Devonrex
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2012
- Messages
- 351
- Reaction score
- 1,260
- Golden Thread
- 4
- Location
- SE Virginia
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
And my CS oval "egg" buckle appears to have been worn by a soldier from ALABAMA!!!
Finally got back out to the site where I dug my CS oval buckle. Within 10 feet of the buckle I dug a coat button and a beautiful Isaacs and Campbell knapsack hook (my first). All together I dug 4 buttons, several musket balls, 2 Gardners, 1 Georgia Teat bullet, and 2 other confederate bullets not identified yet. I also dug 1 lone shot Sharps bullet. I also dug a scabbard tip that is made out of thick brass and has a lead filled point. This thing is HEAVY! I have no doubt this scabbard tip is Confederate. The button that I dug next to the CS "egg" oval buckle turned out to be a beautiful coat AVC with 90 percent gold gilt! Its a beauty!!! This was the first button I cleaned and I was hopeful I had another AVC as well. This was not the case and the other coat button which was extremely "puffy" turned out to be a coat Eagle "I" button. What a let down. But the first cuff button I cleaned turned out to be a Virginia!!! It was in pretty bad shape though and the front separated from the back as soon as I started cleaning it with a dry toothbrush. Again another letdown.
And the last cuff was another eagle cuff button. I have no doubt these eagle buttons were worn by Conferate soldiers. But all in all I am not complaining!
The Virginia cuff was found almost 100 yards away from the buckle. I need to still explore this area better. I couldn't be happier with my coat AVC button and now I am pretty confident I am in a Alabama picket post or camp. I decided not to clean my CS buckle any more unless I get a professional to do it. This was sent to me today by a fellow relic hunter and restorer of relics........ "Fantastic to get it out of the ground and in such superb condition. You have heavy (and hard) calcium concretions residing on the surface not uncommon to damp, low lying peninsula areas. Stafford Va plates come out like this from the more swampy areas. The choice is to leave them as is or pick away at them over time. The problem is that you won't know the condition of the CS copper/brass under the stuff till some is removed. Sometimes it's ugly, other times pristine. I performed removal of this same stuff from a rope border CS some time ago and the results were astounding. It was 99% covered. The buildup was superficial and had preserved the plate like a d 1960s recovery. Now, removing it wasn't easy and had to be mechanical (vs chemical) and that is where you have to be very careful. I actually used a dremel for the first sessions then picked away carefully using whatever worked. Sometimes is flaked of in larger pieces but most of the time just required a sanding down and thru to the metal. Look forward to the progress and again, big time congrats. As others have said, cleaned or not, it's a beauty." So I will get a picture up tonight or tomorrow of the CS oval next to the Alabama button and Isaacs and Campbell knapsack hook. What a great 2 weeks of digging this has been for me! I couldn't be happier!!! HH Devonrex
Finally got back out to the site where I dug my CS oval buckle. Within 10 feet of the buckle I dug a coat button and a beautiful Isaacs and Campbell knapsack hook (my first). All together I dug 4 buttons, several musket balls, 2 Gardners, 1 Georgia Teat bullet, and 2 other confederate bullets not identified yet. I also dug 1 lone shot Sharps bullet. I also dug a scabbard tip that is made out of thick brass and has a lead filled point. This thing is HEAVY! I have no doubt this scabbard tip is Confederate. The button that I dug next to the CS "egg" oval buckle turned out to be a beautiful coat AVC with 90 percent gold gilt! Its a beauty!!! This was the first button I cleaned and I was hopeful I had another AVC as well. This was not the case and the other coat button which was extremely "puffy" turned out to be a coat Eagle "I" button. What a let down. But the first cuff button I cleaned turned out to be a Virginia!!! It was in pretty bad shape though and the front separated from the back as soon as I started cleaning it with a dry toothbrush. Again another letdown.
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