Does this look like a Civil War era cuff button??? I think it is but not sure.

[treasurefiend]

I found this yesterday shortly after I found my first Large Cent. The LC is dateless but its a Matron LC. I am hunting in the woods here in Chicago out in the suburbs at a site that was rumored to have an old tavern that was torn down around the turn of the century. When I found the button it had a back with the little eye but when I took it home I soaked it over night and in the morning the back separated from the button so I dried it off and put some olive oil on it to try to stop the discintegration.

I know its an old Army cuff button but I am just wondering if it could be old enought to be from the Civil War era.

Somebody told me to look for writing on the back of the button but that is in worse shape than the front. Any info would be great. The first pix is what it looked like yesterday and the second pix is what it looks like today.

[tokens70]

Looks like a general service CW eagle button to me

[fortbball9]

Looks like a general service CW eagle button to me

I agree with tokens70,good ID.
nice CW Era Union button.

fortbball9

[Boilermaker27]

It sure looks like a general service button, but cuff button?

You need to place a nickle beside it so we can compare it to tell you what part of the uniform it came from. A regular uniform button is about the size of a nickle.

[treasurefiend]

Yes it about the size of a nickel. I was thinking its a cuff button or a pocket button because its small, I was in the USMC and the buttons that went down the center of our torso were a lot bigger. In the pix it's the top right item (sorry the pix is so dark). The other pix is of the LC that I found, its a Matron LC but I cannot get a date off of it, on the reverse it has a line under the EN in cents, the Braided LC's don't have that feature. Both the button and the LC are toasted but I never thought that I would find anything so old while MD'ng unless I took a trip down south. Thanks for the info guys.

[PBK]

Looks like a general service CW eagle button to me

It could also be from the postwar / Indians Wars era, however, as buttons like this were in use from 1854 to 1902, when they were replaced by the current general service "Great Seal" buttons.

[Boilermaker27]

It is definitely from the uniform, probably from tunic.

As for time period. That depends where you found it. If you found it in the West then it is probably Indian wars, if in the East probably civil war, but could go either way. I know all of my buttons are civil war because they come from civil war areas, I noticed you are from Chicago, if you found it in that area could still be civil war but no way to prove it. Either way, buttons are always nice finds. Friend of mine found eleven yesterday.

[treasurefiend]

It is definitely from the uniform, probably from tunic.

As for time period. That depends where you found it. If you found it in the West then it is probably Indian wars, if in the East probably civil war, but could go either way. I know all of my buttons are civil war because they come from civil war areas, I noticed you are from Chicago, if you found it in that area could still be civil war but no way to prove it. Either way, buttons are always nice finds. Friend of mine found eleven yesterday.

You know that's a good point. We have a few different roads in and around Chicago still to this day that are named "Indian Boundary", "Indian Trail", I remember hearing that they were the actually Indian boundaries and that they wouldn't want to get caught over the boundary.