1883 Sacramento Odd Fellows Silver badge !!!! Victorian pendant, political button, IH & 1909S

Still trying to learn the E-trac....Went hunting with a buddie yesterday and targets were sparse, but what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality.

I didn't get a single silver coin, yet my friend snagged an 1880's seated dime, 2.5 mercs, an IH and a couple of green wheaties.

I ended up with only three old coins - 1937S wheatie, an 1886 Indian and a 1909 "vertical S" wheatie (a key date wheatie)
Try as I may, I don't see the infamous VDB on back of the 1909S.



Also ended up with some nice relics. First is some kind of 1880's political button, it says: PUBLIC OFFICE IS A PUBLIC TRUST "84-86" around a horseshoe with initials in the center (CE?). Anyone ever seen one of these?? I'm assuming "84-86" refers to the years 1884-1886, some kind of term or such.



The next find was a nice gold plated (at one time) Victorian ladies pendant:



My best find, was my last find of the day :beers: We spotted a little scraped spot on the way back home (where my friend snagged his seated). There was a trench dug out and this was the first target I pulled out. Rang in just like a quarter/half dollar (12-47) but instead came out this silver badge. It was the end of the day and dark when I found it, so I didn't realize what I had until I took a look at it today.

Originally the background of the badge was black enamel, but the enamel started to come off as I was cleaning it under the faucet with a toothbrush ^o) When I dried it off and took a look at it, I was amazed at what I had - a beautiful Victorian silver badge that says:

SACRAMENTO V.O.F. 1883

I did a little research on it and didn't find another badge, and haven't quite been able to the "V" but I found this about some of the symbolism on the badge:

"The All-Seeing Eye was not used by Masonry for quite some time and is a relatively recent addition to their symbolism. The Odd Fellows, between them both, were the first to make widespread use of it. The Three Links are exclusive as a fraternal symbol to the IOOF alone and represent the fraternity itself just as the square and compass represent Masonry. "

Anyone have any idea what the "V" of the Odd Fellows represents?

Here's the badge:



Thanks for looking,
Brian

Brian, some really nice finds. Love the badge. HH jim tn

Cool badge , could not find the meaning to the V good luck

Great stuff Brian!
Thanks for the pics.

Absolutely awesome finds!!

Brian, those are some seriously interesting (historically) finds. I would take those over a silver coin any day. You certainly do your research.

I like that Badge for sure!!

Very nice!

Keith

..............and you ALMOST won a small lottery with that 1909 'S' wheat penny.

Brian.....spent 15 yrs detecting in CA...it's my birth state.....oldest I ever found was a really worn 1884 seated dime. Where ever your going, your rocking as far as a new state like CA goes. Although Chico, Pasedena & certain parts of Orange County were good to me

Thanks everyone. It's interesting how things turn out at the end of the day when you clean up your finds and some of them surprise you. I forgot to mention my buddy also got two V nickels and a no date sheild nickel.

This is the second 1909S I've found, both within 60 miles of SF (heck the first one was found in SF). Tom one of these days I WILL GET A 1909S VDB!! Living 45 minutes from the mint that made them, it shouldn't be too tall an order eh?

TerraDigger if you got an 1884 seated, you were in the right place. CA is steeped in history, it's just a matter of getting to it before it's paved over. I love doing research, and spend more time doing research then detecting, but I think it pays off. One of my goals this year is to find a Spanish reale, no easy feat in California, but there here, I've seen them dug, but thus far they've only taunted me

HH,
Brian

You find a reale in CA...I'll do a dance on video...no matter how silly I look.

TerraDigger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You find a reale in CA...I'll do a dance on
> video...no matter how silly I look.


Now I have to find one, the pressure is on - LOL

They do have some post gold-rush (1849), up to the 1880s coins out on the San Francisco peninsula, but finding them in parks seems to become more difficult. So far, got an 1864 2-cent piece, and an 1887 seated dime from parks.

But from shoreline detecting, got an 1845 and an 1878 seated dime, an 1885 Morgan dollar, an 1888 seated quarter, and a no-date shield nickel.
There does seem to be a much higher percentage of 1890-1899 coins both in parks and at shorelines.

hey brian! still a good hunt with the new toy!
was wondering, what were your settings?. thanks!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

Hey Brian looking at the Badge made me think of a ring I dug in a civil war camp back around Christmas time....It has the shaking hand's...I kept thinking it was a Union forever symbol that was popular in the Civil War ..But now that I look at your badge I think my ring is an OddFellow's....



Looks like it dont it...

Gold over brass...

Keith

Digs_alot where abouts in the bay area are you? I live down in the southbay in sunnyvale, but hunt all over.

Keith I really like that ring! Definitely looks like the Odd Fellow hand shake on my badge, very cool find!

I found this interesting background on the IOOF (Independant Order of the Odd Fellows) from their website:

The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded on the North American Continent in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 26, 1819 when Thomas Wildey and four members of the Order from England instituted Washington Lodge No. 1. This lodge received its charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in England. At that time, the city was suffering both a yellow fever epidemic and mass unemployment so they dedicated the organization to "Visit the sick, relieve the distress, bury the dead and educate the orphans."

Cal_cobra Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Digs_alot where abouts in the bay area are you? I
> live down in the southbay in sunnyvale, but hunt
> all over.
>
> Keith I really like that ring! Definitely looks
> like the Odd Fellow hand shake on my badge, very
> cool find!
>
> I found this interesting background on the IOOF
> (Independant Order of the Odd Fellows) from their
> website:
>
> The Independent Order of Odd Fellows was founded
> on the North American Continent in Baltimore,
> Maryland, on April 26, 1819 when Thomas Wildey and
> four members of the Order from England instituted
> Washington Lodge No. 1. This lodge received its
> charter from Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows in
> England. At that time, the city was suffering both
> a yellow fever epidemic and mass unemployment so
> they dedicated the organization to "Visit the
> sick, relieve the distress, bury the dead and
> educate the orphans."

I stay up in South San Francisco, but only hunt around the peninsula. Much of the shoreline silver finds are saltw@ter corroded, but some do clean up fairly well.