Virginia March 2015: What a hunt!
We have been leading History Hunts for close to 10 years now, and I am still amazed and surprised by some of the discoveries our hunters make. This hunt was definitely one of “shock and awe,” with quite a few high-quality, rare artifacts found and one find that would set a record for History Hunts.
Our team of ten detected several different sites over the four-day hunt. The weather was interesting, to put it kindly: Day 1 – 80 degrees and sunny, Day 2 – Freezing rain and blowing wind, Day 3 – Morning snow and freezing cold, Day 4 – 50s and sunny. That said, this team did us proud, finding over 100 US and CS Civil War bullets; a CS 12-pounder cannon ball; numerous Civil War buttons (including two Confederate); a fine selection of coins including a beautiful 1854 large cent, 1857 flying eagle, a neat silver three cent piece, and two Spanish silver 1700s coins; and many other rare artifacts.
The two Confederate buttons were a tinned-iron back Roman Block “A” artillery coat and an extremely rare Hornet’s Nest Rifle Corps North Carolina coat button. The latter button broke the record for the rarest item ever found during one of our Virginia hunts. Less than 40 of the H.N.R.C. buttons are known to exist and the regiment was only made up of 100 soldiers. That gives you an idea of just how rare this bad boy is. Congratulations are in order for finder of this uber-rare button: Cal George!
It was a hunt full of great finds and firsts with a Georgian gold cufflink, flying eagle cent, and CS Enfield rifle brass butt plate found by Atlanta Mike; the Confederate cannon ball, big penny, and an eagle breast plate found by Indiana Wendell; the silver 3 cent piece found by Maryland Scott; a dandy 1700s silver half reale found by Florida Rob; a Confedate frame buckle forked tongue, 1740s cut Spanish Silver 1 Reale, and the Confederate Block A button found by Ashley; and lots more found by the rest of the crew. It was a great group of hunters who worked well as a team and kept spirits high the entire hunt. The pictures and videos included are only a sample of what we dug during the hunt. We can’t wait to hit the fields again in April.
These are the folks that were left at the end of day four. VA Margie, TN Mike M. and TN Kyle M. had to leave early.
Ashley's Block A
Wendell's Big Penny
Ashley's cut Spanish silver
Scott's 3 Cent Piece
Wendell's Union Breast Plate
Rob's Spanish Silver
Mike's gold cufflink
Day one's loot