Folded "flat button" turns out to be 1580s jetton

[Bill D. (VA)]

Went back to the site where I dug a 1594 Dutch coin weight about 3 weeks ago to give it another shot. If not for 3 flat buttons I would've been skunked. One of them was bent in half, but when I washed the dirt off I could see some markings. Didn't take long before I realized I was holding a c1580s German jetton. I let it soak in hot water and was able to straighten it out without breaking the fragile artifact, but it was still in rather poor condition. So a lousy day in the field turned out halfway decent after all.

 

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[joeyfresh]

Sweet! Do you know how bad it sucks to know that you're out digging 16th century jettons while I'm at work?

You have to go back!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Sweet! Do you know how bad it sucks to know that you're out digging 16th century jettons while I'm at work?

You have to go back!

There are so few targets at this site that it may not be worth the effort to go back.

 

[joeyfresh]

There are so few targets at this site that it may not be worth the effort to go back.

I'd go back, even if it means I only dig one 16th century target every trip, lol. You make me want to look though all of my buttons.

 

[matt092079]

Very cool, Bill! Man that is old for here in the states!

 

[Ahab8]

Very cool Bill! I just had to check with one of my buddies but sure enough he dug the exact same coin here in Maine two years ago. Anything in the states from the 16th century is pretty amazing. We have no clue how his got where it did. As far as we can tell his is the second oldest coin found in Maine. Nice find bud!

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Very cool Bill! I just had to check with one of my buddies but sure enough he dug the exact same coin here in Maine two years ago. Anything in the states from the 16th century is pretty amazing. We have no clue how his got where it did. As far as we can tell his is the second oldest coin found in Maine. Nice find bud!

Abe - technically a jetton is not a coin, but is considered a "counter", and they're usually only found at the earliest sites. I dug another one a few years ago at the site where I found all the hammered silver. I think 8 or 9 of those coins were 16th century with the earliest being 1563.

 

[Ahab8]

Abe - technically a jetton is not a coin, but is considered "counter", and they're usually only found at the earliest sites. I found another one a few years ago at the site where I found all the hammered silver. I think 8 or 9 of those coins were 16th century with the earliest being 1563.

Bill thank you for that info, I had no idea. That's an incredible amount of 16th century stuff. My buddy was so excited when he found his and was thinking it was going to be quite valuable. Not so much but it's still very cool to find something that old

 

[CASPER-2]

NICE - WTG -

 

[CASPER-2]

DOES IT MATCH ANY OF THESE?
jettons

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

DOES IT MATCH ANY OF THESE?
jettons

I'm pretty sure its a 1586 Hans Krauwincel which is identical to the other one I found a few years ago at the hammered silver site.

 

[CRUSADER]

It is a Hans Krauwincel.

The Germans put us out of business with boat loads of these. They were thinner & cheaper & we couldn't compete.

They are fairly common here, so not surprised they made it over there in the early period. We like them because its a base indicator for a hammered nearby.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

It is a Hans Krauwincel.

The Germans put us out of business with boat loads of these. They were thinner & cheaper & we couldn't compete.

They are fairly common here, so not surprised they made it over there in the early period. We like them because its a base indicator for a hammered nearby.

Thanks for the confirmation Cru. And my search for a hammered at this site continues ......

 

[markp]

nice

 

[Wes-N-VA]

You guys are amazing! Simply the best in Virginia on the colonial relics and beyond lol. That is an awesome find for North America, well done Bill! I agree with Joey, I need to check all my thin toasty (what I thought) flat buttons again. Thanks for sharing and all the great reference material on this post. HH!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Wow Bill, that's an old one for sure. Congrats.
ZDD

 

[AQUA]

Nice find Bill.

Love to find something that old. !!

 

[patiodadio]

Wow ! And I am hoping to find something from the 1800's !

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

You guys are amazing! Simply the best in Virginia on the colonial relics and beyond lol. That is an awesome find for North America, well done Bill! I agree with Joey, I need to check all my thin toasty (what I thought) flat buttons again. Thanks for sharing and all the great reference material on this post. HH!

Thanks Wes. The dirt that was lodged inside the fold gave it enough weight to fool me into believing this was just another flat button. These jettons are paper thin and if it hadn't been folded I would likely have had suspicions right away. Especially since this is a c1620 site and I had already found a 1594 coin weight here.

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

Very interesting. I haven't seen too many jettons dug stateside. You weren't kidding when you said it was an early site. Nice find! I'm hoping to break into the 1500's this year. If targets are sparse enough at that site, maybe try a PI machine to reach down a little deeper?