Steve in PA
Gold Member
- Jul 5, 2010
- 9,582
- 14,127
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher F75, XP Deus, Equinox 600, Fisher 1270
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
My younger brother who works as a fishing guide in Colorado got to talking with one of his clients from Washington County, Maryland about metal detecting for Civil War artifacts. My brother has guided for this fellow for 8 years now and knows him pretty well. Turns out the guy owns a farm that is just a couple miles from the Antietam battlefield and his barn was used as a hospital after the battle. He said that others have found relics on his property. My brother came back to Pennsylvania to visit for a couple weeks and he made arrangements for us to spend a couple days in Maryland at this guys house and metal detect his property. Things started off kinda slow - we checked some ridges where troops supposedly camped. The grass was high in these fields and we didn't find anything. Then in a pasture behind the barn I found a dropped minie ball, a fired minie ball, and a bayonet scabbard finial. We were both digging a lot of junk. Then my brother got the green light to dig in the mowed lawns around the house. I started hunting one side of the front lawn hoping to at least get some coins and I told my brother to take the other half of the lawn. But he had decided to hunt a large side yard instead. The front lawn wasn't giving up much - a 1910 penny, part of a shoe buckle, a couple squeeze box reeds, then a .69 caliber round ball. I was now in the half of the yard I had originally told my brother to hunt. The next signal was reading like a large copper. I opened up a plug, and pinpointed the signal in the bottom of the hole. I stuck my digger in to the side of where the signal was and pried up a clump of dirt. Up popped the plate, lead side up! I knew I had a plate. I flipped it over and saw the bold US staring me in the face. I have found four Civil War plates previously (CS tongue, CS wreath, VA Militia crossbelt, and a VMM) but this was my first US plate and it was dam-near perfect!! The next morning I dug a beautiful 1739 King George II half penny. We didn't dig a whole lot of relics at this spot, but I got a couple that I was really happy with. My brother was happy to dig a GS Eagle button, his first CW relic.
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The first picture shows all our finds from the first site. My brother found the three buttons and the signal corps lead soldier to the right of the breast plate. We went on to a site in WV for a few hours during the afternoon of the second day. We each found some fired bullets and I found a four penny coin spill that included an 1881 Indian head and 1911-s, 1914, and 1918 Lincolns. The 1911-s is one of the better coins in the Lincoln penny series.
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The last two pictures are of the house and the little friends who were very curious about metal detecting. Special thanks to the landowner and my brother for getting permission!
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The first picture shows all our finds from the first site. My brother found the three buttons and the signal corps lead soldier to the right of the breast plate. We went on to a site in WV for a few hours during the afternoon of the second day. We each found some fired bullets and I found a four penny coin spill that included an 1881 Indian head and 1911-s, 1914, and 1918 Lincolns. The 1911-s is one of the better coins in the Lincoln penny series.
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The last two pictures are of the house and the little friends who were very curious about metal detecting. Special thanks to the landowner and my brother for getting permission!
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