Big silver and a few buttons

[Bill D. (VA)]

Stopped by a site my friend Dan and I hit last year to finally present the owner with a small display of finds from the property as I had promised. After we chatted for a bit I asked if it would be OK to hunt the cut soybean field directly behind his c1730 home. He said not much had been found there over the years by others, but thought I'd at least check it out. He was pretty much right on as the huge field was almost completely devoid of signals except for the usual hunters trash. I finally found a flat button after about 45 min, then decided to slow down in that area. My next signal came in at a whopping 85-92 on my F75. My first thought was "large cent", but it was probably reading a little too high for that. Then I figured it was just some large piece of brass junk. But I was surprised and excited when I could see the edge of a very large silver coin emerging from the sandy soil. I was hoping for a bust or seated half, but had to settle for a 1908 barber. Still not too shabby as I hadn't dug one of those in quite some time. I hung out in that area of the field for the rest of the day and ended up with a few more buttons ranging from late colonial to CW. I also ended up with another nice silver coin - a 1926 SL quarter. Later when I got home I realized that one of the buttons looked very interesting. In addition to being octagonal it has what appears to be a crown at the top and a script "GR" across the bottom. Might be some kind of British military button, or could be a common civilian one. Appreciate any help with an ID on this. I'm sure some of you guys across the pond will immediately recognize it.

 

[Iron Patch]

Interesting find. Typically from a cufflink but looks fairly big for that. (I still would think cufflink though) There is early buttons with the same design and I've never really heard a good answer who wore them, and there's probably more than one answer because there's different buttons. I've always assumed they were something like military general service, or other early service types... but a cufflink I think would more likely be along the lines of patriotic. All speculation, but I do like it.

 

[jewelerguy]

fantastic finds!

 

[steelheadwill]

From old buttons to 20th C Silver,
that's the kind of hunt I like.
Nice big coin and interesting crown & script item. Congrats!

 

[nsdq]

nice finds

 

[matt092079]

Nice old buttons and the barber half is in great shape. Don't see many posted that aren't totally worn.

 

[shedseeker]

wow..... GREAT finds !

 

[fishstick]

Good day for sure. I wood follow those other hunters everywhere they went. Congrats.. HH

 

[Silver Searcher]

I looked on a few UK data bases for a possible ID on the cufflink, but there were none. I would have to agree with IP that it is proberbly Patreotic, and a nice find for sure.

SS

 

[CRUSADER]

Agreed with the above from IP & SS, I have had similar 18th C Clog Clasps, so these are Civilian.

 

[silversweeper]

VERY nice bunch of finds there, congratulations! HH

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

The button is very interesting! I hope more is found out about it. The Barber Half tops off the hunt!

VPR

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

awesome hunt! some nice silver,nice GS button and colonial buttons!

 

[Twitch]

HAVE QUESTION - In the first picture, what is the item in the bottom right? I found one of those ~10 years in Washington state in the high desert. I think it's copper or brass. I apologize for side tracking the thread.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Indiana Digger]

awesome hunt! some nice silver,nice GS button and colonial buttons!

It's an early copper rivet - used on horse tack - harnesses, reins and the like.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Its a rivet, probably from a belt. They are common finds at 1800s sites around here.

 

[Gridwalker306]

Nice variety, good day of hunting!

 

[dougofpa]

Those are some sweet silver finds.

 

[detroitdigger]

a good find WTG HH

 

[Twitch]

Bill - thanks for the info and letting me borrow your thread for a few minutes. I thoughts thanks what it might be but had never found one before. I was deer hunting and saw laying in the sand and picked it up. I actually held it against yesterday, rescuing it from a jar full of wheatie's and war nickels.

Indiana - thanks for the info.