The days are coming to a close when big civil war brass can be found, with some exceptions of course and those exceptions are when you find a spot no one else knew about.
I went out with two friends to a pounded site yesterday and we worked a little area we they had hit numerous times in the past. On a whim I decided to head to the aluminum can breeding field and started pulling cans out one after another. All were in parts so it was amusing to say the least.
I started picking up early buttons and some brass.
These are two furniture tacks and brass brad. 
Mixed in were three thimbles, part of a spoon handle in pewter and two Civil War period poncho grommets. 
A section of what was probably a silver plated pocket watch chain and a .32 Smith and Wesson CW period casing, (no headstamp), 
, a piece of brass with several letters stamped on it, I don't know what it is for. 
, a folded up piece of brass something and a bullet shot piece of brass, bullet was about .32 caliber due to size of the hole.
I moved up a little ridge and got a solid, small "97" on the Deus. Lots of stuff on old sites in that range are pieces of very old cast iron pot. This signal was "smaller" and hit harder so I dug it. All the others were cast iron. Out pops this really nice 1825 large cent!
I circled around the aluminum can breeding ground again and got a blow your ears off signal. I dug a fair bit as the signal was "odd". Sounded real good, like aluminum cans mating, but...so after a couple minutes of digging the hole wider I spotted something oval and deep green brass! I called Wayne over and I wanted him to get it out to share the excitement - I thought it was a plate and kept repeated to myself "please don't be a spoon"! Well, it wasn't any spoon!
This is the butt plate to an 1853 Enfield rifle in brass. The top tang has been carefully and deliberately bent so the whole thing is flat!
You can see where someone took a small hammer and deliberately made the thing lay flat! So what would it have been used for? CW tongue depressor? Like, no. I think it was re-engineered to what we call today a "shoe horn", or in this case, a boot horn, to help get their boots on easier. This butt cap is much heavier and denser than most CW plates, it's amazing it was missed by everyone who has hunted the spot in the past. Rounding off the day was an eagle button which wil need some care to live, a nice iron buckle and the cool bottle neck.
If you can guess what the item which is stamped brass with the "A Y " and other letter is, let me know. Maybe off a kerosene or whale oil lamp? Thanks for looking.
I went out with two friends to a pounded site yesterday and we worked a little area we they had hit numerous times in the past. On a whim I decided to head to the aluminum can breeding field and started pulling cans out one after another. All were in parts so it was amusing to say the least.
I started picking up early buttons and some brass.
These are two furniture tacks and brass brad. Mixed in were three thimbles, part of a spoon handle in pewter and two Civil War period poncho grommets. A section of what was probably a silver plated pocket watch chain and a .32 Smith and Wesson CW period casing, (no headstamp), , a piece of brass with several letters stamped on it, I don't know what it is for. , a folded up piece of brass something and a bullet shot piece of brass, bullet was about .32 caliber due to size of the hole.I moved up a little ridge and got a solid, small "97" on the Deus. Lots of stuff on old sites in that range are pieces of very old cast iron pot. This signal was "smaller" and hit harder so I dug it. All the others were cast iron. Out pops this really nice 1825 large cent!
I circled around the aluminum can breeding ground again and got a blow your ears off signal. I dug a fair bit as the signal was "odd". Sounded real good, like aluminum cans mating, but...so after a couple minutes of digging the hole wider I spotted something oval and deep green brass! I called Wayne over and I wanted him to get it out to share the excitement - I thought it was a plate and kept repeated to myself "please don't be a spoon"! Well, it wasn't any spoon!This is the butt plate to an 1853 Enfield rifle in brass. The top tang has been carefully and deliberately bent so the whole thing is flat!
You can see where someone took a small hammer and deliberately made the thing lay flat! So what would it have been used for? CW tongue depressor? Like, no. I think it was re-engineered to what we call today a "shoe horn", or in this case, a boot horn, to help get their boots on easier. This butt cap is much heavier and denser than most CW plates, it's amazing it was missed by everyone who has hunted the spot in the past. Rounding off the day was an eagle button which wil need some care to live, a nice iron buckle and the cool bottle neck. If you can guess what the item which is stamped brass with the "A Y " and other letter is, let me know. Maybe off a kerosene or whale oil lamp? Thanks for looking.
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