Old gilt button

[MrBling]

Did a short hunt today in the pecan grove where I found the 1857 half dime on Sunday http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,203272.0.html
Got a signal at the base of a tree that bounced between coin and pulltab range-since a lot of buttons and bullets seem to come up in that area, decided to dig. Pulled out this:


The backmark says "LEWIS & TOMES EXTRA RICH"
It is a flat, two piece gilded brass coat button. The gilding is gone from the front but mostly present on the back. The front is totally plain.
My web research revealed that Lewis, of London, and Tomes, of New York formed a partnership in 1819. They produced buttons and apparently firearms in England and sold them in the US. The company lasted until 1832. Their buttons are sometimes found at CW sites.
Even if the button and the half dime were lost 20 years after they were produced, that pushes back the age of this site significantly, which is exciting.
If any of you button-meisters know anything about Lewis and Tomes, please chip in.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[SaginawIan]

Don't know the origin - but it's very old and very cool. I love those flat buttons. Nice find.

Ian

 

[trish76642]

You know ive never thought about it till now, you mentioned Pecan Grove, here where i live along the highways are several old pecan trees, every year we see people stop to pick up pecans, no telling what a person with a metal detector would find around a bunch of old pecan trees after all the people who've stopped to pick them.

Here i've been just looking for old homesites, i'm gonna be looking for old Pecan Trees now.

Love your button MrBling

 

[West Jersey Detecting]

The soil was kind to that button. Any day that I find a button or two is a good day!

Congrats on a beauty!

Neil

 

[phantomfinder]

Very cool , WTG 8)