Help with button (Rev War?)

[Henry Smoot]

This button was found in the Charleston SC area last week. It is one piece cast like rev war buttons and has a script "2" on it and the letters "L P" on the bottom.

Any input would be great.


Henry

 

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[HutSiteDigger]

When I first saw it I thought it was a 2nd Continental Light Dragoons button but that is a P and not a D.. Would have to look through some button books I have that may have it, if not hope someone else can 100% ID it.. Good luck

 

[CC Hunter]

Henry Smoot,

The number style with the large curl on the 2, as well as the lettering, is quite similar to what is seen on several varieties of Rev War British and American buttons. However, I have not seen a 2 over LP in my years of collecting. There is a crown over RP (Royal Provencials), and I have even found one of those myself near Charleston SC (eyeballed in fact). A further search through Military Buttons of the American Revolution by Don Troiani, brought no match for a 2 LP that I could find. Is this a pewter composition button, or brass/copper?

A photo of the back would be quite helpful in determining origin as well. Many of the British buttons had large iron shanks (loops), while the American Continental and State Militia pewter buttons were often cast with a pewter shank. Please also provide size measurements, to give an idea of the button diameter.

There were French troops in the Revolution also, and nearly all the French buttons are typically brass with a birdcage type shank (small dome shape cast into the back, with four openings for thread attachment). Seems as I recall, the buttons for French enlisted men nearly without exception, have an encircling detail almost like a wreath (there is a word for this French design, yet it escapes my memory at the moment). Additional there were Hessian (German) troops employed by the British. There may possibly be some styles of buttons worn by Hessians, that differ from the style of British regulars.

CC Hunter

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Just a guess but maybe LP stood for Light Patrol and the L on the button looks like a L used in the Continental Light Dragoons button like posted below but these are very rare to find, the Continental Light Dragoons did have a 2nd regiment called The Second Continental Light Dragoons..

 

[Henry Smoot]

Here is a picture of the button from the side. It appears to be made of pewter or some soft metal. The loop appears to be cast out of the same material. There is still a lot of sandy grit on the button which is typical of a lot of the finds like this right next to the salt water.

Henry

 

[mangum]

I say that it is a D & not a P. A clearer photo would be helpful. I would say Light Dragoons button but I am no expert...

 

[CC Hunter]

Thanks Henry for posting the photo of the back, along with a size reference. The shank/loop appears cast and then drilled. We see brass and copper buttons of the late 18th and early 19th Century with drilled shanks, yet almost never pewter as I recall. Also, in wet salty ground, pewter tends to hold up very well, and usually comes out rather clean and nearly non-dug looking. My hunch is this is actually a brass button.

Is that a "P" or am I seeing a line on the right to make that an "R"? There appears to be something there, or maybe it is only dirt/corrosion.

CC Hunter