George Washington Inaugural Button!!!

paleomaxx

Hero Member
Aug 14, 2016
825
6,782
Upstate, NY
🥇 Banner finds
6
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All Treasure Hunting
Unbelievable, this was the last thing I expected to pull out of this field! I had struck out at two sites and was sort of frustrated so I stopped by the field just to kill some time. The spot is rumored to have a 1750's meeting house, but the weeds are almost chest high so I haven't been able to determine if that's true and detecting is a struggle. I had wandered around for almost an hour following deer trails and only found a broken tip to a plow and some sort of modern brass gear. I was headed back up the hill to the car when I got a broken mid-tone. I dug a huge plug through the weeds and flipped it over but the tone was still deeper. I took out a big shovel full of dry, rocky dirt and saw the greenish circle just poking out. Sweet and dandy button; wouldn't it be funny if it was a...

GW 3.jpg

No freaking way! I held it up to the light and sure enough the very faint outline of the shield was visible under the dirt.

GW 2.jpg

A heraldic eagle GWI button! That was definitely it for detecting, at that point I was way too excited to keep swinging.

Because of the dirt I wasn't exactly sure what variety I had. It's been in a field for awhile so the fertilize had has some time to mess with it and I knew whatever detail was left would be super delicate. I ended up carving a small flat blade into a bamboo skewer and scraping off the dirt a little at a time. This left dirt in the low points which gave contrast to the engravings. If I went after the recessed dirt I was sure I would end up with just a brown disc. After some patience I think it turned out fantastic for a field button:

GW 1.jpg

Definitely the heraldic eagle with estoile variety and I think 54 border indentees, but it's tough to tell for sure. No shank, but otherwise little plow damage. Talk about a one in a million target! That entire field, all that tall grass, and the only old signal is pretty much the best thing I could possibly dig!

DSC08080.JPGDSC08081.JPG

Obviously I'll be pounding that field looking for more, but at the moment it really is next to impossible to cover it well with the weeds the way they are. I may have to wait until they brush hog it in the fall and do a proper grid. This will be a long couple of months. :laughing7:
 

Upvote 57
Thank you! It does seem to be a popular design for this region. I know of at least two other detectorists in the Hudson River valley who have dug GWI buttons and both found this variety. I wish there was more scholarly research on these because I get the sense that the styles are distinctly regional.

For instance the interlocking chain variety seems more common around NJ and Maryland and the eagle, GW, and liberty cap style are found around North and South Carolina. That suggests local artisans and direct sales as opposed to button makers mass producing them and shipping them to different cities. It would be amazing if they could be traced back to the specific makers, but there are only vague references to "local artisans" on most historical sites. Seems like it would be a cool subject for an archaeologist to focus on.
Maybe Dave Wise (aka HEAVYMETALNUT) will chime in. He has probably found 8-10 of that variety in Connecticut, and I believe I saw somewhere that he said they were manufactured in Connecticut. It would be interesting to see someone undertake a distribution study on GWIs by type and location where found similar to the NJ Copper study that Don Hartman (aka Don in SJ) did.
 

You've got to especially love the unexpected find! Congratulations on an excellent discovery!
 

Wow, very nice, banner vote is in!!
 

Superb find! Like one I found a few years ago. I had always heard they come in sets of four, but never could find anymore where mine came from. I hope you do have good luck in finding more once it's cut down.
 

Awesome!! Congrats on a lifetime find- my banner vote is in..
 

A couple additional thoughts: I view these buttons as pretty much the pinnacle of relics one could find in America, have there been any books dedicated to the study of these? I'd buy one. This is a totally useless thought and it's kind of apples to oranges but what would you say is more rare to find MD'ing: A gold coin or a GW button (talking America here as I don't think there have been too many found in Europe).
 

Albert's button book has a section on GW buttons. I would say the odds of finding either a gold coin or GW button are about the same, PROVIDED you live in one of the original 13 states. Outside that area, I'd say a gold coin. The buttons were so popular at the time additional orders were made for them. On a high note, prices are stable as there are some to choose from these days. Depends on the quality of the piece and who has it.
 

Unbelievable, this was the last thing I expected to pull out of this field! I had struck out at two sites and was sort of frustrated so I stopped by the field just to kill some time. The spot is rumored to have a 1750's meeting house, but the weeds are almost chest high so I haven't been able to determine if that's true and detecting is a struggle. I had wandered around for almost an hour following deer trails and only found a broken tip to a plow and some sort of modern brass gear. I was headed back up the hill to the car when I got a broken mid-tone. I dug a huge plug through the weeds and flipped it over but the tone was still deeper. I took out a big shovel full of dry, rocky dirt and saw the greenish circle just poking out. Sweet and dandy button; wouldn't it be funny if it was a...

View attachment 1740152

No freaking way! I held it up to the light and sure enough the very faint outline of the shield was visible under the dirt.

View attachment 1740153

A heraldic eagle GWI button! That was definitely it for detecting, at that point I was way too excited to keep swinging.

Because of the dirt I wasn't exactly sure what variety I had. It's been in a field for awhile so the fertilize had has some time to mess with it and I knew whatever detail was left would be super delicate. I ended up carving a small flat blade into a bamboo skewer and scraping off the dirt a little at a time. This left dirt in the low points which gave contrast to the engravings. If I went after the recessed dirt I was sure I would end up with just a brown disc. After some patience I think it turned out fantastic for a field button:

View attachment 1740154

Definitely the heraldic eagle with estoile variety and I think 54 border indentees, but it's tough to tell for sure. No shank, but otherwise little plow damage. Talk about a one in a million target! That entire field, all that tall grass, and the only old signal is pretty much the best thing I could possibly dig!

View attachment 1740155View attachment 1740156

Obviously I'll be pounding that field looking for more, but at the moment it really is next to impossible to cover it well with the weeds the way they are. I may have to wait until they brush hog it in the fall and do a proper grid. This will be a long couple of months. :laughing7:
Banner for sure! Great find and great persistence in staying positive and focused!
Jon :occasion14: :headbang:
 

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