Button ID?

[mspence]

Anyone ever see one of these? Any idea if its Confederate? Thanks for looking

 

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[Mackaydon]

Welcome to Treasure Net !!
Might be a replica:
Medium Seven Point Star Button 7/8" diameter, solid pewter - Track of the Wolf
Don...

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Mspence wrote:
> Anyone ever see one of these? Any idea if its Confederate?

Sorry, but because your button was manufactured in the 1820-30s, it is not Confederate. Its time-period is proven by being a 1-piece brass button with a raised-lettering backmark saying "Rich Gold Color."

By the way, because it has the American spelling of the word "color" rather than the British spelling "colour," it is American-made, which keeps it from being pre-1820s.

 

[kyvadigger]

You have a Cherokee Nation button. I have found 2 in Virginia, all around CSA camps. the 7 points on the star represent the seven nations of the cherokee. Some found in north Carolina also. good find. keep hunting the spot

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Back in the 1970s, I saw that 7-point star button be called a Cherokee Nation button. But I did not call it that in my post, because various "more recent" button-scholars have been unable to find solid proof of attribution to the Cherokee Nation. Or at least, that's the latest bews I've heard on the subject. If anybody here has a 21st-Century update, I'm interested in hearing about it.

 

[mspence]

Welcome to Treasure Net !!
Might be a replica:
Medium Seven Point Star Button 7/8" diameter, solid pewter - Track of the Wolf
Don...

Don, that certainly looks just like mine except that one is pewter, don't think mine is. Not sure what its made of yet. Like to be able to date it, just looks to good to me?

 

[mspence]

You have a Cherokee Nation button. I have found 2 in Virginia, all around CSA camps. the 7 points on the star represent the seven nations of the cherokee. Some found in north Carolina also. good find. keep hunting the spot

Kyvadigger, did yours have the same finish as this one? Trying to determine if I have a replica or not. Any ideas how I can tell?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I've been a digger, collector, and DEALER of 19th-Century buttons (and various Militaria) for nearly 40 years. Your button is definitely not a replica. It is clearly made of brass, not pewter like the reproduction version of it. Also (and most importantly), it has a "stamped" raised-letters backmark -- no BRASS replica/reproduction BUTTONS have a "stamped" raised-letters backmark. As I said in a prior reply, your button was manufactured in 1820/30s.

 

[mspence]

Yes, yes you did. I some how missed that first paragraph. Got the part about the spelling etc. That's not a downer for me, it not being confederate. I'm actually relieved! I've been holding out since I want my first true confederate relic to be a VA confed buckle! Thanks again cannonball your help is very much appreciated.

 

[mspence]

While were at it, I was going thru some of my relics and came across this little guy. Any ideas on this one? The coin for reference is a 1868 us 2 cent coin. For those not familiar with 2 cent it's about the size of a nickel.

Thank for looking folks

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The last one, showing an 8-point sunburst (or flower) surrounded by 14 stars on a stippled background, is a type which button-collectors call a "Fashion" button, made for use on civilian clothing. They can be extremely difficult to date with much accuracy.

I have to say, in nearly 40 years of closely observing pre-1900s buttons, I've never seen the specific sunburst/flower-&-stars-&-stippled-background emblem on your button.

I seem to see some rusting on its backside ...but absolutely no rust on its frontside, which looks silvery in the photo (which may be just due to the type of lighting used for the photography). I can't tell from viewing the photos whether its body is made of brass or of iron or some other metal. It may have a brass body with an iron loop. Please use a magnet to check the body and the loop, and let me know if it sticks.

 

[mspence]

The last one, showing an 8-point sunburst (or flower) surrounded by 14 stars on a stippled background, is a type which button-collectors call a "Fashion" button, made for use on civilian clothing. They can be extremely difficult to date with much accuracy.

I have to say, in nearly 40 years of closely observing pre-1900s buttons, I've never seen the specific sunburst/flower-&-stars-&-stippled-background emblem on your button.

I seem to see some rusting on its backside ...but absolutely no rust on its frontside, which looks silvery in the photo (which may be just due to the type of lighting used for the photography). I can't tell from viewing the photos whether its body is made of brass or of iron or some other metal. It may have a brass body with an iron loop. Please use a magnet to check the body and the loop, and let me know if it sticks.

Hey Cannonball, I tried the magnet and indeed it sticks to both the loop and the body.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Thank you for doing "the magnet test" -- and even posting photos showing the button's loop AND its main body sticking to the magnet. No doubt about it, both its body and loop are made of iron... which is very-very unusual for a 1-piece flatbutton.

As I mentioned previously, its front looks "silvery" -- but actual silver doesn't stick to iron very well, which is why we never see silverplated iron. That being said, in the mid-1800s when the science of metal-plating had made some significant advances, an imitation of "silverplated iron" was developed and became very popular with the public in the latter-1800s. It was called German-Silver plating. In actuality, the term is misleading, becuase "German-Silver" contains no silver at all ...it is nickel-plating. Nickel is a much harder metal than silver, and thus it doesn't wear off in usage nearly as easily as silverplating does.

In view of all of the above information, and your flatbutton's body being iron with a "silvery" front, I think it is most probably a latter-1800s to very-early-20th-Century fancy civilian-clothing "Fashion" flatbutton. (As I mentioned previously, the emblem showing an 8-pointed sunburst or flower, surrounded by 14 stars, does not match any Military emblem I've ever seen.)

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Just because it wasn't manufactured during the civil war but before does not mean the clothing worn with the button wasn't used during the civil war and also if the button was made in the confederate states before the war it is still somewhat a confederate button (though not 1861+) just not one used in the war(though it still could have been used during the war). I've seen these buttons @ shows before and everyone who dug them says they dug them in a confederate camp, so it makes you wonder.. Just a thought. Kewl button and find!

 

[mangum]

I know this is an old post but came across it & I also came across this while doing some research on a NC Confederate button i found today if it helps any.