✅ SOLVED Roman Buttons 100-300 AD.

[fyrffytr1]

I took a chance and bid on these buttons. I was happy that my $10.00 bid won them. It took almost two months to get them as they came from Sofia, Bulgaria. The seller has several pages of different items for sale on E-bay The description said they were from 100-300AD and there were 77 in the lot. I have already given 6 away so I am down to 71. Can any of the experts from Europe tell me if they are the real thing? I can get more and better pictures if anyone needs them. Thanks, in advance for any and all help.

 

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[nkellam22]

Don't really know about the other ones but the ones in the bottom left photo aren't Roman whatsoever. I would say 17th century. Still old but not Roman.

 

[Red-Coat]

You did fine for $10 but...

Anything that could properly called a button (as a clothing fastener) didn’t appear in Europe until the late 7th Century in the Early Byzantine period of the Roman Empire. Prior to that, clothing was fastened with brooches/pins (fibulae), hooks and loops, thongs/laces, and less commonly with toggles.

The Roman tight-sleeved ‘tunica manicata’ evolved into a garment with baggy sleeves that were tightly cuffed (persomanikia) at the end of the 7th Century and the first buttons appeared on these sleeves soon afterwards.

What I see in those pictures are more consistent with later mediaeval buttons and appear to be mostly post-mediaeval from about 1500-1700 plus a few later ones.

 

[CRUSADER]

Good buy for that price.

Most of them are Tudor period circa 16th C.

 

[fyrffytr1]

Well, not as old as I was told but still older than anything I had. At least I don't need to find some Roman coins to go with them. What part of the world do you think they came from? What coin(s) would I need to put in a frame? And, thanks for the replies and information.

 

[CRUSADER]

Well, not as old as I was told but still older than anything I had. At least I don't need to find some Roman coins to go with them. What part of the world do you think they came from? What coin(s) would I need to put in a frame? And, thanks for the replies and information.

Probably Eastern Europe, but what I can say for sure NOT the UK.
Roman Coins would have been cheaper if your looking for coins. Most European coins of the 16th C are silver hammered.

 

[duggap]

DAACS Cataloging Manuals This site might be of help to you. Look at the tab for buttons, it has a lot of historical information.

 

[smokeythecat]

I'm late to the party but I am in agreement with the medieval time frame. In Maryland, we have found one or two on a 1650 site, but that is our exception to the rule. Price was excellent.