1840 William Henry Harrison Presidential Campaign Medal!

FoxHound0985

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Feb 5, 2005
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Greetings all,

It's been a while since I've posted, but I really haven't been finding much other than the occasional Minie Ball or other Civil War relic. Well the other day I drove past one of my old sites and saw that they had completely cleared out all the woods around it. This is the site that really got me into metal detecting around 25 years ago, and it still ranks as one of my best sites! Over the years I've dug over 300 flat buttons, two Civil War plates, a handful of Civil War buttons, Spanish Reales, KG coppers, and tons of other relics from the late 1700s through around 1870 here. Anyway, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to hunt this site possibly one last time.

I took the long hike through the woods so I could hit a couple of other sites along the way. I didn't find anything too noteworthy at them, so I went up the hill to my old favorite site. I hunted it for a couple hours and found a couple flat buttons, a nice floral button a small starburst button, a thimble, and a few pieces of misc brass. As is nearly always the case with this site, I was about to start heading back when I got a very clean and strong 81 signal on my AT Max. It was easily the best signal of the day, so I figured it was probably part of a can or a large piece of deep iron. Once I popped open the plug, the signal was in a small clump of dirt on the edge of the hole. There's no way it could be a can or iron. I was hoping to see the glint of old silver, but that wasn't the case. What I did see though was a small rim of a coin... I was thinking Half Cent or Two Cent piece. Nope, wrong again! I started cleaning off the small disc and saw an eagle emerge from one side. I knew it had to be something special. I carefully cleaned the other side and saw the bust of a military officer staring back at me! Once I saw the writing, "Maj. Gen. W. H. Harrison", I was speechless. My very last signal of the day ended up being one of the most historical relics I've ever dug... an 1840 William Henry Harrison Presidential Campaign medallion!! Only a few times in the 25 years I've been metal detecting have I found something that left me speechless. It was an amazing feeling, and I really wish I had someone else there with me to share the experience with. Interestingly, this medal was found only one county over from Harrison County, Indiana, which was named after William Henry Harrison. He actually had a house there. It's a stretch to say, but this could almost be considered a piece of local history! Anyway, I apologize for the long post, but I wanted to share my excitement with you all!

Thanks for looking and HH!

Oh yea, I found a 4-leaf clover on the way back! I guess maybe they are lucky!
 

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Last edited:
Upvote 24

Digger RJ

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That's a Sweet Find!!! Congrats!!!
 

pepperj

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Congrats on the great looking medallion, the soils were very kind to the metal.
Query: What's the reason for the clearing of the site farming/development?
 

Steve in PA

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Jul 5, 2010
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Thank God for William Henry Harrison and all his campaign memorabilia! There is such a variety of campaign buttons and tokens out there. I have found one token an two buttons (all had the log cabin) but there are so many other variants to collect. You got yourself a nice one there! Nice flower button too. Possibly the Benedict & Burnham backmark (1834-1843)?
 

mrmastadon

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Jul 1, 2020
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Very cool find, and you did a really nice job cleaning it. Thanks for posting!

-Andrew
 

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FoxHound0985

FoxHound0985

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Feb 5, 2005
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Congrats on the great looking medallion, the soils were very kind to the metal.
Query: What's the reason for the clearing of the site farming/development?

I'm assuming development. They are building a road through the area, but my site sits in a spot that would be really hard to build on.
 

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FoxHound0985

FoxHound0985

Hero Member
Feb 5, 2005
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Amber Waves of Grain!
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Detector(s) used
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Primary Interest:
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Thank God for William Henry Harrison and all his campaign memorabilia! There is such a variety of campaign buttons and tokens out there. I have found one token an two buttons (all had the log cabin) but there are so many other variants to collect. You got yourself a nice one there! Nice flower button too. Possibly the Benedict & Burnham backmark (1834-1843)?

The button has an "R. W. Robinson Extra Rich" backmark. So 1834-1848 or thereabouts.
 

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