Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Recently Metal Detected Tombac Flat Button. |
As I mentioned in a previous post, a couple weeks ago I was out detecting an old trail in WV. One find from that hunt was the flat button shown above. I had it soaking for a while to remove the hard surface dirt, which was very stubborn. I hoped to be able to find some markings that would help with identification.
On the Garret Ace that I was using (yes, I was using an old Garret Ace metal detector), the readout showed mostly "penny" but it wasn't totally consistent enough for me to be thinking penny. If I was digging only coins, I would have passed it up, but I was targeting relics.
The ground is very hard packed and from past experience, items like coins often came up heavily corroded.
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| Back of Same Flat Button. |
Well it wasn't a penny - it was a button. It was covered by a very stubborn coating of dirt, but I hoping that some good cleaning would reveal some nice marks that would help with identification, but it didn't work out. No marks on the front and no back marks were revealed even after a good long soaking.
Doing my research, I found some very good information on buttons. For example, I found this good example of a tombac flat button on a Mount Vernon web site.
And here is the link to that site.
Flat disc, tombac button. | George Washington's Mount Vernon
And here is a great site you will want to check out. It is the Florida Museum DAACS Cataloging Manual: Buttons. And here is that link. [10] Button Tables
Here is the listing from that site that seems to match my find.
From my detector reading and the look of the button, copper alloy and wire seems to fit.
Here is one more site you might want to check. It has many good examples of old buttons. The site is vintagebuttons.net. Here is that link.
The button find came from the same WV trail that I mentioned a few days ago. I get up there a couple times a year.
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| Old West Virginia Trail Where the Button Was Found. |
I also recently showed a couple other old finds from that detecting site. Here are a few more old finds from the same area.
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| A Few More Old Finds From WV Trail. |
The crotal bell is one of my favorites. The middle item is a silver dime. The third items is a fossil fern.
Among my favorite finds from the trail are those having to do with horses and wagons. I've also found old horseshoes and wagon parts along the trail.
You probably know the old saying, "I'll be there with bells on." I've seen various explanation for the origin of that saying, but the one that seems most applicable to me is the practice of putting brass bells on a harness and using them for trade when needed. So if you made a good trip and didn't have any trouble requiring trade for extra goods or services, you'd arrive with you bells still on. Also, the bells were an unnecessary extravagance and would be used for show.
When I found the flat button I was near the area where the crotal bell was found and I was hoping for maybe another bell, horseshoe or wagon part. It would have also been nice to find a musket ball - possibly dropped by one of my ancestors.
If you can offer any correction or additional information on the button, let me know.
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The record high spot price of gold was $3,500.05 per ounce, achieved on April 22, 2025. We are not far off that now. This morning it is $3,433.
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Back to the Treasure Caost...
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| Surf Forecast for the Fort Pierce Inlet Area From Surfguru.com. |
The afternoon low tides are still decent. The wind is from the southeast. That means most beaches will be accumulating sand.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net