What era is this button?

[Target]

Could anyone tell me what time era this button is? I know the pic is a little blurry that's a big H on the front but I think the back is what you need to see to date! Thank you

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

It appears to be fairly modern button made to look like an old one-piece cast drilled shank.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I agree with BigCypressHunter that, due to the lack of much oxidation/patina on its apparently-brass body, your button appears to be a modern-era imitation of an antique button.

About the emblem on it:
The presence of a crown with nine knobs, and a shield, indicates it is a Livery button ...worn by the household staff (butler, doorman, carriage-driver, etc) of wealthy Nobility/Aristocrats, most especially in Europe during the 1700s and 1800s.

In Heraldry, a crown topped by nine knobs represented the rank of Count, Earl, or Baron (depending on nationality).

The shield on your button shows two "I" letters (or just maybe, an "H"), in a lettering-style which was most popular in the 1880s to about 1910.

I can't quite be sure about whether I'm seeing an II or an H, because your photo of the button's front is somewhat out-of-focus.

 

[Target]

Thank you for responding, you said possibly an immatation and your knowledge is incredible so I just wanted to ask you before I discard it in my find drawer is it was found in a place where we have been finding early 1900 stuff is there a way to tell or verify authenticity? Thank you again

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

A clear picture will help. Do you have a Macro lens setting on your camera? I would look for round modern cast injection marks (below). They make a lot of imitations for civilian blazers. Maybe someone will find an exact match. I have not seen this design.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Target wrote:
> It was found in a place where we have been finding early 1900 stuff.
> Is there a way to tell or verify authenticity?

Answering your question:
In my post I said "apparently brass." It has the look of a solid-cast button made of brass. In recent decades, only a comparative few buttons have been made of solid-cast brass, because of three reasons, all having to do with "cost of production":
1- Thin "stamped" sheetmetal ones are so much cheaper to manufacture. You just feed cheap sheetmetal into a stamping-machine and it spits out thousands of buttons in one hour. No need to make a bunch of casting-molds, especially "complicated" ones with an ornate emblem shape, no need to heat the brass to 2,000+ degrees to melt it for casting.
2- A cast button, being thick, uses significantly more of a metal than a thin sheetmetal version.
3- If you MUST make a solid-cast button, for a necessary reason like strength, it's cheaper to make it from an inexpensive metal, like "pot-metal" or aluminum, and anodize it with a brass color.

So, my answer to your question is:
If your button doesn't just look like solid-cast brass, but really is, instead of plastic, or anodized pot-metal/aluminum, it is much more likely to be a true antique than a modern imitation.

I know of one other clue for distinguishing genuine century-old (or older) solid-cast brass "pillar-shank" buttons from modern-era imitations. I'll tell you about that clue after I hear what metal yours is actually made of, and how you found it. I don't want to explain the clue in public, because the information could enable a faker to "fix" imitations to look more like an actual civil war era button. (No, when I say "faker" I'm not talking about anybody who posts in this forum... but please remember, the information posted at TreasureNet is viewable worldwide.)

 

[CRUSADER]

The reverse is trying to be 17th C, but clearly a modern piece. The front is just a mess of styles from the 19th C.