[log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> I posted the following a couple of days ago, and thought maybe I should
> clarify it a little:
>
> >>I have posted photos of pierced coins and buttons found on sites in rural
> North and South Carolina, on my web site at <A
> HREF="http://encore-net.com/diachronic/">Diachronic Encore</A>
> (http:/encore-net.com/diachronic). Does anyone have any
> thoughts? I am particularly curious about geographic and temporal ranges for
> this phenomenon in the US.
>
> This question deals with pierced coins, buttons and tokens used for
> adornment.
>
> In a related question, at Somerset Place Plantation, in Eastern NC, we found
> about a dozen examples of metal buttons--the stamped back, gilt buttons
> Stanley South called "type 18" and other typical 18th and 19th century
> buttons--which had been pierced two or four times. I called these "recycled
> buttons," assuming they were pierced to allow them to be sewed on. However,
> historic evidence tells us that a "John Canoe" festival was held at Somerset.
> This festival calls for an elaborate costume of which shiny buttons could
> easily be a part. I was wondering if anyone else working in areas where such
> festivals took place had seen anything like these buttons
>
> >>The John Canoe festival practiced in Eastern NC
> is unique in North America, as far as I know. Anybody have any thoughts on
> that?
>
> Thanks, Carl Steen
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Re: Pierced Coins, Buttons and John Canoe Festivals
> Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 06:47:11 EST
> From: [log in to unmask]
> To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>
> I posted the following a couple of days ago, and thought maybe I should
> clarify it a little:
>
> >>I have posted photos of pierced coins and buttons found on sites in rural
> North and South Carolina, on my web site at <A
> HREF="http://encore-net.com/diachronic/">Diachronic Encore</A>
> (http:/encore-net.com/diachronic). Does anyone have any
> thoughts? I am particularly curious about geographic and temporal ranges for
> this phenomenon in the US.
>
> This question deals with pierced coins, buttons and tokens used for
> adornment.
>
> In a related question, at Somerset Place Plantation, in Eastern NC, we found
> about a dozen examples of metal buttons--the stamped back, gilt buttons
> Stanley South called "type 18" and other typical 18th and 19th century
> buttons--which had been pierced two or four times. I called these "recycled
> buttons," assuming they were pierced to allow them to be sewed on. However,
> historic evidence tells us that a "John Canoe" festival was held at Somerset.
> This festival calls for an elaborate costume of which shiny buttons could
> easily be a part. I was wondering if anyone else working in areas where such
> festivals took place had seen anything like these buttons
>
> >>The John Canoe festival practiced in Eastern NC
> is unique in North America, as far as I know. Anybody have any thoughts on
> that?
>
> Thanks, Carl Steen
Carl,
I suppose you know that John Canoe or Junkannoo or similarly named
festivals are still held annually throughout the West Indies. And
pierced coins have turned up in numerous slave- and free-black sites in
Virgnia. I know I have them from quite a few sites. I have also heard a
number of papers given at various meetings where such things are
discussed and there have been a variety of speculations about their use
and meaning. Wearing pierced coins is still practiced in some places in
the south, I believe. One instance I know of is pierced dimes worn on
anklets by some African-American women in Louisiana. Someone --not sure
who (maybe Wilke??)--spoke of similar things as being used to attract a
spirit, but I have heard of similar charms used in Virginia by young
women to attract a man.
--
Dan Mouer
http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dmouer/homepage.htm
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