Today was one of those days until..........

[bigtim1973]

Ok well it was a hot day. There are no other words to describe it except just plain old hot!! I came home after we got take out Chinese dinner. We ate, I was tired and putting up the tools, gas cans, etc/ from todays earlier projects back into the shed. It was about 6 p.m. and I decided to go out and do some metal detecting near our woods where I had never detected before, just to clear my mind and hope to get into a better mood. Mind you guys I have lived here over 11 years and have swung every metal detector I have owned in the main part of the yard. I have only found clad, pop tops, screw caps and modern trash. I have never found anything ever here, that I would consider a relic. I grabbed my silver sabre micromax that I have a 5.75 concentric coil on. I keep it in my car for those on the whim detecting moments. I was detecting near our clothes line we have near the woods. I have been keeping it mowed for years and never detected the part that runs along the wood line. I have found old shotgun brass in the area before and also aluminum cans from a brush fire too. Needless to say when I popped out the first one on the left in the picture, I could not believe my eyes as I knew exactly what it was. I thought to myself, I cannot believe it!! I screamed out to her as she was still on the deck and came over and showed it to my wife. She was excited about it as well. Well I thought to myself, I wonder if the other one is out there. Twenty minutes later, I found the other one, which was only 12 feet away from the first one. This is the first time I have posted any of my own finds in some time here on the forum. Needless to say, the day ended up way better than it started!! I had to share!!

 

[pinenut]

Most awesome finds!
Got to love those older Tesoros. They'll still find the good stuff. ^_^

 

[Barry C from mass]

nice finds

 

[WV62]

Well I can see that is a really neat find. For those of us that don't do that type of hunting could let us know what these items are. I would guess they are some kind of relic from the CW.

Nice,

Ron in WV

 

[bigtim1973]

Well I can see that is a really neat find. For those of us that don't do that type of hunting could let us know what these items are. I would guess they are some kind of relic from the CW.

Nice,

Ron in WV

I believe some people call these Bridal Rosettes or maybe Bit Boss. These brass US insignias were on the sides of horse bits to identify which army the horse belonged to.

 

[WV62]

Thanks bigtim, now I can see why after you found the first one you were looking for second.

Those woods could be a really good honey hole for you to hunt. Let us know how it goes, very interesting finds.

Ron in WV

 

[John (Ma)]

Very nice!

 

[AlanTN]

Awesome finds, Tim. Congrats!

It was awful damn hot yesterday, but, finds like that would make it worth it for sure.

 

[bigtim1973]

Thanks for the kind words

 

[fowlercharles]

Hi Tim, Great finds, and after 11 years to get Two sweet surprises is really a blast! Have you ever researched the history of your particular patch of ground? Evidently it certainly has some real cool history even if it may have been brief. Those goodies didn't get there on their own! My suggestion for a couple of research approaches: Go to On Line County maps for Township/Range, and Section #'s Then to On Line BLO GLO Records of previous owners. On Line Historic Maps site for roads /rivers and other stuff that showed up and disappeared as time and progress moved on. Look for Creeks & Rivers (ferries/fords) too. Campsites are common along old roads and crossings if you can find them. Check all time periods for the maps.The BLO Records also have Original Surveys for some states that go back as far as the 1820's. Those Surveys sometimes show fields /farms /trails and outstanding landmarks. Saw one once that showed an Indian Village! Its always lots of fun doing the research too because you never know there what you will dig up either! HH, Charlie!

 

[bigtim1973]

Hey thanks for the tip. I have never thought about that before. I have never really done much research online especially. I will look into what you are talking about. Needless to say today I looked over there in the same area for several hours. I found more old shotgun brass, odd and end scrap, and some modern 22 bullets. Of course these were no where near as old as the bit bosses. So now I will give it a break and probably go and look into a little of what your suggesting. I know at least maybe one thing happened here. I have found civil war bullets and other odd and end civil war items here in this county but never in my yard. The land is split a bit on how it is laid out. About 1/3 is cleared and the rest is wooded. Needless to say, it is obvious I have not been around into the woods much. If more is there I will try to find it. I looked for the bit itself today. I have not had any luck with that. I looked up how they look on the bit. It would make a nice piece to display if I can ever put my detector over it. By far this is probably going to wind up being one of my favorite finds. I have a concho from Spanish saddle found on the property I grew up on in Texas near the old Spanish Trail and also a silver German 1/2 mark silver coin. But these two bit bosses are something I will not forget. It really kind of makes me feel stupid being a detectorist and never running a detector over the whole property before. My reasoning to myself all of these years is because the house was built in 1991. I guess I need to remember the land has been here much longer!!

Hi Tim, Great finds, and after 11 years to get Two sweet surprises is really a blast! Have you ever researched the history of your particular patch of ground? Evidently it certainly has some real cool history even if it may have been brief. Those goodies didn't get there on their own! My suggestion for a couple of research approaches: Go to On Line County maps for Township/Range, and Section #'s Then to On Line BLO GLO Records of previous owners. On Line Historic Maps site for roads /rivers and other stuff that showed up and disappeared as time and progress moved on. Look for Creeks & Rivers (ferries/fords) too. Campsites are common along old roads and crossings if you can find them. Check all time periods for the maps.The BLO Records also have Original Surveys for some states that go back as far as the 1820's. Those Surveys sometimes show fields /farms /trails and outstanding landmarks. Saw one once that showed an Indian Village! Its always lots of fun doing the research too because you never know there what you will dig up either! HH, Charlie!

 

[WV62]

Those 2 finds kind of got me excited and I don't even hunt that kind of stuff. But If I would have found them in my back yard I would be on cloud 9 and I would start hunting that kind of stuff.

So for starters we know we had a horse from the CW time in that area, that would be all I needed to get me in those woods.

My thoughts on the actual yard area and why you haven't found all that much, is because the house was built and the yard area was reworked. The area of your finds sounds like it was an outer area and may not have been disturbed as much.

All I can say is I wish I was there.

Now when the winter sets in you can do all that research.

Ron in WV

 

[Wolfdog]

What great finds, Thanks for sharing
Mike

 

[bibelot]

That is a really cool find.

 

[bigtim1973]

Those 2 finds kind of got me excited and I don't even hunt that kind of stuff. But If I would have found them in my back yard I would be on cloud 9 and I would start hunting that kind of stuff.

So for starters we know we had a horse from the CW time in that area, that would be all I needed to get me in those woods.

My thoughts on the actual yard area and why you haven't found all that much, is because the house was built and the yard area was reworked. The area of your finds sounds like it was an outer area and may not have been disturbed as much.

All I can say is I wish I was there.

Now when the winter sets in you can do all that research.

Ron in WV

I know Ron, I like coin shooting for the most part. I have been over that area and then some ever since I made this post. I have an aluminum pie tin full of just modern junk if you will, all found the past 2 days. Bullet casings, modern bullets, old shot gun brass, clad and some odd and end iron pieces. I believe I have found a large ring off of an old horse bit but I know it is not from the one that these bosses came off of. Yes you are right, where I found this was away from the house in unmolested ground. I also have been wondering if someone stole a Union horse and ripped off the evidence from the bit, tossed them and went on. I also wonder if maybe someone after the war had possibly taken these off of the bit and continued to use the bit as may be they could not afford regular tack like most dirt poor old farmers were, just to not be reminded of the Union forces outcome of the civil war. What ever happened, I have been wondering about it ever since I dug these up.

 

[Dereck]

Those would make any hunt a winner

 

[amberjack]

just never know what's going to come out and a pair well more than double lucky

AJ