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Old Town Site
While reading the 1881 history of my county here in Missouri, I came across a town that I had never heard of before. The town was also mentioned in numerous other documents between 1840 until shortly after the civil war (around 1870). I found the town also appeared on most of my maps from that period. Maps after 1880 did not show the town any longer.
After many long hours of trying to pinpoint the towns site on my modern maps, I finally had what I thought was its location. After a short drive and after a conversation with the land owner, I felt that I was indeed in the right area. Having been given permission, I started my search at the base of a small hill in what was now a cow pasture. I had not taken 10 steps when I got my first good signal on my Whites XLT, 72-74 at 6”. Digging down I seen the glint of silver and out popped a 1782 Spanish Real. The coin had a small hole at the top but overall was in good condition. Needless to say, I was getting excited! After digging a few junk targets, I was almost to the top of the little hill when I got another good hit, a solid 69 at 5”. The target turned out to be an 1853 Half Dime.
I worked the rest of the day and pulled out 5 silver coins, the 1782 Spanish Real, 1808 Half Real and 1853, 1839 and 1835 Half Dimes. This was one of the best days for “old” silver I’ve ever had.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: Johnson County, Missouri
Detector Used: Whites XLT
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Sutlers Checks
There are a lot of folks out there that have never seen a "Sutlers Check". I've been relic hunting for over thirty years now and I only occasionally run across these little gems. During the early days of the American civil war, there was not much American coinage in circulation. To help, many merchants started issuing their own coinage to give as change when a purchase was made. If a soldier bought 25 cents worth of goods and tendered the merchant a dollar, he would be given 75 cents in Sutlers Checks. In that these Sutlers Checks could only be used with the merchant that that issued them, the merchant was assured the soldier would return to used his the rest of his Sutlers Checks. Above are 50 cent and 5 cent Sutlers Checks issued by W. Vanderbeek in New Bern, North Carolina. *The other token found with these is from Providence R.I. I'm still trying to identify that one.
* A little time on the Internet and I did identify the token. It is a sutlers check in the amount of one cent. And this little gem in its excellent condition could be worth $50 to $100.
These where found in downtown New Bern, North Carolina at a very small site where a store was being torn down.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: New Bern, NC
Detector Used: Whites, 6000Di
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Union Camp Site
These relics and coin came for a union camp site on the Blackwater River here in Missouri. The site was where over 1200 Confederate recruits were captured by Union forces. Most of the site was in the flood plain of the river and therefore undetectable however, a small site on an area of high ground gave up these goodies. I looked in vain for two days for other half of that two piece buckle. The coins are an 1840 dime, and a 1853 half dime. The bent piece of brass at the bottom of the first picture is what left of a small boot pistol.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: Johnson County, Missouri
Detector Used: Nautilus DMC IIB
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You Just Never Know, You Know!
I keep one of my detectors in my truck all the time because you just never know when a short window will open up to detect somewhere.
I was driving home from work one night in New Bern NC (Est. 1710), and I noticed a small pile of dirt at the side of the road where the city was working on a sewer line. Everyone was gone and this was right downtown so, I pulled out my Whites XLT and put on my 6" coil. The pile of dirt was about 3 foot high and about 6-8 feet across. Not much dirt at all to tell the truth. After a few pieces of junk, out came this little gem! A Royal Regiment of Artillery Button from the Revolutionary War.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: New Bern, NC
Detector Used: Whites XLT w/ 6" BlueMax coil
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Old House Site
I was researching an old Plat Map (1870) and noticed a house with two out buildings. Knowing this area very well, I knew that the land was now a plowed field and the house was no longer there. I obtained permission to hunt the area from the owner. I found the usual old house stuff, lantern parts, farm tools and such. My first good hit was the button. It's a very early one piece (sword down) Virginia State Seal button. The coins are an 1818 American Penny and a 17?? Irish Half Penny. I don't find many large pennies here in Missouri let alone a Virginia button and a Irish coin. How these items got in a field in the middle of Missouri is anybody's guess. That's one of the things I love about metal detecting, you just never know what you're going to find.
Location: Johnson County, Missouri
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Newport Barrack's, North Carolina
This site has been detected by hundreds of people for over 15 years now. I hadn't been there for a long time but, when i got my new Fisher F75 SE I wanted to give it a good shake down and I was in the area so, what the heck! I was detecting in one of my usual spots and wasn't having much luck. I moved down closer to the river and hit one small area that was obviously a camp for the New York Troops. In about 3 hours I pulled out these nice finds. Some 50 and 58 cal mini balls, a flat button and 4 coat and 1 cuff, New York State Seal buttons.
Just goes to show that as they say, no site is ever completely hunted out. These newer deeper machines are opening up old sites for new and better finds.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: Newport Barrack's N.C.
Detector Used: Fisher F75 SE
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Location: Kirkpatrick's Mill, Blackwater River, Mo
Detector Used: Fisher F75 Se
That's All For Now My Friends!
Union Camp Warrensburg, MO
This site has been a good site in the past. I hadn't been there for a long time but I'd pulled a lot of 54 Cal Starr Carbine drops out of the site before. I dug some misc stuff, clock key, shoe tap, ans some flat buttons. The two Heart Buckles were my first good finds and they were within three feet of each other. The 54 cal Starr's drops were next followed by the 50 cal drop. The fired 69 cal was my last find of the day. The Heart Buckles were the first of this type I've found, not overly rare but a cool civil war find non the less. The site was a church that was camped at by union troops and finally burned during the latter part of the civil war.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: Warrensburg, MO
Detector Used: Fisher F75 SE
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Please Visit My Store
This was a small site on high ground and above the flood plain of the river. I had gotten permission to hunt this area from the owner over 5 years before but, after a quick search with an older machine and, finding nothing but large junk iron, I honestly had written it off.
I touch base again with the owner and told him I'd like to try the site again with my new detector (Fisher F75 SE). I set up the F75 as hot as the area would allow, (Bp, Sen=85, Notch=1, Disc=10). The detector was popping like crazy due to all the small iron in the ground but, I started pulling dropped 58's almost immediately. The first coin find was the 1775 Spanish 4 Real and it came out of the ground just as nice as it looks in the picture. Running my machine "hot" was really paying off as almost everything worth finding at this site was at 8-12+ inches deep.
Finds for the day were:
(1) 69 cal Drop
(6) 58 cal Drops
(1) 54 cal Starr Carbine Drop
(1) 54 cal Dimpled Sharps Drop
(4) Flat Buttons
(1) Eagle "I" Coat Button
(1) 1853 3 cent peice
(1) 1775 Spanish 4 Real
I'm a metal detector dealer and about the only complaint I ever hear about the Fisher F75 is that it's noisy. I will say that if you run F75 "hot", it will sound like a pop corn machine, but, if you can put up with the noise and listen for the "zip, zip" that signals a possible good target, the F75 SE will reach down and pull out the deep stuff. The little 1853 silver 3 cent piece was over 7 inches down and in my soil, that's super deep for such a small target.
Name: Jim Crain
Location: Blackwater River, MO
Detector Used: Fisher F75 SE