dug halves and confed reunion medal

gtoast99

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Jun 28, 2010
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Yesterday I was had a long unproductive hunt at the farm. Just before I'm about to pack it in, I was looking under a cedar tree when I get a strong signal up by half or dollar. Now I'd been getting similar signals all day that turned out to be cans or iron or various other junk, so I wasn't optimistic. I swung the coil to figure out how big the target was - it covered a pretty good distance, and wasn't really coin shaped. So I sloppily thrust my shovel into the dirt and pulled up a big ol' plug.

Checked the plug, got a beep. Brushed away some dirt, and there's a 1971 Kennedy half that I'd just scratched up with my shovel. I look down into the hole, and just by eye can see another half (another 71) just lying there! So I grab my coins and run over to my wife to tell her the good news! I was dancing and singing and everything, lol!

Well I come back, and just to be sure, I pass my coil over the hole. BEEP. No way, there can't be another one. Sure enough, I pulled TWO more out of the ground before the detector went silent. The last one was a 1976 bicentennial half!

halves.jpg

The only other half in my collection was an eyeball find my wife made moving some dirt near a different cedar tree on the property, also a 1971. So I was thinking... If there were 4 early 70's halves in one hole near one cedar, and another 71 near a different tree... maybe someone had a bunch of halves to hide, and use the cedars as marking places (find the cedar, go x feet towards y, dig.)

I decided to test my theory on the other cedars around the property with the half-hour of daylight after work. First one... nothin. Second... 76 penny. Third... skunked. It was allllmost dark, and I thought about going in, but decided to try one more. There I got a broken copper signal and dug it. Out pops medal-shaped object. I do a quick on-site cleaning and see the stars and bars staring up at me!

I rushed in to clean and inspect it. Turns out it's a 1927 United confederate Veterans reunion delegates medal!!! Below the picture of my dug medal is another picture of what it looks like in good shape.

reunion medal.jpg

ucv1927a.jpg

But the coolest part of this find for me is a bit of personal history. For the last several years I've been researching the history of my farm. In 1927, the house was owned by Capt. Sam H. Webb, a confederate veteran from the 7th NC Reserves. According to my research he was very active in the local Confederate veterans organizations. He must have lost this medal on the farm between 1927 and his death just 2 years later. His picture is included below. My biggest goal in MD'ing the farm was to find something I could definitively attribute to the Webb family - needless to say, this may be my favorite find to date.

Thanks for looking!
 

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goldie1959

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Oct 7, 2007
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great finds. i am green with jealousy. i would keep at it. either kids lost them or a cache got scattered by lawn work or ground leveling,excavation :icon_thumleft:work
 

birdman

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Jan 28, 2005
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That reunion medal is awesome!!
 

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gtoast99

gtoast99

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Jun 28, 2010
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568
Virginia
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Thanks forthe replies!

I thought that at first, Mackaydon, and got really excited. But although it may be a reunion medal, it isn't this reunion medal - his image here is cropped from one with two of his brothers, one of whom wasn't living in 1927.

I went through my notes again, and found this introduction in his obituary in 1929. Emphasis is mine, of course, and for historical researchers who might find this page, note that they got his middle name wrong. (It was given Henry).

Capt: Sam H Webb was Notable Citizen
Alamance Man was Last of his Immediate Family

Burlington, April 16 -
In the passing of Captain Samuel Hawkins Webb at his home in Thompson Township Monday afternoon at 2:30, Alamance County lost one of its "grand old men," one of its most active politicians for the past 40 years, one of its best retired farmers; The United Confederate Veterans lost one of their most famous members, one who had attended every reunion for the past many years, and who got a real thrill out of the meetings; and his community lost one of its best citizens, the last of a large and prominent family.
 

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