gtoast99
Sr. Member
Hey y'all! I got back yesterday from DIV 32 at Cole's Hill. I had a blast digging with my friends again at a very special property to me. As for finds, I did quite well, especially on bullets. But my find of the hunt came just before lunch on the third day.
I was hunting an area with quite a few relics, all of which were super deep. So I was excited to get any nice subtle deep low tone on the GPX. This particular one, though, just kept going down and down into the center of the hole. Finally I reached the target - a Sharps bullet. But I knew there was no way I got a signal at that depth from one Sharps. Knowing there had to me more, I stuck my pinpointer back into the hole, and it sang.
I quickly pinpinted another Sharps, laying horizontally. As I pulled it from the ground, I noticed the round indentation where the bullet came from and realized that these bullets still had their waterproofed paper cartridges intact!!
I was able to salvage the cartridge from one of these first two bullets, and continued more carefully as I recovered the rest. In total I got 8 complete cartridges, one separated cartridge, and one bullet by itself, as well as several percussion caps. I would later see onli e original packages of Sharps cartridges, sold in packages of 10. So I'm assuming that an entire box was discarded or forgotten, and the deep red clay kept the waterproofed cartridges intact for 150 years.
I very carefully brought them home packed in native clay. Cleanup was a challenge, and I did the best I could with dry brushing and a toothpick. I then used a wet brush over the bullet part, as well as the sturdier cartridges. The reconstruction bullet leaked gunpowder around the rim when I was cleaning the bullet, so I know it mush have gotten a small amount of water inside. I hope that doesn't destroy it. Dried them all off with cloth and letting them air dry for a long time before putting the top of the glass case on. I did the best I could, now I guess time will tell how well they hold up. But they seem surprisingly solid.
This is easily one of the coolest things I've ever found. Of all the Civil War relics dropped, they have to be the right combination of cartridge and location to be preserved intact after so long. I have seen a few of the intact 58 minie balls online before. But for an already scarce subset of dug relics, the Sharps are even significantly less common. Needless to say, I'm over the moon with this recovery.
I hope you enjoyed reading (if you made it this far) and the pictures. Happy hunting and God bless.
I was hunting an area with quite a few relics, all of which were super deep. So I was excited to get any nice subtle deep low tone on the GPX. This particular one, though, just kept going down and down into the center of the hole. Finally I reached the target - a Sharps bullet. But I knew there was no way I got a signal at that depth from one Sharps. Knowing there had to me more, I stuck my pinpointer back into the hole, and it sang.
I quickly pinpinted another Sharps, laying horizontally. As I pulled it from the ground, I noticed the round indentation where the bullet came from and realized that these bullets still had their waterproofed paper cartridges intact!!
I was able to salvage the cartridge from one of these first two bullets, and continued more carefully as I recovered the rest. In total I got 8 complete cartridges, one separated cartridge, and one bullet by itself, as well as several percussion caps. I would later see onli e original packages of Sharps cartridges, sold in packages of 10. So I'm assuming that an entire box was discarded or forgotten, and the deep red clay kept the waterproofed cartridges intact for 150 years.
I very carefully brought them home packed in native clay. Cleanup was a challenge, and I did the best I could with dry brushing and a toothpick. I then used a wet brush over the bullet part, as well as the sturdier cartridges. The reconstruction bullet leaked gunpowder around the rim when I was cleaning the bullet, so I know it mush have gotten a small amount of water inside. I hope that doesn't destroy it. Dried them all off with cloth and letting them air dry for a long time before putting the top of the glass case on. I did the best I could, now I guess time will tell how well they hold up. But they seem surprisingly solid.
This is easily one of the coolest things I've ever found. Of all the Civil War relics dropped, they have to be the right combination of cartridge and location to be preserved intact after so long. I have seen a few of the intact 58 minie balls online before. But for an already scarce subset of dug relics, the Sharps are even significantly less common. Needless to say, I'm over the moon with this recovery.
I hope you enjoyed reading (if you made it this far) and the pictures. Happy hunting and God bless.
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