It's been a rough year for all of us, what with Covid 19 and all. Getting out with my Equinox 800 has been my main source of entertainment, and it hasn't been easy. I don't know about the rest of you, but knocking on doors, wearing a mask, during a pandemic, has not improved the odds of gaining a permission in the Buckeye State (Ohio) any. I decided to comb over some of my old sites, hoping to pick up a gem that was missed on my earlier hunts. It paid off for me on October 28, when a scratchy, repeating signal produced a very fine 1831 Capped Bust Half Dime. This, I was sure, would be my find of the year. And any other year, it probably would have been.
Then came my short excursion on November 8, It was a beautiful day, sunny and unseasonably warm. I wasted away most of the day, walking my dogs and then relaxing on the couch. At around 2:30 pm, I grabbed my detector and headed to a drystack foundation I had hunted twice before. It looks like a dream site, but it had been a disappointment, Other than a few lead pewter and one spunback button, I hadn't found anything to match the age of the site. After about an hour of digging, my back was screaming for mercy. I was about to leave, when I picked up a repeating signal in the middle of a patch of iron debris. I dug a deep plug, popped it out, and busted it. As I turned on my probe, my phone rang. I answered with one hand, while probing with the other., My buddy, Mike, said "You found something, I can hear your probe". I replied that I had, my very first "Dandy" button, and it had writing on it!. So I went home to clean up my only prize, and see if I could read the writing on it with my glasses, which I had forgotten to bring along.
The first words I saw were "THE PRESIDENT", and my heart jumped about a foot out of my chest! Then I saw "LONG". Finally, I made out "LIVE", and the initials "GW", in the middle of the button! NO FREAKING WAY! I researched it, and it is a 1792 George Washington Inaugural Celebration button (GWI 8, Plain Roman Font, GW Monogram Center). I am told that there are only 9 or 10 known examples in existence. And, to find it in Ohio! My detecting buddies and I have kicked around plans to head to Maryland, Virginia, etc., and hunt where the real action is! Maybe find some Revolutionary War relics, etc. But when the subject of a GWI button has come up, the answer has always been "Never in a Million Years": And, nine days later, I still can't believe it...
.jpg)
.jpg)