Some Civil War & Earlier finds + a Whatsit I need help on

[silversweeper]

Not a lot to brag about here. Have not had much hunting time this year so haven't posted anything in a while either. Did get out for a few hours recently and hit two fields that had just had the crops pulled out of. The first is a field I've pulled many early to mid 1800's relics out of, a camping spot for settlers traveling to this area. From this recent hunt there I found my first Civil War Infantry button (finally! several general service buttons in my collection but the "I" button was elusive until now!). This one isn't perfect and is pushed in but it does have the shank and some decent detail. Also from this hunt is a whatsit that has me puzzled. The age/patina is right for the site and when I first dug it I thought it was a trigger guard... but that's not it. The little ball on the end and the overall shape have me scratching my head. It's definitely brass. It feels like a little handle off of something and my pointer finger and thumb fit it a lot like they would on a coffee mug handle but....... any ideas? The spur end came from a scout to another site that I will hopefully get back into when the ground thaws a bit. A LOT of field there and could be a good camp spot as the location is right. The spur end was the only good find from the visit. It's smaller than the US CW spur pieces I've found so could be civilian or... hopefully......CS.
The finds in the last pictures came from a third site. Not a lot in this piece of ground but I'd found some flat buttons, one general service button, assorted round ball, and a 44 cal pistol dropped bullet in the past. I'd not been able to hunt the top area of the large ridge running thru the field before now, other than an initial scouting mission to the site. This time I checked the top because on that earlier hunt I'd found some chunks of gnarled old aluminum, or pewter, and thought there might be a house site. My second target on the hill this visit was an 1853 Seated dime! Awesome. So I hunted for 4 more hours hoping for more coinage or other relics. I dug close to a hundred more chunks and pieces of gnarled aluminum...and nothing else! Later as I was leaving down the side of the ridge, I found the toe tap, round ball, and arrowhead fragment. Can't figure the top of that ridge out. The chunks of aluminum have me puzzled. They are all over the place like someone took a big cooking pot and put a hand grenade in it! I was very fortunate to hit the dime on the second target up there because if it had been the 6th or 7th....I probably wouldn't have dug it. It hit about the same as all the chunks of aluminum. Weird that there wasn't anything else up there.
If anyone has any ideas on the brass "handle" thing-y.....let me know.

And before anybody judges me for rubbing the coin....I didn't. That must have been from an early brush with a plow/disc or something. I brought the coin home coated in dirt and ran water over/patted it until it was clean.....I never rub my silvers in the field.....

 

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[Ifoundit69]

Not a bad day at all , silver , eagle button and a piece of a spur ..... nice finds !

 

[Doc Arey]

I would call that a great day!

 

[treblehunter]

Great day, I can't help you on an ID, heck I have trouble IDing some of my coin finds. Looks like you rubbed the heck out of that seated dime in the field, why did you do that? You should get a keeper box so you don't get tempted and rub your find before you get home.


Just kidding, I couldn't resist. I wanted to leave just the comment, but figured I didn't know you that good. Besides if you want to rub it, rub it. It's your coin, you can do whatever you want to it.

 

[Ahab8]

Good day. Very obvious that coin was scraped by more than a thumb.

 

[CRUSADER]

I'm thinking its some kind of 19th C brass horse harness rein guide, some of them have a open loop to slip the straps in & out.

 

[silversweeper]

I'm thinking its some kind of 19th C brass horse harness rein guide, some of them have a open loop to slip the straps in & out.

Thanks Crusader. I was thinking part of horse tack of some kind, or of related use, as well. So my bet is that your guess is probably right on the money.

 

[silversweeper]

Great day, I can't help you on an ID, heck I have trouble IDing some of my coin finds. Looks like you rubbed the heck out of that seated dime in the field, why did you do that? You should get a keeper box so you don't get tempted and rub your find before you get home.


Just kidding, I couldn't resist. I wanted to leave just the comment, but figured I didn't know you that good. Besides if you want to rub it, rub it. It's your coin, you can do whatever you want to it.

No offense taken. I know the coin looks rubbed but I can assure you that I didn't do the rubbing. All I can suppose is that it was from being moved around in the dirt by plows and disc, or who knows. Wasn't me though. That wee little coin went into a cotton stuffed pill bottle as soon as it was dug and didn't get cleaned off until I was home. All I did was soak it in water until the soil was loose and then run water over it from the tap until it was clean. I don't even rub Rosies, much less something that I get from a site of this age.

 

[park pirate]

Nice finds like the seated..

 

[cjon455]

I like that mystery item, I have no idea what it is but it's pretty cool, and the other finds are great as well, I've found a few of those toetaps this year also

Awesome seated!