DownNDirty
Bronze Member
During the past week I have been having a great time hunting a virgin colonial home site. After having a lot of luck on Monday and Tuesday I decided to hit it again after work on Wednesday-and boy am I glad I did! About 15 minutes into the hunt the ATPro sounded off with a sweet low 70s signal-not overly loud but solid. I dug down about four inches and used the Propointer to locate what I first thought was just another dirty flat button. I rubbed off some dirt and saw raised lettering on the back side. Hmmm... that's odd. I wiped off more dirt to reveal a crown-and a shiny surface. HMMM.... That's when I realized what I had found-a Spanish half real silver coin that had been made into a cufflink! The silver shank was fully intact as well.
The reverse side (which was the outside of the cufflink) is very well worn because, well, it was worn
but with a jeweler's loupe and the right lighting I can clearly make out a date of 1761. The coin was minted in Mexico and the Spanish king on the throne was Carlos III. Here is a similar coin to show what it originally looked like:
Now I know that in the 18th century cufflinks and buttons were made with the likeness of Spanish coins on the outside, which are great finds as well, but this was an actual silver coin that was worn as a cufflink. I feel really fortunate to have found one. It is clear that the inhabitants of the house were people of means, as I have also found a silver cufflink and other relics that would have been owned by affluent people.
The finds for the rest of the day consisted of three flat buttons and a piece of a pewter spoon.
Man this site has been good to me so far! Here are my finds from the past week, absent a rosette that I gave to the landowner:
I'm headed back there in the morning with Dirtstalker. Hopefully the giving will continue and we will both be posting more good finds.
The reverse side (which was the outside of the cufflink) is very well worn because, well, it was worn
but with a jeweler's loupe and the right lighting I can clearly make out a date of 1761. The coin was minted in Mexico and the Spanish king on the throne was Carlos III. Here is a similar coin to show what it originally looked like:Now I know that in the 18th century cufflinks and buttons were made with the likeness of Spanish coins on the outside, which are great finds as well, but this was an actual silver coin that was worn as a cufflink. I feel really fortunate to have found one. It is clear that the inhabitants of the house were people of means, as I have also found a silver cufflink and other relics that would have been owned by affluent people.
The finds for the rest of the day consisted of three flat buttons and a piece of a pewter spoon.
Man this site has been good to me so far! Here are my finds from the past week, absent a rosette that I gave to the landowner:
I'm headed back there in the morning with Dirtstalker. Hopefully the giving will continue and we will both be posting more good finds.
Upvote
20
! How did I miss this one... Abe, thanks for bumping this back to the top man. That is one incredible cufflink Glenn. I would love to find a coin turned link or button... that sounds better than just a coin or a button. I have 3 fake Spanish real links, but that's nothing like the real deal. Killer find man.
