Had a great find for myself Sunday afternoon in a wooded area. I only had an hour or two, so I hit this spot I've been eyeballing for awhile. No structures but it's close to an ancient main road and I knew there had to have been activity there in the past. Some of the area was fairly trashy but I wound up concentrating on an area that sloped down to a stream. Not alot of signals in this section besides the occasional shotgun shell. My first decent reading turned out to be an 1868 2-cent piece (only 1-2 inches deep!). My next find was an 1862 fattie IH. A short way later I got a funky signal with no depth showing on the meter. I figured "must be a piece of junk under the leaves" so I just pushed the leaves over with my foot and rescanned. Still got a signal and when I bent over I could see a brownish looking piece of thin metal. As my eyes focused on it I could see details. A CANNON and a stack of CANNON BALLS!!
AN ARTILLERY HAT PLATE!!!! It was only a fragment but I was PSYCHED!!! It was on TOP of the ground under the leaves!! I rechecked the general area and found three smaller fragments. These were about a foot away and just under the surface. I'm going back with a smaller coil and scrub for any possible other fragments. Hey, it's in fragments but I'm excited - this is a rare find! It probably didn't sink because it's so light and also on a slope. Someone might have stepped on it in the past and broke it.(None of the breaks were from me fortunately).
Might look like junk to some but I love it! I had it identified as a regulation 1814 Artillery Hat Plate (US - and you can see part of the eagles talon on top of the cannon) I included a photo of a similar, intact one for comparisson.
Thanks for sharing. Bruce
AN ARTILLERY HAT PLATE!!!! It was only a fragment but I was PSYCHED!!! It was on TOP of the ground under the leaves!! I rechecked the general area and found three smaller fragments. These were about a foot away and just under the surface. I'm going back with a smaller coil and scrub for any possible other fragments. Hey, it's in fragments but I'm excited - this is a rare find! It probably didn't sink because it's so light and also on a slope. Someone might have stepped on it in the past and broke it.(None of the breaks were from me fortunately).
Might look like junk to some but I love it! I had it identified as a regulation 1814 Artillery Hat Plate (US - and you can see part of the eagles talon on top of the cannon) I included a photo of a similar, intact one for comparisson.
Thanks for sharing. Bruce
I know I say that is amazing alot... But.... that is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! Awesome find man
