Dear White’s,

While detecting with my White’s DFX around an old stone chimney in the woods, I unearthed this Civil War sword plate at 8”, bearing the letters MVM. I found the plate along the route of Lee’s retreat to Appomattox, during the final days of the Civil War.

After months of correspondence with the top Civil War relic authorities in the United States, plus being on the cover of a Civil War relic magazine, this unique belt plate has baffled the experts and still remains a mystery. They all agree that it is authentic, and was made during the Civil War era by sand cast mold. It is agreed by all that the “VM” in the MVM initials stands for “Volunteer Militia”.

The question is what does the first “M” stand for? The authorities speculate it could stand for any of the eastern states beginning with the letter “M”, or possible a unit designation, or perhaps the name of a city or town. The date, there is no know matching example or era photos of this belt plate. It remains a one of a kind find of a lifetime. Perhaps one day the answers to this mystery will be found.

Thanks to Whites detectors, a new “species” has been discovered.

Vernon in VA