FIRST REAL HUNT OF THE YEAR

[Ahab8]

So I don't have to tell anybody on the east coast just how terrible this winter has been. Lots of my new sites are still buried in snow and the others are still frozen. I told my crew that we were going to start working four ten hour days and taking three day weekends. Today was beautiful and sunny but I had a bunch of errands to do. Finally around 4 I was able to get to the one site that's a little bit thawed out. This site is about dead last on my list but after 4 or 5 months I couldn't wait to get there.
My first decent find of the day was a beautifully shaped axe head of some sort. I believe it may have been used for wooden shingles but am sure one of the fine folks on here will straighten me out with id. This was found in an area that I found a couple of early 1800s LCs and am assuming that this would be of similar age. I absolutely love the shape of this big nasty hunk of rusty iron :-)




Most of this site is still frozen so I walked toward the water to a spot that gets sun most of the day. I got a deep signal and dug down about 10 or. 11" inches. All I could see was big round disc with a green patina in the hole. Thought for sure it was an old coin and was pretty psyched. Pulled it out and it had a gold colored face. I had no idea what it was at first but new the patina and depth pointed to something with some decent age.
Had to take off after that and when I got home and gave the back of my round item a bit of a cleaning I could see that there used to be a shank there. So if this indeed a button ( which I assume it must be) it's the biggest button easily that I've ever found. Even bigger than the Tombac I found. The little round designs on the front are made up of several little tiny dimples. I would very much appreciate if anyone has a clue about potential age of this crazy round item. :-)




















It was so nice to get out for a bit and it made it even better when I saw 6 mature bald eagles flying around together. Two of them would not separate and flew wing to wing together the whole time. Very cool to see. Sorry bout the pics but they were up there

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Jyverb64]

Very interesting button and great old axe head

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[MUDSLINGER]

great rescues. I have watched your finds over the past year incredible finds, hope i can find stuff like that here in florida

 

[Ahab8]

great rescues. I have watched your finds over the past year incredible finds, hope i can find stuff like that here in florida

Hey Mudslinger, I am a research nut! I love history and believe its so important to understand the events that brought us to the present day. That research has allowed me to be on some pretty great sites and the ones I've got lined up for this year should blow the others away(theoretically anyway :-) but if you put in the time at researching your local history you will give yourself the best chance to find the good stuff. I'll be watching. Thanks for the nice comment

 

[flatbutton]

Good stuff Abe! Glad to see you were able to get out. Can't wait to see what else you find!

 

[Mi$terG]

That's a great button, Abe. Be sure to hit that area hard- there could be a Reale or an old copper in there if the button dates to the late 18th century. Good luck!

 

[Davers]

Cool finds .
I've always wanted to find that style of Ax Head.
Awesome Button as well.
Think my favorite pic, is of the Eagles =Happy & free Enjoying this LATE Spring as well.
Davers

 

[Ahab8]

That's a great button, Abe. Be sure to hit that area hard- there could be a Reale or an old copper in there if the button dates to the late 18th century. Good luck!

Thanks buddy! Yeah I found 3 LCs there this winter during a warm spell. Everything has been late 18th early 19th century. This site is massive and everything is very deep. I've been super impressed with my T2 finding the deep stuff. I haven't been excited about this site but it's starting to get my attention. Especially after yesterday.

 

[MaineRelic]

Good and bad news on the button , Bad news is I can't find anything on it . The good news is that I can't find anything like it ! Someone on here should come up with it ! It is a one piece so could fit the time period . At the very least perhaps a patriotic civilian button. The old hatchet head like a lot of buckles can be dated in about 80 year blocks give or take ! 1820- 1900. Nice finds and good luck on your next outing M.R.

 

[Fingerlakes119]

I have just been able to get out and detect this past week in my area of NY, some spots are still frozen and the 18" of snow we got a couple of weeks ago is now gone. Glad you got out. It has been a long winter HH

 

[Ahab8]

Cool finds .
I've always wanted to find that style of Ax Head.
Awesome Button as well.
Think my favorite pic, is of the Eagles =Happy & free Enjoying this LATE Spring as well.
Davers

Thanks bud. That's the first axe head I've found with a nice shape to it. I love seeing the bald eagles. You just didn't see em like that 10-15 years ago

 

[Ahab8]

Good and bad news on the button , Bad news is I can't find anything on it . The good news is that I can't find anything like it ! Someone on here should come up with it ! It is a one piece so could fit the time period . At the very least perhaps a patriotic civilian button. The old hatchet head like a lot of buckles can be dated in about 80 year blocks give or take ! 1820- 1900. Nice finds and good luck on your next outing M.R.

Thanks MR. It's certainly unique and I'd love if someone could shed more light on it but regardless, I love it and I love the potential symbolism even more. So nice that we're on the verge of getting to our good sites. Wish ya luck my friend,Abe

 

[Ahab8]

I have just been able to get out and detect this past week in my area of NY, some spots are still frozen and the 18" of snow we got a couple of weeks ago is now gone. Glad you got out. It has been a long winter HH

Yeah I will not miss this winter when it finally leaves us for good. Best of luck my friend

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

Glad you finally got out. Looks like winter is over with temps well above freezing from now on, although it still doesn't look like it out my window right now.

Generally speaking really large buttons are old, when you say larger than any other you've found, you still didn't say how big, or have something for size reference in the pic.

This one is 33mm the biggest I've seen, and it is late 1700's for sure.



I lugged an axe home yesterday too.

 

[Iron Patch]

It's a good start.... but I guess any start would be good at this point!

Unless you can find more on the button, which I can't see happening, I think it comes down to what you want to believe. If it is an early patriotic/political button, it would probably be the only one known and probably worth $1,000-$2,000.... somewhere in the range of where the best snake buttons are. So the question is, for anyone who is quick to call it that, would they pay $500 for it right now? If it was $1,000-$2,000 in gold I'm sure they would. It's easy to take a stab at an ID, but do you want to call it that based on speculation, or because the evidence supports that it is? I personally think this case gets thrown out of court unless you can provide a whole lot more. Keep in mind the Snake buttons are European made and even to this day they are not exactly sure why... so I think you would have an uphill climb with that one. I think I would label it a cool dandy button (with a 6 pointed star asterisk)

 

[Ahab8]

Glad you finally got out. Looks like winter is over with temps well above freezing from now on, although it still doesn't look like it out my window right now. Generally speaking really large buttons are old, when you say larger than any other you've found, you still didn't say how big, or have something for size reference in the pic. This one is 33mm the biggest I've seen, and it is late 1700's for sure. <img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=972773"/> I lugged an axe home yesterday too.

Hello there buddy, pretty silly of me not to give actual size. It's just over an inch and a quarter. I put it next to a DB large cent for reference.

 

[Ahab8]

It's a good start.... but I guess any start would be good at this point! Unless you can find more on the button, which I can't see happening, I think it comes down to what you want to believe. If it is an early patriotic/political button, it would probably be the only one known and probably worth $1,000-$2,000.... somewhere in the range of where the best snake buttons are. So the question is, for anyone who is quick to call it that, would they pay $500 for it right now? If it was $1,000-$2,000 in gold I'm sure they would. It's easy to take a stab at an ID, but do you want to call it that based on speculation, or because the evidence supports that it is? I personally think this case gets thrown out of court unless you can provide a whole lot more. Keep in mind the Snake buttons are European made and even to this day they are not exactly sure why... so I think you would have an uphill climb with that one. I think I would label it a cool dandy button (with a 6 pointed star asterisk)

Thanks for chiming in IP. I always value your opinion and you are of course, right on the money with this one. I figure it will look good in a display case and it's my coolest button by far so regardless of what it symbolizes I'm happy with it and it's a good start to the season. Hope you can get out there soon and thank you much for the comment buddy.

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks for chiming in IP. I always value your opinion and you are of course, right on the money with this one. I figure it will look good in a display case and it's my coolest button by far so regardless of what it symbolizes I'm happy with it and it's a good start to the season. Hope you can get out there soon and thank you much for the comment buddy.

It's a tease, either it is, or it isn't, but either way you can still feel good about it. Or you know it could kind of be in between because maybe it was just meant to be a regular civilian designed button, but perhaps the guy who designed it was in a patriotic mood. As often is the case in detecting, we have more questions than answers, and those questions never get answered.

 

[Ahab8]

It's a tease, either it is, or it isn't, but either way you can still feel good about it. Or you know it could kind of be in between because maybe it was just meant to be a regular civilian designed button, but perhaps the guy who designed it was in a patriotic mood. As often is the case in detecting, we have more questions than answers, and those questions never get answered.

I guess the quest for those answers is sometimes part of the fun of this crazy detecting journey. If nothing else it's a good sign of the potential at this particular site. All I can picture is some guy with these enormous gold colored buttons being chased by natives with barely anything on. What an interesting time in our history

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

I'd agree that 13 stars would be a popular theme so would be difficult to pin an exact date to it based solely on that fact, but being as big as it is, is def. old. and like you said will be a nice button in the display. So many are just Plane Janes, it's nice to get one with a design of any kind.

 

[Iron Patch]

I guess the quest for those answers is sometimes part of the fun of this crazy detecting journey. If nothing else it's a good sign of the potential at this particular site. All I can picture is some guy with these enormous gold colored buttons being chased by natives with barely anything on. What an interesting time in our history

No question it's a good sign. When I dig one at a new site I see George coppers and a good shot at a Rev War button or Spanish silver. It's one of those indications I'm in the time zone I want to be.