Pre 1745 mother of pearl button

[gwdigger]

Found at the same spot as the 8 reales cob. This site was abandoned in 1744. I tried mechanically cleaning this but the dirt was too baked on. So I washed it off and when I did it ruined the look. If fact, the more I touched it, the more minute flakes of shell came off in my fingers. It dawned on me that it was breaking down. Without the dirt in the nooks and crannies of the engraving, it could not be seen. Yet, the more I played with it, the worse it got. I looked at my hands and it looked like I had glitter all over them. So in a desperate attempt to fix it, I finely ground some fresh coffee grounds and added a dab of vaseline. After thoroughly mixing together into a paste, I prayed and then wiped the gunk across the surface. Yay, got the look back. Its now in a small case and hopefully I didn't do anything to cause it to break down further.

 

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[Beezly]

Great find! Still looks good

 

[fishstick]

That's a BEAUT!!!!! Congratz...

 

[Scrappy]

You're a wealth of knowledge, and I will file this bit of knowledge on my "bank". Excellent recovery during the cleaning. Many would have abandoned ship. The result is a wonderful button

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

How in the world did you ever come up with that coffee grounds cleaning method?? But it obviously worked and brought out the best of that awesome find. Never seen nor dug one of those little gems - great find!

 

[gwdigger]

How in the world did you ever come up with that coffee grounds cleaning method?? But it obviously worked and brought out the best of that awesome find. Never seen nor dug one of those little gems - great find!

I was trying to think of something to add contrast. Thought about adding water color paint to some vaseline but didnt have any. So I figured the tannins in the fresh coffee grounds would work. It did thankfully. Turned out way better than I even imagined.

 

[sutphin]

NICE FIND..