🥇 BANNER SWEET JESUS--I just dug a GW Inaugural--IN LOUISIANA

BuckleBoy

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It's been hours since I dug this and I'm still shaking!

My buddy, my wife, and I all went out for a dig and we got on a little site that had a couple of shoe buckle pieces and some nice pottery and clay pipe stems but wouldn't give up even one button or find. We got worn out with that little, tiny, petite habitants spot, and changed scenery. The killer find from the little site was Shangeolang's nice early complete SPUR! :headbang:

Before I get to the real story, here's the unbelievable video.



In the next site we went to, we settled down and decided to stay a while. Almost immediately, flat buttons and musketballs started coming up. My buddy shouted me over to see a silver come out of the hole--and it was a dateless 17?? Half Real! Nothing like seeing some colonial era silver in the early morning sun!!!

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He then got a nice dropped Enfield and I bagged a pocket watch winder

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Flat buttons kept coming. One was laying right on top of the ground and Shanguloid picked it up

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I also bagged a nice "Russian Blue" trade bead. Consensus is that these beads didn't circulate in the late 1800s, but I have found many of them at this early 1800s site before (no coins, etc. dug that dated after 1840). My personal hunch is that they date earlier than the "experts" think they do...

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But the REAL shocker came in a tiny package when I dug a little gilded flat button that looked like it had a heart-shaped wreath on it. I thought "that's nice" and called my buddy and my wife over to see it.

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After they'd started hunting again, I realized that there were LETTERS around the rim of the button and I wet the face of the button and was SHOCKED. It said "LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT" around the rim!!! I almost fell over and screamed for them to come back and see!

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I had STRONG suspicions that this was a George Washington Inaugural button--but I was in such a state of disbelief and shock (which you will hear on the video) that one would/could--EVER be dug in Louisiana, that I didn't even half believe my intuition! Trip back to the truck to google search the button confirmed it--and I was totally floored! This is a GWI-17B (cuff sized) GW Inaugural with a rarity value of R-4 (less than 25 examples known)!!

I just can't even hardly type right now just thinking about this. If you'd told me that I would dig a GW one day, I would have said "you're crazy!" If you'd said I'd dig it in Louisiana--I would have laughed at you! Well, here it is. Unbelievable--that this button made it down here, and that it survived the plow, and although it has some rim loss and no shank left, the gilding on it is almost ENTIRELY THERE. I just can't believe it--and perhaps I still will shake my head in disbelief a year from now at this find!

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Here are the rest of the finds we made. Keep digging and have faith--you never know what will be waiting in the next hole!

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Best Wishes and Happy Hunting,


Buck
 

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Upvote 104
You failed to mention that not 5 minutes before you unearthed that amazing button, you were saying I always dig the unusual buttons.........I am also in disbelief........I really wanted to go down that row lol You also had just said you hadn't seen a trade bead in a while, then there she was..........start talking about the gold coin I'm gonna dig!!! BANNER!!! For that amazing GW inaugural button!!! Huge congrats buddy!!! Shanegalang- THE Canefield Bandits!!
thanks for the banner nomination, buddy! Glad you were there to see it come up--and crazy that I had to call you over there twice! I thought I just had a pretty little flat button--almost had to bring a change of pants when I figured out what it REALLY was!!
 

I've been thinking about this button all afternoon and have revisited the pics several times. I agree Shang, definitely banner worthy. Super rare area to find, great gilting. WI 17-B R-5?

My vote is going in now Buck!

PS- I made my wife watch the video. She loved it (cough cough) lol.
Congrats again

Haha, yeah, you NEVER know what's going to be said when we're out digging LOL. Thanks so much for the banner nomination! :headbang:
 

Truly an amazing find. To think that button made its way down here and was recovered 230 years later! Hats off to you for a fantastic find
Thanks so much, Bass! Gives us all hope for finding the things that we don't expect to find!
 

Sweet Jesus for sure Buck, absolutely stunning recovery... any GW would make my top 5 but that cuff is incredible. 6th banner on the way for sure-my votes in!

I'm just speechless! Thanks, VMI, for your kind words!

Cheers,

Buck
 

Great hunt! What are the odds. Some wayward traveler at the inn probably lost that !
HH

Absolutely true! Great to hear from you, Tnmountains! My resolution for 2017--is to get out and dig more than I did in 2016! Now I've got the fire and motivation!
 

WOW!!!! Can't really say anymore except it couldn't have happened to a better AMBASSADOR of our GREAT hobby!!!!!!! MAJOR CONGRATZ....
Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm on cloud 9!
 

Geez I thought you'd be getting over one those buttons down there in the fields like I thought my chances of getting was nil to zilch. But that what makes this hobby so great, once in a while there's a home run in the mix of finds. Congrats Buckle Boy you got a homer today for sure.
Thx so much, pepperj! It's finds like these that keep us going!
 

That's an incredible find Buck, and in the Deep South no less! That's one I've been looking to recover for many years, but after digging many thousands of buttons and still no GW I doubt it will ever happen. Great job man!
Goes to show that we can't completely ever rule anything out. So that's good news for all of us--and I'm going to keep that tree coin on my list LOL! P.S.--I'm excited about buying a copy of your book! Be sure to PM me when it's available!
 

Awesome find. Well done!
 

Congratulations on a amazing find , I wish our finds could tell their story. Who , how and why it ended up there .

Sent from my SM-S902L using Tapatalk
 

We've seen quite a few GW's posted over the years, but I do believe this is the first cuff sized ? And I'm quite sure it is the first of any posted that still has it's gilt left on ? Add in that it is one of only 26 known, you'll have banner #6 shortly.

I got out to the shore line a couple of days ago as we're still buried in snow hoping for "just one good find", I didn't do it, but you sure did.
 

Huge congratulations on a killer button Buck :headbang: ...and an awesome post. Makes me wonder how that got way down there. Amazing hunt man.
. Thanks so much for the reply! I'm on cloud 9!
 

Congratulations on a amazing find , I wish our finds could tell their story. Who , how and why it ended up there .

Sent from my SM-S902L using Tapatalk
. I want to I go back in time and see it's trip down here and its loss!
 

We've seen quite a few GW's posted over the years, but I do believe this is the first cuff sized ? And I'm quite sure it is the first of any posted that still has it's gilt left on ? Add in that it is one of only 26 known, you'll have banner #6 shortly.

I got out to the shore line a couple of days ago as we're still buried in snow hoping for "just one good find", I didn't do it, but you sure did.

Thanks for the reply my friend! Come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever seen a gilded one either! Fingers crossed on the banner, but I'd think this one would be a "banner no-brained"
 

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