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Great Day, Found Rare Haitian Phoenix Button!


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20 minutes ago, Dirtshark said:

....

Oh, I just remembered the home owner told me that one of the prior owners was a civil war Gettysburg vet .......

 

 Some of the guy who fought in the 1860s in the CW, had previously gone to the CA gold rush.  And then returned back home to their eastern states.   And could conceivably have brought buttons back eastward.  

 

And while these pre-date the G.R. (1850s), yet :  In CA, when the Gold Rush hit, a lot of coastal folk here in CA (where the missions were, and thus the PB's were), left the coast and went inland to the Sierras.  This is one possible explanation as to why a few PB's have been found in the GR country.  Since it's conceivable that some were still circulating along the coast in the late '40s/early '50s.   And might thus explain why some THEN made their way back east.

 

But others disagree and think they started from the east coast, and came overland westward.  I don't buy that.   There's just too many of them on the west coast , compared to only scattered presence on the east coast.   So I say they arrived here on the west coast by ship, to the CA ports, and the Columbia River area.    I know of hundreds and hundreds found in CA (heck, 100 from a single field alone !).   Compared to the east coast where they are flukes.

 

While it's true that the vast majority of the migration was east to west , yet some guys did indeed return back home to the east, when the GR fever petered out.   This explains, for example, why 1850's S mint coins show up in CW sites, for example (albeit rare).

 

The circulation time for PBs was the 1810s/20s.   But I've found them in sites that were not habitated (by Europeans anyhow) till the 1840s.  Meaning that some were still in use, even to the 1840s.   Considering that there was a shortage of manufactured good on the west coast during Spanish & Mexican times, it makes sense that buttons would have been used and re-used, over and over.  Thus some all the way to GR times, and thus perhaps making their way east.

 

Interesting !

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10 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

 Some of the guy who fought in the 1860s in the CW, had previously gone to the CA gold rush.  And then returned back home to their eastern states.   And could conceivably have brought buttons back eastward.  

 

And while these pre-date the G.R. (1850s), yet :  In CA, when the Gold Rush hit, a lot of coastal folk here in CA (where the missions were, and thus the PB's were), left the coast and went inland to the Sierras.  This is one possible explanation as to why a few PB's have been found in the GR country.  Since it's conceivable that some were still circulating along the coast in the late '40s/early '50s.   And might thus explain why some THEN made their way back east.

 

But others disagree and think they started from the east coast, and came overland westward.  I don't buy that.   There's just too many of them on the west coast , compared to only scattered presence on the east coast.   So I say they arrived here on the west coast by ship, to the CA ports, and the Columbia River area.    I know of hundreds and hundreds found in CA (heck, 100 from a single field alone !).   Compared to the east coast where they are flukes.

 

While it's true that the vast majority of the migration was east to west , yet some guys did indeed return back home to the east, when the GR fever petered out.   This explains, for example, why 1850's S mint coins show up in CW sites, for example (albeit rare).

 

The circulation time for PBs was the 1810s/20s.   But I've found them in sites that were not habitated (by Europeans anyhow) till the 1840s.  Meaning that some were still in use, even to the 1840s.   Considering that there was a shortage of manufactured good on the west coast during Spanish & Mexican times, it makes sense that buttons would have been used and re-used, over and over.  Thus some all the way to GR times, and thus perhaps making their way east.

 

Interesting !

Fantastic post. 

I agree with your view. Makes sense that the PBs that are found east were brought back. Dates line up. 

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Hi Tom, Thanks for the information on the Phoenix buttons. Think I have about four of them. They were found on a private 

ranch by the San Miguel Mission in central Cal. Have to locate them and check out which ones I have. Still have  stuff in boxes I have not yet unpacked after moving out of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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18 hours ago, Beeper Bob said:

Hi Tom, Thanks for the information on the Phoenix buttons. Think I have about four of them. They were found on a private 

ranch by the San Miguel Mission in central Cal. Have to locate them and check out which ones I have. Still have  stuff in boxes I have not yet unpacked after moving out of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey there Beeper Bob, I think I know the ranch you're referring to. If we're talking the same location, I've pulled some PBs, a reale, and an early seated from there.  Drop me a PM and let's compare notes.

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