BuckleBoy
Gold Member
Hello All,
As dey say down here, "I'm gonna told you a story."
So, feel free to click "Play" and listen to this soundtrack while you look... 
Well, it was time for a hunt, and I was ready to claw my way out of the bustling small town and get out to those cane fields again! So Shanegalang and Digger Girl and I met up in the wee hours of the morning to finish the grid on our latest field. We weren't expecting much, since we knew that the grid would take us way out of the iron patch, and into a spot where a more recent house had stood. Well, we sprayed down with mosquito spray and got right to diggin.
For a long time, things were very slow. Nothing more than a few marbles and some interesting bits came up. There were long stretches of nothing to dig. My energy was running low, and the temperatures were climbing higher. I know that you guys in the North are probably getting frost by now, but it was 92 for the high for this hunt down here in Louisiana.
At any rate, eventually I heard "EEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" and knew that Shane was giving the Cajun Yell and had dug something good. It was an eagle Artillery cuff.
Cuffs in general are hard to find (I think I have two cuffs total, out of all my many dug eagles), but artillery cuffs are a great button to dig. I congratulated him, and we got to work again, all fired up. After a bit more time, with little to show, we took a break for a killer lunch that consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, jambalaya, and fried catfish.
We came back renewed and ready for the heat and hopefully some more finds. Well, the first row Shane was on he dug a button I had never seen before. (I told him that was a feat by itself.)
Anyhow, I strongly suspected that the button was military, and so I made a few calls to figure out exactly what he had. It was laying right in the top of a cane row, which did wonders for rinsing the gilding off:
The button is a Revenue Marine button, 1850s. Only one example of this button has been dug and posted on Tnet since the site began.
If you'd like to see both of these buttons cleaned up, please see Shane's post in the Civil War section:
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/civil-war/313869-two-cw-buttons-one-field-one-day.html
So...we hunted a while longer, and it got damned hot. Shane decided he'd found enough for one day, and he left. Digger Girl and I decided that we'd haul the scrap iron buckets out of the field (150 lbs we dug between us two alone that day!).
Then we decided to re-grid a section I had hunted before. Only trouble with the initial attempt at the grid was that it was so muddy that day I couldn't walk between the rows, and had to walk on top, and swing out across the mud to the other side as best I could. I just Knew I that Shane and I had missed some finds that day. So off we went, hoping that one of us could find something to equalize a bit on the day. On the way out of the row we were in, DG dug a Buffalo nickel that had been plow-struck. When we got back to finish the grid, within minutes she had her first Shield Nickel. It is a beauty for condition.
I found a nice mid-1800s pipe bowl, and picked up a couple more marbles washed out by the rain. I got a couple whatzits, and then I got one of the best signals I had all day. Hoping for any decent piece of brass, or even a grubby Indian Head, I knelt to dig. A two piece button flopped out of the hole. I saw the back, and saw the rays radiating outward from where the shank was. My heart started racing. I recognized this distinctive feature from the Pelican Button I dug last month! I stayed calm (as calm as possible!), and turned the button over, gently rubbing the crust from the face, and saw a SECOND Civil War PELICAN button staring at me! From a Rebel Coat, catching the sun after a century and a half:
We went home a little later, unable to re-grid the section completely, but we will be back. After 10 hours in the sun, we were a little worn out--but so happy with our finds.
Here's my digs, minus the scrap iron and can slaw:
And Digger Girl's finds:
And after cleaning (her digs):
And mine. If you know what the item at the 9 o'clock or 6 o'clock positions are, I could use some help.
Digger Girl's Beefalo (plow-struck, but with a date strangely enough!):
And her first Shield Nickel! GREAT Condition--but no date.
The back is especially nice:
And, for me--PELICAN #2!! Backmark is HORSTMANN & ALLIEN / NY (Tice LA223A1):
Shane, it's crazy that you had to leave the field for us to find something good! I posted that video with you in mind. Toi t'es un bon à rien!
Happy Hunting to All,
The Cane Field Bandits
As dey say down here, "I'm gonna told you a story."
So, feel free to click "Play" and listen to this soundtrack while you look... Well, it was time for a hunt, and I was ready to claw my way out of the bustling small town and get out to those cane fields again! So Shanegalang and Digger Girl and I met up in the wee hours of the morning to finish the grid on our latest field. We weren't expecting much, since we knew that the grid would take us way out of the iron patch, and into a spot where a more recent house had stood. Well, we sprayed down with mosquito spray and got right to diggin.
For a long time, things were very slow. Nothing more than a few marbles and some interesting bits came up. There were long stretches of nothing to dig. My energy was running low, and the temperatures were climbing higher. I know that you guys in the North are probably getting frost by now, but it was 92 for the high for this hunt down here in Louisiana.
At any rate, eventually I heard "EEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" and knew that Shane was giving the Cajun Yell and had dug something good. It was an eagle Artillery cuff.
Cuffs in general are hard to find (I think I have two cuffs total, out of all my many dug eagles), but artillery cuffs are a great button to dig. I congratulated him, and we got to work again, all fired up. After a bit more time, with little to show, we took a break for a killer lunch that consisted of pulled pork sandwiches, jambalaya, and fried catfish.
We came back renewed and ready for the heat and hopefully some more finds. Well, the first row Shane was on he dug a button I had never seen before. (I told him that was a feat by itself.)
Anyhow, I strongly suspected that the button was military, and so I made a few calls to figure out exactly what he had. It was laying right in the top of a cane row, which did wonders for rinsing the gilding off:
The button is a Revenue Marine button, 1850s. Only one example of this button has been dug and posted on Tnet since the site began.
If you'd like to see both of these buttons cleaned up, please see Shane's post in the Civil War section:http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/civil-war/313869-two-cw-buttons-one-field-one-day.html
So...we hunted a while longer, and it got damned hot. Shane decided he'd found enough for one day, and he left. Digger Girl and I decided that we'd haul the scrap iron buckets out of the field (150 lbs we dug between us two alone that day!).
Then we decided to re-grid a section I had hunted before. Only trouble with the initial attempt at the grid was that it was so muddy that day I couldn't walk between the rows, and had to walk on top, and swing out across the mud to the other side as best I could. I just Knew I that Shane and I had missed some finds that day. So off we went, hoping that one of us could find something to equalize a bit on the day. On the way out of the row we were in, DG dug a Buffalo nickel that had been plow-struck. When we got back to finish the grid, within minutes she had her first Shield Nickel. It is a beauty for condition.
I found a nice mid-1800s pipe bowl, and picked up a couple more marbles washed out by the rain. I got a couple whatzits, and then I got one of the best signals I had all day. Hoping for any decent piece of brass, or even a grubby Indian Head, I knelt to dig. A two piece button flopped out of the hole.
I saw the back, and saw the rays radiating outward from where the shank was. My heart started racing. I recognized this distinctive feature from the Pelican Button I dug last month! I stayed calm (as calm as possible!), and turned the button over, gently rubbing the crust from the face, and saw a SECOND Civil War PELICAN button staring at me! From a Rebel Coat, catching the sun after a century and a half:
We went home a little later, unable to re-grid the section completely, but we will be back. After 10 hours in the sun, we were a little worn out--but so happy with our finds.
Here's my digs, minus the scrap iron and can slaw:
And Digger Girl's finds:
And after cleaning (her digs):
And mine. If you know what the item at the 9 o'clock or 6 o'clock positions are, I could use some help.
Digger Girl's Beefalo (plow-struck, but with a date strangely enough!):
And her first Shield Nickel! GREAT Condition--but no date.
The back is especially nice:
And, for me--PELICAN #2!! Backmark is HORSTMANN & ALLIEN / NY (Tice LA223A1):
Shane, it's crazy that you had to leave the field for us to find something good! I posted that video with you in mind. Toi t'es un bon à rien!
Happy Hunting to All,
The Cane Field Bandits
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