Flea Market Buttons

[Goldmanford]

I found these two buttons in a box of misc. junk at a NC flea market. All the junk appeared to be dug items ranging from scrap rusted metal to buttons and tokens. I picked these two buttons out for $2 each and asked the guy where they came from. He said a friend metal detected and gave him junk to sell.

One button appears to be an early Naval button with the eagle. The back is marked "Treble Gilt Stand Coluor". The other matches the size of SC cadet buttons I've seen online. It is definitely SC in origin and the backmark is "Henry V Allien Co NY".

Any information that anyone could give would be appreciated. Age? Civil war? Value?

I think $4 was a decent price to pay for both!

(Sorry for the image of the SC button, it's a little fuzzy)

[americancivilwarrelics]

The top appears to be an 1812 Navy button but definitely pre 1840. The bottom is a S.C. cadet button. The only way to tell if it is Civil War or not is by the backmark.

[Goldmanford]

The top appears to be an 1812 Navy button but definitely pre 1840. The bottom is a S.C. cadet button. The only way to tell if it is Civil War or not is by the backmark.

The backmark of the SC button is "Henry V Allien Co NY". I tried searching online but had little luck. Would that backmark place it during the Civil War?

[montepollock]

The CS button is not likely CW made,it is made in NY,so manufacturer would have been charged with treason.
However before secession future Confederate states were scrambling to equip armies from whatever supplier before the war made it difficult.
still Believe it to be Post war,though.
Id love to be proven wrong on this..
HH,Mont

[americancivilwarrelics]

Your S.C. button is post war. Henry Allien & Co. were in business from 1877-1948. Still a neat button. Montepollock is right. Most northern manufacturers didn't mark the buttons they sold to the south because it would have been treason. However, most Southern buttons that are marked with Northern backs (which is a very high number) were produced before the war for the state militias. If you collect South Carolina buttons you will notice that they had a lot of different makers before the war. South Carolina was probably the largest military hub in the South.

[Goldmanford]

Thanks for the informative posts. I appreciate ya'lls help. Was $2 each a pretty good deal? I wasted a couple bucks on many other things that were not nearly as interesting.

[ivan salis]

VERY WORTH WHILE IF YOUR NOT HAPPY i'LL GIVE YOU $5 FOR THE PAIR OF EM. PLUS POSTAGE.

[kuger]

I would give you $20 for the first one in a heart beat!!

[Nooberz]

Sweet buttons!!

[PinFire]

Those are some great buttons! You just never know what you will find at a flea market. I once bought an original Enfield bullet mold at a flea market for $10 and sold it a few months later for $700!! That stuff is out there, you just have to have the eye to find it. Good Job!