Question on area with Musket balls and Buttons

ACCTeam

Hello,

I have a question for anyone who is willing to give some ideas. My son and I were metal detecting in this park-like area and for a good part of the day, we found nothing but light trash and some pocket change.

I finally got a hit, which was very solid. At about 4 or 6 inches, up came my first musket ball. Shocked does not fully explain how I truly felt. I called my son over and he also could not believe what I had just found. We quickly started to grid off this area and it turned out to be a great spot. We would return back a few times to find about 24 musket balls, 8 buttons, 1830 5 cent piece, 1852 3 cent piece and a 1835 some kind of military naval coin.

The Question:

As I explained, we found all of this stuff in a small area. About the size of half a football field. But this area is much...much bigger. Why would all this only show up in that area and not mixed around in the whole field? Is there a way to tell if the musket balls have been fired or not? I'm trying to figure out if they were all dropped or maybe from being shot at. And last question, looking at the type of buttons we found, which side did they belong to?









Thanks in advance for any help, tips, advice. My son and I are looking forward to hearing about this.

Jon

cincycoin

sounds to me like you came upon a civil war camp. The musket balls were not fired but probably dropped.

shirohniichan

What state are you in?

Riccar

I'm not an expert (some of those guys will probably jump in here and reply), but here's what I notice:
You have one "odd ball" button in there (doesn't fit with the others)...

The artillery button (eagle sitting on a canon) I think is either CW or earlier era. But, the button right next to it (R-hand side) is a great seal button and could be WWI or WWII.

However, I think the majority of your finds are around the same time as the coins you found out there. Your site should produce more. I'd keep hitting it and even explore the other surrounding area a little more. Hit your library's local history section too... might give you some clues.

Nice finds, thanks for posting, and welcome to the forum.

Rick

lordmarcovan

Fantastic site!

Often such concentrations can be found at old homesites, where all traces of the house have long since disappeared. Usually a scattering of oyster shell or artifacts like pottery, glass, clay pipe stems, and of course metallic relics are the only sign of a long-vanished cabin or house. Here in the coastal South, there's not even a cellar hole left behind, but up north and in higher areas one can see the cellar holes.

PS- those musketballs are "drops"- i.e., unfired ones. The fired ones will be flattened on one side, or even completely smushed-out.

lordmarcovan

My friend found an early US Artillery button that is similar, if not identical, to yours.

ACCTeam

Hello everyone,


Thank you for taking the time to help me figure this out. Looking at the type of buttons found....what side of the fence were they from and they were found in brooklyn, ny so what that be a strange find for up here???

Also about the musketballs, can you explain again how I might tell the difference between a fired one and a dropped one? If it was fired and never hit a target, would there still be a mark on the back of it?

Does anyone know what the last pic with the two metal objects might have been for?


Thanks again so much for helping us out
Jon

loditom

Acc LM is right on the date of your Artillery button,looking in my book the back mark should be"lewis & tomes/extra rich"

As for telling if the muskett ball's have been fired,they would be disformed from the original shape.Like from hitting the ground,tree or even a person.
Sound's like a good spot maybe hitting your local library and seeing what was happening in that area back in the 1800's.HH,Tom