My detecting partner and I were invited out to hunt some property that was originally built in 1858 as a boy’s academy (prep school). The academy closed shortly after and was converted into an inn (hotel) which in turn burned to the ground in 1931. 1950 the over grown land was sold and a modern home was built. They began clearing the over growth and seen my posts seeking permissions to detect and knowing the history of the property they contacted us. April 7th we got out there both with our Minelab EQUINOX. Right off the bat good targets all over no front yard which included 2 first time finds for me. A seated dime 1869s and a complete skeleton door key. My day had already been made with those two finds so anything else found was a bonus. After about an hour hunting the front we moved to the back yard where they were clearing the over growth. 10 minutes in the back yard I get a solid 20 signal, and it's all mud.."time to get muddy" 18 inches down the hole steadily filling with water and more mud I pull out an incredible find. A civil war Union belt buckle!! Beyond excited I clean it off and rush to show the property owner the history they had in their back yard all this time. Moving the story along, we ended up digging a total of 4 civil war Union buckles in a very small area including many ingots of their lead!! ! We stumbled on a forgotten civil war camp site. Out excitement cannot be put into words to have stumbled on such history.
WillieBeamin - Connecticut, USA