After an extremely busy summer, I finally prioritized a weekend to go digging. My brother Scott and I hit an old military camp site and were able to locate a nice little trash/burn pit with a good variety of finds. After striking out on a couple of other spots, we decided to take a digging break and do some shooting. While setting up a can, Scott eyeballed a GS eagle kepi button under a bush. He kicked away the dirt and another came to light. Experience told us that uniforms were likely burned there and further exploration gave us confirmation. The spot was overrun with square nails, which would have made detecting difficult and likely prevented surface hunters from locating any of the nice brass. The site gave up a handful of eagle buttons including a Cavalry cuff, which would have been heavily gilted if not for the fire. A perfect "B" came to light which was a nice surprise. Kepi Insignias are one of my favorite Civil War finds and are somewhat more personal as they designated belonging to a particular company. The find of the hunt was likely the Civil War store token which reads Standingers 116 Broadway, NY with an 1863 date on the reverse. I have not researched the token much so any additional information would be welcome. The perils involved in its journey west might be book worthy, however all we can do is imagine the adventures of its carrier. Other interesting finds included a set of "multi purpose gunners pincers" (according to Crouch), burnt hardee pin, burnt crossed sabres, powder flask top and what looks to me to be a scalpel blade and broken bone handle. Overall a great time and much needed break for responsibility. The small brass piece with the hole is a mystery find as well if anyone has any ideas. Thanks for looking and good luck out there.
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I'd love to see those "multi purpose gunners pincers" after electrolysis. They don't look too pitted and I wouldn't be surprised if they pivoted on the pin after being zapped. ha Those Kepi Insignias are my favorite... very personal. I'm going to guess after the kepi button was eyeballed, you guys never got around to do any shooting. ha Looking forward to the next post and hope you can get back out soon.
