoner shackles
picket pin
Spurs
Plantation tokens
Minieballs, Beefaloes, V and Shield Nickels, and some GawGag
OUR 2019 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...9-wrap-up.html
OUR 2018 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...nths-late.html
OUR 2017 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...ts-photos.html
OUR 2016 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post5286759
OUR 2015 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...what-year.html
OUR 2014 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...lots-pics.html
OUR 2013 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...-end-post.html
OUR 2012 YEAR END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post3120940
Any relics, coins, or other items appearing in my signatures were found on PRIVATE PROPERTY with total consent and permission from the owners of said property.
-
Jan 08, 2019, 06:28 PM
#13
CANE FIELD BANDITS and IRON BRIGADE MEMBER
 Originally Posted by CoinHunterAZ
Agreed, banner worthy. The story of the find, the story of the research after, all of it. That’s the find of a lifetime, well done and congrats!
Thank you so much, Coin Hunter!
2020 CaneField Bandits Totals:
Republic of Texas Navy Cuff Button
US Civil War Belt Plate
Eagle Breastplate
Cast C Cavalry button (“T. Miller Houston”)
Three Louisiana Pelican Cuff Buttons
Louisiana Pelican Coat Button
3 gram gold nugget from a plantation site
Shield from an 1820-30 Artillery Shako Cap Badge
Corps of Artillerists and Engineers Button 1798-1802
Four CW eagle coat buttons
Two CW eagle cuff buttons
French Navy Equipages de Ligne button (1 piece, 1830-40s)
Two New York Staff Officer Cuff Buttons
Colonial silver sleeve link/button made from a half real
Monogrammed Silver Love Token
TWO M1858 Remington Revolver Trigger Guards
bone die eyeballed
Silver spoon made by Alexander McGrew 1805-1836
Coin Silver mid-1800s "Fede Ring"
1820s-30s silver eyeglasses frame fragment
End of a gold crucifix or mechanical pencil
Tip of a silver mechanical pencil
William IV farthing (1830-1837)
dateless half real
half-cut half real (“quarter real”)
1781 and 1807 half reales
1840 quarter franc French silver
1850 20 centimes French silver
1851-O, 1852 three cent silver and a dateless 1/4 of a three cent silver
Two 1839-O, 1840, 1842, 1848-O, 1851, 1851-O, 1852-O, two 1853's, 1856, 1856-O, 1857, Two 1857-O’s, 1858 (holed), three 1858-O, an 1859-O and a dateless Seated Half Dime
1839, 1854-O, 1874, 1891-O, one dateless Seated Liberty Dime, and one dateless half-cut Seated Liberty Dime
1896-O Barber Dime
1953-D Roosie
1877-CC and 1875 Seated Quarters
1858-O Seated Half Dollar
1892-O, 1899 and 1906-O Barber Quarters
1940 Washington Quarter
1942-P, three 1943-S and two 1943-P War Nickels
shotgun breechblock
iron prisoner shackles
picket pin
Spurs
Plantation tokens
Minieballs, Beefaloes, V and Shield Nickels, and some GawGag
OUR 2019 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...9-wrap-up.html
OUR 2018 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...nths-late.html
OUR 2017 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...ts-photos.html
OUR 2016 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post5286759
OUR 2015 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...what-year.html
OUR 2014 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...lots-pics.html
OUR 2013 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...-end-post.html
OUR 2012 YEAR END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post3120940
Any relics, coins, or other items appearing in my signatures were found on PRIVATE PROPERTY with total consent and permission from the owners of said property.
-
Jan 08, 2019, 06:29 PM
#14
CANE FIELD BANDITS and IRON BRIGADE MEMBER
 Originally Posted by Hawks88
Great save. Great research and put together in a nice story. Congrats on all the nice finds. Definitely banner worthy.
Thanks so much for the reply Hawks. I'm sooooo thankful that the stamped side was legible after being in a swamp for over 150 years!
2020 CaneField Bandits Totals:
Republic of Texas Navy Cuff Button
US Civil War Belt Plate
Eagle Breastplate
Cast C Cavalry button (“T. Miller Houston”)
Three Louisiana Pelican Cuff Buttons
Louisiana Pelican Coat Button
3 gram gold nugget from a plantation site
Shield from an 1820-30 Artillery Shako Cap Badge
Corps of Artillerists and Engineers Button 1798-1802
Four CW eagle coat buttons
Two CW eagle cuff buttons
French Navy Equipages de Ligne button (1 piece, 1830-40s)
Two New York Staff Officer Cuff Buttons
Colonial silver sleeve link/button made from a half real
Monogrammed Silver Love Token
TWO M1858 Remington Revolver Trigger Guards
bone die eyeballed
Silver spoon made by Alexander McGrew 1805-1836
Coin Silver mid-1800s "Fede Ring"
1820s-30s silver eyeglasses frame fragment
End of a gold crucifix or mechanical pencil
Tip of a silver mechanical pencil
William IV farthing (1830-1837)
dateless half real
half-cut half real (“quarter real”)
1781 and 1807 half reales
1840 quarter franc French silver
1850 20 centimes French silver
1851-O, 1852 three cent silver and a dateless 1/4 of a three cent silver
Two 1839-O, 1840, 1842, 1848-O, 1851, 1851-O, 1852-O, two 1853's, 1856, 1856-O, 1857, Two 1857-O’s, 1858 (holed), three 1858-O, an 1859-O and a dateless Seated Half Dime
1839, 1854-O, 1874, 1891-O, one dateless Seated Liberty Dime, and one dateless half-cut Seated Liberty Dime
1896-O Barber Dime
1953-D Roosie
1877-CC and 1875 Seated Quarters
1858-O Seated Half Dollar
1892-O, 1899 and 1906-O Barber Quarters
1940 Washington Quarter
1942-P, three 1943-S and two 1943-P War Nickels
shotgun breechblock
iron prisoner shackles
picket pin
Spurs
Plantation tokens
Minieballs, Beefaloes, V and Shield Nickels, and some GawGag
OUR 2019 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...9-wrap-up.html
OUR 2018 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...nths-late.html
OUR 2017 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...ts-photos.html
OUR 2016 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post5286759
OUR 2015 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...what-year.html
OUR 2014 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...lots-pics.html
OUR 2013 YEAR-END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/to...-end-post.html
OUR 2012 YEAR END POST:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/20...ml#post3120940
Any relics, coins, or other items appearing in my signatures were found on PRIVATE PROPERTY with total consent and permission from the owners of said property.
-
Jan 08, 2019, 06:33 PM
#15
Banner....even if there were no banners that would be a prized find, nothing but awesome there.A hugh congrats on what will no doubt be up top soon.
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