Rose-Gold Plated Irish Button & ’05 King Edward VII Quarter

[ANTIQUARIAN]

On Saturday I went back for an hour to the site where I’ve been finding the aluminum tags and found two more before my coil died. On Sunday I arrived at the site at 5:30am and detected the ‘Hastings’ field for almost 3hrs. I then headed next door and detected a field at the very back of the ‘Brignal’ property next door for another hour. Both are circled in green on the c1870 map. The ‘Hastings’ site has produced well for me since I first detected it in 2015, so I wasn’t surprised too when I found the flat one-piece ‘Irish’ button.

What I was surprised at was the rose-gold colored plating and the Latin inscription ‘Quis Separabit’. Which translates to ‘Who Separate’.

“Quis separabit is a Latin motto derived from the Vulgate translation of Romans 8:35: "Quis ergō nōs sēparābit ā cāritāte Christī..." translated as "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? The motto is associated with Ulster unionism, Ulster loyalism and the British Army in Ireland: for example, it is used in the British Army by the Royal Dragoon Guards, the Royal Ulster Rifles, the London Irish Rifles, the Irish Guards, and the North Irish Horse, and it is also the motto of the Order of Saint Patrick. The phrase also appears on the Seal of South Carolina and inscribed on the alumnus ring of Clemson University.” - Wikipedia

The button is in beautiful condition and was made by Jones & Son, unfortunately the writing beneath this is illegible. Along with the fancy button, I found a 1905 Canadian Quarter, a ‘Shield Buckle’ and a small decorative stamped-brass buckle. I also found what I feel may be a very worn, right facing King George III Halfpenny (1770-1775). If anyone can tell me anything about the maker or the significance of the history behind this button, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks very much for looking,
Dave

 

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[cheffer]

Beautiful finds, love that button!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Beautiful finds, love that button!

Thanks very much for your post cheffer!
Dave

 

[Professor of Engineering]

That is one fine hunt, congrats!

 

[cmthunder]

Awesome looking finds Dave and cleaned up very nice

 

[CRUSADER]

That is a nice button. First I've seen posted !

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

That is one fine hunt, congrats!

Thanks very much professor!

Awesome looking finds Dave and cleaned up very nice

Thanks buddy, it always amazes me what treasures an unassuming farm field holds.
Dave

That is a nice button. First I've seen posted !

Thanks Cru, the rose-gold plating is definitely unusual.
Personally, I'm very interested know the symbolism behind this button.

Hope you and your Dad are doing well,
Dave

 

[RVRoamer74]

Wow! I'd love to hunt a area that had these type of finds. All old and interesting. Great batch of digs and pics.

 

[ToddsPoint]

So is the button military or civilian? That's a nice one for sure. Gary

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Wow! I'd love to hunt a area that had these type of finds. All old and interesting. Great batch of digs and pics.

Thank you as always for your post and support Patriot!
I've always had good success detecting the fields next to old farm houses.
A lot of these fields weren't actually farm fields yet back in the day, most were just part of the homesteads extended yard.

Also, the traffic in and out of the fields from the farmhouses always makes for losses and good finds.
Dave

So is the button military or civilian? That's a nice one for sure. Gary

I'm not really sure Gary, I was hoping one of the members here on Tnet might be able to tell me.
Dave

 

[pepperj]

You had a morning out Dave, a well rounded hunt. Nice to see a silver pop out for you, they seem to be scarce at times. Hope you'll get some answers pertaining to the button soon, it's a nice keeper.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

You had a morning out Dave, a well rounded hunt. Nice to see a silver pop out for you, they seem to be scarce at times. Hope you'll get some answers pertaining to the button soon, it's a nice keeper.

Thanks for your post and for your advice Jim, it's much appreciated.

I've identified a couple of potential new sites down the road that I'm going to check out this weekend.
Dave

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice finds Dave! That button is spectacular.

 

[jerseydevil523]

Congrats. That is a good day of hunting.

 

[creskol]

Is this relevant to your button, Dave? https://books.google.com/books?id=N...s separabit one piece shamrock button&f=false

 

[Joe-Dirt]

Nice hunt Dave, really like that buckle, other stuff is cool to!!!

 

[WannaDig3687]

Very good hunting, Antiquarian! You find some interesting stuff in the fields. I really like the quarter.

 

[Red-Coat]

Nice finds Dave.

Part of the button backmark reads “DUBLIN”, so I would be pretty sure that this relates to the Jones family, recorded as button makers at 2 Cork Hill, Dublin and active between at least 1815 and 1832.

Some marks for this company only refer to ‘W Jones’ (for William), but it’s clear that he was at some time in partnership with Edward Jones, although it isn’t clear whether they were father and son. However there is a newspaper record from 3rd January 1822 announcing the dissolution of their partnership as of 1st January 1822 with William becoming sole proprietor. Retirement of Edward as the father perhaps?

You can probably see better on the button than I can in the picture, but the backmark looks like it might be Edward, written in this abbreviated form:

If so, I would assume it’s then from sometime between 1815 and 1822 before William took over the business. Some of the company’s early advertisements for civilian buttons proudly declare themselves as “The King’s Button Makers” but I don’t think your button is military or militia. Just a bit of patriotism I would think.

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[Relicific]

Great looking button