Sunday relic hunt. Three buttons and a lot of questions

[JimK]

Hello all,
Well the temps got above freezing for the first time in almost a month so the wife and I braved what little snow that was left and returned to our Civil War union camp site. The snow didn’t stick around long but it became a muddy mess (lost a shoe at one point). Anyway the finds where elusive but we did get some very cool stuff and a bunch of “what the heck is it “sort of stuff. Between us we dug a ton of nails wire and iron.
I managed to find in my first good signal a cool Dixie ice cream good luck token that has the 1949 U of K football schedule on the back. I found a few pieces of camp lead and one three ringer. I found a couple of rivets some kind of clasp (help on these please), a brass strap type of thing (help on this one), but my best find was a complete (and in good shape) general service eagle coat button.
And it would not be a normal day out if my wife didn’t beat me out on finds. About the time I was patting myself on the back for finding the good luck token here she comes across the muddy field to show me the 1867 shield nickel she just found. She also found some camp lead, one three ringer, two general service eagle buttons (complete), what I think (hope) is a hammer off of a gun (help on this one), the top of a J-hook, a small buckle, and piece of iron that looks as if it may have been a tool at one time (help on this one) and a tube thing that we have no idea what it is (help on this one also). The tube is brass (and may have a spring in it but not sure) and is hollow. The iron piece is solid but the way it is tapered looks more like a screw driver than a spike or nail fastener, and the top looks like a rail road spike but it is no where near that size. Any help identifying these would be very much appreciated.

JimK

 

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[nova treasure]

Great variety of finds,
the clasp looking piece, is actually a Epaulet shoulder scale key
the Hammer looks to be off a Springfield Musket
the brass tube piece i am thinking a rifle loading tube, maybe Spencer

Someone with alot more expertise will give a more exact discription

 

[JimK]

Great variety of finds,
the clasp looking piece, is actually a Epaulet shoulder scale key
the Hammer looks to be off a Springfield Musket
the brass tube piece i am thinking a Spencer rifle feed tube.

Someone with alot more expertise will give a more exact discription

Very cool. Thanks for the reply and information.

JimK

 

[JimK]

Well we cleaned up the rifle hammer a bit. As you can see it looks less like a pile of dog poop and more like a relic now. Nova Treasure believes it to be from a Springfield which is very cool, but I was still hoping that I could get some ID help on these other items if anyone knows. The Brass strap thing is thin and about 2" or so long and maybe 1/4" wide. I left the 3 ringer in the pic for scale. And then there is the tool / spike / tent stake/? It is hard to see in the pictures but the tip is tapered just like a standard screw driver. It does not come to a sharp point like a chisel or wedge. Thanks

JimK

 

[DirtStalker]

Cools finds. Warmer weather will be there soon. Look forward to seeing future finds.

 

[park pirate]

Nice old buttons..

 

[JimK]

Well the brass piece has been identified. Fullstock posted this in the "Civil War" section.

"The rectangular brass piece with the 3 holes on each end was used to help hold epaulettes on the uniform. Two of them (one for each shoulder) were sewn (using the holes) on the uniform, and the long brass underside of the epaulette was then slid under it and then attached to the twist key. At least I hope that made sense.

" . I thank him for the information and ID. So that is one more down and one more to go.

JimK

 

[I-DIG-IT]

Nice digs.

 

[46Wheat]

Thank you for sharing your hunt and those pictures with us