Hey Guys,
First time poster, found the site looking for help in ID'ing buttons and after browsing the site for a while decided to join and post some pictures. My wife and I are both big civil war buffs and have a small collection of minor items (buttons, marbles, bullets, metal pieces etc). She recently bought several handfuls of buttons at a store in Gettysburg, PA. I'm not sure where they were dug (I believe the store owner said "Somewhere in Virginia", which doesnt really help.) Most of the buttons appear to be flat civilian style buttons, mostly pre-Civil War, including a nice one mark L H Scovill Extra Rich which had a lot of gilt left on the back. Two buttons out of the lot kind caught her eye, one with a flower pattern on it and one that's a small curved button (cuff size?).
In the pictures, the flower button is on the left and the smaller cuff button is on the right. The front of the small button has some kind of pattern on it, but I can't really get anything from it other then groups of line, it appears almost like tree branches or palm fronds? Some other flower motif similar to the other one? Not sure about this one. The back of the small one has no markings as best I can tell and it is deeply curved with a long shank, perhaps a two piece missing the back?
The larger flower button has a picture of one stem of a plant with a flower at the top and leaves below and a pattern of parallel lines embossed around the edge. It is a one piece, has some manner of a quality or makers mark on the back, I can see the rings, but the only letters I can make out (above the shank in the picture) are RIC , so Rich or Extra Rich, something along those lines. Also there appears to be a star.
Both buttons are somewhat greenish, so I would guess they are brass or bronze but I can't be sure. The smaller button has a little bit of shine to it in some small spots so maybe some silver gilt?
As I said, the buttons were purchased, so they could be from anywhere and any time period and I apologize I don't have any better information then that. My wife and I hope to soon start relic hunting and collecting our own artifacts instead of buying them in a store.
Thanks for looking!
Edit: First set of pics came out huge so I tried to cut them down and crop them.
First time poster, found the site looking for help in ID'ing buttons and after browsing the site for a while decided to join and post some pictures. My wife and I are both big civil war buffs and have a small collection of minor items (buttons, marbles, bullets, metal pieces etc). She recently bought several handfuls of buttons at a store in Gettysburg, PA. I'm not sure where they were dug (I believe the store owner said "Somewhere in Virginia", which doesnt really help.) Most of the buttons appear to be flat civilian style buttons, mostly pre-Civil War, including a nice one mark L H Scovill Extra Rich which had a lot of gilt left on the back. Two buttons out of the lot kind caught her eye, one with a flower pattern on it and one that's a small curved button (cuff size?).
In the pictures, the flower button is on the left and the smaller cuff button is on the right. The front of the small button has some kind of pattern on it, but I can't really get anything from it other then groups of line, it appears almost like tree branches or palm fronds? Some other flower motif similar to the other one? Not sure about this one. The back of the small one has no markings as best I can tell and it is deeply curved with a long shank, perhaps a two piece missing the back?
The larger flower button has a picture of one stem of a plant with a flower at the top and leaves below and a pattern of parallel lines embossed around the edge. It is a one piece, has some manner of a quality or makers mark on the back, I can see the rings, but the only letters I can make out (above the shank in the picture) are RIC , so Rich or Extra Rich, something along those lines. Also there appears to be a star.
Both buttons are somewhat greenish, so I would guess they are brass or bronze but I can't be sure. The smaller button has a little bit of shine to it in some small spots so maybe some silver gilt?
As I said, the buttons were purchased, so they could be from anywhere and any time period and I apologize I don't have any better information then that. My wife and I hope to soon start relic hunting and collecting our own artifacts instead of buying them in a store.
Thanks for looking!
Edit: First set of pics came out huge so I tried to cut them down and crop them.
