Button ID help!

[hbeaton]

(Am reposting here at the request of Cannonballguy) Thanks man!

Went back to the Lib Cap site. Pulled buttons again today. First appears to be a two piece (front is completely blown out) that has two holes (blowhole button?). The next button has not back marks and missing a shank, front is not much better. Next is a 1940-1941 Virginia Chauffeur license. Pretty nice. Coming out of the whole a big green patina thing my heart skipped a beat! Last find is a very small silver? "Plated" button with what looks like three feathers? on the backside above the word "Plated".

Any info (age) would be great!

Happy Hunting

-Hunter

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Your brass 1-piece flatbutton has three main ID and time-dating clues:
1- The backmark showing three grouped feather-plumes means it was made in Britain. That symbol represents Wales, which is part of Britain.
2- The backmark is written in raised (not indented) lettering, which on a brass 1-piece flatbutton dates it to sometime between "about" 1790
on into the 1830s. Indented backmark-lettering first shows up on brass 1-piece buttons "about" 1810... and it was cheaper to make, so it gradually
replaced the use of raised lettering in button backmarks. Therefore, the odds favor your button being made sometime closer to 1800 than (let's say)
1820. Although, it COULD have been made after that year.
3- The backmark saying "Plated" on a brass 1-piece button means the button is made of "Sheffield Plate," which refers to a process in which a layer
of silver was bonded onto a layer of brass or copper. It was a very early form of "silverplating." You can read the history of Sheffield Plate here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_plate