24 Civil War Buttons

[steelheadwill]

Greetings all,
Great weather lately here in New Hampshire
As you may know, I always keep my eyes open for out of place rock formations
on the flats of the tidal rivers.
In the past, some of these I've searched have been ballast piles from abandoned ships.
Had my eyes on this one for a while,
but put off searching it.
I got a good deep signal, dug a copper bracelet, a rescan of the hole indicated more targets, as I went deeper I encountered dense blue clay mixed with straw.
And buttons.
Eventually I moved stones and excavated a hole 4' X 2' and about 36" deep.
I made the large excavation after finding several buttons to avoid any damage to the remaining ones, understand that this was blind digging in a pit of muddy water.
End result was 19 'New Hampshire Volunteer Militia' buttons, (Tice NH 200A3)
and 1 General Service high convex, resembles Tice GS 226, is missing its back.
My first 'Muffin'
All but 2 of the NH buttons have intact shanks, and I see no reason why the rest won't clean up as well as these, I picked a random button to start.
5 hours of aluminum jelly and toothpicks yield 2 clean buttons.
Thanks to Buckleboy for resto advise
I believe there are more items at this site, tides limit search time.
I will update this post with new finds, and more cleaned examples.
I'm including a NH Militia Officer photo.
Thanks for looking, and Great Digs to You all.

 

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[Tnmountains]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

I vote Banner as well. Interesting story. I can just see that blue mud and muck at 3 '. You did well in giving it a try as is paid off with some history in great shape. Showing the cleaning and preservation is just a bonus!
Great Job!
TnMtns

 

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[Mississippi]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Congratulation. I think they will clean up real nice

 

[Golden1]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Amazing finds Herbie!!
my BANNER vote is in

Grats
G1

 

[tlf67]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Great job

 

[au4me1]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

SHW
WoW Banner!!!

 

[Deepdiger60]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Find of a lifetime Will take your time and clean them right my Banner vote is in Jim

 

[HCW]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

That's amazing. I'm trying to picture the site. Was this along a river edge or something. Can you take a shot of where you found these. This is definitely banner material. I never considered digging 36" deep for anything. I'm gonna have to rethink that.

Thanks to all for your replies!
HCW, I don't have a pic of this site, here's what these old piles look like.
it sets all by itself surrounded by mudflats.
if you find one, the proof will be buried timbers, copper spikes, & foriegn stone,
such as coral heads,(up north)
Hoping to get some more of these cleaned, but it seriously takes 3 hours of toothpicking to get each one done, Am trying
Good Day & HH

Thanks for the shot, thats some serious digging but obviously worth it.
Good luck.

 

[umrgolf]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Im anxious to see what else will turn up around this pile You are definitely showing us that your skill is honed in well done

 

[steelheadwill]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Thanks to everyone for your replies and votes
Spent another tide at this hole and recovered 3 more buttons.
One is a cuff
The face is identical to Tice NH200DS, but he lists no Scovill backmarks for this button,
I think this would make it a rare issue .
Note the one button recovered from outside the 'Clay Zone'
That is the usual condition of my mudflat buttons.
Well, this makes 23 out of the 26 buttons on the Uniform coat, a good recovery percentage considering how long they've been there.
I'm thinking that the GS muffin was a replacement for a lost NH
Right now we have heavy rain in NH, hoping it will subside in time for todays Hunt.
I have all the buttons partially cleaned, will post a photo of all when they are done.
Again, Thanks to all & Great Digs to You

 

[steelheadwill]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons

Fantastic Find Will!

When I first saw the post I thought it was just gonna be a bunch of mucked up old CW buttons, but when I scrolled down, I was amazed at the results of the Aluminum Jelly treatment.

I think the NH buttons are the nicest designs of all of the state militia buttons!

Great find, and Great Job cleaning them!

Hello Neil,
Thanks for your reply.
The NH seal is very detailed, Waterbury button co took it a step further and put a face on the rising sun
These are the standard issues, I found a single last summer identical to these.
The Seal depicts the construction of the frigate 'Raleigh', being built at the Portsmouth shipyard for the Continental Navy.
Best Digs

 

[civilman1]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons Update: Now 23, Rare Cuff ??

Unfreakin' Believable You're a detecting machine my man,Hat's off to ya!!!

 

[Nutriasub]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons Update: Now 23, Rare Cuff ??

GREAAATT, what a beautiful recovery, and after cleaning they look amazing, just like new!!! I vote banner too!!

Do you think this jelly will work the same on coins will a layer on clay aggregate? i have tried vinegar, but the finish its not good.

Cheers

Nutria

 

[steelheadwill]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons Update: Now 23, Rare Cuff ??

GREAAATT, what a beautiful recovery, and after cleaning they look amazing, just like new!!! I vote banner too!!

Do you think this jelly will work the same on coins will a layer on clay aggregate? i have tried vinegar, but the finish its not good.

Cheers

Nutria

Greetings Nutriasub,
thanks for your reply!
The jelly is relatively mild phosphoric acid, It would probably have the same effect as lemon juice/vinegar on coins, but faster, Be Careful, better to have a crusty coin than a burnt one, in most cases.
Good Day & Great Digs,

 

[spitfire55]

Re: 20 Civil War Buttons Update: Now 23, Rare Cuff ??

 

[steelheadwill]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

Got 16 cleaned up, just a few to go.
HH to All

 

[RFrady]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

makes me wann go dig buttons. Beautiful finds and a great job restoring. Good luck on the buckle.

 

[Steve in PA]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

Wow! Those are looking great Herbie! They will make a nice display together in a frame

 

[kuger]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

Unbelievable bud,you did good!!!!!!

 

[mainer]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

You certainly deserve a banner Nod for these Herbie. Very few people will actually understand just what you have put into this. You have detected through a harsh winter, and you are being rewarded for it. My hats off to you my friend.

 

[Bramblefind]

Re: 23 Civil War Buttons Update: 16 Cleaned

Wtg Herbie!! You deserve every one of these great finds - and more! And the way you are going more will be right around the corner.

Many Congratulations!