MDing with Tim (Ill Digger) today

[Full Metal Digger]

Hey Diggers,
So I am driving around door knocking and it seems no one is home! Just as I am about to give up for the day I get a call from Tim and he says he is about 2 hours north of me and the town is nice and old and he already has pulled some awesome coins. ROAD TRIP! I got there at 3 o'clock and we started door knocking and got 3 yesses. All turn of the century Victorian houses I might add.

It wasn't long before Tim and I were getting some oldies! The 1900 barber quarter is very worn and rang up as 12-45 at 7 inches deep. Both nickels hit exactly 12-12 and I knew they were nickels before I even cut the plug. Both were shallow at only about 3 inches deep. It must have been my day for finding aluminum tokens. They always ring up like silver too.

The civil war heel plate was 10 inches deep in the old curb strip. It's the second one of these I have found.

The best find of the day was made by Tim (IMO) and I would have traded all my coins for it too! But I'll let him tell that story.

Thanks Tim for thinking of me and for the invite. I had a blast! Here is some pics. Thanks for looking and HH, Dave.

[Ill Digger]

Man Dave! You killed it today!!
Big(old) silver, tokens (one of my favs), Civil war stuff....man! You grabbed a little bit of everything!
Now that's the sign of a good hunt!
Congrats! !
Glad it worked out on such short notice. Great time as always! Can't wait to do it again my friend

[Digger_O'Dell]

Awesome finds! Seems those V nickles just don't fare well in the ground. Definitely worth the trip, well done!

[OxShoeDrew]

You started door knocking at 3pm, found a boat load of loot, drove home another 2 hrs, then still had time/energy to make this good looking thread? Amazing Dave!! You are one hardcore hunter!
PS Hi Tim!

[Gaspipe101]

Gotta ask ... How do you know it's a Union heal plate from the Civil War?

[Full Metal Digger]

Gotta ask ... How do you know it's a Union heal plate from the Civil War?

Good question. The easiest way is to Google "Heel plates with a heart shape" and you will see a whole bunch of pictures of CW heel plates with various cut-out designs. Some are very rare and quite collectable. The heart shape is most common. Here is what I found online:

In order to increase the life of their brogans, Union Regiments and even Companies had men who were cobblers who would make their heel plates. Not to be outdone, Confederate Cavalry used the heel plate design to communicate with other troops or between smaller groups of horse soldiers. Once the soldiers unmounted their horses near water the heel plates would leave an imprint in the mud. When other soldiers later came to same area they could tell whether friend or foe. The cavalry plate is smaller than other CW heel plates due fact it had a signal function rather than protection of the heel (cavalry boots wouldn't see as much wear compared a foot soldier and no need for added weight). The plates were not military issued and various designs/metals were used. A heart shape was the most common, but also clover and star were used by Confederates.

[Ill Digger]

You started door knocking at 3pm, found a boat load of loot, drove home another 2 hrs, then still had time/energy to make this good looking thread? Amazing Dave!! You are one hardcore hunter!
PS Hi Tim!

Hey Drew!
Yeah, he's a nut ain't he!?!
He told me he was going to do that too. Drive all the way home, clean everything, photograph everything, and get it posted that night! I thought "no way I'd have it up that night". But hardcore Daddydigger did it! I'll try to have my weekend total hunts thread up sometime this week.

[Ill Digger]

I'll try to have my weekend total hunts thread up sometime this week.

Ok, I got the pictures taken and uploaded to PB. So maybe by tomorrow night?

[aloldstuff]

And all it took was a phone call.....nice finds.

[Digger Don]

Wow, talk about a productive road trip. Great job Dave.
Congrats on all your finds, but I really like that heal plate.

[wisconsin digger]

Definitely was worth the trip. Great finds Thx for posting WD

[milco]

Looks like a great trip!