It was a cool, sunny day in early April of 2000. The place...relic rich Northern Virginia. I had been Civil War relic hunting for just over a year and was still searching for my first Civil War button. I had made some decent finds but I thought it was odd that I had hunted as hard and often as I had but had yet to dig my first Eagle button. It had been 4 days since my last hunt and I was chomping at the bit to get back out in the fields again. My last hunt had produced a cartridge box finial, a nice flower button and my second US boxplate so I was returning to a site which I felt certain would give up my long searched for "first Civil War button".

 I parked the car, gathered my gear and began the several hundred yard hike to the spot I'd searched the last time out. There were lots of signals there and I hadn't hunted the site very hard before but something kept pulling my attention to a thicket of woods in the far corner of the field. Though I'd found a plate in the immediate area the last time out, my mind kept returning to that patch of woods across the field so I finally began a slow walk in it's direction.

 Eventually I reached the corner of the field and chose the easiest way through the dead vines and weeds into the thicket. As I stood up on the other side of the vine barrier, I again ground balanced the ol' 5900. The ground was better here,...much better than the field so I cranked the signal balance a bit higher and started swinging. I had walked just over 10 yards and got a sweet signal at the base of a small tree. It was repeating with every sweep of the coil and the B&G meter on my 5900 was pegging "Large brass" every time. I thought "there is no way I'm gonna be that lucky again" as I cut a large plug out of the earth. Much to my surprise, I raked my hand across the bottom of the hole and there staring back at me was my 3rd US boxplate! Boxplates on back to back hunts! I just didn't think it could get any better. I still couldn't believe I'd dug 3 plates and had yet to dig my first Civil War button but I wasn't complaining. It seems everyone digs lots of Eagle buttons but very few plates and here I was doing things the other way around. I didn't mind doing it that way and was smiling with my mind racing 100 miles per hour as I filled the hole and continued my hunt.

 

 I continued in the same direction I had been heading and after covering 6 or 8 feet, I got another signal. This one wasn't screaming "dig me" like the plate had but it was good enough to dig. After a minute or so of careful pinpointing in a bed of iron, I determined exactly where the "good" signal was and proceeded to dig another hole. After getting to the depth I'd found the plate at, only a nail was laying in the dirt surrounding the hole. The signal was still in the hole but wasn't sounding any better,...but it was still there. I dug a little deeper, checked the dirt again and still nothing. The hole was getting deep to the point that the signal would only come back on the 4th or 5th sweep of the coil. There was iron all around the hole and I'd dug many a deep nail that sounded good until the dirt came off of it. I was beginning to think it was just another deep nail but after having just dug a plate a few feet away, I wasn't about to give up on even a half way decent signal. I continued digging and finally upon sweeping the coil over the dirt surrounding the hole, I heard that "now" familiar sound of a button. I thought to myself "OK boy...it's in the dirt now...your first Eagle button....go ahead and pick it up." I pinpointed it's location in the loose dirt, grabbed a handful and swept it across the coil. "Whoong" Yes...finally...I held in my hand what was sure to be my first Eagle button. As I opened my hand I could see the back of a two piece button with the shank sticking up. I was pretty happy then but not near as happy as I was about to be. I turned it over and immediately recognized a huge Eagle covered in dirt. This was no ordinary Eagle button. I wrapped it in a tissue, placed it in a film container and continued to hunt. I ended up digging all the signals in the 2 foot area surrounding the button and dug nothing more than a bunch of nails. I'd dug the only good signal in that spot. I finally got to the point where I could no longer stand it. I sat down against the tree I'd dug it by to examine my latest finds. As I sat there smoking a victory cigar looking at the button, I still wasn't sure exactly what I had. I knew it wasn't an Eagle button but was afraid to get my hopes up for a Confederate button until I had a chance to clean it off a little better. After what seemed like an hour, I finally decided my hunt was over for the day. I had to know what it was!

 

 Upon cleaning, the gilt began to show through and the button got prettier and prettier. When done, it was to be probably the best button I'll ever dig. Albert's button book lists it as CS-7. Confederate Staff Officer's button with W. Dowler/Superior Quality backmark. RV 25. It's not worth a fortune but it's still worth in excess of $500. To me it's priceless. It was my first Civil War button.    

 I never figured out exactly why I decided to leave a spot where I'd recently dug a plate but something must have drawn me to this new spot. I don't know if it was that I felt the eyes of long dead soldiers watching me from that tree line or if I heard a plate and a fabulous button laying buried in the ground there, beckoning me to come find them....but what ever it was.........I'm glad I listened!!!!