I was shocked!

[digger27]

Did you ever do something absent minded like aim for some milk but took a swig of orange juice instead?
For an instant time stops and it is a bit shocking.
That is what happened to me a couple of days ago.

I was at a park for the third time, the first time here I had dug a nice 14k hollow medallion next to a basketball court.
Lots of areas to hunt here, but I specialize in trashy basketball courts and have found a bunch of great jewelry around these things so I concentrated there, first.
I parked the car, started searching a small grass area on the opposite side of this court where I found this medallion because this is the path players would take after they were done playing, picked up their belongings and would walk to their car in the parking lot and hopefully dropping jewelry along the way.
First signal was a piece of foil, second was a nickel, the third signal was zinc, a little low on the numbers on my F2 but I still figured this was a zinc penny.
The Propointer said shallow when I scanned it from the top of the ground before I dug a hole, but after digging down about 4" I finally scooped out some dirt and what looked like a small rock.
No signal in the hole but the Propointer went off big time when I scanned this rock.
I picked it up and it was way to heavy to be a rock but it was covered with dirt and just looked like a melted piece of metal at first.
I cleaned off some of the dirt looked close, turned it over and saw 3 rings.
Shocking!
I was aiming for jewelry but I dug up a 3 ringer!
Time stopped for a second, I know Kansas has a lot of history but I had no clue there would be any activity at this particular place.
Still have more research to do, but in the little I have done so far there is a possibility that this park is on a direct path that Quantrill and his Raiders might have taken on their route to sack Lawrence.
Wouldn't that be the coolest thing, all civil war relics are neat, but to have something identified with a piece of history as significant as this event would just be the bomb!

It appears to have been fired, it is twisted in a way like it hit something and not like any mower could have hit it or something like that.

This is the second time I have been minding my own business hunting for coins and jewelry and have been surprised by a civil war bullet.
I love surprises, and this was a great one.

Now I am looking at this park with a different point of view and coins and jewelry are not the only things I will be targeting in the future.

Man I love this hobby!

 

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[DFW_THer]

I LOVE unexpected relics. Nice find. I was hunting a middle school last week for jewelery, a school that was built in the mid 60's. My last target was on a small hillside, on the way back to my truck and adjacent to a Tennis court, literally 20ft from the dumpsters and cement. It was a very faint but repeatable zinc signal on my F75, so I dug it.

1" flat button at about 10 inches, probably pre-dating the school by 150yrs.

 

[vpnavy]

Nice find (and story) digger27. Thanks for sharing...

 

[Old Dude]

What a great find! You're right when saying those unexpected finds are the best. The one and only 3 ringer I have found was at the site where an RC airplane club flies at a very large park in my area. Congrats to you. That is awesome.

 

[digger27]

Thanks guys!

This is actually the third unexpected relic I have come across in the last few months.
I dug a dropped 3 ringer at another park, and at still another park I dug this old button.
I thought it was modern at first, but the shank was intact and there was something on the face that I couldn't make out.
It was so dirty I couldn't really see that eagle at first till I cleaned it at home.
Turns out this is a New York Militia officer's cuff button.
How it made its way over here to Kansas is a mystery, but there is still some gilt on it and it is one of my favorite finds, and another great surprise.

 

[DiggerinVA]

Last weekend my stepdad and i were metal detecting near his home....found nothing and were headed back. My machine was off and on my shoulder, he was was still swinging his as we walked. Suddenly his ACE gave the big "bell tone". The hit was in the edge of his gravel driveway, the bank is about 6 inches tall and the target was just in the edge off the bank, so i stabbed my digger back in the bank a few inches and out popped a 3-ringer! First civil war relic either of us have found near there.

 

[TNGUNS]

Love the CW relics. I often hunt for the CW relics but it is amazing how often they show up in a small ghost town I am hunting near the TN River. Even though there were no major battles in our county, tons of troops moved through as the little town is located on what was once a major ferry crossing on the TN River. The town was started in 1812 and of course the obvious places have been beat to death but have found a few virgin home sites with tons of flat buttons and other assorted relics. Most have turned up a few Minie Balls and a couple of descent CW buttons. Now if I could just get a few coins from these places. Really bizarre that none have been found in what are obviously virgin sites. Congrats on the 3 ringer.