✅ SOLVED Just a button question

[WHADIFIND]

This appears to be an early 1800's button. It's tiny. Usually when I find these I can't see ANY detail on them. But, somehow, this tiny little survivor managed to hold onto a few letters on the back. Even after, who knows how many years in the ground?

Anyone familiar with this back marking? I think it says Warranty Fine.

Thanks!

HH!

 

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[TheCannonballGuy]

I'm familiar with it. The backmark is British, and it says "Warranted Fine." The "fine" part is a ranking on the British metalworking industry's quality-rating scale. In British lingo at the time, "Warranted" meant guaranteed. You may recall the spoken line in the old book Treasure Island" in which one of the (British) pirates says "He's been gone a week, I'll warrant." A form of the term survives today, as the "Warranty" that comes with a product you purchase ...which also means a guarantee.

Your dug-in-America imported British-made button dates from approximately 1810 to the late 1830s.

 

[WHADIFIND]

I'm familiar with it. Ther backmark is British, and it says "Warranted Fine." The "fine" part is a ranking on the British metalworking industry's quality-rating scale. In British lingo at the time, "Warranted" meant guaranteed. You may recall the spoken line in the old book Treasure Island" in which one of the (British) pirates says "He's been gone a week, I'll warrant." A form of the term survives today, in the form of the "Warranty" that comes with a product you purchase ...which also means a guarantee.

Your dug-in-America imported British-made button dates from approximately 1810 to the late 1830s.

That was a perfect explanation, I'd warrant! (Would that be the same as "GAHR-RONE-TEE!" )
That's just the explanation I was looking for, thank you! Is it rare to dig up these buttons with lettering still readable?

HH!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

The "readability" of the backmark depends greatly on soil chemistry and moisture and the button's depth. Here in eastern-central Virginia, where the topsoil is sandy or loam, it's unusual to find a button with a backmark you can't read. In contrast, buttons from heavy-clay soil (like the red clay of north and central Georgia), or "swampy" soil, or deep-dug, are more likely to have a badly corroded backmark. Also, wherever you are, modern farm-field fertilizer is bad for backmarks.