Like RobW...

[Irregular]

...I can't believe I'm posting in Relics, but for a slightly different reason. This is something I've only dreamt of since the invention of the internet and online forums; and dreamt of relic hunting long before that. Yesterday fulfilled that dream, and now I've joined the ranks of those I've always considered The Most Fortunate. Everything has come together- living in the right place, a good friend with a like passion of detectoring who is native to the area, and a newly acquired MXT Pro.

Yesterday found us on a nearby field of battle; my takes were about thirty nails and what appears in the attached image.


The object at the upper left may be part of a rifle-musket, smoothbore or carbine lock plate (heavily corroded by who knows how many fertilizer applications over the ages), dimensionally it is a pretty good match to an Enfield's lock plate in my possession; the object on the right was my find of the day, a Hotchkiss percussion fuse. The object on the bottom was found in some woods on the edge of a field, possibly part of some farming implement, but these woods were also the location of CS cavalry before they were forced out of their position. I don't know if any of the knowledgeable here might be able to ID that item.

My digging pard found a gold-gilted button and a nice, complete lead sabot and a few other period odds and ends. A good day for both of us and a new enthusiasm for this typist!

[Lowjiber]

Nice day for both of you guys.

Looks like you and the MXT will be friends for a long time.

Congratulations on your first real relic hunt.

[coinnut]

Congrats on doing some relic hunting It is just another version of the same addiction lol Glad you enjoyed your time out!! thumbsup01

[RobW]

lol Great now people are comparing themselves to me. I didn't know anyone would want to bring themselves down to my level lol
I loved civil war relic hunting. Was sad to let it go, but happy I made some new friends who have introduced me to other possibilities living up in Yankeeland. While I have enjoyed coinshooting for the past few years, it's the history part I love most. Though I still miss the battle aspect. Now when I find a bullet, it's when someone is shooting at a deer not a person, in combat over our country, kinda looses something. Hoping to do some revolutionary and Indian war research ovover the cold months to tied me over and find some more interesting places.

I hope you find some great things, cause there are some great things to find. Especially when you dig that breast plate, or buckle...those were my favs. Great finds you got there, nice fuse!

[Irregular]

RobW, I don't suppose I'm coming down to your level at all; I've got only one direction to go: UP! Unless I'm digging, then I guess I'll dig as long as I have a signal. I too regret you're no longer finding the WBTS relics, but trust you'll find some history worth pursuing wherever you are north of the border. I too have gone north, from my native state of Florida to Virginia (culturally speaking it was a move South ), in the attempt to satisfy my passion for history. Virginia has satisfied that, and the beauty of the land and the disposition of her native people are just icing on the cake. I could definitely get into Rev War and the French and Indian stuff (I already do via the printed page); and there is some talk of getting to colonial digs around here.

See Naples and die? Pshaw, dig relics and die.

Thanks to all for the encouraging replies!

[zrickkid]

Living in Virginia is my retirement dream I just have to convince the wife but I believe she is game. Im 43 and want to retire at 55 so 11 1/2 years to go. I've been on vacation there 4 times. Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, Richmond, etc. It made an impression me that will never die. Cant wait to find some GW buttons!! It may be silly but Wasington is my personal hero and something i'll always aspire is to know more about him. Good luck on future hunts. thumbsup01

[del]

i 'm not up to par on the two iron relics but the fuse is a great looking specimen gotta be more like that in the area , congrats Irregular

Living in Virginia is my retirement dream I just have to convince the wife but I believe she is game. Im 43 and want to retire at 55 so 11 1/2 years to go. I've been on vacation there 4 times. Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, Richmond, etc. It made an impression me that will never die. Cant wait to find some GW buttons!! It may be silly but Wasington is my personal hero and something i'll always aspire is to know more about him. Good luck on future hunts. thumbsup01

wow it sounds like we live parallel lives Zrickkid as i'm the same age and also want to retire at 55 and Virginia is a superb place for detecting (colonial cellars ,it has seen Revolutionary war and war of 1812 and Civil war action too ) thumbsup01 thumbsup01

[Irregular]

zrickkid, what could possibly be silly about GW as your personal hero? Excellent, possibly ultimate (short of Jesus Christ) choice in my book; we have his complete record, unlike the worshipped, overpaid, egotistical sports heroes of today, who usually end up falling from grace. Even worse, how about celluloid heroes? Oops; off on a tangent, sorry 'bout that.

I wish you both success in joining me here; I moved five years ago at age forty-five (far from retirement ) and never looked back. The history is so deep it's nearly overwhelming; for me to leave the house I have to go through Rockfish Gap, which conjures up images of Jefferson, Henry, Daniel Boone (as part of the in-flight Virginia Assembly), Tarleton, R.E. Lee, Stonewall, Jed Hotchkiss, Early, Custer, to name just a few who knew this gap intimately.

del, I'm including here an image of that flat piece of iron next to a Pattern 1853 Enfield lock plate for comparison. I could have easily tossed or at least never considered it a relic, but my hunting pard suggested it might be a lock plate. I was still skeptical, but took in its dimensions and the fact that it has what could be a mounting screw hole. Regardless, I know it has no monetary value, not that I'd care either way about that. Its shape, with the bottom flat edge and curved upper left edge may be mere coincidence; as a hard-core skeptic it will take an expert to convince me of what it may be. If a lock plate, of what type may be beyond hope of ever finding out. It was found in the route of a big CS cavalry skedaddle, so quite likely it would be a carbine, sawed-off long arm, or single shot percussion pistol.

Hold on tight to your dreams!

[RobW]

I too have gone north, from my native state of Florida to Virginia (culturally speaking it was a move South ),


Thats Funny...I don't care who you are......but true!
I too love Virginia. I consider it a pilgrimage. When passing through I always stop in Lexington and pay tribute to my 3 heros...Lee, Jackson and of course Traveler (Lee's horse) who is buried outside Lee Chapel at Washington & Lee Univ. I Love the Shanendoah Valley, watching the sun rise over the mountains and set over the mountains. I always get the willies when driving through that area.

What part of VA are you in?

[Irregular]

RobW,

I live in Augusta County, about six miles from Waynesboro. Yes, Lexington is most special. I'm in the service industry and do quite a bit of traveling in roughly a six county area. Whenever I'm in downtown Lexington I can't resist at least passing by Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery for a glimpse of his grave and statue. If my last job of the day is in Harrisonburg, I take a route that may take a couple of minutes longer, but is shorter mileage-wise than all interstate, and pass through five battlefields in something less than forty miles. It's hard not to be a shunpiker around here.

I know the willies you speak of- we vacationed up here for fifteen years with Augusta County as our base of operations, and I'd feel those willies overcome me when I crossed the state line, and then depart at the Carolina state line. I now live with those willies full-time to some degree; I think their current source comes partly from wondering how I could be so blessed.

I think too much Daniel Boone on the tube as a kid corrupted me; while it was manufactured entertainment, it gave me some sense of, and interest in, our nation's history, and convinced a city boy that he wanted to live in the sticks when he grew up.

A favorite adage: Truth is stranger than fiction, because fiction has to make sense.

[RobW]

Just don't make a habit of trying to grin down a bear I don't think it really works lol

[Irregular]

RobW, if that's anything like grin and bear it, I can tell you it does work from a lifetime's experience, thus far.

[RobW]

No, it was a reference to the old Davy Crockett movie where Davy Crockett was grinning down a bear in the beginning, then later when he was going one on one with an indian chief, he tried to grin him down and it didn't work and he remarks well it worked on a bear.

[Irregular]

Yeah, I was just funnin'. I figured it was literally grinning down a bear, but figured incorrectly that it would've been a Dan'l Boone episode. I can't say for certain that I ever saw the Davy Crockett movie, but those scenes sound like classics; something to keep in mind to look for with those sure to come snowbound periods coming up.

[coinnut]

something to keep in mind to look for with those sure to come snowbound periods coming up.

Snow?? Snow is hunting weather lol I hope we don't get walloped this winter. I'm trying to convince myself we will be hunting every weekend until Spring hits

[Irregular]

Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that snow is hunting weather; I certainly enjoy getting out into it. I finally bought snowshoes last winter; I practically had no choice in the matter. What's the best thing to get through frozen ground, dynamite?

[coinnut]

Well, I'm certainly glad to hear that snow is hunting weather; I certainly enjoy getting out into it. I finally bought snowshoes last winter; I practically had no choice in the matter. What's the best thing to get through frozen ground, dynamite?

lol So far we have been lucky and the ground really doesn't freeze under the leaf cover. But the paths and open ground are hard as a rock. It is a bit messy and the machines are not happy about the temperatures. :-\