✅ SOLVED Age on 2 buttons?

[Beeps in my sleep]

I found these two buttons at a property of a church erected in 1794 and a house from the 1760s. I believe these buttons to be early 1800s or late 1700s. Can Anybody confirm? These were posted at work so I apologize I have nothing to measure but the suspense got the best of me. I put a US quarter in the photos for size reference.

 

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[DCMatt]

Do a Google search using "antique button identification". In Google Images you'll see some charts to help date buttons by the type of shank and some other features. The charts have been on the internet for a long time and I believe them to give reasonable time-frame estimates.

 

[ticndig]

here ya go. click to enlarge

 

[DCMatt]

here ya go. click to enlarge

Thx tic.

I've been posting pictures of things for 'What is it?' ID's for a long time. I'm trying these days to take more of a "teach a man to fish" approach - showing people how and where to find their own answers.

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

Thx tic.

I've been posting pictures of things for 'What is it?' ID's for a long time. I'm trying these days to take more of a "teach a man to fish" approach - showing people how and where to find their own answers.

Thank you . My PC is down and I am not a big fan of the celly. I usually use the tools you all provide but it's impossible with this old phone. It looks like the one is 1700-1765 but the other I can't I'd . Dang this phone!

 

[DCMatt]

I know you've been on the forum long enough to know what you're doing. But others read the posts as well.

How are things in Shipp these days? Haven't been up there for a few years. Nice town. Did a Civil War reenactment there. Street battle. Different and kinda fun. Afterwards we went "foraging" for food and supplies, which is what Confederate troops did on their way to Gettysburg. Local shops and businesses gave us stuff which was then donated to charity organizations.

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

I know you've been on the forum long enough to know what you're doing. But others read the posts as well.

How are things in Shipp these days? Haven't been up there for a few years. Nice town. Did a Civil War reenactment there. Street battle. Different and kinda fun. Afterwards we went "foraging" for food and supplies, which is what Confederate troops did on their way to Gettysburg. Local shops and businesses gave us stuff which was then donated to charity organizations.

Things have been okay I am recovering from a stroke I had in January so I'm not the quickest when it comes to things (still having cognitive and neurological issues). You are referring to the march to destiny but unfortunately that reenactment that happened every year has been canceled for years. The town decided there was better use for money then having a reenactment every year. It's a dang shame because I used to leave work early to film it from the Sunoco station on the corner. I always love the cannon fire and the period attire of the troops. Really sad really because that was a historical and learning experience for a lot of people who never knew the history of this place including me when I moved here.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The first button appears to be a "spun-back" White Tombac 1-piece button, which the chart says dates from 1760 to 1785.

For anybody here who doesn't already know:
White Tombac looks like dull silver, and is a brass alloy consisting of about 85% copper, 14% zinc, and 1% Metallic Arsenic. Apparently even that small amount of Arsenic is enough to change the alloy's color from brassy into silver-ish. The presence of Arsenic seems to be why White Tombac buttons almost always come out of the ground with little or no oxidation/patina, still looking like dull silver after 200 years in the ground.

Frustratingly, many archeologists call these White Tombac buttons simply "Tombac" -- which is incorrect. Tombac (minus the Arsenic) is golden-orange colored brass. Canada made 5-cent coins out of "regular" Tombac during World War 2. See the photos showing the Tombac 5-cent coin's color, below.

The second button appears to be a brass 1-piece flatbutton, with a raised-marking backmark... which means it dates from sometime between about 1790 to the mid-1830s. (if the backmark contains indented lettering, it dates from about 1810 into the 1830s.)

 

[Beeps in my sleep]

Thank you to all who helped me solve this . Especially TheCannonBallGuy, DCMatt, and ticndig. I appreciate all of the help you gave strokey here.

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