VA. Young Smith &CO button

[NC field hunter]

I was out today in a tobacco field looking for Native American artifacts and came across a civil war button. I live in NC. On the VA. Line. The pics make the logo on the front of the button tough to see, but I'm certain it's a VA. Button. It is a guy with a staff holding his foot on another guy. Can any of you guys shed a little light on this piece for me? Is it silver coated, or coated at all? I have soaked this piece in water, but really do not know what I should do next, as far as cleaning goes. I wouldn't be so hesitant to clean this if I knew if it were coated or not. Thanks for any help!!

 

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[NC field hunter]

NC Hunter.. Find a Civil War show to go to and bring the button with you and ask a few dealers on the way to clean it. I can give you a phone number to Nick Harris of "Regimental Headquarters" a Civil War shop in Stafford,Virginia that is been around 30 years 540-371-3309 and you can ask his advice on cleaning it, if you are paranoid about the ammonia soap or other ways of cleaning. Good luck!

I went and got the lemon ammonia soap. I do not doubt your info. I do doubt my technique. I thank you for the number. You have done a lot to help me. That means the world to me.

 

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[goldnrelics]

That's a wicked find congratulations

 

[NC field hunter]

That's a wicked find congratulations

Thank you !!!

 

[rovnrbl53]

NC - that's a really nice find. I'm no expert but I'll throw my $0.02 in there. I wouldn't do anything more with this button. It looks like most of the silver gilt is already off it. Further cleaning with ammonia soap, water, vinegar, lemon juice will probably just mess it up. The green is tarnish that is basically erosion as brass ages (this button was probably silver plated brass). Any additional soaking may take off the letters. Another potential problem with soaking - that button looks to be a two piece button which means the top was pressed in a die and mated to the bottom half. The button loop actually went into the button and was probably attached to a paper spacer. If your button has any pinholes or openings, by soaking, you're going to allow the liquied to get inside. Eventually this liquid will corrode the button from the inside out - you'll either get pin holes, larger holes or the button will crumble. If you want to clean some of the corrosion or dirt on the back, try a wooden toothpick...just be careful...a needle with a magnifying glass may work but use a scraping motion .....you don't want to punch through the button. If you leave some of the dirt on there it will actually highlight the lettering in back and some of the features in front. One final thing, when handling buttons put your fingers on the outer edges not on the top and bottom...if it's a fragile two piece, you could collapse the button. If you find another with gold or silver gilt, make a mixture of 50/50 lemon juice and water, use a q tip to gently brush the mixture on the top of the button....just leave on for 30 seconds or so....use a clean q tip to brush off with water...you can brush on baking soda to make sure you neutralize the lemon juice then clean that with water on the qtip....I would say soaking is a no/no....just some thoughts...if you put that in a case, try to not have any pressure on the button itself.

 

[NC field hunter]

NC - that's a really nice find. I'm no expert but I'll throw my $0.02 in there. I wouldn't do anything more with this button. It looks like most of the silver gilt is already off it. Further cleaning with ammonia soap, water, vinegar, lemon juice will probably just mess it up. The green is tarnish that is basically erosion as brass ages (this button was probably silver plated brass). Any additional soaking may take off the letters. Another potential problem with soaking - that button looks to be a two piece button which means the top was pressed in a die and mated to the bottom half. The button loop actually went into the button and was probably attached to a paper spacer. If your button has any pinholes or openings, by soaking, you're going to allow the liquied to get inside. Eventually this liquid will corrode the button from the inside out - you'll either get pin holes, larger holes or the button will crumble. If you want to clean some of the corrosion or dirt on the back, try a wooden toothpick...just be careful...a needle with a magnifying glass may work but use a scraping motion .....you don't want to punch through the button. If you leave some of the dirt on there it will actually highlight the lettering in back and some of the features in front. One final thing, when handling buttons put your fingers on the outer edges not on the top and bottom...if it's a fragile two piece, you could collapse the button. If you find another with gold or silver gilt, make a mixture of 50/50 lemon juice and water, use a q tip to gently brush the mixture on the top of the button....just leave on for 30 seconds or so....use a clean q tip to brush off with water...you can brush on baking soda to make sure you neutralize the lemon juice then clean that with water on the qtip....I would say soaking is a no/no....just some thoughts...if you put that in a case, try to not have any pressure on the button itself.

Thank you for the advice. The button is pretty study. Like you said, the lettering is what I'm worried about. It's old. I guess it looks better than it should, so I'm not going to "fix it till its broke" . I'm not sure I'd even let an expert clean it any more. As you said, brass and silver both tarnish green. I'm not sure if the green is from the brass or silver. I'm thinking its the silver because it seems like a venire with a dull copper like color under it. I can pretty well see than scraping the green will leave little to no detail. I'm happy with it. Thanks again for Checking it out!!