Even though San Diego was first visited by Europeans back in the mid 1500's, it's still fairly rare to find anything pre civil war. California wasn't even a state until 1850, so, it's always a thrill to find anything that pre-dates that. Yesterday was my day. A couple of buttons came to light. The first was the eagle button that I understand is a fairly rare one. From my limited research I find it's a New York Lancers button from the 1850's. Nice full shank and the backmarks say Young.Smith and Co. New York. The other button had limited info, but, appears to be even earlier at 1841 with G.Barnett and R.Armfield's Patent on the back. Add a well worn 1808 Mexican one Real to the mix and I was a happy camper!
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