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lee
10-16-2014, 07:10 AM
Monday i decided to hit a field near my house for an hour , only did one line across the park but got some great finds i think.
first minute a 1909 wheat pops its head out then a broach thingie, next was what i think is quite an old bullet casing followed by a crushed button.
after 1/2 hour i get a good signal at 9 inches and out comes this bloody lovely button with Latin words round the outside and a 3 legged eagle in the center , its stunning.
did a bit of research on it but what it is is sort of divided , some say its a German hessian soldiers button others say its off an over coat and modern.......at 9 inches ??.
what makes me question it is not 8 inches away i get another signal on the f4 showing something else at nine inches and out pops the worst struck coin i have ever seen , i mean this looks like it was struck by a 6 year old , the back is so off center that the date is not even on the coin and when you flip it the kings head is completely horizontal to the back, but its a copper and ill take it all day long thanks ;).
i dont know if this is a machin mills copper but from what i can glean from it it sort of looks like one ....del ?.
pictures where taken by kris who is a camera man for NBC news so don't go thinking Ive started to get good at taking photos or something.....
any comments on the button or coin would be great.433204332143322

aloldstuff
10-16-2014, 07:26 AM
Great pictures, oh sorry I misread the post.:lol: For only one pass you got some great finds. Hopefully the guru's will chime in about that button and copper. I know that the British did employee the Hessians during the Rev war but not sure about the war of 1812.
Nice looking 1909 wheat.

Call me to see if we can meet for a hunt.

Isaac
10-16-2014, 10:16 AM
Great finds and great pictures!!! The copper is actually in not half bad shape, looks interesting!!! The button is really neat!!!

MangoAve
10-16-2014, 11:25 AM
Wow, a post from Lee. It's been a while but I know you been getting out. There is already a few things online about this button. They definitely do make reproductions of the Hessian Military button. Depth I don't think matters. A zippo was recovered recently around 10" and at the same park maybe 40ft away, a wheat was recovered at only 2-3". Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. :dontknow: Is the one you found definitly one piece and how about the shank? For the copper, do you remember the spill near the old mill? All of them were struck with the obverse at different angles. I don't think they had quality control back then (yet last night on TV I heard a hundred years after your copper was struck, they could lift an entire city...) Congrats on the finds.

Trooper Bri
10-16-2014, 07:22 PM
Those are some beauties Lee! Congrats.

Think you're off by a day. Missed your call Sunday with the headphones on (miss it even more now :lol: ), and called you back after getting done with our door knock. Hope that button turns out to be the real deal, she's a good looker.

del
10-16-2014, 07:43 PM
the button is an interesting design , we would need to see the reverse to make a comment . the copper is like wise interesting , the reverse wording looks spelled wrong can you post a good close up of the reverse.

well now i can see the copper a bit better now (better and wider screen) it looks like a Connecticut copper Lee:cheering:

Fire Fighter 43
10-16-2014, 08:47 PM
Nice digs and a great short hunt, WTG.

Kris
10-21-2014, 09:11 AM
Hello Lee, this should help.

Richard A. Hosmer's The .58 and .50-Caliber Rifles & Carbines of The Springfield Armory 1865-1872. According to this book, this short cartridge is the .50-45-400 Cadet, and was intended to be used in the 1867 Navy Cadet rifle made by Remington, which used their rolling block action. Only 498 of these rifles were made; they were produced for the cadets at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and were used by them until 1890, when they were replaced with Hotchkiss Navy Model rifles. The 1867 Navy Cadet rifle had a short chamber which would not allow the full length .50-70 case to be seated.

By the time these Cadet rifles found their way into the surplus market after 1890, more reliable externally primed cartridges would have been the norm, such as those produced by Winchester and UMC. That Winchester and UMC were producing them commercially and both companies called them a .50 Carbine would seem to indicate they were intended for military carbines that had made their way into the surplus market.

Frankford Arsenal produced Benet-primed cases beginning in 1868, pictured here as the second cartridge on the left. A similar externally primed short cartridge was also produced commercially by at least two companies, these being Winchester and UMC, also shown in the picture, headstamped .50 CARB. by both companies. The last cartridge in the picture is an externally primed, unheadstamped example of this short .50 cartridge with a brass case and a rounded head.