More Streetwork Finds

[milco]

More finds from the recent street/sidewalk project. An IH, a couple of wheats, buttons and my first silvers of the year; 1920 & 1944 mercs.

[Digger Don]

Sweet Finds. Congrats

[giant056]

Great bunch of finds you got there them sidewalk tearouts can uncover some great stuff sometimes.

[MangoAve]

Weird, there is a coin shaped like an ancient Chinese copper coin, but writing like it's Arabic. Congrats on the rest.

[Timewarpdigger]

Nice finds and congrats. Especially the silver and the Asian coin.

[RobW]

Great digs...awesome button...but what is that in the pic with the Chinese coin and Indian?

[NJJOSH]

cool finds I've always dreamed of detecting a sidewalk or street tear out

[dave in iowa]

great finds

[Fire Fighter 43]

WTG Darren, congrats on your first silvers of the year and the cool button.

[del]

wow , great button Darren it appears to be a Civil war era (or just after) New York Officer's button.

[Skamaniac]

Very cool finds. I wish they'd do some street work around here!

[Ill Digger]

wow , great button Darren it appears to be a Civil war era (or just after) New York Officer's button.

Thanks Dan! I thought that looked a little different than a general service button. And you confirmed it for me!
I'm no expert, but inside the shield is always the first place I look when I see a button like that.

Great finds Darren! Nice way to start the year!
Some nice old coins there. Even a little silver to boot.
Congrats!

You are the king of finding those tearouts! The sight is nice and clean.
Nice level areas, not much gavel spread around, and even a little topsoil piles around to detect too!

[milco]

Great digs...awesome button...but what is that in the pic with the Chinese coin and Indian?

Rob, that is a small decorative button, not real old, maybe early 1900's.

[milco]

wow , great button Darren it appears to be a Civil war era (or just after) New York Officer's button.

Thanks for that info, the button has "EXCELSIOR" around the bottom of it. I'll post more pictures when I clean it up a bit. Any tips for cleaning it up?

[del]

Thanks for that info, the button has "EXCELSIOR" around the bottom of it. I'll post more pictures when I clean it up a bit. Any tips for cleaning it up?

"Excelsior" is the states motto Darren . cleaning these buttons may take a bit of practice as they have a thin copper or copper -alloy fronts and are easily to dent or push in. yours looks nice and straight and these buttons usually hold lots of gold gilt too. the only issues i would be concerned with are the edges of the shield and other high points , these are the first to wear and i see the reddish brown color on it telling me there is some wear there. Darren i've posted a link to a cleaning tip on these types of buttons that i use , just try not to spend a lot of effort on these ruddy reddish areas with the chemical but more on the greenish areas. only brush the stuff on for a few seconds and then rinse , you only want to take off a little at a time . once your happy with what you have rinse it well , pat dry and let sit until its completely dried out and apply some kind of preservation sealant (ren-wax, paraffin wax , baby oil or even vaseline) to keep it from oxidizing again.

http://www.americandetectorist.com/forum/showthread.php?14289-Cleaning-technique


once in a while you come across these buttons and there is not much or any gilt on them. in these instances the whole button face is a ruddy red from the exposed copper , these buttons will look much better after a soft brass bristle brush under the faucet. it creates a sheen and contrast look that is more appealing then it original look.

[wisconsin digger]

Nice finds. We have a huge street tear up in town as well, but it just does not look like worth hunting. maybe I need to reconsider. Nice finds. Wisconsin Digger

[coinnut]

Nice button, almost looks like I can see a bit of gold hiding on the top center of that shield. You would be amazed how gold can hide under grime. Dan's method will work, especially if some gold starts showing itself. If it does, do not give up early, keep at it, as some of it takes a bit longer to come to light.