very old civilian and civil war buttons

[GRAY GHOST]

hi again all, shown are some of the many buttons i've found over the years. i bought 2 of them - the sc state seal in the center, and the gorgeous confederate " I " button. i do believe in supporting our hobby from within by occasionally buying choice pieces. i figured, what the heck, i haven't found any sc or i buttons, so i might as well buy them. many are older, 1850's era flatbuttons, some with gold gilt, most with shanks [80%] 2 are union fly buttons, there are some interesting backmarks as well. i love to find old buttons. there's been 8 or 9 more found since i took this pic, and are not included here. did you see the tiny union kepi button 2nd row by the i button? it's rare and desirable too. enjoy, and hh,

 

[Grant]

I'm a little new to coin collecting are these like shirt buttons or pins? I don't see any holes so what are considered buttons? I only ask cause I don't wanna toss something that could be valuable or a good addition to my new collection. Grant

 

[treasurefiend]

Very nice!!!

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hi grant! first off, congratulations on the cache find. any way you could post them? wow. sure would like to see it. caches are rare and hard to find. most of the buttons pictured are flat buttons; usually, a shank with a single eyelet was either cast with the flat face or the shank was brazed on separately. theyr'e also called coin buttons. if you happen to find one, you'll know it. most have backmarks like "extra gilt, london" or "extra treble plated, warranted strong" or even just a simple "gilt", or nothing at all. most times the shanks are intact, or layed over. i think flat buttons have been made since the 1600's thru about 1900, but theyr'e not hard to date. coinnut, a regular poster on here, is a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge in the coin and button areas, and whose opinion i respect if you happen to find a hard to date coin or button. thanks, and hh,

 

[on-edge]

nice finds gray ghost! hh!