A few buttons

[Old Finger]

Hey everyone, So after i posted earlier today i went back out to the same area i found the reale and looked around for a few hours. got a ton of iron some horse shoes an old leg hold trap and a few buttons. not sure if there silver plated or not. the largest one with the designe is the same size as a quarter, one was nickle sized and the small one is about half the size of a dime. any info on them is greatly appreciated

 

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[A2coins]

Well done looks like you have a great hunting spot keep at, it those would make a good display case.

 

[isopropyl]

Looks like an early site! Sweet buttons!

 

[GB1]

nice buttons

 

[vpnavy]

..: Moved from TODAY'S FINDS! over to WHAT IS IT? for more exposure :..​

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

First off, great button finds O.F.
Your first button is a silver-plated coat button, the smaller one is a silver-plated on brass cuff button... both are c1830.

Dave

 

[nhbenz]

I thought these were earlier, 1780’s?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

The dating of a particular style or type of button to an exact date is difficult, as most buttons could have spanned a date range of up to 50+ years. (Open to speculation) The only way to accurately date the manufacture of a button is to research the makers marks on the back. Due to the fact that your button backs are still covered in dirt, there's no way to do this right now.

I find the website [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]UK BUTTON MAKERS AND THEIR BACKMARKS[/FONT] to be a great resource.

https://www.ukdfd.co.uk/pages/buttonsgtom.html

Dave

 

[Old Finger]

Thanks a lot

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Trying to do at least one post a day.

In my opinion, your two buttons are not made of brass, nor are they silverplated. Note that they are flat with the loop embedded in a solid metal cone.They are made of a metal which Metallurgists call "White Tombac", to distinguish it from simple Tombac, which has a "dull golden" (not yellow or bronze) color. Excavated White Tombac has a dull-silvery color. It is a brass-alloy, containing about 85% copper, 14% zinc, and 1% Arsenic. The presence of Arsenic changed the brass alloy's golden color to silver-ish. Apparently, that very small amount of Arsenic is enough to inhibit the bacterial action which puts a "patina" on the metal in the ground. White Tombac buttons typically come out of the ground with very little or even no patina on them. You'll notice that your smaller White Tombac button has a little dirt-crust on its face, but most of the dull-silvery color is showing even without you cleaning the button. The button-dating reference I use says "about" 1750 into the very-early 1800s.

Sidenote, about "regular" or "simple" Tombac:
During World War 2, Canada made its 5-cent coins out of simple Tombac. In photos of uncirculated ones, you can see the "dull golden" color. Check the photos below. One shows the Canadian 5-cent Tombac coin, and the other shows a White Tombac coin from Romania.

 

[Old Finger]

awesome info thanks alot