Always Learning Something New

I love finding old coins. I think there's two reasons for this. They are easily to identify and they are easy to date. Last year I found a Jersey Copper and, even though I had never seen one before digging it, it only took me seconds on the coin app I keep on my phone to recognize what it was. And while the last number on the coin's date wasn't quite legible, I know it had to be minted between 1786 and 1788 because those were the only years that the coin was made.

Unfortunately, all relics aren't that easy to identify. You will dig some that are a complete mystery to you. That's when the fun begins because that's when you get to play detective.

Case in point, episode 7 of our YouTube series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkqzi9FYE9U If you watched that video you saw me find the heel plate pictured above, but at the time I had no clue what it was, I just knew that it looked interesting. It went into my backpack and I continued detecting, but I didn't forget about it. As soon as I got home that night I pulled the relic out and began to research.

It didn't take me long to identify it as a heel plate and with a little more digging I discovered the significance of the heart cut out. That's where my research became interesting.

I found a couple of different listings on Ebay of similar plates, and they each labeled it a Civil War relic. I found that very odd. From the size and the design it looks to be a woman's heel plate. How can it be a Civil War piece? I had to find out.

A little more research and I learned that prostitution was extremely prevalent during the Civil War. Prevalent but still illegal. Unlike a baker or a blacksmith, a lady of the evening couldn't exactly put up a sign to let the men know what type of services they provided. And because the camps were continually on the move and men were constantly coming and going, word of mouth often wasn't enough. To solve this problem, prostitutes during the Civil War era took to wearing heel plates with hearts cut out. This would let them leave heart-shaped imprints in the dirt when they walked, a subtle message to the soldiers that they were available if the price was right.

Not only did I learn something new, but the relic that I thought was kind of neat when I dug it has now become one of my favorite pieces now that I know the history behind it.