Sharps, Wormed Press & turn w/ star base, Reins guide, Shield Nick, etc.

bonepicker

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Jan 5, 2012
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Havent posted much lately due to my not making any real exciting finds, but i figured i would group some of the better finds from the last few hunts.

Yesterday i went to a civil war site i have been hunting for the past few months. The same site i dug the U of A button and ROT Navy button from.
Ended up with some bullets and some brass.
P3050004.JPG
Wasnt sure about this one at first, but i believe it is a brass horses reins guide. I normally see the round ones, but this design is a little different.
P3050005.JPG
Dug these other 2 brass items. One is shaped like a horse shoe and has 2 holes. Was thinking maybe a heel plate from a boot, but not so sure.
The brass disk was a screaming 94 on the Deus. Not sure what it is, but it is way bigger than a Large Cent. It is even bigger than a King George the Sixth 1948 Large penny i dug a few months back from a later site. It sure resembles a coin or token, but if there were any details they appear to be long gone.
My guess is hammered coin, Poker chip, Counterfeited silver coin, or local store token. May never know.
P3050006.JPG
Yesterdays bullets. One of which was pulled or wormed. To make it even better i noticed the pulled bullet has the 5 point swage marks inside of it. I believe some people call it press and turn.
P3050007.JPG
So i was reading an article about press and turn bullets this morning in another md forum, and a guy says he has a bullet with swage marks, that has a 5 point star inside the base.
After looking at my wormed 5 point press and turn from yesterday, it also looks like it might have a star inside the base.
So i start looking at another bullet from this site that looks similar to this one. After toothpicking the dirt out of the base i see it has the 6 point press and pull marks.
This one also looks like it might have the 5 point star like the pulled one, but the star is not as obvious.
Any how i just thought the press and pull base was neat as these are first for me, and if these have the 5 point star then that makes it even better.
P3050009.JPGP3050010.JPG
Finally here is a group pic of all of the bullets i have dug from this site since i started hunting it. Minus a few that i have given to the land-owner and his nephew.
Probably around 10 or so hunts at the property.
P3050011.JPG
Im also going to include a hunt from last Friday afternoon where i dug 3 sharps and my first shield nickel with rays and stars.
These came from an old home site supposedly built around 1860, or possibly earlier. I worked on this permission for about a year, corresponding with the landowner via email. Sending him pics of finds i have made and early maps of his land. Friday afternoon I hunted this land for an hour and a half and had decent results. I went back Sunday for around 4-5 hours and didnt find anything worth mentioning. Going to have to make a return trip soon.
The 3 Sharps all came from a 5x5 area on the side of the house.
P3050001.JPG
The shield nickel was pretty bad with a brown crust and then a green layer beneath it. I was hoping to get a date, but I kind of regret cleaning it now.
It has the stars and rays, so it is either 1866 or 7.
P3050003.JPGP3050002.JPG
 

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Upvote 0
Nice finds bonepicker. Love Digging the lead. Seems you have a great site. Good luck!

HH, RN
 

Great finds, you should start a youtube channel!
 

Very well done BP.

That's a ton of lead.

Congrats on the shield nickel.
 

Havent posted much lately due to my not making any real exciting finds, but i figured i would group some of the better finds from the last few hunts.

Yesterday i went to a civil war site i have been hunting for the past few months. The same site i dug the U of A button and ROT Navy button from.
Ended up with some bullets and some brass.
View attachment 1422811
Wasnt sure about this one at first, but i believe it is a brass horses reins guide. I normally see the round ones, but this design is a little different.
View attachment 1422812
Dug these other 2 brass items. One is shaped like a horse shoe and has 2 holes. Was thinking maybe a heel plate from a boot, but not so sure.
The brass disk was a screaming 94 on the Deus. Not sure what it is, but it is way bigger than a Large Cent. It is even bigger than a King George the Sixth 1948 Large penny i dug a few months back from a later site. It sure resembles a coin or token, but if there were any details they appear to be long gone.
My guess is hammered coin, Poker chip, Counterfeited silver coin, or local store token. May never know.
View attachment 1422821
Yesterdays bullets. One of which was pulled or wormed. To make it even better i noticed the pulled bullet has the 5 point swage marks inside of it. I believe some people call it press and turn.
View attachment 1422813
So i was reading an article about press and turn bullets this morning in another md forum, and a guy says he has a bullet with swage marks, that has a 5 point star inside the base.
After looking at my wormed 5 point press and turn from yesterday, it also looks like it might have a star inside the base.
So i start looking at another bullet from this site that looks similar to this one. After toothpicking the dirt out of the base i see it has the 6 point press and pull marks.
This one also looks like it might have the 5 point star like the pulled one, but the star is not as obvious.
Any how i just thought the press and pull base was neat as these are first for me, and if these have the 5 point star then that makes it even better.
View attachment 1422814View attachment 1422815
Finally here is a group pic of all of the bullets i have dug from this site since i started hunting it. Minus a few that i have given to the land-owner and his nephew.
Probably around 10 or so hunts at the property.
View attachment 1422816
Im also going to include a hunt from last Friday afternoon where i dug 3 sharps and my first shield nickel with rays and stars.
These came from an old home site supposedly built around 1860, or possibly earlier. I worked on this permission for about a year, corresponding with the landowner via email. Sending him pics of finds i have made and early maps of his land. Friday afternoon I hunted this land for an hour and a half and had decent results. I went back Sunday for around 4-5 hours and didnt find anything worth mentioning. Going to have to make a return trip soon.
The 3 Sharps all came from a 5x5 area on the side of the house.
View attachment 1422817
The shield nickel was pretty bad with a brown crust and then a green layer beneath it. I was hoping to get a date, but I kind of regret cleaning it now.
It has the stars and rays, so it is either 1866 or 7.
View attachment 1422818View attachment 1422819

WOW! Man!
You doin Good.
I have not found that much Lead at one Site in a year or more.
All Types of Bullets also :icon_thumright:, Do I see some Ring-Tail's in there to?

I find it funny all that Lead & No Buttons (Well Except For The Killer ROT) as Butch H, has stated about certain sites " Must have been the Nudists Brigade". you got a nice Display case for that site with likely more to come.

I must say the Reigns Guide is Unique & cool, I have never dug any Swage / Swage Star base /star base Minnie's in my Time , but I got quite a few that I have not Cleaned the bases out yet so?

Nice Shield Nickel , look's good even cleaned IMO, (never dug one).
Keep it Up , love seeing the Pictures as well.
Davers
 

Nice finds bonepicker. Love Digging the lead. Seems you have a great site. Good luck!

HH, RN
Thanks Relic Nut. Me too. It has been a nice site. Definitely not a site that will fill a pouch full of stuff each hunt, but if you work hard you can pull a few nice keepers almost every hunt.
Great finds, you should start a youtube channel!
Thanks Nick. That sounds like a lot of work. I dig a lot of holes investigating all those faint tones. A lot of those turn out to be shallow tiny brass and lead pieces.
Im afraid if i tried to video, it would take a ton of editing and probably cut my dig time by half.
Very well done BP.

That's a ton of lead.

Congrats on the shield nickel.
Thanks Tom. Took alot of time to dig all of those bullets. Each hunt averaged 3-6 bullets, but it was well worth it. I love digging the lead.
The shield nickel was a first, and turned out better looking than many of my V-nickels.
Nice finds & spot buddy. HH
Thanks Tim. Its not a pouch stuffing gold-mine, but there is some nice variety to the finds.
 

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WOW! Man!
You doin Good.
I have not found that much Lead at one Site in a year or more.
All Types of Bullets also :icon_thumright:, Do I see some Ring-Tail's in there to?

I find it funny all that Lead & No Buttons (Well Except For The Killer ROT) as Butch H, has stated about certain sites " Must have been the Nudists Brigade". you got a nice Display case for that site with likely more to come.

I must say the Reigns Guide is Unique & cool, I have never dug any Swage / Swage Star base /star base Minnie's in my Time , but I got quite a few that I have not Cleaned the bases out yet so?

Nice Shield Nickel , look's good even cleaned IMO, (never dug one).
Keep it Up , love seeing the Pictures as well.
Davers

Thanks Davers. I have been pounding this site pretty hard. I wish i had a site i could find that much lead in one hunt, but if i did i would probably get spoiled.
Took a lot of work to find all of those bullets, each hunt averaging 3-6. 6 being a good day, and not many of those.
Definitely a site with variety which makes it nice. I have had some sites where all the bullets were the same. Just plain 3 ringers, so this site is a little more exciting.
Round-balls, sharps, burnsides, 54 & 58 cal 3 ringers. Hi base nose cast 3-ringers, swaged with star pattern, and a couple pulls. One fired one at the bottom middle kind of looks like a Selma, but that might just be the deformity from being fired. Was hoping to pull an Enfield, but not yet.
The Sharps are ring tails, i think, but they are not the well defined ringtails. I think i saw some one call them "I" bases, but i dont know much about all the sharps varieties.
I will say the 3 from the shield nickel house site seem flat base with no tails.

As far as buttons i have dug 3 so far from here. I really thought i would be digging General Service buttons out the wazoo, as i know this area was occupied by the union army for a short time. Im not going to complain though. Out the 3 i dug, 2 were rare early Southern buttons, the other was a small civilian 2 piece. Still unsure for certain if these buttons were lost during the civil war, or lost earlier. Each of the spots i dug the buttons were near bullets, but i dug alot of iron there too, which indicates some sort of structure.
Wish i knew for sure, but i am still trying to put the puzzle back together.

I think its a reins guide. I saw some with similar design on the web. Most i see on tnet are the full circle type.
All of the bullets i normally dig have a plain base, so the swage/star is kind of exciting.
The Shield nickel was a first. Its not bad shape, but i hoped it would turn out better. Does look better than most of the V-nickels i have dug as far as details.

Glad you enjoyed the long winded thread and pictures.

Regards
 

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Bonepicker, that is some group of bullets you have found there. Congrat's on the star base bullets. I don't believe I have ever dug one of these. It's always cool to dig the pulled bullets too. It seems that you have quite a site here. Keep at it and Hammer it hard. Continued Success to you. History brought to the Surface and Saved!
 

BP
I love the Long Posts , Relic Hunting , Coins To, Guns & the Paranormal are my main Interests right now.
JIC. I def, Got that it took you many hunts to get all that lead from that site.

That's the way my sites play out 10+ trips . I usually end up at the same places after Driving an hour or 2 . Scouting.

When you get that much in one Day , it's a Special Day. Only 2-3 times have I actually gotten tired of digging what I know were Minnies. or Carbine Bullets .
Maybe your Ring-Tails have "Powder Burn " on the bases.
As for the flat base Sharps , I find them Neat, as 48 out of 50 I have dug were 'Small Cone Base Types' There is one pictured when I last posted pic's about a year ago , I was looking at them yesterday & realized "My pic's Suck" I promise if /when I post pic's again , the pic's will be better .
I'm trying to type fast ,as i got stuff to do , but just had to reply.

I tried Filming with an 8 mm camcorder in 98 , I got myself digging a couple Fired Spencer's when I did not know what they were.
Now I'm WAY to impatient to film , usually the only time i stop hunting , after getting started (the hardest part), is to take Pic's of the First Find of the day , I always stop to take pictures of Box Turtles,,& other wildlife when I can .
Oh & I pause to light a Smoke every so often. Gotta quit that. lol
TMI maybe ......Oh Well .
GD
 

Bonepicker, that is some group of bullets you have found there. Congrat's on the star base bullets. I don't believe I have ever dug one of these. It's always cool to dig the pulled bullets too. It seems that you have quite a site here. Keep at it and Hammer it hard. Continued Success to you. History brought to the Surface and Saved!
Thanks Dog. A little bit of variety is nice.
BP
I love the Long Posts , Relic Hunting , Coins To, Guns & the Paranormal are my main Interests right now.
JIC. I def, Got that it took you many hunts to get all that lead from that site.

That's the way my sites play out 10+ trips . I usually end up at the same places after Driving an hour or 2 . Scouting.

When you get that much in one Day , it's a Special Day. Only 2-3 times have I actually gotten tired of digging what I know were Minnies. or Carbine Bullets .
Maybe your Ring-Tails have "Powder Burn " on the bases.
As for the flat base Sharps , I find them Neat, as 48 out of 50 I have dug were 'Small Cone Base Types' There is one pictured when I last posted pic's about a year ago , I was looking at them yesterday & realized "My pic's Suck" I promise if /when I post pic's again , the pic's will be better .
I'm trying to type fast ,as i got stuff to do , but just had to reply.

I tried Filming with an 8 mm camcorder in 98 , I got myself digging a couple Fired Spencer's when I did not know what they were.
Now I'm WAY to impatient to film , usually the only time i stop hunting , after getting started (the hardest part), is to take Pic's of the First Find of the day , I always stop to take pictures of Box Turtles,,& other wildlife when I can .
Oh & I pause to light a Smoke every so often. Gotta quit that. lol
TMI maybe ......Oh Well .
GD

I kind of thought you knew that i was only digging a small hand full of bullets each hunt, but wasnt sure. Didnt want to lead you to believe i was digging more.
I dont have many sharps, but all the others have a tail on them.
I got the Olympus TG-860 about a year or so ago as a gift. Its a pretty decent camera, but im not sure it was worth what my wife paid for it.
 

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