What era is this button? Any other info? Appreciate it!!

[arobfeds21]

Hi all,

Was on the banks of the Potomac River in Shepherdstown, WV, was climbing up a little ledge, looked out for my next handhold, and saw this guy here. About the size of a nickel. Guessing a button for clothing. The underside says Gilt, and has some kind of plant design going around in a circle. Unfortunately the face of it is completely smooth. Just looking for any info!

 

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[fyrffytr1]

Are the letters on the back raised or impressed? Raised letters would date it to the early 1800s and impressed letters would put it closer to the 1820s-30s. Gilt means it was dipped once in gold.

 

[arobfeds21]

You’re awesome thank you for the reply!! The letters on the back are impressed. So it’s definitely 1820’s-30’s? Do you know anything else about it? Sorry I’m just not the best at research and figured I’d get all I can haha. Thank you !!

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Arobfeds21, because you said you want as much information about your button as you can get, here is "the rest of the story."

Your find is what relic-diggers (and button collectors) call a brass 1-piece "flatbutton." As Fyrffytr1 indicated, those with a raised-lettering backmark date from "about" 1780/90 into the 1830s, and with an indented-lettering backmark from "about" 1810 into the 1830s. In the mid-1830s, these brass 1-piece buttons fell out of favor with the public due to the advent of inexpensive very-ornate 2-piece brass buttons. Most of the brass 1-piece buttons we dig here in the US were made in Britain, because until the late-1820s the young American button-making industry could not manufacture nearly enough to satisfy the US market for metal buttons.

For future reference:
The word "Plated" in a button's backmark always meant silver plated, and "Gilt" always meant gold plated.