We don't do a lot of Civil War relic hunting here in Northern Indiana for the obvious reason that no battles or skirmishes took place here so who would have thought that one of the Holy Grail of CW relic hunting finds would be unearthed this far north. January 11th, 2006 would prove that you just never know what is coming out of that next hole. What a great hobby!

January 9th, 2006. I picked this site because I remembered that I hadn't touched the ground here with the 5x10 DD coil yet and it was nearly two years since my last visit. (If you have the DD coil, all your old sites become new!) Lots of new targets but only one coin today. An 1867 2 Cent Piece.

January 11th, 2006. It was unusually warm, 51 degrees, and a beautiful sunny day so back to the site to swing the X5 some more after work. Probably only walked 20 feet when the X5 sounded off with a blasting "Here I am" signal and out popped this belt plate! Now for a confession. Most of us "Yankees" this far north don't study up on our Civil War relics since they are so scarce so I honestly didn't know what I had. I thought I had seen the design somewhere before but didn't have a clue so I dropped it in my pouch and continued hunting.

After getting home I checked the Albert's button book to discover that the design I had remembered was indeed an Alabama CW button but wasn't exactly like the design on the plate so I posted a picture of it on the Shadow Forum. That is when the fine, knowledgeable folks on the forum let me know that I should have been jumping up and down and shouting Hallelujah back in that field! My find of a lifetime and I didn't even know it! Somehow the old saying "Ignorance is bliss" just doesn't apply.

Thanks Troy for that DD coil! I might not have gone back there if were not for such a great coil!

Mike

Feb. 2006