Silver buttons 200+ yrs. old

[Haywood]

I'm currently searching for some old silver buttons mentioned in a History book published in 1823. They are described as:

"The button is about the size of a half dollar in circumference, and is of intrinsic value of little more than 37 1/2 cents. The silver is very pure. The button is convex with the representation of a deer engraved on it and a hound in pursuit. The eye of the button appears to be well-soldered as though it had been effected by some of our modern silversmiths."

Apparently dozens of these buttons were plowed up in a particular field by the first permanent European settlers around 1819. The location is middle Tennessee. I think I've identified the site but haven't found any yet. If I do I will post some pics.

Anybody have knowledge of old buttons and have any idea what they might be?
I'm thinking French trade silver.

Thanks

 

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[CRUSADER]

They don't sound British. Solid silver buttons are nearly unheard of before 1823, the closest would be much smaller cufflink (buttons).

 

[Haywood]

They don't sound British. Solid silver buttons are nearly unheard of before 1823, the closest would be much smaller cufflink (buttons).

Thanks, I guess that's why the author found them unusual, and he was a state supreme court justice. They were found a few miles form where 2 Roman coins were found near an ancient earthen fortification in 1809. I hope to find one but I may have to wait until the crop in some field is harvested.

 

[Iron Patch]

Those designs are much more typical on tombac buttons, but I have seen Dutch solid silver ones that date to the same period, just not any quite that large. most are square with a rounded edge.

 

[HutSiteDigger]

Does the book mention a silversmith that marked their buttons with "AS" ??

 

[Haywood]

Does the book mention a silversmith that marked their buttons with "AS" ??

No.

That's the only description he gives. He was extremely thorough in describing other strange objects in minute detail. So I guess there is nothing else on these buttons to identify them.

The thesis of the book is that all the Indian mounds and artifacts around Tennessee are evidence of pre-columbian visits by ancient Europeans and that the Indians might be the lost tribes of Isreal. This was a very popular idea at the time. These buttons must have seemed unusual to a highly educated Anglo-American like the author to be included in the book.

 

[Iron Patch]

No.

That's the only description he gives. He was extremely thorough in describing other strange objects in minute detail. So I guess there is nothing else on these buttons to identify them.

The thesis of the book is that all the Indian mounds and artifacts around Tennessee are evidence of pre-columbian visits by ancient Europeans and that the Indians might be the lost tribes of Isreal. This was a very popular idea at the time. These buttons must have seemed unusual to a highly educated Anglo-American like the author to be included in the book.

I can guarantee they'd be unusual because an early solid silver button that large is not a common thing. They would no doubt be thin, but even so you'd be looking at a button with at least a Shilling worth of silver. I've seen countless of thousands of early buttons, and I mean that literally, tends of thousands and I don't recall anything that large and high quality silver. Even the very large designed tombacs are not very common and about a year and a half ago there was a group of about 10-12 large ones on ebay that were awesome. I bid about $500 myself, but they went up to around $800.

With a silver button that big I would think at some point it probably became currency in one way or another and is why not many survived.

 

[CRUSADER]

I can guarantee they'd be unusual because an early solid silver button that large is not a common thing. They would no doubt be thin, but even so you'd be looking at a button with at least a Shilling worth of silver. I've seen countless of thousands of early buttons, and I mean that literally, tends of thousands and I don't recall anything that large and high quality silver. Even the very large designed tombacs are not very common and about a year and a half ago there was a group of about 10-12 large ones on ebay that were awesome. I bid about $500 myself, but they went up to around $800.

With a silver button that big I would think at some point it probably became currency in one way or another and is why not many survived.

Seems too good to be true. Tombac jumped to mine but its very unusual for them to be concave, so its an odd mystery.

 

[Iron Patch]

Seems too good to be true. Tombac jumped to mine but its very unusual for them to be concave, so its an odd mystery.

Think about your large tombacs though, they are in fact slightly domed... at least some of them.

 

[CRUSADER]

Think about your large tombacs though, they are in fact slightly domed... at least some of them.

Some are slightly, I hope the OP gets one, so we can work out wants going on, but its a very long shot. I'm guessing there size made them easy to spot.