News

June 8, 2010

There were lots of interesting items on display this month and it was good to catch up with a few club members we hadn't seen for a while. Buddy brought in some recent finds including a very hard to find Maryland button, a breast plate, a rifle side plate with hammer, a variety of buttons and bullets, two Indian Head pennies, and a good variety of iron relics he had cleaned up with electrolysis. Tom was recently back from a trip hunting for gold and gemstones. He did really well with a 5.77 carat Emerald valued over $3k, a beautiful sky blue Topaz, and a vial of gold flakes. He also surprised us with very cool sword he recently acquired. Mark had a nice display of finds including a complete .58 cal. Spencer bullet, a colonial button, an early Large Cent, a very heavily impacted .69 cal. bullet, a variety of dropped bullets, a religious medal, and a 1953 D silver dime. Cory turned up an Eagle coat button, an Eagle cuff button, seven .58 cal bullets, and an 1860 Indian Head penny. Dave found .58 cal three ringer bullets, a .58 cal. Gardner bullet, a tiny flat button, a brass rivet, and a Boyscout neckerchief slide. Eric found a large pewter colonial shoe buckle, Civil War button backs, an early saddle rosette, and a silver earring.

May 11, 2010

Relic hunting was in full swing this month and the 10 members at our May meeting had lots of nice recoveries to show for their efforts. Marty dug one .58 cal 3 ringer, ten .44 cal Colts, and six .54 cal Sharps Civil War bullets. Marty along and his digging buddies are sad to see a long time favorite site leveled for development, but everyone is working hard amid the construction to rescue a few last relics before they become paved over. Eric dug a number of "firsts" for himself this month including an 1858 Flying Eagle penny, a 1900 Indian Head penny, a Eagle "I" cuff button, a percussion cap tin, the mainspring to possibly a Springfield rifle, and his first Burnside bullet along with two casings. Eric also found a nice variety of other Civil War bullets (a number of them wormed), a few Union Eagle coat and cuff buttons, and some artillery shell fragments. Ron had some nice recoveries with ten different dated Wheat pennies, two 1935 Buffalo nickles, five .44 cal Colt bullets (one with the paper skin still intact), a Bonbon spoon, and an artillery shell fragment. Lee dug some nice silver coins: two 1908 Barber quarters, a 1905 Barber dime, and an 1898 Barber dime. Lee also found an interesting sand dollar motif disc which hasn't been identified yet. George dug four Wheat pennies. Matt dug an 1890's Indian Head penny along with a match safe. Cory found a Civil War sword tip still sheathed in it's iron scabbard drag, a large ornate flat button, and a Native American bird point arrowhead. Brian P found a pretty green patina over gold gilt Eagle "I" button, ten 3 ringer bullets, a couple Williams Cleaner bullets, a pistol round ball, and a variety of Civil War camp items including: pottery and glass shards, camp lead, nails, bricks, and a spoon. Dave dug a great collection for the month including: a 1900, 1910, & 1918 cent, a 1942 "O" and 1958 dime, a 1936 and 1944 "P" nickle, a pocket watch, a .58 cal Williams Cleaner type III, a .52 cal Richmond Lab Sharps, four .44 cal drops, a .58 cal 3 ringer, a .54 cal Sharps, three Eagle cuff buttons, a 1938 American Legion Clarksburg WV watch fob, and a piece of harmonica reed.

April 13, 2010

We only had seven members at our April meeting, but a lot of interesting relics were on display for the group to enjoy. Dave had a great month and crossed one off of his wish list with his first New York State Militia jacket button. Dave also dug three Johnson & Dow .44 cal "Hazard" bullets, 10+ other CW bullets and casings, three pipe stem pieces, two Union General Service jacket buttons, seven flat buttons and a 1901 Indian Head penny. George dug a 1931 Wheat penny and Ron dug a 1938 Wheatie. Ron also dug a variety of Civil War bullets and the back of a pocket watch. Brian P dug his first Civil War bullets ever this month including 6 Sharps and two .44 cal Colts. Congrats on the first bullet Brian! Brian also found a nice brass buckle and two Eagle cuff buttons. Cory had a nice assortment of recoveries including a beautiful early 1800's Rosette, a silver thimble, a portion of an early silver scissor handle, and an 1845 Large Cent. Cory also brought in his Certificate of Appreciation he earned for reporting the bird band he recently found while relic hunting. The bird was a Red-Tailed Hawk hatched in Maryland 1999. Cory found the tag in Northern VA in 2010. Eric was digging hard this month with 35+ Civil War bullets, a pile of camp lead, and a few Eagle buttons. Eric was most excited to recover an 1859 Union Civil War spur, an 1861 Half Dime, a "carved" Indian Head penny, and an 1840's S.W. Hartshorn Norfolk VA backmark Navy button.

March 9, 2010

After a month off due to snow, everyone came to the meeting with a stronger back from all of the snow shoveling! Despite the tough winter, we had a good group of 7 members and 2 guests. Between snow storms, a few members were able to dig a few relics and we had some nice items on display. Mark found a Union cuff button, a .54 cal drop, and a 1863 Indian head penny. Dave had some interesting finds with a .44 cal bullet with paper casing still intact, a gold ring, a 14k pendant, a 1863 Indian head penny, and flat button. Ron turned up a nice variety of finds including some ancient fossils in stone, two silver rings, and a 1960 Hong Kong dollar coin. Eric ventured down to SC this month and came back with an early .69 cal flintlock rifle barrel, a Revolutionary War French Marine button, and some Civil War Boreman shell fragments. Eric also eyeballed a nice modern silver and gold bracelet with diamonds while walking down a snowy town sidewalk without a detector. Cory gets the trophy for the smallest coinage you'd hope to find with his 1/2 of an 1850's three cent piece. It appears the coin was broken in half and not cut. Cory also found a nice arrowhead, a really nice percussion lock, and a breast plate. Given how bad the weather has been I was really impressed with the recoveries on display. Good diggin everyone!

February 9, 2010

The Blizzard of 2010 shut us down for February. Good luck with detecting and digging out your cars. See you all next month!

January 12, 2010

We had a good group for our January meeting including a new guest. On display this month were new finds as well as a few favorites that were found during the past year. Mark had a good month, recovering a Confederate spur and a .577 Enfield bullet. Mark also found a nice selection of coins including a 1846 Large Cent, three Indian Head Pennies (1861, 1889, 189x), and a 1927 Buffalo Nickle. Marty got a good signal just under a layer of leaves and almost didn't dig it. He was glad he did when he saw a 1859 Union spur with a great intact rowel looking up at him. Cory found a Large Cent, an Indian Head Penny, an early 1800's or Colonial sword scabbard, and a large flat button that is being examined to determine if it might be a George Washington button. Buddy found some .58 cal Civil War bullets and a large bird band. Buddy was able to track down the serial number to a Black Vulture or Turkey Vulture tagged in the 1930's. Matt found a cool toy "six gun" and a fancy cabinet latch. Eric found three Union Civil War buttons including a general service cuff, a New York coat, and a very pretty gold gilt Cavalry cuff.

December 8, 2009

Our December meeting had a variety of finds on display and we enjoyed the company of two new guests as well. George found a nice Stainless Steel men's wedding band while relic hunting this month. He set a great example by checking with the land owner to make sure it wasn't one they were missing. It turns out the ring he found wasn't one they were missing, so it is now part of his collection. On the following weekend George helped the land owner on the same property find another ring. This was a silver ring that had been missing for a few years and George had it back on the owner's hand in 10 minutes. George has some good karma coming his way! Ron had a good month and found a bunch of nice utensils, a silver napkin ring, a silver coaster, a 1943 S nickle, and some Civil War bullets including .44's, a .32 pistol, and a .58. Matt had some nice coin recoveries including 5 Indian Head pennies and a 1906 V nickle. He also found a cool blob bottle top with the stopper still intact. Rounding out this month's finds where Eric's 9 .44 cal pistol bullets, Jim's 1903 V nickle, and Cory's Colonial cufflink, lead soldier, and artillery fragments.

November 10, 2009

Eight members made it out to our November meeting with a good variety of relics to display. Cory found a beautiful arrowhead, a Civil War General Staff and Service cuff button, a suspender buckle, a number of .58 cal bullets and flat buttons, and an early 1800's Large Cent. Jim dug a large cosmetic case lid and two shoe plates. George recovered a few harmonica reeds, an old forged chain and padlock. Buddy found an interesting iron plate reading "Made in United Kingdom". Eric recovered a number of .44 and .54 cal bullets, flat buttons and misc buckles, a pocket watch and fob, a 1924 DC dog tax tag, concertina reeds, wheat pennies and a buffalo nickel. His best find for the month was a 1799 Spanish silver "1/2 Real" coin minted in Mexico City. Matt dug some nice coins including an 1832 Large Cent, an 1896 Indian Head, and a 1890 V nickel. He also found a dog whistle and an interesting "Great Western Cereal Co." bale seal. Matt was able to locate a "Mother's Oats" advertisement to help date the seal to 1901-1911. Tom found some nice Civil War relics including a gun tool, a round ball tool, a knapsack hook, Burnside and 3 ringer bullets, and a Colonial period pipe stem.

October 13, 2009

Unfortunately our October meeting had to be canceled due scheduling problems at the Community Center. Hopefully we will enjoy twice as many relics at our November meeting! See you all then.

September 8, 2009

September was a great month for club members and there were lots of quality recoveries to view at our meeting. Mark found a 1909 "VDB" Lincoln Penny, a .56 cal. Ringtail drop, and an excellent condition Civil War Union Officer's "I" coat button. John turned up a 1914 O dime, a Civil War staff button and an Indian Head penny. New member Brian P dug his very first relics this month and among them was an early 1800's Large Cent. Marty's fresh from the ground, beautiful silver plated Virginia convex button was admired by all and is now featured in the Highlighted Recoveries section of this site. George had some nice saves including a silver plated heart pin, a wick adjuster, and a large colonial flat button. Dave amazed us again with yet another really nice US breast plate. His month didn't stop with just a plate, he also dug a nice Saddle Shield and coins including a 1817 and 1835 Large Cent as well as an 1879 and 1881 Indian Head cent. Eric had one of his better months in a long time. He dug four Draped Bust Large Cents, an early 1800's Draped Bust Half Cent, an 1816 Ein Kreuzer Austrian copper, over 20 early flat buttons, two silver rings, and a variety of Civil War and earlier brass and lead relics. Matt came back from Cancun with some beach finds including some jewelry, 90 pesos in change, and a working Anne Klein ladies watch. He also dug a 1961 silver quarter back home in VA. Ron dug the better portion of a Civil War canteen, an Enfield bullet, and a flat button. His recent trip to VA beach yielded him over $20 in clad as well for the month. Buddy dug a Large Cent and an Indian Head Cent (1816-1839), a Civil War period tent rope tensioner, an early 1900's Yale lock, and a hoof pick.

August 11, 2009

Our August meeting was literally out of this world with Dave's find! Dave found a meteorite, and while it may just look like an ordinary rock in the photo gallery, it is metallic, magnetic, and has been confirmed by the Smithsonian to be the real deal. Not content with just one treasure for the month, Dave also found a very nice Civil War breast plate! This must have been the month for plates because Buddy also found a nice breast plate as well! Buddy also turned up an old and very ornate disc which may have been part of an perfume sash. Cory pulled out some nice recoveries including two Civil War shell bases and some old Boy Scout items. Other interesting items on display this month included buckles, bullets, buttons, and even sharks teeth.

July 14, 2009

Relic hunting slowed down a little this month, because it has been so hot and the ground is so hard. We had a good meeting with 10 people in attendance despite the heat wave and there were some nice relics to view. Please forgive me for not taking good notes at this meeting about who found what items, but I will try and list the highlights for the month. Among this month's most interesting finds were: a gilt Eagle "C" button, a very nice 1856 half dime, a 1920's Virginia Chauffeur badge, numerous bullets including a nice carved bullet, modern Euro coins from the beach, a 1920's dog tag, a US box plate, 1850's Goodyear button, and a pancaked .69 cal. Civil War bullet.

June 9, 2009

Finds for our June meeting were a little slim, but we had a good turnout with 8 members and 2 new visitors. Marty and John had a good display of Civil War bullets, a finial, an Eagle cuff, and some beach jewelry finds. Dave turned up a variety of iron buckles and bullets. One rather unique bullet he found is believed to be a handmade .31 cal pistol bullet. Visitor John brought in a nice 14k gold Irish Claddagh ring that he found while beach hunting.

May 12, 2009

We had 9 members and a new guest at our May meeting. If rare finds for the month happened to be a friendly competition, Ron won hands down. Ron found a great Virginia coat button that will clean up very nicely, with gilt already shining through; but his most amazing find was a complete .44 cal Remington Civil War pistol! Way to go Ron! Tom had a number of nice relics on display. Highlights included eight Gardner bullets, a silver bracelet, and an Eagle I button. George dug plenty of targets this month and turned up a harmonica reed and a nice suspender buckle. Eric was back from a Colonial group hunt in CT where he found a silver plated knee buckle, two 1700's half pennies, an 1837 half dime, and a number of early relics from some old cellar holes. Included in Matt's finds for the month was a 1917 Mercury dime, an Eagle button, a .58 cal Washington Arsenal bullet, a nice .69 cal bullet, and a complete pink motorcycle. After the meeting Tom gave a few of us a demonstration of using dowsing/divining rods out in the parking lot. I admit, I was a skeptic until he put them in my hands and I witnessed the rods crossing as I walked over a pipe or electric line under the pavement. Add two brass rods to my relic hunting kit.

April 14, 2009

Our April meeting had a good turn out with 11 members and one guest. Club members were busy this month and there were lots of relics on display. Dave had an awesome month and had lots of relics to display. Along with his many flat buttons and buckles was a very nice Colonial shoe buckle and 1739 Spanish Real. Mark also had a good month with a number of buttons including an early 1800's pewter button, a silver ID bracelet and an uncut bullet with the sprue still attached. Eric found a number of bullets including two chewed .44 bullets, and a carved chess piece .44 bullet. He also found a hotel baggage tag from a NY hotel that burned down in the 1890's. Jim had some nice relics including a Colonial shoe buckle and an 1897 Indian Head penny. Matt also dug an Indian Head penny, his was a pretty 1893. Cory dug a number of Civil War relics for the month, but his beautiful breast plate was the talk of the meeting!. Marty also had a great month with plenty of flat buttons, a very interesting watch fob and silver cuff links.

March 10, 2009

Despite our meeting place closing early, which cut our meeting a bit short; we had a pretty good turn out including one guest and a number of recently dug relics to examine. Ron dug a Scabbard tip with finial, a number of bullets and Eagle buttons including an Eagle I cuff. Brian had a NY button, a number of flat buttons, and a sweet 14k gold ring. George found a nice Eagle coat button and a great brass livestock tag from the 1920's. Mark found a nice 1863 2 Cent piece along with a 1951 and 1952 Franklin Half dollar. Eric dug a variety of bullets including .69's, .54's, cleaners, & round balls. He also found a rifle barrel band, a number of pieces of a shell, and his first percussion fuse. Marty had a good month with some Sharps and .44 cal bullets, buttons including an Eagle Staff. His best finds included an interesting Crucifix pendant and a pretty 1802 half cent. Dave's finds included a complete .52 cal Spencer bullet along with a variety of other bullets including a carved chess piece and a triangle plug. Dave also found the top of a shell and some nice cuff buttons including an Eagle "A" and his first "I". WTG!

February 10, 2009

We had a light turnout for the February meeting, but seven club members were on hand to view some really nice recoveries for the month. Cory turned up a few bullets, buttons, and a pipe bowl. Tom dug a beautiful 1825 Large Cent and a Naval Button. Eric was back from a plantation hunt in SC. His better finds included an gold gilt 1830's Jacksonian cuff button, a Rev. War button, a Half Real, and an early Copper. Mark has been on a Spanish silver streak for two months in a row, unearthing an incredibly detailed Philip V 1733 2 Real for Feb! Mark also found a nice Eagle button, an 1898 Indian Head, and some bullets. Dave's highlight recoveries for the month included a Burnside Lock & Hammer, a 1901 Indian Head, and a US Bit Boss.

January 13, 2009

It appears that the cold weather and holidays didn't stop VHPS members from getting out there to preserve some history this month. There was a surprisingly large assortment of relic and coin finds presented at our January meeting. John had a great month, digging a US box plate and breast plate out of the same hole! Brian had a number of great recoveries with some highlights including an early Navy button, a Sportsman button, and a McClellan pin. Mark dug a lot of nice relics this month including 3 NY and 3 Eagle buttons, an assortment of bullets including 4 Washington Arsenal star base bullets, and an early 1700's 2-Bit cut Spanish Real. Jim found a variety of flat buttons and coins including a pretty 1817 large cent. Tom found a complete Union spur and a few coins including an 1801 large cent. Matt found a nice old lock and an early 1800's draped bust half cent. Eric had his first gold recovery, a 14K religious medallion and found his first .69 cal bullet.

December 9, 2008

Relic finds were a little slim, but we had a good December meeting and everyone really enjoyed looking through a large assortment of foreign coins that George's father had collected. Cory also brought in a number of buttons from his collection for everyone to view. Brian found a nice assortment of flat buttons for the month. Marty found a variety of Civil War bullets and a small cache of percussion caps. Matt found a very interesting leather glove with a large metal plate stitched into the palm (use still being researched). John H and Eric both found a variety of Civil War bullets, and Eric found two brass shoulder scale turn key devices. The club took care of a little bit of business as well. After a number of years as Treasurer and Secretary, John K has decided to pass the torch. Matt volunteered to fill John's role and handle the logistics of our monthly meetings. A sincere thank you to John for all of the work he has done for the club over the years and we all welcome Matt to his new role.

November 11, 2008

With 12 members present, we had an awesome November meeting. Our friend Marty made it back to our club with a nice haul of jewelry from the beach. His finds included a pretty 14k gold ring with two small diamonds. There were a number of old coins found this month. Brian found a beautiful 1829 Bust Half Dime, Eric found his first early coin... a ¼ cut Spanish 1737 Philip V Cross Real, Mark found a very pretty 1851 Large cent, Matt found a 1901 Barber Dime, and Cory turned up a small coin cache

October 14, 2008

We had a great October meeting with 11 members present and a large assortment of dug relics for the month. Amy and Jim both turned up a nice variety of Civil War relics and both proudly displayed their first breast plates ...congratulations! Brian and Dave both found an Eagle I button along with a number of other nice relics including a 1895 V nickel found by Brian, and a variety of bullets found by Dave. Jeremy had a good assortment of flat buttons including a cast pewter flower button.

September 9, 2008

Finds were a little slim this month, but the club enjoyed viewing some really nice relics nonetheless. Brian presented a spread of Colonial relics including flat buttons, a shoe buckle, and a King George Copper. He also found some nice bottles this month including a beautiful Harpers Ferry Bottle. Cory turned up a confederate spur, which is in really nice shape! Jeremy brought along a tiny 3 cent piece he dug this month. Ron managed some Civil War bullets, a dog tag, and 1911 Wheatie. Matt turned up with a variety of interesting relics including a gold cufflink.

August 10, 2008

Summer has been good to the VHPS club members and a number of great relics and preserved history was on display at our August meeting. Eight members were on hand to view and discuss this month's finds. Highlights of the month were Tudor Rose cufflinks and a 1798 large cent found by Brian, a sterling silver bracelet and US rosette by Dave, an amazing cache of .69 cal bullets and Hotchkiss nose from Amy, and George and Ron both turned up silver rings.

July 8, 2008

Due to a room scheduling conflict the July club meeting took advantage of the nice weather and held the monthly meeting outside. Seven club members and one guest enjoyed viewing the month's many great finds. Many nice coins and buttons turned up this month, but none topped Brian's beautiful silver plated military button from the war of 1812!

May 15, 2008

Recently back from a number of early spring organized group relic hunts, the VHPS club members had a great variety of recoveries ranging from Colonial to the War of 1812 through the Civil War to present. Great finds this month included: drumstick holders, a spur, a stirrup, bullets, buttons and buckles from the Civil War. A beautiful cut silver Spanish coin from the 1700's and colonial buttons were on display, as well as a rare 16th Regt USI Militia button from the war of 1812.