flat button help

[creade]

I dug this flat button by the corner of a stone wall. I thought it was plain on both sides until I cleaned it. I can't say I've seen this before. I'm thinking its British because of the crown. Anyone have any ideas?

 

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[grasshopper]

In the early 1800s those flat buttons were imported to the US for civilian use from England. They often had quality marks (i.e. Extra rich gilt, warranted gilt, gold colour) stamped into the back too. I'm guessing this is one of those. Usually they are dated from around 1810-1830ish, ball park. I have found a few with crowns on them. Doesn't mean it was an English-use button, just that they were made there.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

If the button has a eagle on the back of it - it was made in America after the War of 1812... Just fyi.. (and yes i know this doesn't have a eagle on it) This button dates sometime from the 1790s-1820s more of less...

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

A small but necessary correction, just regarding the date. If a brass 1-piece flatbutton's backmark contains indented lettering, it dates from approximately 1810 into the 1840s. That being said, after the infant American button-making industry finally became capable of mass-producing brass buttons, around 1830, there was no longer much need to import buttons from Britain (which were more expensive, due to the US Government's protective Import Tariff on imported manufactured goods). So, your British-made brass flatbutton with an indented-lettering backmark most likely was manufactured sometime between 1810 and 1830.

 

[creade]

Awesome, thanks guys!!