My First Hunt Since October - 1825 Royal Navy Purser Button!

[ANTIQUARIAN]

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(I hunted this site on April 9) After waiting almost 5 months for the ground to thaw and the temperature to get above the freezing mark, I managed to get in my first hunt of the year! I decided to head back to a field which I felt just had to have more than what I found last year! This field is located next to a church that was built in 1832 in a small village in Eastern Ontario. I’ve included a picture of the field that I took on March 19, as well as a picture of what my drive looked like on April 9 as a snow squall blew across the highway. I spent about 4 hours here and hunted slow and low checking and rechecking all reasonable sounding signals. The soil here was a mix of clay and limestone, with just enough rose-head nails thrown in to make detecting a challenge! [/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]My first find was the 'holed' 1861 Nova Scotia 'Victoria' One Cent. This is the first 'Victorian' era coin I've ever found here in Ontario from another province. My next find was the one-piece Royal Navy Pursers Button, dating from 1825 – 27. My next find was the 1831 British Penny, but as you can see, the soil hasn't been kind to this coin. I also found a couple of 1947 & '50 'King George' pennies. I sure wish the soil here wasn't so rough on the coins in this part of Ontario, as this area holds a lot of early history! One of the locals stopped to chat and she told me about a number of mid-Victorian era homes that had been torn down on the west side of the village a number of years ago. I have included a couple of early pics of the town. The first picture is of the village in the 1920's, the town has changed very little since this was taken too! The second pic is of the general area where the mid-Victorian era homes where torn down. I’ll concentrate this area on when I'm down there again next month![/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Thanks very much for looking,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dave[/FONT]

 

[pl8man]

Sweet finds Dave ! Glad to see you here on T net !
Glen

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Sweet finds Dave ! Glad to see you here on T net !
Glen

Thanks very much Glen, it's good to be back!
Hope you and Carson have been getting out together this year!
Dave

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[steelheadwill]

Awesome button there Dave! One piece Militaries are my favorite.
Congrats on the big coppers Too
Research always pays off. Best wishes and HH!!! Herbie.

 

[visualco2]

Nice finds, The folded copper is something that I find on old sites also, I wonder what they use it for. Any ideas?

 

[vpnavy]

Nice finds ANTIQUARIAN!

 

[CRUSADER]

cool, never seen that type of button!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

View attachment 803105

Thanks Casper!

Awesome button there Dave! One piece Militaries are my favorite.
Congrats on the big coppers Too
Research always pays off. Best wishes and HH!!! Herbie.

Thanks very much Herbie!

This site has been a nice surprise! When you look at it from 'street level', it looks very plain and unexciting. But you know me, I try to imagine how things might have looked 170 years ago and go with my 'gut feeling' when I hunt!

Take care buddy,
Dave

Nice finds, The folded copper is something that I find on old sites also, I wonder what they use it for. Any ideas?

It's funny that you should mention the 'folded piece of copper' and that you know that it's copper! I have no idea what it's function was and I found a couple of these at this site too. I'm sure someone out there knows what it was used for!

Thanks for posting visualco
Dave

Nice finds ANTIQUARIAN!

Thank you my friend!

cool, never seen that type of button!

I have a feeling it maybe pretty rare Cru.
From the research that I've seen, it was only used for a short period of time from 1825 - 27.

Cheers, Dave

 

[HISPAN]

very nice pics and fins !

 

[romeo-1]

Very nice button!

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

Love the button and NS penny, both seem to be in really good condition.
You and Tinpan but alot of reaserch into your posts that make for a great read, I look forward to seeing them up.
Thanks,
ZDD

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Love the button and NS penny, both seem to be in really good condition.
You and Tinpan but alot of reaserch into your posts that make for a great read, I look forward to seeing them up.
Thanks,
ZDD

Thanks very much again for your post Dave!
If you're going to take the time to read the 'copy', the least I can do is make it insightful!

Dave

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

very nice pics and fins !

Thank you Hispan!
Dave

Very nice button!

Thanks romeo!

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

Royal Navy Purser possibly THE " first one " , of that kind posted , very unique button , ya Done Good , Dave

 

[VGVIKING]

Great looking button...wtg...

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Royal Navy Purser possibly THE " first one " , of that kind posted , very unique button , ya Done Good , Dave

Thanks very much dawg!
I'll tell you what, when I attempted to research it . . . it was really tough to find!

Thanks again,
Dave

Great looking button...wtg...

Thanks VIKING!

 

[Iron Patch]

One still on my to find list, and definitely not a common find to the average digger, but certainly not considered rare. Something like an early Admiral button,that would be rare, but not these.

 

[CMDiamonddawg]

was the purser the paymaster on a 18th century HMS warship

 

[Iron Patch]

was the purser the paymaster on a 18th century HMS warship

A ship's purser (also purser or pusser)[SUP][1][/SUP] is the person on a ship responsible for the handling of money on board. On modern merchant ships, the purser is the officer responsible for all administration and supply; frequently the cooks and stewards answer to them as well.

[h=2]History[/h] The purser joined the warrant officer ranks of the Royal Navy in the early fourteenth century and existed as a Naval rank until 1852. The development of the warrant officer system began in 1040 when five English ports began furnishing warships to King Edward the Confessor in exchange for certain privileges, they also furnished crews whose officers were the Master, Boatswain, Carpenter and Cook. Later these officers were "warranted" by the British Admiralty. Pursers received no pay but were entitled to profits made through their business activities. In the 18th century a purser would buy his warrant for £65 and was required to post sureties totalling £2,100 with the Admiralty.[SUP][2][/SUP] They maintained and sailed the ships and were the standing officers of the navy, staying with the ships in port between voyages as caretakers supervising repairs and refitting.[SUP][3][/SUP]
In charge of supplies such as food and drink, clothing, bedding, candles, the purser was originally known as "the clerk of burser."[SUP][3][/SUP] They would usually charge the supplier a 5% commission for making a purchase and it is recorded they charged a considerable markup when they on-sold the goods to the crew. The purser was not actually in charge of pay, but of necessity had to track it closely, since the crew had to pay for all their supplies, and it was the purser's job to deduct those expenses from their wages. The purser bought everything (except food and drink) on credit, acting almost as a private merchant. In addition to his official responsibilities, it was customary for the purser to act as a literal private merchant for luxuries such as tobacco, and to be the crew's banker.
As a result, the purser could be at risk of losing money and being thrown into debtor's prison; conversely, the crew and officers habitually suspected the purser of making an illicit profit out of his complex dealings. It was the common practice of pursers forging pay tickets to claim wages for "phantom" crew members that led to the Navy's implementation of muster inspection to confirm who actually worked on a vessel.[SUP][2][/SUP] The position, though unpaid, was very sought after due to the expectation of making a reasonable profit; although there were wealthy pursers, it was due to side businesses facilitated by their ships' travels.
On modern-day passenger ships, the purser has evolved into a multi-person office that handles general administration, fees and charges, currency exchange, and any other money-related needs of the passengers and crew.