Not sure how many on here relic Hunt but why not ask...What's you best relic Find EVER?? Keeping with the Current theme!

Doesn't have to be based on Value though it can be...

Just whatever does it for you..

Ill start it off ...

C.S.A. Rectangle Buckle Thin Style...Most I've showed it to think it's from an Alabama factory and where I found it makes sense, Alabama Cavalry in the area.....

And it was found with a MXT I literally took the machine from the dealers to and old hunt spot that had been plowed through..Took it out of the box put it together installed optional 6x10 DD on the tailgate turned it on and dug the Buckle First signal. it even said Buckle on the I.D. LOL. !! Went back later and in same hole dug a beautiful Copper plated Stirrup with etching all over it about a foot deeper..

For me its not the value ..While expensive in its own right it's the history of the item and the locale and for me a Lifelong Quest Fulfilled..Since then I found half another one across the creek from that spot..

Ok Lets hear some Great Relic discovery's.


Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2016 02:41AM by Keith Southern.

No fair = I don't have the "relics" you'all do down south!

But - one I can remember was an 1870s watch fob from NY

showed the skyline of NY city & harbor with very early steam ships, etc

was one of the 1st "relics" that I truly appreciated for the history it showed/represented and turned/got my attention to gain interest in relic hunting = not just coin hunting which WAS my main attraction to the hobby for the 1st decade of my diggin career

cool thread = brings back memories!

Um, good question Keith.

I guess my best one would be,, at least to me.

Tom 41 says it is a poker chip made by one of the CW troopers,, I actually dug it while hunting with him down his way.

But this might count here too.

I had a lady I met locally ,, she knew I detected and contacted me to find her partial bridge she had lost at the beach here nearby at the lake.
So now she has all her teeth back.. Lol.

A British 10th regiment of the foot button a couple miles from a fort site. Also got a small hammered copper knife (1 1/2") said to be 4000-6000 years old. I almost threw it away thinking it wasn't anything but then kept it because it was copper. Don't throw anything away if you don't know.

My local confederate staff officer button. Was digging in a house site with a DMC-IIB as a teenager. Got a loud signal from a large iron peice off a stove. Flipped it out and there she was. Blatant luck. I'd never even found an eagle button at the time.

Tough to pick just one, but this is one of my favorites. I found this silver badge while detecting a demo in Sacramento with a good friend a few years ago:



-Brian

Union Cavalry Staff Officer button with some gilt left, another 1236x2 find.

I really just started part time relic hunting about 4 years ago. My finds are mostly bullets and some harmonica reeds. But at one site I found a solid brass Texas button. It's not a 2 piece button like shown in all the books. I sent photos of it to a Texas CW collector as directed by some on the forums about 4 years ago whos name eludes me now. He said they didn't make solid brass buttons and either I have a rare button or one that a soldier made himself. It looks too good for some DIY button maker out in the field. So if anyone has a clue about this button I'm all ears. FYI: I know it's solid brass because it's heavy and I also scratched it digging.



Kenny
[www.youtube.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2016 10:38AM by khouse.

Probably one of my best finds was a perfect CS Fork Tongue Buckle dug near Winchester, VA. with a Wilson metal detector.

Dug a cross cannon button from Russia that was in a Rhode Island artillery camp on my farm. The person was a observer that must have been with the troops .

I dug a Puppy Paw US Buckle last summer. Still looking for that CS one.

I have the actual rock that David used to slay Goliath. I picked it up CHEAP at a shop in Mexico. I couldn't believe my luck. lol

The funnest relic I have dug was a breastplate that my wife filmed me finding as it happened. That video still cracks both of us up when we watch it; the reaction is just so genuine. Somehow I just knew that it was going to be a plate and had started videoing it myself. It sounded just like a minie ball signal and there really wasn't anything from the signal that said otherwise...but something just went off in my mind and said "it's a plate".

The coolest thing though that I have in my collection is probably one of the oddest relics to find. It is a carved bullet. I'm not sure of the purpose of it...ancient Romans believed it was a symbol of good luck, and thus made big sculptures and paintings of them. Maybe it was for a joke in the winter camps. I am talking about...the male genital organ. Yep. A penis. I found a bullet that is carved into a very detailed penis. I first saw one of them in Charlie Harris's relic book "Civil War Relics of the Western Campaigns". It was one of those things that was so unique that you would never expect to find one. At my first DIV hunt, I found myself in the middle of a New York camp, digging lots of bullets, buttons, and such. And right in the middle of it, I dig this carved bullet and instantly recognized what it was. I have seen chess pieces that sort of resemble one...but there is no doubt as to what this one is carved to be. LOL

It's a tough choice to make choosing just one best relic find ever out of many that meant so much at the time, and still do. My two NC State Seal cuff buttons with some gilt, some NC State Seal coat buttons, a near perfect Sunburst NC coat button (missing the shank). The Enfield bayonet scabbard throat that Keith ID-ed for me. The Confederate cavalry coat button front that came from an old house site. The Hillsborough Military Academy cuff button in near perfect condition. Three Nessler shotgun slugs (produced at the School for the Deaf, Dumb and Blind in Raleigh, NC).
But the one I choose as best ever (hopefully, only so far) is the wreath to a Confederate tongue and wreath belt buckle. It's bent and missing the keeper, but it's as close to finding a CW buckle or plate as I have come, YET, and it's CONFEDERATE!



Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

My best relic find was in 1962, when I was 15. I was spending a month in Rhode Island with my mother's family. One weekend my uncle Ovila took me to the State House in Providence. Since I was a Civil War nut, I was fascinated by the 12 pounder Napoleon under the rotunda. This gun belonged to a Rhode Island battery on Cemetary ridge in Gettysburg and had been struck on the muzzle by a Confederate shell. The gun has a ball stuck in the muzzle. I read the plaque and thought about it for a bit. The ball in the muzzle obviously got stuck while they were attempting to reload the gun after it was struck.

I told my uncle that this gun was fully charged with black powder and could explode. My uncle called a security guard over and told him "the kid says this thing is loaded and might blow up". He didn't seem too concerned.

The next week there was an article in the Providence paper about how someone had discovered that the famous "Gettysburg gun" was loaded and that it had been removed inorder to make it inert.

[sos.ri.gov]

[southcarolina1670.wordpress.com]

The only thing that puzzles me is how all that time went by without anybody figuring out that they were in danger. The only thing I can figure has to do with what I remember about my own thinking at the time. Although the linked article clearly describes the stuck ball to be the result of a reloading attempt, my own recollection is that - as I was standing there - I understood the plaque to say that the ball stuck when they tried to fire it. Perhaps I just misunderstood what I read, but I told my uncle that that couldn't be true, that if the ball stuck upon firing, the gun would have exploded.

Again, the historical record clearly describes how the ball stuck in the reloading attempt, so maybe I was just confused, but if the plaque indeed said that it stuck on firing, it might explain why folks didn't reflect on the live black powder charge lying inside.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/2016 09:13PM by lytle78.

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My best relic find was in 1962, when I was 15. I
> was spending a month in Rhode Island with my
> mother's family. One weekend my uncle Ovila took
> me to the State House in Providence. Since I was
> a Civil War nut, I was fascinated by the 12
> pounder Napoleon under the rotunda. This gun
> belonged to a Rhode Island battery on Cemetary
> ridge in Gettysburg and had been struck on the
> muzzle by a Confederate shell. The gun has a ball
> stuck in the muzzle. I read the plaque and
> thought about it for a bit. The ball in the
> muzzle obviously got stuck while they were
> attempting to reload the gun after it was struck.
>
> I told my uncle that this gun was fully charged
> with black powder and could explode. My uncle
> called a security guard over and told him "the kid
> says this thing is loaded and might blow up". He
> didn't seem too concerned.
>
> The next week there was an article in the
> Providence paper about how someone had discovered
> that the famous "Gettysburg gun" was loaded and
> that it had been removed inorder to make it
> inert.
>
> [sos.ri.gov]
> tate-House-Tour/online-tour/first-floor
>
> The only thing that puzzles me is how all that
> time went by without anybody figuring out that
> they were in danger. The only thing I can figure
> has to do with what I remember about my own
> thinking at the time. Although the linked article
> clearly describes the stuck ball to be the result
> of a reloading attempt, my own recollection is
> that - as I was standing there - I understood the
> plaque to say that the ball stuck when they tried
> to fire it. Perhaps I just misunderstood what I
> read, but I told my uncle that that couldn't be
> true, that if the ball stuck upon firing, the gun
> would have exploded.
>
> Again, the historical record clearly describes how
> the ball stuck in the reloading attempt, so maybe
> I was just confused, but if the plaque indeed said
> that it stuck on firing, it might explain why
> folks didn't reflect on the live black powder
> charge lying inside.

That's quite a story. And quite a breach of sound reasoning and safety, to boot. Remarkable!

I guess it is possible that if the barrel was malleable enough to deform from the projectile hit it may have "re-formed" upon firing without exploding, but the ball definitely would have not have remained in the barrel.

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

Found a perfect 3.67 FLAT base Hotchkiss--Perfect rifling from a rifled 6 lb'er. At the time,1978,there were only a couple known.

Brian that's a Veteran Odd fellows badge..

The date is probably correct..

The VOF was formed in order to preserve the history of and tradition of the Odd Fellows..

Is the pin still on the back?

Great Find!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Kenny not sure on that one...

Never seen a 1-Piece like Texas like that one..

the 1-Piece texas buttons were surely made but different design on front..

May I ask where it was found and what else was found there..?

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Great Reading Rick!!

You may also be lifesaver !!

That would definitely be the find of a LIFETIME would it Not????

Yes if the ball lodged upon firing it would of most surely exploded...

That reminds me of a find My buddy made years and years ago...a trunnion on the cannon ..the piece that sticks off the side of the barrell ..all cast as 1 piece..It hold the cannon secure and allows it to elevate up and down...

He found that piece..huge piece of brass blown apart and the date was on the edge..1863 I believe it was...Man I was in complete AWE and super envious and well I will go ahead and say it I was Jealous of it..

But to think that cannon exploded and ripped apart that huge piece of brass ..ATOMIC FORCE and had to end some lives instantly when it blew..

Great story Rick!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I have a canteen spout carved with the owners initials found in Mansfield, La. Also, my recently found 9 CW .69 bullets a few blocks from my apartment. All found n one afternoon.

I have found many confederate relics but would would have to say the CS tongue found with a Whites Eagle II SL. Battle of Hanover C.H.

My family lives in upstate NY along the Hudson river...2003 I was with friends detecting a meadow when my friend Bob uncovered a grave of a French soldier who was laid to rest during the French and Indian Wars...What his detector sounded off on, was the metal buttons on his coat, nothing left of the coat or anything else, but his remains... Police were called and when all was said and done, he was a French soldier and the French Consulate had his remains buried in Plattsburgh...

Hi Keith,

Yep it's an VOF badge, pretty cool that it's dated with Sacramento on it! The iron pin rotted away on the back. I was thinking about trying to re-enamel it, would look nice restored.

I also found some cool 1800's political pins in Sacramento on that hunt. Sac is a fun place to hunt, although it's been detected to death, so unless you're lucky enough to find a demo, it's slim pickings.

HH,
Brian


Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brian that's a Veteran Odd fellows badge..
>
> The date is probably correct..
>
> The VOF was formed in order to preserve the
> history of and tradition of the Odd Fellows..
>
> Is the pin still on the back?
>
> Great Find!
>
> Keith

Not old, not valuable. But it is one of my cooler finds to me. Found it in a blanket of nails and steel soup can lids in an old CCC camp in North AL. My junky old Tesoro did me proud that day!

United Confederate Veterans Reunion souvenir badge from the 1931 reunion in Montgomery. Originally had a pin attached to the loop at the top.

You guys have made some killer finds, hopefully if I stick with it I can start to catch up!

Nice UCV Piece!!

Congrat's

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

A find I sold off even though I knew it was TopShelf..It was not Civil War So I let go on a Whim...

Be careful selling your FInds..I've done it a few times in my life ..You always regret it later...


This is a short lived Rail line here in my neck of the wood's..

I believe it was in operation from 1866 to about 1882 or so..

It was called East Tennessee Virginia Georgia Rail Road...

I found it in an old house site about 3 miles for the same railroad..way back in the woods...I think it was my first signal that day...house was loaded in huge brass signals...( and no Ive never been back topo hard to get to)...

Anyways a buddy of mine was with me when I dug it and I remember saying hey this might be a 700.00 dollar lock...He said no way ..and I said yeah railroad locks for certain lines can be high...But little did I know...

I researched it for awhile and could not find one...that should of been my first clue...

So I decided to sell it one day to buy a metal detector since I did don't collect Railroad items and figured the money would help....

I stuck it on Ebay with a low reserve..Like 250.00....

Well within a few hours I had multiple offers to stop the auction and sell it outright if I would make them a price...One guy said he had the key that fit it and wanted to match the set LOL!!

I even had one guy call me still not sure how he got my number LOL!!

Anyway's that should of been my second clue...

Then I had people actually get mad at me at report me to ebay for selling a Switch lock key which is supposedly forbidden...even though it was over 130 years old ...Ebay researched it and said i could sell it..since it was not modern...

Well when the auction got close to ending the bids started coming in from like the 700.00 range and jumped to the 1400.00 range in matter of seconds..

After the auction ended the guy paid who won immediately and sent me an email...

wanted to Know if I had another one...I said no at the moment but may find another...Never Know..

Anyways He was a collector out of Florida and was very nice...We talked a few more times and after he got the lock he emailed again to tell me how happy he was...He then said to me he had a reserve bid on the lock of 3200.00 during the auction and was surprised he got it for 1400.00..

He said at the moment that was the only known variation of the Lock..He said there was one more common with just the railroad letter's on the top bar..but this was the only Embossed 1860's one to date...

Well after that I talked to another collector out of florida..and he said Never sell an item like that on Ebay...He said it should of brought 4000.00 on the right auction spot...

then about a year later I met a local Railroad collector from Georgia I was selling him some Rail buttons.. and told him about it and showed a Pic..and he is of the mindset it's a 5000.00 dollar lock...Now were in Confederate buckle range I thought...Actually he said just bring one to him if it looks like the one in the Pic and He will buy it outright...

So as you can see I made a big mistake buy not doing enough research...Of course the economy is low now so who knows what RR collectibles bring

But anyway's I think I have showed the lock before on here.. but here it is..Its still had a 2 foot chain hanging off the bottom to boot..



Maybe I can find another one some day...

but you Know whats funny Not sure I could sell another one If I had it..I have regretted letting the first one go ever since I shipped it out.....

Im not even a RR collector but anything that says Georgia on it causes my pulse to race..

so theres my Mistake..Multifaceted...

Buy the way dug it with my Whites Classic IDX Modded...

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2016 05:26PM by Keith Southern.

Keith,

I do believe that's about a $5K lock. I do know the 2 Florida RR collectors you refer to. One lives in a suburb of Orlando...... and has multi-millions in RR stuff. Never met someone of whom was of extreme-blood-passion for RR stuff. And there's plenty of RR collectors ...... especially in the US. I have found plenty of RR stuff that I was nearly certain was 'junk'. . . . . only later to be surprised of it's high desirability/collectible stat's.

Keith,

Oh God, I have a sinking sick feeling coming over me. Did that railway happen to have any buttons with the same letters? I found a button nobody around here knew what it was so I dismissed it as being just a crap button. It had a star in the middle and E.T.V & G letters around it. Kind of the same format as the Texas button above except a smaller star. I figured it wasn't Civil War and kept it in a case with my misc. buttons and such and it went with everything when I sold off part of my collection several yrs ago. I'm hoping there isn't any association with your lock railway company and if there is, that it wasn't worth much. I think I sold everything in that Riker case for like $3 a button. Most were plain flat buttons and post civil war stuff.

Awesome find Keith!

At Monte's ghost town trip last September, two nice rail road locks were found. Probably nothing like Keith's, but still cool finds.

-Brian

This hand-forged RR chain binder (for holding down logs in this case) is one of my favorite iron finds... guessing made/used/lost 1895-1915.