GOLD!! Finally after 14 years of relic hunting I found GOLD!

Wes-N-VA

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Got out yesterday with fellow relic hunter and great friend Harvey. We decided to brave the high 90's with high humidity to test out a new field that the wheat just got cut in that held a lot of Civil War action in 1864. The field held the 6th Corps Army of the Potmac. So, we headed out into the brown stalks and started working a knoll of cedar trees. After walking for about 80 yards with no signals, I finally got a 11-10 on the E-Trac at 6" and pulled two small brass fobs ???. They looked nice and they looked about right for the time period we were searching for, but not what I was actually after lol. No sooner than I took one step I got a solid 11-08 and I thought I had found another one or some junky can slaw. I dug my plug and got the pin pointer out and to my eyes laid the pretty lady in GOLD. I could not believe my eyes, after 14 years of serious relic hunting all over the east coast I finally found the elusive GOLD. I yelled out to Harvey to come over. I pulled it out of the ground and no date :icon_scratch:? I knew it was still a great and rare find regardless. I sent a picture to my trusty friend Nate and he was super excited and got me the I.D. I needed. It is a LOVERS TOKEN!! Date or no date, I had a smile the rest of the day. I finished off kinda slow due to the high heat but managed a few bullets and some small D buckles. After a couple of hours we headed over to Sgt. Rikers and he was very excited to see this coin and took a picture and sent it in to American Digger Magazine...SWEET! Thank you Ran!

The other pictures (white back ground) are from a local hunt a week ago. As you can see, I pulled a ton of Clad from this small Civil War camp that has been turned in to a soccer field. I amnaged a few nice keepers; flower button one piece, bullet, 69 cal round ball, thimble, some odds and ends, small brass items, etc... The old Minelab E-Trac has done me well the past few weeks. Happy hunting to all and stay cool! Vist my Youtube page under Wes-N-VA to see the footage of the past few hunts. Thnaks for looking.
 

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Upvote 65
I would like to thank everyone for their kind remarks and Banner nominations! It was truly a once in a lifetime find and for me it was the best of both worlds since I found it on a known Civil War site that saw action and camps. I can only think about the soldier who dropped it and what he felt like when he realized it was gone. What a great hobby folks! Thanks again and I will get the video up tomorrow morning, I am working at my fire station today.

Wes
 

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Having your coin carved into a love token is not going to help its monetary value, but in a way, it intimately connects the find to the CW era while serving as poignant reminder of the human suffering incurred during the CW. That was a cherished personal effect given to a soldier by a young woman who loved him, and under some circumstances, it was lost in that field forever (well, almost). These guys didn't exactly have cell phones to call home, mind you- and that love token was his symbolic link to his woman and home. Did he lose it in his tent or outside in the camp, and become devastated after a frantic search? Was he killed right on that very spot, and it fell out of his pocket? One cannot know for certain, but this is the kind of artifact that inspires wonderment.
 

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How do you vote banner?

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet
 

Congrats on that very special love token find !!! I imagine you have dug thousands of targets in that 08 range over the years just to get this one :treasurechest: Thanks for sharing it with us !!!
 

Congratulations, that definitely made your year. Hey if you found that with your E-Trac, what where the conductive ferrous readings, thanks...
 

That's awesome Wes!! Congrats on your $1 gold love token. The first gold coin I found about 15 years ago was also a $1 love token. Mine had a religious theme as I was told the "JMJ" stood for Jesus-Mary-Joseph. Both of our coins date to between 1849 and 1854, but I'd much prefer having a unique design on the reverse rather than a date. Outstanding find!

gold1b.webp
 

Banner!!! Wes that's beautiful! If only it could talk, I'd love to hear the story.
:icon_thumleft: Congratulations on your First Gold! :icon_thumright:
I'm lovin' the buttons too, any info on them?
 

Anyone tell me how to vote banner I'm on an iPhone?

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet
 

You being a fellow E-Trac digger would know lol. Thousands..............all trash till yesterday.

Congrats on that very special love token find !!! I imagine you have dug thousands of targets in that 08 range over the years just to get this one :treasurechest: Thanks for sharing it with us !!!
 

Thank you for your comments! It came up 11-08 which is usually junky stuff, but small gold will appear there as you see. I am just thankful that the place was fairly clean and that I did not dig a lot of trash on the way to the spot and finding those two small brass pieces made the difference because they were my first two targets after about 30 minutes. Plus, being on a new site I tend to dig most targets to get a "feel" for the site. You can bet I will be digging all 11-08 on my next visit there lol.

Congratulations, that definitely made your year. Hey if you found that with your E-Trac, what where the conductive ferrous readings, thanks...
 

Thanks Bill! It's good to hear from you again. I was very excited and surprised to dig this coin. Not something I bump into at Civil War sites, I do find an occasional coin or two but nothing like this. Thanks for the target years and Ran said about the same time frame yesterday. He said they were rare!

That's awesome Wes!! Congrats on your $1 gold love token. The first gold coin I found about 15 years ago was also a $1 love token. Mine had a religious theme as I was told the "JMJ" stood for Jesus-Mary-Joseph. Both of our coins date to between 1849 and 1854, but I'd much prefer having a unique design on the reverse rather than a date. Outstanding find!

View attachment 820635
 

Great coin, I love to see coins, but I love gold coins more.
 

A very big CONGRATZ on your AWESOME find. This is why we should dig all of those low tones , I would assume MANY relic hunters have walked right over the Coin/love token in the past. As a local Wildman once told me "some relics are always left , for the one who fate has assigned to find it. I'm sure Butch will love to publish your treasure in a future issue of AD, & ill look forward to seeing it. Man I was feeling kinda down , but seeing your banner post has given me an energy shot. Think I might go a relic huntin tomorrow. Davers
 

I can only hope, wish and pray for a find like that guy.... GREAT JOB!!!!!
 

Sweet Banner Picture Glad We Voted For It Chug And Red!!!
 

Congratulations Wes . Sweet Gold .
 

What a story it could tell. Great find. That is treasure. Congratulations sir.
 

Congrats on finding a beautiful gold love token and making the Banner. It is well deserving of a place on the Banner list. I have found gold coins before but to find one with such a personel connection to the one who lost it is something that is extra special. I hope you look at it often and spend a little time connecting to that point in time when the soldier who carried that coin would look at it and think about his young love back home. It is more then just a coin it is a conduit to the past.
Congrats again.:hello2::hello2::hello2:
ZDD
 

Thats awesome, great love token
 

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