Button with Eagle and Shield - by D. EVANS & CO

[WildRose27]

Hi All,

New here! Very informative site this is.

I was just in my basement going through an old drawer from a desk from the house's previous owners and found a number of gold buttons. (Not sure if they are real gold, but they are gold in color).

On the front, the button has an eagle with a shield that has the letter "C" in it.

And, on the back, it says "D. EVANS & CO. * ATTLEBORO MASS *

It is about 22 mm.

Photos are attached.

I've done a bit of research online and from what I can gather, these are buttons from the Civil War and would have belonged to a cavalry officer. This surprised me because I knew one of the house's former owners had been in WWI ... I never heard anything about the Civil War.

Can anyone confirm if my very amateur research is correct or shed more light on the where the buttons come from?

Many thanks!

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

Your button is a US Army Cavalry officer's button. It's not made of gold, but instead is heavily gold-plated ("gilt"). According to the best book on dating buttons by their backmark, your button's manufacturer, D. Evans & Company of Attleboro Massachusetts used the specific version of backmark on your button from 1850 to 1880. Unfortunately there is no way to tell whether or not your button was made before, during, or after the civil war. That is why button collectors do not view "D.Evans & Co. / Attleboro Mass" backmarked buttons as being "reliably" from the civil war period, and therefore their dollar-value is somewhat less than buttons which have a "reliably" civil war era backmark. For example, a backmark showing D. Evans & Co Attleboro written inside a ribbon is reliably civil war era ONLY.

 

[WildRose27]

WOW - thanks Cannonball Guy -- your knowledge is very impressive!