A day to remember

Today I dug a Louisiana Civil War Belt Buckle. At first I thought it was trash. I could see it was a buckle after getting it out. Called a friend who is knows about this(also who modified the Sov I was using today) and I said....oh it just has a Pelican on it that looks like there is a tire underneath it. He got excited and told me I had a rare find. This has a few cracks and I accidently broke off a very small piece of the corner, but he is going to refer me a man who can restore it. Restored he said it should bring between 1,000 to 2,000.00 dollars! If it was mint it would be worth 4,000.00 dollars. I never dreamed I would dig a confederate belt buckle in Indiana. Probably brought back as a souviner from the war. Restoration will run between 100-200 dollars. Also got my first GAR button there today along with a very heavily gilted flat button.
Having around 200 hours at this spot and using several different detectors, I can honestly say(and not because of what I found today) that the Modified Sov with the coinsearch 8 inch coil is the best unit to hunt with in this heavy iron. David Keith at Dixie Detectors in Tennessee modifies them and has some of those coils. I have to go extremely slow and scrub the coil all around to pull up good signals. I have iron mask on, threshold just barely audible...then flip to silent search, discrim on minimum and sensitivity about 1 oclock. I can miss a good target by not sweeping the right direction or going too fast. This buckle was on edge under a tree root about 4 inches deep. It was a screamer. At first I thought it was trash as I saw the crusty back side. It is brass overlay on front, pewter on the back and the Pelican and her nest and young are poured lead. 2 large square nails came out of the same hole as the buckle. I had been over this area several times, but today I was going snail pace and working meticiously. The F-75, 3D, CZ21, Explorer SE all provided good finds, but I have bonded with the Sov and it talked to me so sweetly today. Also the E-Trac has been great here, but I just do better with the Sov now. A few days ago here with the ETrac yielded almost nothing,,,not because of detector, probably due to fresh rain working on the iron. Just one of those days where conditions make it look barren.
If I had not been told how to use the modified Sov in the heavy iron, I would have never used this type of setup.

That is a sweet find. Congrats. TMAN...

Nice find pal.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/2008 11:41PM by PanMan.

Congrat's Brad! It is a indescribable 'high' to find such a good item. . . especially when you do not know what it is when it is in your hands. Then,,,,,,,,, as time progresses and you 'research' the item..... and it just keeps getting better & better.

Yes, bone dry dirt was a major attribute allowing you to see between (dry/deactivated) iron targets. Sounds like you are performing a head-to-head comparison test....... but with the very same detector!!!....and only changing moisture/temperature variables. Startling ... isn't it!

Tom

What a rare and excellent find Brad. I admire guys like you that can make the Sovereign sing. Never could get the hang of one myself. Good thing I can get "zen" with s few others! LOL

Congrats!!

Tom Z

yeah!..like the f-75?..i know you do well with it!..i have read a lot of your posts,and helped inspire me to purchase one!..

(h.h!)
j.t.