Union Forever....

Hit one of my favorite old Civil War skirmish sites today. Got the usual bullets and cannonball grapeshot. But today took the Vista Gold with the 14" epic coil and found a union token between 10" and 12" deep. On the front is a soldier on a horse with the words First in War First in Peace, and the year 1863. On the back is the words union forever and a union shield on the bottom of the token. My first token from a battle site. Kind of cool. Sorry I do not know how to post pictures on this site, but did find one like it, only in better condition on eBay....Stuart

"If the South Woulda Won We'd A Had It Made!!" Hank Williams Jr. !!!!! No, Search and Discovery, I'm just yanking your chain. I ain't got no fight in that battle anymore. But I AM sincerely happy that ya made some great finds!!!! I know that feeling (as most of us do on here) or opening p up a plug, and the heart just melts. And it sounds like that Vista Gold is pulling it's weight!!! I wish that I'd a been patient and kept mine. It was a deep machine. Anyway, CONGRATS to ya Search and Recovery on a great hunt!!!!!

Thanks Kevin. I am southern by birth and tradition. Like your answer. Union token was on confederate side of the line. Union pushed confederates back fifty yards on first day of fighting. Must have been lost then as token was about 50 yards inside original lines drawn by both sides. Confederates pushed them back on second day to original line. On third day of battle confederates ran the union out of this skirmish site. Makes you feel how personal a piece like this is. A soldier was standing on this exact spot and dropped it or maybe was killed here and all these years later the token is removed. Very special moment to me. I always have to take a deep breath and look at my surroundings and try to imagine all that was going on in the battle and how hard these soldiers worked for everything just to survive each day. Every relic dug is special, but every once in a while one comes along that is extra special. This was one of those to me...Stuart

Once in a life find, good deal Stuart. Is it bronze or copper? or?

It was great being there as this find was being dug.

As already mentioned to Stuart, only thing that could have made THAT find any better would have been if I found it!

Great find Stuart!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2016 11:34PM by Tony_K.

Can we see a photo

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

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If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Ozzie it is copper.
Tony, thanks for posting my pics. Glad you and Wayne could make it up my way to play in the mud and snow. You guys made this a hunt to remember, the token was just the bonus. Thanks for letting me see what the Blisstool and Tesoro's can do as well as the GPX 4800. Man, we have some cool toys to play with don't we?...Stuart

Sorry for the delay on the pics, LowBoy. Tony just posted pics for me. I am technologically challenged on how to do that. It really keeps me from posting a lot of my finds on this site as I know everyone wants to see the items we talk about.

Wow....... priceless! Nearly monogramed.

Thanks Tom. Always good to hear from you. Wish our relics would stay in great shape like yours in Florida with its low mineralization.

That is precisely why I love digging these old relics. Knowing that there is a high probability that I was the next person to touch that bullet or knapsack hook, after the soldier who dropped it. It really is intriguing!!! It is like having a tangible touch with history. I just love it. I wish you AWESOME success!!!!! search and recovery Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks Kevin. I am southern by birth and
> tradition. Like your answer. Union token was on
> confederate side of the line. Union pushed
> confederates back fifty yards on first day of
> fighting. Must have been lost then as token was
> about 50 yards inside original lines drawn by both
> sides. Confederates pushed them back on second day
> to original line. On third day of battle
> confederates ran the union out of this skirmish
> site. Makes you feel how personal a piece like
> this is. A soldier was standing on this exact spot
> and dropped it or maybe was killed here and all
> these years later the token is removed. Very
> special moment to me. I always have to take a deep
> breath and look at my surroundings and try to
> imagine all that was going on in the battle and
> how hard these soldiers worked for everything just
> to survive each day. Every relic dug is special,
> but every once in a while one comes along that is
> extra special. This was one of those to
> me...Stuart

Thanks for the invite, Stuart! Had a great time digging with you and Tony. It's a lovely spot that is certainly rich in history. What a day it was, too, digging in short sleeves on the last day of January! The Racer saved my bacon, that's for sure. Didn't have a keeper until I fired it up. It's odd how the F75 did not display ANY level (no bars) of mineralization, yet the minie ball I buried at 6 or 7 inches would barely register. Then the Racer clearly showed significant mineralization between 3/16 and 7/16 of the circle filled(over the site) and did not seem to be affected at all. Finding the pistol percussion cap at 3 to 5 inches clearly demonstrated that. I was a little concerned about using the 5x10 coil rather than the stock, but it did great! I guess the smaller coil actually lessened the effect of the mineralization, too.
I was happy for you, Stuart, when you told me you had found a coin. I was ecstatic when you emailed and said it was a CW token!

Wayne

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?

Sounds like you guys had a great time out there. Awesome token as well!

Nice finds.

Love too see and hear of the comradery between folks.

Wayne, it was great having you hunt with us. Tony and you should post your pics. It is odd that the F75 showed no mineralization and the racer showed differently. It is a quirky gray soil unlike anywhere else that I hunt. Your mapping ability of sites is awesome. Something I really need to learn more about...Stuart

Great Token..

Heres yours..

[www.ebay.com]

Congrats..

Ive just found the Washington heads always wanted one on horse..Lucky Dog!!

Keith

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

Thanks for the kind words Keith. Would like to see your collection of finds someday. I am sure it is like some of the real old timers that I started out hunting with many years ago. They had a 35 year head start on me. AMAZING COLLECTIONS!!! Very secretive about locations they hunt and show their collections to very few people. They are true historians whose vast knowledge is lost to the rest of the world as they pass away one at a time. So much of their knowledge coming from soldiers diaries and letters that they obtained many years ago. Retracing the footsteps of the soldiers in the field day after day, year after year. Much of this information lost because of their secretive nature. We have the Internet today with info and maps of everything. But we will never have the freedom to search every farm field and wood lot that these guys had a chance to do in years past. There are still relics to be found, we just have to work through the iron more to get what is left and work the tougher areas that most passed up in the early days of detecting...Stuart