Devonrex
Sr. Member
- Jan 6, 2012
- 351
- 1,260
- 🥇 Banner finds
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- XP DEUS, Nautilus DMC IIB
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
It took 30 years of digging but I finally found the plate I have always wanted to find. I hadn't been able to do a lot of digging this year. Many already know my father has been ill for some time and between work and spending time with him and helping out my mom I just havn't had any free time. I had found an AVC coat button in January and then literally six months went by before I picked up my Nautilus again. Yesterday was a beautiful Fall day with the leaves just beginning to change on the Eastern Peninsula. I knew I was in a good spot and that it was Confederate. The last time at this spot 2 weeks ago I had dug 34 musket balls, 2 Gardners, 2 Georgia Teat bullets, and a lone Enfield. I had dug for about 3 hours and had 11 musket balls, a 69 Minnie, several case shot, and 1 carved minnie in my pouch. I had been slowly working an old road bed that I had discovered. The bullets were deep and in the hardest ground I had seen in some time. I literally had to chip away the orangish clayish soil a little at a time to get to the relic. This ground makes digging so time consuming and it is so easy to hit the object if you are not careful. The one thing I do like is the absence of roots but the rock like soil makes up for that! I got another bullet like reading and began to dig for it. Most of the musket balls were down about 6 inches but this relic was much deeper. I'm glad it was because it made me switch my entrenching shovel to the shovel position. I go down another few inches and the signal was still in the ground and LOUD! At 10 inches I pried a clump of the clay up and an object popped up and did a few flips and landed face down in the hole. I immediately saw the oval shape and time literally went into slow motion. I carefully removed the buckle and flipped it over and saw those magical letters that every relic hunter dreams of seeing "C S". It was exactly 1:07 PM and my day had finally arrived! Except for a small area where my shovel scraped against the back of the plate all the lead backing is intact. The 3 iron hooks are broken. What's even more amazing is the initials WW are carved in the back!The front of the buckle has a beautiful greenish white " crust " on it. After I took a few pictures and a short video I checked the hole. The plate was exactly 10 inches down. It was time to go home because I knew nothing I found could top my CS buckle. I immediately called my Dad but he was sleeping so I told my mom what I had found and not to tell my Dad. Then I realized I had nothing to transport my buckle in. My button container was to small and I was not about to put it in my pouch with all my lead.......so I opened my wallet and stuck it in the money fold, folded the wallet up, and placed it in my backpack. On the way out of the woods I kept stopping and making sure the wallet and buckle were still in my backpack. By the time I got to my parent's home my father was awake. I told him to come to the door and placed the CS Buckle in his hand. You should have seen the look on his face! I am so glad I was able to have him here to witness this find. He is the person who got me in this great hobby and he is the only other person to have held it so far. He took a picture of me holding the buckle and he was so excited for me he got his fingers in the picture! LOL. I am going to let the buckle air dry for a few days and then gently dry brush it with a soft toothbrush. It still seems so surreal to have found a marked CS plate. It was my one wish and I honestly had begun to think it would never happen. This is certainly a find of a lifetime for me and I feel a little different today...... It feels so good to accomplish a feat like this and turn a dream into reality! This just shows me that great relics are still out there and if you put the research and time in you will eventually dig them
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. Oh almost forgot CONGRATS on making the BANNER 
that's one hell of a banner find, but one bloody awful tee shirt your wearing.
