Old Coins, Relics, and Civil War Buttons?

[Tony Two-Cent]

A rare post in the "Relics" section of the forum for me. :thumbsup01:

This past weekend we had very nice weather both days and I was able to get out for some detecting. On Saturday I hunted 4 different private residences with my brother, and on Sunday I hunted 2 different farm fields, one with my brother and one with my dad. They don't have detectors, they just follow along and watch and help ID the finds as we go along.

Here are the finds from the private yards on Saturday:

My brother had heard stories about a small village formerly being located in a farm field in my dad's hometown. We got permission to hunt the field from both the owner and from the farmer who leases it. There are no longer any structures on the property, just tilled farmland. We did find lots of broken glass, pottery, bricks, etc. in the field and took that as a good sign. We also found a round depressed spot that may have been a well or privy.

Here are the finds from the farm fields. The two eagle buttons were found in close proximity to the spot we thought might be a former well. I know they aren't in very good shape, but can anyone tell me their approximate age? Are they Civil War era?

Any information you can give me about the buttons or any of the other objects would be greatly appreciated.

All in all it was a fun weekend of detecting. One of these days I'm going to find a bucket list coin in one of these farm fields! :crossfingers:

 

[Digger Don]

Very nice digs Tony. It's not very often we find old buttons like that here in Illinois.
I also like your Fleet of cars. very cool.
And as always, congrats on the silver and Indian. :congrats:

 

[Full Metal Digger]

Nice finds Tony! Looks like you had an awesome weekend. The buttons are a bit crinkled but the smaller shield and rounded-shape of the wings looks like the General Service buttons used 1875 to 1902. Here's a link I used: http://inkspotantiques.com/shop/index.php?main_page=page&id=1

 

[Tony Two-Cent]

Thanks for that link, Dave. I agree with your assessment: 1875-1902.

 

[del]

some very nice relics Tony , you did well in the field :thumbsup02: how did you like the different setting then your use to ??

The buttons are a bit crinkled but the smaller shield and rounded-shape of the wings looks like the General Service buttons used 1875 to 1902. Here's a link I used: http://inkspotantiques.com/shop/index.php?main_page=page&id=1

great Id Dave , I was going to say the smaller cuff looked like a post Civil War era eagle


the larger brass "buckle looking piece" is a belt plate keeper similar to this one , Tony you might have been very close to finding a Civil War or post war military belt plate

 

[Tony Two-Cent]

the larger brass "buckle looking piece" is a belt plate keeper similar to this one , Tony you might have been very close to finding a Civil War or post war military belt plate

Wow, thanks for that information, Dan! In the back of my mind I thought it might be something like that but I hadn't researched it yet. Holy cow, I wonder if the belt plate is there?! We will have to make a return trip to that site. Hopefully next time it won't be so muddy.

p.s. I used the same settings that I've always used on my E-Trac.

 

[Nesdore]

Congrats Tony on some great finds really like the buttons and of course Congrats on the silver and Indian :clapping:

 

[Bell-Two]

Congratulations Tony on some very nice finds! We are going to make a field hunter out of you yet:detecting:next time in the field try the Two Tone Ferrous setting. Fields are notorious for being loaded with iron that can and does mask out good targets next to the big iron. Also expand the numbers that you consider digging in the field. A number of the lower tones can be desirable targets. It takes some patience and when you first start using it you will think you are at a heavy metal concert.

 

[OxShoeDrew]

Holy cow Tony!! That's some sweet finds! I have some dandy buttons with the same design as your 4th pic upper right. Is there a shank mark on back of that?
Is that aluminum on the same pic left side? WOW a civil war belt part! The last two pics are the drag of my MDing existence :lol:
Congrats!!

 

[Lodge Scent]

Now those are some cool finds !

 

[aloldstuff]

Tony, okay you've had your fun in the "relics" section, but now its time to return to the coinshooters section.....:lol:

Some very nice finds, especially the 2 eagle buttons. :congratsn all your keepers.

 

[The Rebel]

Love the finds and that site looks VERY promising!

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

way to go Tony! i need to find a keeper portion like yours.awesome hunt! nice to see ya posting here