🥇 BANNER Snakes - one was patriotic

[gforce1972]

Was on a group hunt this past weekend down south. Day one, early into the hunt I found this patriotic button with a snake on the rim. I'm told that it's from the revolutionary war. Here it is cleaned up a little with a toothpick. I'm starting to see some shine peaking through. Would appreciate any advice on next step in cleaning/preserving. The real snake was found on day 2. Think it is a yellow rat snake.



Gary

 

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[Professor of Engineering]

A beautiful piece of American history! Thank you for sharing.

 

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[Ahab8]

I seem to recall GW buttons both being on banner at the same time....hmmmmm They are rare buttons and anyone who knows anything about early american relics will say the same.

Agreed! If somebody happened to dig a Lord Baltimore the same week as Bills that would in no way mean they weren't extremely rare. It's just a strange coincidence and killer find

 

[gforce1972]

Thanks for all the feedback. Mine does have a shank... Doesn't that make it more rare? :-) Looking for recommendations for a professional to clean it...

 

[park pirate]

Damn nice find...

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

I voted yesterday already! I'm surprised it's not already banner!
I still think it looks like the flower of life.

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Thanks for all the feedback. Mine does have a shank... Doesn't that make it more rare? :-) Looking for recommendations for a professional to clean it...

As far as cleaning it goes...honestly there is not much you can do. I know that some would say to use Aluminum Jelly due to the sight of silver plating remaining. I can see plenty of places where the detail is not bare. I assume it came from an acid rich soil (pine forests with high salt content). If you try and bring the gilt out, (what is left) everything that is currently brown will turn bright red and hide most of the detail that is left. I personally would use a dry toothbrush (DO NOT WET THE BUTTON) and lightly pick away the dirt with a dry toothpick. You can then place a little oil (olive oil, museum wax, etc.) to bring out the detail.

 

[Ia.FurTrade]

This should be on the "Banner", too! These are a part of the great history of our country!........& face it, quite rare!
Can you imagine how proud one of our patriotic ancestor's was to wear this button on their coat or shirt?!
I can't understand how with this history, anyone could think this wasn't "Banner" worthy!!

JMHO, Iowa Dale

 

[Ahab8]

This should be on the "Banner", too! These are a part of the great history of our country!........& face it, quite rare!
Can you imagine how proud one of our patriotic ancestor's was to wear this button on their coat or shirt?!
I can't understand how with this history, anyone could not think this wasn't "Banner" worthy!!

JMHO, Iowa Dale

Well said Dale! Couldn't agree more

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

This should be on the "Banner", too! These are a part of the great history of our country!........& face it, quite rare!
Can you imagine how proud one of our patriotic ancestor's was to wear this button on their coat or shirt?!
I can't understand how with this history, anyone could not think this wasn't "Banner" worthy!!

JMHO, Iowa Dale

Congrats on a great find! I'm voting banner now. I missed the banner vote for Bill D's Snake & Stars button so I can redeem myself with this vote. The vote makes sense to me. Here's a copy & paste for some information and a link that I posted with Bill's button.

File:Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



This button is a great find. It appears that the design comes from the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union (1754) produced by a British colonist in America. The colonist was some average Joe by the name of Benjamin Franklin. Ahhhhh - the history! How cool is that?

I came up with this information when I found my own snake and stars button this past August (same spot where I got the 1877 Indian Head- a banner find). Here’s a picture of the one button that I found:



I think that momentum is a big part of making banner. I got a good number of replies and views for my snake and stars button, but it didn't come close to making banner. It's not a problem. I made banner a short time later. It's great to get recognized with a banner find, but not to get too caught up in the effort. My only goal is to outclass myself and my detecting results from the previous year - always striving to find that other site, that older coin, etc.

 

[Ron (CA)]

WOW-- Amazing find!! A HUGE Congrats!

 

[HomeGuardDan]

Congrats on a great find! I'm voting banner now. I missed the banner vote for Bill D's Snake & Stars button so I can redeem myself with this vote. The vote makes sense to me. Here's a copy & paste for some information and a link that I posted with Bill's button.

File:Benjamin Franklin - Join or Die.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

View attachment 1115254

This button is a great find. It appears that the design comes from the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union (1754) produced by a British colonist in America. The colonist was some average Joe by the name of Benjamin Franklin. Ahhhhh - the history! How cool is that?

I came up with this information when I found my own snake and stars button this past August (same spot where I got the 1877 Indian Head- a banner find). Here’s a picture of the one button that I found:

View attachment 1115255 View attachment 1115256

I think that momentum is a big part of making banner. I got a good number of replies and views for my snake and stars button, but it didn't come close to making banner. It's not a problem. I made banner a short time later. It's great to get recognized with a banner find, but not to get too caught up in the effort. My only goal is to outclass myself and my detecting results from the previous year - always striving to find that other site, that older coin, etc.

Man is that a wood back still intact on the button? I found one like it years ago (not snake and stars) and never seen another with the wood back still intact. Sorry I missed it when you dug it or I would have jumped up and down justg bad timing as you found it just about the time we were getting ready to welcome our little girl...was not on the forums much

 

[Old Dude]

I have to comment just so I can say my vote is in!

 

[The Patriot]

Was thinking the same thing...pretty slim for us to pick one of here...so good to see others digging them...

Does anyone else notice a trend happening here? lol
I'll give it til the end of the month and the banner will be full of snake buttons and gold coins!!

All due respect, according to the button gurus on this site, you are killing it with that find! Congrats on a "stellar" find

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks for all the feedback. Mine does have a shank... Doesn't that make it more rare? :-) Looking for recommendations for a professional to clean it...

Not rarer but more appealing to a collector.

As for cleaning it looks pretty good so nothing drastic. All you likely want to do at this point is to try and remove the dirt. Something you could try that would be very slow and safe is to take a moist Q-tip and just roll it over a small spot and see if it helps remove the dirt.

 

[Steve in PA]

Not rarer but more appealing to a collector.

As for cleaning it looks pretty good so nothing drastic. All you likely want to do at this point is to try and remove the dirt. Something you could try that would be very slow and safe is to take a moist Q-tip and just roll it over a small spot and see if it helps remove the dirt.

I have two things to add....
1. You should test this cleaning method on the BACK of the button
2. WHERE IS THE BANNER

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Snake button how about that , may have one I found years ago, now that I know what they are I better look through my jars of stuff. Great hunt and good luck with getting votes .

 

[Trezurehunter]

Great button find.

 

[gforce1972]

Thanks. I've used a dry toothpick very sparingly. Considering having it professionally cleaned.

 

[Bass]

Fantastic find and the button looks really good to be in the ground as long as it has.

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Man is that a wood back still intact on the button? I found one like it years ago (not snake and stars) and never seen another with the wood back still intact. Sorry I missed it when you dug it or I would have jumped up and down justg bad timing as you found it just about the time we were getting ready to welcome our little girl...was not on the forums much

Dan - I know how it is with timing. So much can happen on the forums in just 24 hours when the better finds are pouring in quickly. You definitely had bigger priorities at the time. I don't believe the button has any wood backing. I almost tossed it in my odds & ends collection, as I couldn't initially make an ID. I fortunately noticed the rim was not uniform and realized something wasn't right. I then found it in the Alberts book. A month later I found the George Washington Inaugural at another site. Man, I hated saying goodbye to 2014. Hopefully, 2015 will be equally good or maybe even better.

Here's some more info for everyone on these buttons from Western & Eastern Treasures.