After 15 Years of Hunting, I Finally Joined The Club...

FoxHound0985

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Feb 5, 2005
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Amber Waves of Grain!
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Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Max/AT Pro
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
...the Civil War Plate Club!!!

Let me back up a bit. My hunting buddy and I wanted to get out for a hunt today, but neither of us could think of a good place to go. We pondered on it for a bit and still couldn't think of a place close by, so we hopped in the car and decided to head to a local park that has produced a lot of silver and a few Minie Balls in the past. Once we got there, we noticed that a once wooded area has been completely cleared of trees and brush so we decided to start there. After finding nothing but pull tabs and shotgun shells for an hour, I finally got a decent signal and dug a nice Williams Cleaner bullet! A bit later I got into an area that had a lot of square nails, so I hit it hard for good targets and I got a really deep brass signal and out popped a nice Eagle I coat button! Another hour went by with only digging cans and other park junk, so I went back to the spot where the button came from and got another deep, iffy signal that turned out to be a small iron buckle. I walked about 5 feet from there and got a signal that nearly blew my eardrums out!! I thought it was another can because it was big, shallow, and read a 74 VDI on my MXT Pro. I almost passed it up, but I figured, what the heck... I dug down, flipped out the dirt, and what do I see??? This...

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I knew immediately that I had just found my first plate!!! I pluck it out of the dirt, wipe it off a bit and saw the beautiful letters "US" staring back at me! I had just found a near perfect US Cartridge Box Plate :headbang:

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I have found pieces of plates in the past, but never a whole one. I was so excited and still in disbelief over finding it. Anyway, it was starting to get dark by this time, so we hunted for another half hour or so and then headed back to the car. My hunting buddy did pretty well too. He ended up finding a partial Spencer cartridge, a toasted 1840s Large Cent, a brass rivet and a really strange lead item.

Here's my finds for the day!

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And here's my buddy's finds...

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Thanks for looking and HH!!! :icon_thumleft:
 

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Let me be the first to reply....

Dang Man!!!!!!! That is a sweet box plate. I dug a part of one a year or so ago, but have always dreamed of a whole one. Yours is beautiful. Congratulations!

You both had a great day!! :headbang:

Baldingboy
 

:icon_thumright: :icon_thumleft: Way to go!!! Sweet plate!
 

Great hunt!! congrats on the plate too! it is in nice shape. wow.
 

A very nice plate PF!!! A plate with US on it has always eluded me for some reason and I'm on my 16 year of hunting sites with lots of US soldiers stationed there. That shows you how well they read with the early detectors. HH, Quindy.
 

congrats on a great plate. still looking for mine
 

That is a great story and nice photo's. Really brings the story to life. Man I would have had a heart attack if I would have dug that plate. My day shall come.. :notworthy: Congrats. :thumbsup:
 

SWEEEEEEEEET! I bet you just sat there and stared for a while. That is a beautiful plate. I know the belt plate I found is a beater compared to yours but any plate is special. Congrats. I think you have found the one item that all hunters think of when anyone says Civil War relic hunt.

Don
HH
 

Congrats on a nice US cartridge box plate! Although I have found a CS tongue, a CS wreath, a Virginia militia sheet brass crossbelt plate, and a VMM....... I have never been able to find a US belt or boxplate or an eagle breastplate!
 

Nice save! Love to get a plate one of these days. I dug a couple over seas but none here in the US. Got to get to the right sites!
 

Very nice!

I so badly want to find a decent CW relic. All I have are three little buttons, 1 three ringer, and a dropped confederate ball.......... :'(

Good job!
 

Congrats on a beauty!!

Keep hitting that spot, should be more relics under the modern trash. Nice find!
-Evan
 

Thanks for the replies everyone! :icon_thumright: We went back to the same spot and found absolutely NOTHING :'( Oh well, I guess we can't win every day, lol.

HH!
 

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