IRON BRIGADE adds to our TYPE COIN collection + 1840 Presidential Button!

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,132
9,700
Moonlight and Magnolias
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4
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Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello All,

Let me first apologize for the lack of "action" photos in this post--we just didn't have much time. But after three LONG weeks of 90 degree temperatures here, the weather finally broke. Here's the scenario...

Yesterday morning we hit the road early since we only had about six hours to dig because of our schedules. So Diggergirl, Rodeo, and I drove to ask permission to have another go at the spot where we got two 1820's LC's on our last hunt. We got our yes, then went to another property owner to meet him and ask about a second site--a small house site in the woods. He ended up being a great guy--and we ended up getting permission for several spots on land he owns. :thumbsup:

So after about an hour of driving to talk with these folks and to the site, we got out of the car quickly and DOVE into the woods! I knew that we'd only have about two hours on this spot if we wanted to re-hunt the Great site where the coppers came up... So we got hiking.

I also was praying that our research and coordinates were right on--because otherwise we might be out there for an hour to find the right location of the cabin--before we even got to the REAL hunting part!

When we got to where the GPS unit said "16 feet SE" we looked up and saw this:

Daffodil Tops.jpg

Dead daffodil tops EVERYWHERE. ;D After some High-Fives, we started hunting the site. There was no trace of a cellar hole, foundation stones, or even surface glass or pottery, so we had some exploring to do.

The site ended up being quite thin in terms of finds. We got a toe tap, a harmonica reed plate, and part of a suspender clip--plus a brass whatzit with a floral design. Then Rodeo said "I've got a flat button." I walked over to look and we realized that there was no shank on it...or even a place where a shank went... I said "Swipe this under your machine and tell me what it reads." Rodeo said it pegged "Nickel" consistently, so then we figured we likely had a V nickel...but as we started to clean and I saw how worn this one was, I was hoping it was older. :o Tnet friends, it is an 1869 Shield Nickel (the second one for the Brigade this year). :thumbsup: We were Stoked!

I took a photo of Rodeo beating the brush with a Passion (Sorry DiggerGirl--no photos of youthis time... :( )

Rodeo.jpg

We hunted the small site another hour (three detecting hours total) and didn't find much else, so we got out of there and drove to our "Two LC spot." We geared up and got into that pasture wasting no time.

Hunting that spot for two hours (six detecting hours) we started to realize how well we'd pounded the central portion where the house stood... signals were few and far between! Of course, we'd spent over six hours there with three people last time--so this site has now gotten Twenty-Four hours of detecting time on it, and she ain't done yet!

We got a good bit of pewter this time, and some small lead... I found the best pewter spoon bowl I've ever found:

Pewter Spoon.jpg

(They usually come out looking like this one around here:)

Pewter Spoon Usual.jpg

Here's an interesting pewter whatzit that Rodeo found:

Pewter Whatzit.jpg

I got a pewter flat button that was plain on the front, yet had letters either scratched or crudely cast into the back. I think the letters are "AVM". Any help on this one is much appreciated... I've already looked through previous property owners names for a match--no luck. :-\

AVM.jpg

AVM2.jpg

DiggerGirl got a nice brass two piece button...we couldn't tell much about it in the field--and didn't want to do any cleaning until we got home, since we could see a hint of GOLD gilding peeking through. This turned out to be the best button find for the year so far! :wink:

So here's a photo of all of our finds:

All Finds.jpg

And Rodeo's 1869 Shield Nickel--front and back. (I'm pretty positive that it's a '69 and not a '79 :o):

1869 Shield Nickel Obv..jpg

1869 Shield Nickel Rev..jpg

We got home and started cleaning Digger's button. Freshly dug, it looked like this:

Campaign Button Before.jpg

We realized that it was a William Henry Harrison button from his 1840 presidential election campaign. :thumbsup: I consider this an Excellent find--and a scarce one. The backmark is "R. & W. Robinson" and the shank is intact.

Seems like DG has a nose for those campaign items! The button is now sitting in her display case beside her Abraham Lincoln campaign token from the 1860 election which she found earlier this year. :thumbsup:

I'd appreciate someone's help in nailing down which variety this button is.

UPDATE: The button is a PC 140 variety, with a rarity value of 35. Its value is likely over $100--and perhaps more than that.

Campaign Button After.jpg

Regards,


Buckleboy and the Iron Brigade
 

Upvote 0
Congrats on those finds!
 

AWESOME button! Love the fact so much gilt is left. Congrats HOGGE :thumbsup:
 

Congratulations Iron Brigade!! Very nice digs and glad your back in action!!! Nice research effort Buckleboy,finding the site itself is half the treasure,anything else is bonus :thumbsup:
Jerry
 

wow the harrison button is incredible you folks always have an adventure continued good luck to all of you
 

Buck,

How did you clean the 1840 button? Dry brushing?

I can't stop myself from clicking on your post and viewing that beauty of a button. :thumbsup:

Kyle
 

Great hunt, great research, and a great guy you are to boot, Buck. :)

You amaze me and amaze me. :)

Can I marry your skills? :) :D

Kirk
 

Colonial Zoyboy said:
Buck,

How did you clean the 1840 button? Dry brushing?

I can't stop myself from clicking on your post and viewing that beauty of a button. :thumbsup:

Kyle

Aluminum Jelly and GENTLE swirling with a toothpick or camel's hair brush is the only way. Dry brushing will take some of the gold off a gilded button!
 

DCMDer said:
Real nice recoveries BB. Just a thought-AVM might stand for Alabama Volunteer Militia.

The Alabama Volunteer Militia was an 1850s and '60s phenomenon. I think this button is turn of the 19th c. So it's unlikely. Alabama wasn't a state when this button was made, in other words. Also, it was found in KY--which makes it more unlikely. A volunteer militia crossed my mind though, but I couldn't think of any "A's" that seemed to fit...

Thanks for your reply DCMD.


-Buckles
 

silverfreak said:
Nice post B.B. You always have great pics and I feel like I was there with you :thumbsup:

SF,

I will make sure we have time to take better photos next time we're out. This post is a little below BB standards. But we managed to get out and hit both sites, which was cool.


-Buckles
 

That 1840 Presidential button is a Fantastic find. :o The Iron Brigade must be really proud!! :thumbsup:

It's so advantageous to hunt as a team! You cover more area in a hunt, along with having a 3 times better chance at making a terrific find!

Congrats to the whole Brigade Team on some good digs!!

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan
 

Sweet finds made by the team.Tell Molly congrats on her sweet find.Rhodes congrats on the shield nickle.Will as always a great post and great finds.Keep at it ,I'll be making a trip here soon. HB
 

Captn_SE said:
That 1840 Presidential button is a Fantastic find. :o The Iron Brigade must be really proud!! :thumbsup:

It's so advantageous to hunt as a team! You cover more area in a hunt, along with having a 3 times better chance at making a terrific find!

Congrats to the whole Brigade Team on some good digs!!

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan

You're right about having a team. We split gasoline costs, etc--so that it doesn't fall on one person shoulder the cost...plus it takes some hunting to find the site each time. (We don't always find it immediately.) Sometimes we can go through as many as two sites a day and work them out--and have lots of finds to take home with us.

It's a case of all of us getting together to do something that none of us could've done individually--and it only works with such serious, kind, and skilled people on the team.

Thanks for your reply, Captn.


:)
 

Hill Billy said:
Sweet finds made by the team.Tell Molly congrats on her sweet find.Rhodes congrats on the shield nickle.Will as always a great post and great finds.Keep at it ,I'll be making a trip here soon. HB


HB--when the crops start coming up, we'll put the pedal to the metal. I hope you'll go digging with us soon. There will be much fewer skunks now than there ever were--and after harvest we will likely not have to endure a skunk in the fields, with 130 sites at our disposal. :) Next hunt is early Friday, weather permitting.

I have a hunch that we will find something incredible this fall--something that we can all be Very proud of.


Regards,


Buckles
 

Great button! I'm surprised it is only worth around $100. I would have thought more.
 

pjroo33 said:
Great button! I'm surprised it is only worth around $100. I would have thought more.

Could be more. I have no information on its value other than what appears in this thread. Wouldn't matter if it was $100 or $1000, DiggerGirl is Thrilled. 8)


Regards,


Buckles
 

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