Few meager CW finds today

Pointman · Dec 6, 2014

My hunting club went out to a field where there used to be cotton fields for the nearby plantation. This whole area is historic. Just northwest of this field the Union clashed with the Confederate forces as they moved into Little Rock. I started out using my CZ-3D which I am trying to learn because I knew all the targets were 9 inches plus. Between visiting and learning the machine, I hadn't dug anything more than a few square nails the 4th hour into it.

A couple of club members found buttons and some shield nickels. I finally broke out my CTX and started hunting for steady tones. Everything I had dug was shallow iron or aluminum. Everyone cleared out and I decided to stay a little longer and tweak my machine and slow down. I slowed my machine to a 4 second arc and started to listen to the faint signals and dig anything I could pinpoint.

Here are my finds from the last hour of the day. The most shallow was the bullet which was 8" deep. The buttons were 10 inches plus and sounded like pulltabs. I dug one 3-inch square nail that was over a foot deep and I hit charred wood and the soil was darker and less sandy. Because of the depth of the finds today, I think everything is 14 inches deep or more. I felt much better because I just knew I was going home feeling skunked.

I am not sure what caliber this bullet is. Maybe someone can help me identify it. Here are the specs:

128 grains
.565 long
.400 dia
Solid base with 3 rings

Also what is this rivet. Is it CW period?

I haven't fully tried to read the buttons, but the broken one does say Scoville.

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In close, I mostly coin shoot, but I relic hunted a little years ago. I almost forgot how fun it is and how much of challenge it can be.

romeo-1 · Dec 7, 2014

Nothing wrong with those finds!! Rivet could be from any era...I find them all the time in farmed fields...

treblehunter · Dec 7, 2014

Your bullet looks like a winner for Civil war relic, also that button, shield with a U in it, very cool. You worked very hard for them , you should be proud of those good saves.

treblehunter · Dec 7, 2014

Ridgeway Civil War Archive Buttons from Federal Voltigeer

Maybe?

pong12211 · Dec 7, 2014

Meager? I would love to have a day lilke that. Nice finds thanks for sharing.

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

treblehunter said:
Ridgeway Civil War Archive Buttons from Federal Voltigeer

Maybe?

If that truly is a Voltigeur button, then I hit the jackpot. I am going to have to get it looked at to be sure. It almost looks like a U on the front of it.

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

pong12211 said:
Meager? I would love to have a day lilke that. Nice finds thanks for sharing.

I mean meager because I was out there for 7 hours non-stop swinging and I thought I was going to leave with a few square nails.

WHADIFIND · Dec 7, 2014

That's why I go to the cornfield now and again. Makes me appreciate the coinshooting that much more.

Nice!

RJ55 · Dec 7, 2014

Nice eagle button.

Ahab8 · Dec 7, 2014

That's a good result buddy. Sometimes I hike miles to find zero and then hike back. Other times I hit a hotspot. But if I find one keeper I'm happy

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

Ahab8 said:
That's a good result buddy. Sometimes I hike miles to find zero and then hike back. Other times I hit a hotspot. But if I find one keeper I'm happy

I am keeping my fingers crossed that it is a Voltigeurs button. It looks more like a "U" than a "V", but I am not sure, nor could find what a U would mean. I have some pictures over to a shop that could probably tell me. If it is a Voltigeurs button I would be blessed because that is only the second intact CW button that I have found. Maybe I got some favor by picking up all the trash from the field that others were dropping yesterday.

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

WHADIFIND said:
That's why I go to the cornfield now and again. Makes me appreciate the coinshooting that much more.

Nice!

Yep, relic hunting is so much harder work and you dig a lot of iron in the process. I get totally wiped out after a day of crossing the rows and my Army injuries start to speak to me and remind me why I had gotten out.

Msbeepbeep · Dec 7, 2014

Nice relic saves! Congrats! Nothing meager there!
Relic finds require more time and effort sometimes, sure beats clad hands down!

The relics always make you wonder who held it last before you found it. That never happens with the clad, your more apt to want to wash your hands! Lol!

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

At another site the club had over 1,200 acres of virgin CW land and another potential 6,000 acres to hunt before some members took off on their own and trampled the crops during planting season. We spent an afternoon there and folks were finding 15-20 drops each and one guy found a CS tongue in this one area that was at the most 20 acres. I found some horse tack and two drops (this was before I had great equipment and really new what I was doing). I think that day someone also found an era IH penny and a Enfield wrench.

This site where I found the buttons a few more were found, some shield nickels and a half dime, .58 bullet and I found the seated dime last week. The targets are really far in between and folks with lesser machines I think get frustrated because they will not reach down as far what is required.

beez0404 · Dec 7, 2014

I love that CW button, Pointman! It looks like a U but I'm hoping it's a V cause that would be very cool. I'm sure someone on here will be able to identify it for you.

Pointman · Dec 7, 2014

Msbeepbeep said:
Nice relic saves! Congrats! Nothing meager there!
Relic finds require more time and effort sometimes, sure beats clad hands down!

The relics always make you wonder who held it last before you found it. That never happens with the clad, your more apt to want to wash your hands! Lol!

I think the same thoughts. I was just thinking today that if it was a button originally manufactured for the war in Mexico back in the 1840s it was just real strange being here in this cornfield in Arkansas and how many hands it passed through or where it was stored before it was placed on a uniform?

After everyone left I was the only one in this lonely field. Kind of eerie and it felt strange knowing all this history took place in this area. Across the pasture there are 100+ year old trees which look to be planted next to the creek. Really silent. Seemed like I could have been in Virginia, but I was 25 minutes from my house. Sure beats being in someone's front yard coinshooting.

Tough to wait to go back, but we have specific instructions that 3 or more members have to be there to conduct a hunt.

Carolina Tom · Dec 8, 2014

Nice finds Pointman. Button and three ringer are sweet relics. GL&HH!

WHADIFIND · Dec 11, 2014

Msbeepbeep said:
The relics always make you wonder who held it last before you found it. That never happens with the clad, your more apt to want to wash your hands! Lol!

Tell me, how do you feel after an entire day of not finding anything at all. Then, on the way back to the car, you turn up a clad quarter. Like washing your hands, right?