| Description |
Years in the field had familiarized Eric W. Reichardt with a vast array of Revolutionary War relics, yet he'd never come across anything like the silvery "71" button that sent a signal surging through his headset as he nudged the detector's searchcoil near an old tree trunk. In fact, he'd dug dozens of British regimental buttons in this particular area, but none that resembled the one confronting him now. References showed other 71st Highland Regiment (Fraser's Highlanders) buttons; but again, no match. Further research cinched it: this solid metal (rather than wood- or bone-backed) coat button with a copper shank was truly an unlisted (though not unknown) variety, evidently issued late in the war. Very rarely encountered, it had been seen previously only in cuff size- and Eric's is the finest example yet! Noting that the retrieval came unexpectedly, at the end of an otherwise uneventful six-hour hunt, he advises, "Persistence pays. No matter how worked out a site seems to be, you never can tell. That 'once in a lifetime' find may be lurking only a sweep away!" |
