Tons of Civil War Relics!!!!! (Tons of Pictures Too!)

pitdiggers

Full Member
Feb 16, 2009
178
0
Northern Virginia
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT, Shadow X5, Tesoro Cibola, Minelab XTerra
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hey TNET,

We haven't posted here in a while but I can reassure you that we have been digging but sadly with no real luck. This dry streak finally ended as our luck took a turn for the better over the weekend! We decided to detect one of those hunted out sites from our past but this time we found a spot that has always been passed over by the detectorists and it was loaded. The only downside was that for every relic you dug it seemed like you were digging three pieces of trash. In my opinion though for two hours!!! of diggin' this isn't too bad in my book. The best find or should I say finds all came from one single hole..... what was inside the hole was all of the contents of a soldiers catridge box including 38 round balls, 1 hand carved nipple protector, 1 Indian arrowhead (possibly for good luck), multiple pairs of cuff links, 1 tintype photograph pin but with the photo rusted off, and various brass rivets and such. Along with these great finds I also found a first, a civil war corp badge, which is the heart shaped piece of brass. Right next to this in a small section of land we found the remainder of the items like the powder flask, possible coin, confederate rosette, one and a half spurs, lead, and various other relics. Here are all the pictures (there are about 18 so please be patient as I will need to include a reply to include all of the images). I hope you enjoy what we found! ;D

We need your help with:
Any information on the specific powder flask (It is definitely civil war but we think it is to a colt revolver due to the dueling pistols at the top which is their trademark).
What is the relic in images 11 and 12 (It has the seal of the marines on the front but is lead filled on the back... possibly rosette??)
What is the coin in images 13 and 14 (At first we thought it could be an ID disc but it lacks the hole drilled in it. The reason for this guess is the horizontal bar on the back of it.. normally where the name is located or engraved. The bar is also the only truly recognizable mark I could pick out) Any help will be greatly appreciated.

HH-pitdiggers
 

Attachments

  • Relic1.jpg
    Relic1.jpg
    58.5 KB · Views: 1,403
  • Relic12.jpg
    Relic12.jpg
    24.2 KB · Views: 1,434
  • Relic11.jpg
    Relic11.jpg
    30.1 KB · Views: 1,396
  • Relic10.jpg
    Relic10.jpg
    67.7 KB · Views: 1,402
  • Relic9.jpg
    Relic9.jpg
    82.3 KB · Views: 1,393
  • Relic8.jpg
    Relic8.jpg
    76.7 KB · Views: 1,410
  • Relic7.jpg
    Relic7.jpg
    59 KB · Views: 1,391
  • Relic6.jpg
    Relic6.jpg
    47 KB · Views: 1,405
  • Relic5.jpg
    Relic5.jpg
    49.3 KB · Views: 1,403
  • Relic4.jpg
    Relic4.jpg
    54.7 KB · Views: 1,385
  • Relic3.jpg
    Relic3.jpg
    20 KB · Views: 1,405
  • Relic2.jpg
    Relic2.jpg
    19.1 KB · Views: 1,394
Upvote 0
Nice finds!

Your flask is listed in "The Powder Flask Book" by Ray Riling considered to be the Bible on powder flasks and related items. I have attached 2 pictures of the 4 like yours listed in the book.

The author is classifying this as an "Eagle" flask. The short version is and I quote from the book: "Although it is recognized that this sort of flask was used to quite some extent with Colt arms, we consider it as an eagle flask and give Colt classification only to those bearing the colt marking.

The flask could have been made by Matthewman and later by American Flask & Cap Company.

Ironman!
 

Attachments

  • MVC-009S.JPG
    MVC-009S.JPG
    18.2 KB · Views: 722
  • MVC-011S.JPG
    MVC-011S.JPG
    21 KB · Views: 716
:o Very nice finds on those relics, That is one pretty patina on those round balls, Great Finds :thumbsup:

Cw
 

BuckleBoy said:
ivan salis said:
that fishing reel is crazy cool.-- the homemade nipple protector / rain guard is neat too.

humm with these items found all at once to lose all your bullets and personal items would be quite a blow -- wonder if the soldier who lost em might have been the owner of the "if found send this tag off to ID my body" the metal tag is for body id reasons --in case of death (some times the bodies rotted or were blown to bits )--the tag was in effect a early model "dog tag" if a person had one on them when their body was found for burial ---it insured that your body could be IDed and thus your insurance paid out to your family-- nothing could be more "personal" than that item is. --- I can not help wonder if the soldier that lost ithe tag-- if his body was left on a nearby feild till found and buried as "name unknown to all but god" because of its loss.

My understanding is that these tags were post-CW.


And there are other post-CW and civilian items mixed in with the finds as well. :wink:



Great Stuff here!



-Buckles

Yes as you said the tag is post civil war with some of the other finds also being post civil war. This was do to the history of the site, but all of the items associated with the cartidge box are from the civil war along with many others. Thanks for the link too.
 

Ironman! said:
Nice finds!

Your flask is listed in "The Powder Flask Book" by Ray Riling considered to be the Bible on powder flasks and related items. I have attached 2 pictures of the 4 like yours listed in the book.

The author is classifying this as an "Eagle" flask. The short version is and I quote from the book: "Although it is recognized that this sort of flask was used to quite some extent with Colt arms, we consider it as an eagle flask and give Colt classification only to those bearing the colt marking.

The flask could have been made by Matthewman and later by American Flask & Cap Company.

Ironman!

Thanks!!!! That was a great resource and thanks for the ID on the flask. HH
 

cwdigger said:
:o Very nice finds on those relics, That is one pretty patina on those round balls, Great Finds :thumbsup:

Cw

Thanks!!! And I thought the patina was great too... it can be scrubbed off to the usual white left beneath but I loved the patina.
 

Ironman! said:
Nice finds!

Your flask is listed in "The Powder Flask Book" by Ray Riling considered to be the Bible on powder flasks and related items. I have attached 2 pictures of the 4 like yours listed in the book.

The author is classifying this as an "Eagle" flask. The short version is and I quote from the book: "Although it is recognized that this sort of flask was used to quite some extent with Colt arms, we consider it as an eagle flask and give Colt classification only to those bearing the colt marking.

The flask could have been made by Matthewman and later by American Flask & Cap Company.

Ironman!
Thanks Ironman for acting on my request and taking the time to make your first post here!!!!!Buckleboy beat us!!!
 

kuger said:
Ironman! said:
Nice finds!

Your flask is listed in "The Powder Flask Book" by Ray Riling considered to be the Bible on powder flasks and related items. I have attached 2 pictures of the 4 like yours listed in the book.

The author is classifying this as an "Eagle" flask. The short version is and I quote from the book: "Although it is recognized that this sort of flask was used to quite some extent with Colt arms, we consider it as an eagle flask and give Colt classification only to those bearing the colt marking.

The flask could have been made by Matthewman and later by American Flask & Cap Company.

Ironman!
Thanks Ironman for acting on my request and taking the time to make your first post here!!!!!Buckleboy beat us!!!

Yes thank you very much it was greatly appreciated!

And I am glad that everyone here has enjoyed the post. I also just downloaded a picture from the site showing the hole being dug and will post it soon. The picture is just incredible because you can see the sheer quantity of relics from the single hole.
 

You sure know how to make us drool all over our keyboard. Also, you have made us all proud.... Dang, that is finds of a life time for sure. I vote banner also. Thanks for sharing the great finds!!!

DANGLANGLEY
 

kuger said:
Thanks Ironman for acting on my request and taking the time to make your first post here!!!!!Buckleboy beat us!!!

Buckleboy laughs maniacally...


Mwa hahahahaHA!!



:evil7:



But...welcome to the forum, Ironman. :thumbsup:
 

And welcome to TNET Ironman. Thanks again for the information.
 

What a haul in one day. Congratulations on finding great relics. Will keep my eyes open for your next post when you dig the rest out. Good luck in going back to dig.
TnMountains
 

That was INCREDIBLE!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!
A STUPENDOUS CONGRATS TO YOU!!
WOW!!

John
 

ah my bad on the body id tag --seeing all the CW stuff --I figgered it for CW as well -- (carrying a body id tag type item in war time seems more "normal" then carrying one "post war" wouldn''t you say?) since in war for military security reasons folks often do not know where there loved ones are , and if you were lost in battle it would be important for your family to know as well as for getting payment of "insurance" plus the item was issued by an insurance company --- in peace time most folks would "know" where their loved ones were at more or less at least. (ever try to leave the house without telling the wife where your going and what your doing and when you'll be back?) ;D
 

ivan salis said:
ah my bad on the body id tag --seeing all the CW stuff --I figgered it for CW as well -- (carrying a body id tag type item in war time seems more "normal" then carrying one "post war" wouldn''t you say?) since in war for military security reasons folks often do not know where there loved ones are , and if you were lost in battle it would be important for your family to know as well as for getting payment of "insurance" plus the item was issued by an insurance company --- in peace time most folks would "know" where their loved ones were at more or less at least. (ever try to leave the house without telling the wife where your going and what your doing and when you'll be back?) ;D

Completely understandable and that was actually my first thought on the piece also... after some research though it turns out these were worn by individuals in jobs classified as dangerous or deadly. It is from the late 1800s and early 1900s and was used to ID the body but just not as both you and I first thought with it being during the civil war.

HH-pitdiggers
 

Nice old reel as well. :thumbsup:
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top