Sunday Sept 2 Finds

[exnavyguy]

Well, I hit up a school yard today. School was built in 1876. Just a bunch of clad, one zipper and a golf ball. Thought for sure I would find something of use. I was using my new ACE Sniper coil I bought from Chuck. Wow! That thing can sure makes pinpointing so much easier. I was having so much fun with it, then the wife called, all you guys know what that means. Found a few other trinkets. Before heading home I stopped at another school and found a nifty little button, hopefully someone can help me identify it..found it about 4 inches down, it has the letters GPH on the front and "Made in England" on the back. It appears to have some kind of writing on the back just above the "Made in England" stamp, the corrosion makes it hard to see. It is brass, but the back appears to have some gold plate on it near the bottom of the stem. Most of the gold plate appears to have worn off. Any ideas or suggestions please let me know. The school where I found it sits on old farm land first settled in the mid 1700's. Not saying the button is that old, but might give some ideas of time period.
Total clad count was 3 Q, 3 dimes, 2 nickles, 8 pennies also found a baseball, but my little boy ran away with it..he is 3. Thanks for looking.

[julieburger]

And he seems to have picked up Boobie's golf ball habit.

[EPC Guy]

Sounds like a great day to me...HH and hope you find a bunch more tomorrow!

[INDY]

Nice finds, keep hitting that school...you never know what you could find next.
good Luck and HH

[Steve in PR]

Maybe these folks can help:

The Antique Button Shop

[JCWhite]

A good day.... HH

[exnavyguy]

Thanks Steve, I will definitely check out that site. I am having a hard time finding any information on that button. I don't know if it is because it could be rare, or if there just is nothing on it. I wish I could post a clear picture for everyone, I have taken about 20 so far and nothing turns out clear enough for you all to read.
It is definitely brass, with "GPH" scripted on the front, the shank is brass and appeared to have some gold plating on the back of the button and around the shank. "Made in England" is stamped on the back, forming a half circle around the shank. No dates, no other writing can be found.
It was found on old farm land, settled in the 1700's, maybe earlier. Not saying the button is that old. Any help or if anyone has any ideas would be much appreciated.

[riki727]

Hey! Great finds...aren't schools just so much fun? I always feel about 3 seconds of guilt "scooping up" little kids lunch money that they've lost at recess, but then the excitement takes over and the rest, as they say, is history.

Don't know much about the button, but I know on my English school uniforms our buttons had the initials of our school imprinted on them. Just an idea. I'm guessing the GPH is some sort of monogram? Is the "P" slightly larger in the middle or are all letters evenly sized?

[exnavyguy]

Thanks Riki, That never occured to me. The letters are the same size. I am going to take a look at some schools in England and see if that matches anything. I was thinking maybe the letters matched that of the manufacturer. Who knows. I am going to dig some more until I get tired and move on, I will come back to it later. Always do! Thanks again for the tip.

[julieburger]

Does your camera have a setting that looks like a flower? If so that sometimes (not always) will help. Awesome find.