^{When I look for a detecting spot I am very picky. I judge the age of a house by the foundation and the location of the chimney on the roof. I also prefer a 2 story house that has a good size front yard that isn’t pristine and manicured. I have been out detecting with different people and when I am driving I am the one who picks the house to stop and ask at. I am sure most of my detecting buddies get frustrated at me when I drive right on past houses that they suggest I stop and ask at.}

Once I arrived in St Joe, I drove around for about 30 minutes before I finally found a house that fit my expectations. I knocked on the door and sure enough obtained permission. I usually only detect the front of a house and the sides, very rarely will ever venture out to the back yard. My philosophy on this is that back in the 1800’s and early 1900’s people would socialize in their front yard and throw their trash in the back yard. My detecting time is always limited so I try not to scan through a trashy yard to find my coins.

I started detecting around the big oak trees in the front of this house and then worked my way back and forth until I reached the house. The finds weren't much to speak of just a few clad (modern) coins and a couple wheat back cents. I just didn’t get into the groove at this house and so it didn’t hold my attention for very long.

Back on the road again to find my next house I found myself traveling the back roads out of town. Nothing really reached out and grabbed me as a great detecting spot until about an hour later when I found myself entering a small old town called Savannah. The town was off the beaten path and was very quiet. Right on the outskirts of the town I noticed an older 2 story farm house. As I got closer I could see the rock foundation and both the chimney’s were on the center of the peaked roof. I knew I had found an old house.

I went up and knocked on the door and the older woman was very interested in my quest. She volunteered information on the homes history stating it was built in the 1850’s and was occupied by a Civil War Union Captain after the war. I listened but not too interested in who lived in the house I just wanted to get to work to see if they left me any coins. The woman only had one request in granting me permission and that was to show her what I found before I left so I agreed.

This was my dream house when it came to detecting, I knew there had to be old coins here. I started detecting the front yard and around the big trees and also the areas where I could tell there used to be trees. About 15 minutes into my search I get my first good signal, I dig down about 5 inches and find an old brass wedding band. I find a lot of these at old home sites, they are not worth anything but they are always fun to find because you know it meant a lot to someone at one time. Ten minutes later underneath the bushes in front of the porch I get an iffy signal so I decided to dig it. Another 5 or 6 inches and out pops the remains of an old pocket knife. It was now a rusted glob of metal, the wood handle has long deteriorated away but still another fun find. The next target was out in the middle of the yard and only about 3 inches deep but it got my attention, it was a dropped Sharps 3 Ringer bullet. I thought that was kind of a odd find. I spent about another 30 minutes before I got my next good signal. It was a pretty strong signal but since I wasn’t finding any coins I decided to dig about everything I could get a repeat signal on. This signal was on the side of the house under a large oak tree near the sidewalk leading up to the side door. As I dug down I hit a large tree root. Using my Sunray inline probe I was able to determine that my target was under this root about 10 inches deep. I carefully dug both sides of the root and then reached my hand in and removed a large piece of dark metal. At first I thought it was an old tin can but after turning it over and brushing the dirt off of it I could make out what this target was.

I fell back on my butt and took a long look around to make sure nobody was watching me because I was about to freak out. The item was oval about 4 inches wide and had the letters U S on it. What was this doing here, I am not supposed to find stuff like this, I am a coin hunter. To me this was like the holy grail of metal detecting. It was a Civil War US Belt Plate in pretty good condition. I immediately stood up to go to my car to get my phone and call my wife. On the way to the car I noticed the woman was coming out the side door to see what I had found. There was no way to hide my excitement from her, I tried to contain my emotions but there was just no way to hold it back. I walked up to her and when she asked what I had found I held out the belt plate and asked her if she knew what it was. Much to my surprise she said a Civil War Belt buckle.

I am always a little worried about showing my treasures, I have heard stories how others have shown the property owners their finds only to be asked to surrender them. I promised the lady I would show her and just hoped she would not ask for them and sure enough she didn’t. She was very happy for me and that made my experience that much more worthwhile.

After calling my wife and telling her and then filling my hole I started at it again. It was now getting late and I was about 90 minutes from home. I knew it was about time to pack it up but after finding the plate how could I stop? I searched around for another 20 minutes or so and got another iffy signal. I dug down about 4 inches and another glob of metal comes up this one about half the size of the belt plate. I began to wipe it off and nearly fell over, it also had the letters US on it.

I couldn’t take any more. I decided I had enough and filled my hole and headed for the car. After packing up my detector and pouch I went up and thanked the property owner and told her I would like to come back again and she happily agreed.

As I was driving home the significance of the days finds really hit home. Most people in this hobby will never find a belt plate from the Civil War and today I was fortunate enough to find 2 of them.