A Better Activity During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Going Relic Hunting!

Tom Hughes

Sergeant Major
Joined
May 27, 2019
Location
Mississippi
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Okay, okay...I had to get out of the house. My wife and I are both working remotely from home AND my daughter-in-law and grandson are visiting with us indefinitely while my son is on deployment...and, oh yes, and there's a PANDEMIC!
What's a guy to do during this virus outbreak???
Go to the country and hunt for civil war and 19th century period artifacts, that's what!
Dig a little history and enjoy this great spring weather.
I hope you enjoy the pictures from my dig in central Mississippi yesterday.
This first picture is of the cap and ball ammunition I found, along with some rim fire cartridges.

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Leather attachment rivets are a common find in camp environments. Soldiers had lots of leather gear that would've been put together with rivets. When you find rivets, chances are you are in a camp area.

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These lead bale seals are common, especially since I was close to a plantation site. The seal on the right is unused. Seals were used to secure cotton bales, postal packages, textiles, railroad baggage cars, etc.

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I dug this silver spoon. The silversmith's name is stamped: "L.R. Brothers".
I haven't found anything out about this person yet. Let me know if you have knowledge of this maker's mark.
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Fancy monogrammed initials are in the handle. Once again, I'm having trouble deciphering these initials.

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A nice surprise was this 1899 Barber quarter that I dug near the house as I was getting ready to leave.
It is a New Orleans minted coin. Interestingly, 10% of ALL Barber Quarters in 1899 were minted in The Big Easy!

Thanks for coming along on my adventure and getting our minds off the dreaded virus for at least a little while.
 
View attachment 352896
Okay, okay...I had to get out of the house. My wife and I are both working remotely from home AND my daughter-in-law and grandson are visiting with us indefinitely while my son is on deployment...and, oh yes, and there's a PANDEMIC!
What's a guy to do during this virus outbreak???
Go to the country and hunt for civil war and 19th century period artifacts, that's what!
Dig a little history and enjoy this great spring weather.
I hope you enjoy the pictures from my dig in central Mississippi yesterday.
This first picture is of the cap and ball ammunition I found, along with some rim fire cartridges.

View attachment 352897
Leather attachment rivets are a common find in camp environments. Soldiers had lots of leather gear that would've been put together with rivets. When you find rivets, chances are you are in a camp area.

View attachment 352898
These lead bale seals are common, especially since I was close to a plantation site. The seal on the right is unused. Seals were used to secure cotton bales, postal packages, textiles, railroad baggage cars, etc.

View attachment 352899
I dug this silver spoon. The silversmith's name is stamped: "L.R. Brothers".
I haven't found anything out about this person yet. Let me know if you have knowledge of this maker's mark.
View attachment 352900
View attachment 352901
Fancy monogrammed initials are in the handle. Once again, I'm having trouble deciphering these initials.

View attachment 352902
A nice surprise was this 1899 Barber quarter that I dug near the house as I was getting ready to leave.
It is a New Orleans minted coin. Interestingly, 10% of ALL Barber Quarters in 1899 were minted in The Big Easy!

Thanks for coming along on my adventure and getting our minds off the dreaded virus for at least a little while.
Well done.
 
@Tom Hughes Thanks for posting the pics. Nice artifacts. How long did you dig? How did you come to choose that location?
 
Awesome finds! even though I can drive, and I've been promised that I can go places to detect, I still can't grant permission because we're always "too busy" (fyi, the d*** trees will be here when we get back!).

I've been detecting the yard though, and surprisingly found some square nails and other 1860s trash. Pretty weird for a house that was built in the 1930s.
 
Awesome finds! even though I can drive, and I've been promised that I can go places to detect, I still can't grant permission because we're always "too busy" (fyi, the d*** trees will be here when we get back!).

I've been detecting the yard though, and surprisingly found some square nails and other 1860s trash. Pretty weird for a house that was built in the 1930s.

Hey, you never know. There could’ve been an early 19th century site there before your home was there. Good luck! Let me know what you find.
 
The first initial on that spoon looks like a 'D' to me, but that's just on first impressions. Hope you can get more info on that one. Could also be an 'M'. Depends on the style of writing used, I'm assuming. Very nice finds and great way to give the virus a middle finger!
 
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