🥇 BANNER Civil war Sword found

[ticndig]

I found this sword yesterday and was hoping to confirm it being a U.S cavalry .
I found it on a rock outcrop overlooking the river on my property . it was only in the ground 2'' deep and overloaded my machine with an iron tone.
I took these pic with my phone as soon as I figured out what it was.
I 'm seeking advice on how to clean or preserve it.
keep in mind it is stuck in the scabbard and soaking may not work because it can't be rinsed properly I have it setting in the area of the woodstove in an effort to remove all the moisture.
dig those large iron signals guys , the next one may be something good..

 

[Westfront]

Big congrats and Banner vote from me too.
Fantastic find and i see you got it out! Perfect, that will be the top piece of your collection!

 

[ticndig]

How many bullets or buttons did you find around the area of that cool sword?

one flat button and one shot miniball this time . lots of arrowheads and a large cent on another day.

 

[ticndig]

yes a top shelf piece for sure , thanks again everyone for all the nice replies and votes.

 

[civil_war22]

one flat button and one shot miniball this time . lots of arrowheads and a large cent on another day.

Gotta love finding arrowheads while metal detecting. I know twice I’ve found them in the same whole as a civil war bullet, the third time I found one in the hole as a Indian head cent

 

[ticndig]

the blade has two ding marks that have pretty bad rust the rest is pretty clean .I don't see any engraving on it though.

 

[Steve in PA]

Congrats on getting it apart without damaging the scabbard

This looks like a perfect Banner pic!!

 

[ticndig]

Congrats on getting it apart without damaging the scabbard

This looks like a perfect Banner pic!!

thanks again . I was lucky that it was only stuck at the opening of the scabbard. had it been all rusted it may have never came out.. much of the blade is rust free.

 

[Davers]

Holy cow!!! This has been right around the top of my wish-list for years now. I can't imagine how it must have felt pulling that complete sword out of the ground and it's in amazing condition! I think it will be nearly impossible to pull that out of the iron scabbard as the blade will have rusted together to it. If it were me, I would try electrolysis outside on the scabbard and it might help loosen it. I don't think spraying anything in there will ever loosen it though and think that electrolysis will be your only hope (This may not even work on loosening it enough to pull it out.) Most scabbards seem to be pretty thick metal, so electrolysis should be fine, but I would try to keep the brass out of the water best as possible and just the iron parts of the scabbard. If I tried any kind of soaking, I would put it in evaporust. I've used that many times for fragile pieces as it will remove the rust buildup slowly. To do this one that way might take over a year or even longer before it might have hopes of loosening the blade. Looks like a Union sword to me. Wow, it's truly an amazing find and one I dream of someday making for myself.

Just thinking .

At this second , I'd likely clip my electrolysis clips on the scabbard for a day or so ( I'd take this whole preservation task slowly) & you will learn a-lot doing this , "I'd" have to cook half or less of it at a time . Do it slow , take yr time & hopefully it will turn out great.

Gotta loosen that scabbard , well it's yours so do with it as you will.
Banner Vote Up-coming.

 

[Davers]

thanks again . I was lucky that it was only stuck at the opening of the scabbard. had it been all rusted it may have never came out.. much of the blade is rust free.

WOW! Nice.

Forget my last post ,ill leave it up cause it took me 10 + min to type it all.

 

[DocBeav]

That is incredible! What an awesome find and "save" on a potential great piece of history! Love to see this one on the banner! Got my vote!

 

[A2coins]

Banner flag waved Wowza wowza wowza

 

[GB1]

WOW!!! great find BANNER

 

[xr7ator]

Way cool find and great job!

 

[trdking]

Awesome! Can you post the marks /maker on the blade? It is unbelievable that it was in the ground this long and not completely rusted. Most come out with the hilt and a piece of blade. Way to go! Banner

 

[civil_war22]

Awesome! Can you post the marks /maker on the blade? It is unbelievable that it was in the ground this long and not completely rusted. Most come out with the hilt and a piece of blade. Way to go! Banner

That’s what I’m saying. I’d love to see some makers marks. Most of the blades I’ve seen have them just above the hand guard

 

[ticndig]

I'll look for a makers mark and post a pic if I can see one.
found on a rock outcrop just 2'' deep on the hillside overlooking the river.
being on the hill "handle down hill and being shallow maybe it never got wet inside.
it was dry inside when freed from the scabbard.


well I looked for a makers mark and don't see one . it could show after cleaning as thats the rusty area by the handle.

 

[Fullstock]

I can’t believe how nice that blade is and how it came out without damaging the scabbard! You need to go out and buy a lottery ticket ASAP, you are one lucky guy....[emoji16]

 

[ticndig]

not lucky just being very careful , if it did not give I would have stopped for sure. , this broke a 2 year dry spell on notable finds . sure I hit some flat buttons and miniballs but after 30 years they aren't so great anymore. you see I lived in Fredericksburg Va for most of my life and 30 years ago you'd take a bucket with you to put your finds in. stafford county camps Confederates occupied Stafford for 12 months while Union troops were in the county for 13. At various times during these 25 months there were at least 212,484 Union soldiers and 9,407 Confederates

 

[RTR]

Fantastic find !!! IF,only it could speak. Got my Banner vote !

 

[toasted]

So is this definitely a civil war era sword? Confederate or Union? Pretty amazing shape if its been in the ground for 155 years. Congrats