Feb 6th, 2012 is a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. I woke up and decided to detect a park about 25 miles from my house. I had been to this park one other time where although I had not found anything old I found alot of clad. When I went to the park the first time I met another fellow Minelab hunter, he used an Explorer and had told me he had found a 1763 reale there. I remember thinking there has to be some history there to find a coin like that so I decided to go back.
I was hunting in a grass strip between the tot lot and a picnic area when I found the button. When I dug it up from around 6" I could not see any detail on it. It was bent, round and what I thought was copper; I put it in my keeper pocket and pressed on. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful although I did find over 4 bucks in clad.
Honestly I didn't think anymore about the button until I got home and started washing off clad. I rinsed the button under water and noticed what appeared to some markings on the front. I cleaned and wiped it off, bent it back into somewhat of a flat shape, and took a good look at it. I then soaked it in olive oil for a few minutes so I could see a little more detail.
I saw the "chicken eagle" and knew I had something pretty special. At first I thought it was a old coin; I have only been detecting since Nov 2011 and do not have a whole lot of knowledge in buttons. I then posted on a forum I am a member of and it was then I found out what a rare piece of history I had found. It was a 1789 George Washington Inaugural Button WI-12. To have dug a piece of history like this is just amazing, and would have never happened if not for my Minelab E-TRAC. I have had the E-TRAC for just a couple months and it has definately already paid for itself!!!. I LOVE my E-TRAC!!! Randy L. Simmons - DE, USA