Confederate Artillery: Block A Repair

Here is the rather common CS Artillery button constructed of a brass face, tin back and brass shank. The back is totally gone as you can see and the button has been bent over in half. These have a relatively high copper content making the relic more malleable than most.  The repair requires making a back appear like rusted tin and installing the characteristic off-center elongated loop found in these varieties.

Some Christmas Eve Restorations

Seen in this picture is a Confederate forked tongue buckle and some other fine Civil War relics that came to me for repair and restoration.

The buckle frame, the only original piece, was without the bar and tongue when it arrived. It was also broken and in an ugly pretzel. Additionally, it was devoid of any consistent patina having been "roughed up" by the plow over so many years.  I straightened it out then made the bar and the tongue to fit and attached all.  I then gave it all a woods-dug look to bring it all together. That requires layering. As veteran collectors of dug relics know, there is a richness of that look that is difficult to replicate.

The two company letter M relics were broken and both were missing their narrow left legs, the most fragile part of the device. I fabricated, attached and then blended the repairs into the existing look of the relics as dug. The company letter A was broken as well. The trick, or challenge, as always, is how to camouflage break seams while maintaining the originality of the rest of the relic. Whereas I could pretty much go in any direction with the fork-tongue buckle, with the other items, an existing surface attesting to where they were recovered should be retained (my opinion).  That super light and soft crust coupled with the great condition of the brass under it makes me believe the letters are Richmond area finds.

The block I infantry button was in several pieces (five).  I put that puzzle back together, filled voids, added the back and as with the other relics blended the repairs in with oxides, dirt, dust and whatever else I felt would give it the right look. All in all, a dang good looking display... not destined for the island of misfit relics.

My Olde Site: Getting Older

My Olde Site, a federal era (or earlier) cellar hole,produced these american indian artifacts at the deepest levels.  I've been informeed that the two pieces in the foreground are made of steatite, a type of soapstone quarried and carved by the indigenous tribes.  The large chunk on the left is a  portion of the side of what was once a large bowl. The smaller item is some kind of bowl.  The rounded stone is what I believe to be a masher and is the only smooth stone of its kind to come out of the  ground at this site.     

 The notches or grooves along the top edge of the bowl below are where the chunk was carved away from the face of the quarry.  The native americans would carve the bowl in place then remove it from the face of the quarry, completing the bowl after removal.

 The worked piece of flint below is probably a "graver" used to engrave.  The bead is European and is probably a trade bead from first contact with these american indians.

Plate Straightening

This rather unusual excavated sword belt plate required straightening and touch ups to make displayable.  I suspect that many plough hits over the years has resulted in the significant distortion.

Applying pressure using several clamps simultaneously allowed for a break-less outcome.  Touch ups to some cracks along the edges and face resulted in a pretty good restoration.

What device was originally on the face of this plate is a mystery.  Several possibilities exist and these can be found in the many reference books on buckles and plates of the period.

Relics from Battle of Rappahannock Station

Coin Find at Foundation

Here's a video I thought I'd deleted showing a recent coin recovery right next to a stack of foundation stones at My Olde Site.  Just when I think there are no more coins to be found, another pops out.  Hope you  enjoy the thrill of the hunt.  It's a coolish July 6th day after a very hot 5th.  I'm back digging even deeper after finding an 1817 large cent the day before.   

Coppers Coppers Coppers

These three coppers were retrieved from the deepest level of the federal era cellar hole I affectionately refer to as My Olde Site.  The condition of each copper coin, while not good, and the result of laying in the lowest (and dampest) level, still allowed for identification.  Each came out like the one shown below, heavily encrusted with copper oxide.  After some cleaning details would emerge allowing an ID for each; two varieties of the 1787 Connecticut and a King George III.  Images of non-dug versions of what I found have been superimposed for reference.

A good online reference for these coins can be found at Connecticut Coppers, 
an Introduction.