Driveway find, NOT what you might think.

wettpaint

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Location
North Mississippi
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT
Just to let you know that you don't have to go very far to find the good stuff, at least that is what my wife is saying now.

My son, who will be 3 in July, wanted to go tecting this Sunday, so I thought that we would mess around in the yard for a little while.

There used to be a home place between my house and the road. I say "used to be" because when we built our place we cut the hill down around 5' and scattered the dirt over 3 acres.

Like I said my 2 yr old and I were working our way across the yard, a place we have hunted many times. Nothing notable mostly nails and other odd iron signals. I dig a plug and let him pick through it until he pulls out the find. Boy does he get excited for whatever he comes up with. Well this time we were crossing our gravel drive way and I get a 74 VDI on the MXT. Here I go hacking through the gravel. My drive is what we call “reclaimed concrete” it is mixture of what is dropped or leftover at the concrete plant from a concrete batch before the water is added. It has a lot of gravel, sand and cement. Needless to say it is quite hard. So here I go still hacking with my Fiskar garden knife trying to loosen it up enough for little man to come and dig up some “monies”. I cannot pinpoint it well, but the MXT keeps showing as a penny. Now time for the big guns, I go after the spade or “sharp shooter” whatever you want to call it. I start to ream out a pretty good hole, gravel is flying everywhere. I am going to find that penny before it is over with, there might not be anything left but little man is getting that penny. I get the hole pretty good size now, hit is again with the MXT and get an overload, What the heck??? An over for a penny, maybe a piece of copper pipe from the house during construction.

Getting discourage from the hacking and not finding that stinking penny or piece of pipe I stick the Fiskar in one more time and hit something metallic. I kind of poke it a time or two trying to find the edge so I can pry it out. And up pops this beauty. Boy was I surprised.
I put a small scratch on the back and nicked the edge when I pried it out of the drive but other than that it is in good condition.

It is amazing that I did not destroy in after moving all the dirt with a tractor and box blade and an old Cat D6 dozer, shaping my driveway twice adding gravel and other material both times. I have lived in this house for 5 years and never thought that my CS buckle was literally under my feet each time I walked to the mail box or drove to work.

Happy Hunting
Wettpaint
 

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YOU'VE DONE IT! This is the "Holy Grail"! This is what us Civil War Relic hunters go out hoping to find everyday. You will probably never top this find and an unbelievable piece of history. I cannot give you enough props for not destroying that plate trying to dig through the concrete/gravel driveway......Just a TERRIFIC find and the FIND of finds in mine and MANY others' books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wav: :wav: :wav: BANNER all the WAY!

P.S.- Can you take some photos of the back of the plate? Would love to see the plate in its entirety :icon_thumleft:
 

Hey Wetpaint.

Click on this http://www.nps.gov/tupe/index.htm I have a feeling that your land could have been a campsite or small skirmish site leading up to the battle of Tupelo. I know for sure that the Yankees were camped there before turning east to Tupelo. Look at the map on the above link showing your city. It clearly shows Yankees coming right through your town. How many miles are you from Tupelo?

Arm
 

Wetpaint,

I have confirmed that a small skirmish took place in Pontotoc, MS. This battle was all about protecting Shermans supply lines while he moved south to Atlanta. I am pretty sure the battle of Tupelo started in Pontotoc, MS. You will now need to find battlefield accounts and maps of the action at the Ohio State University archives of the civil war or buy a military atlas of the civil war and review the maps. The trick is to compare old civil war maps to modern topo maps overlaid on each other. Then you simply locate where your property is. I have a feeling that all of the information you seek could be at the Tupelo National Battlefield. I would also hook up with a researcher there to help you.

One of the ways that a group of guys located the old Fort King Highway in Florida built in 1826 for military use was to review aerial photographs from 1938 to 1945. Yes it was still there from Tampa to Ocala and could be seen on the photos. I do see some roads that might have been civil war roads 278? 78? Roads going to Tupelo from Pontotoc? Are you near any old railroad tracks?

They kept very good records of maps during the civil war and sometimes they kept map records hourly. The Ohio State University records are set up with both Yankee and Conf accounts of each battle. You should be able to trace the troop movements daily. Good luck.
 

{Sentinel} said:
YOU'VE DONE IT! This is the "Holy Grail"! This is what us Civil War Relic hunters go out hoping to find everyday. You will probably never top this find and an unbelievable piece of history. I cannot give you enough props for not destroying that plate trying to dig through the concrete/gravel driveway......Just a TERRIFIC find and the FIND of finds in mine and MANY others' books!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :wav: :wav: :wav: BANNER all the WAY!

P.S.- Can you take some photos of the back of the plate? Would love to see the plate in its entirety :icon_thumleft:

Ditto! Could not say it better myself.
 

Congrats on a SUPER find Mississippi!!! If I was you, I'd buy a lottery ticket TODAY. Happy Hunting.
 

Wow!!!! congratulations on finding one heck of a confederate plate!!!!!!!!!
 

Pretty amazing story!

Congrats on your banner!
 

Congrads on a BANNER FIND ! A super belt plate ! MaineRelic
 

That is awesome. Right from under your feet. Awesome dig

Hunt On!
 

It is an Honor to make the banner. Thank you everyone for your support.

For those who have asked here is a pic of the back of the plate.

I guess I will have to do more hunting to try to top this. I hope my wife understands.

Wettpaint
 

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That is just a great story and terrific find. Its a beauty for sure. Congratulations on your find sir.
Happy Huntn
TnMtns
 

OMG that is a fantastic find and a wonderful story! My major MD goal is a CS or CSA plate, and you found one in your own yard. Outstanding! I'd grid it out, and do the entire yard inch by inch; I bet there is more there. Congratulations, Breezie
 

Congrats on the banner,well deserved. :headbang:

(Are you ignoring Armchairqb30 on purpose or talking private? He seems to be doing a lot of work to help.)
 

Dano Sverige said:
Congrats on the banner,well deserved. :headbang:

(Are you ignoring Armchairqb30 on purpose or talking private? He seems to be doing a lot of work to help.)

I sent him a PM, You know you don't want all your stuff out there for everyone to see.
 

Awesome!!! Congrats man!

.
 

$3k - 4k is conservative. These things rarely come around. There's bound to be more good stuff on your property. Let us know what else you find. Congratulations!
 

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