Antique Mall Button Haul

[moboticus]

First off, hello! I'm new around here and this is my first post, so please be kind if I'm running afoul of any community etiquette - I apologize in advance for my bumbling. I'll admit I feel like a bit of an interloper on these boards as I have never even touched a metal detector, as fascinating as it all seems. My treasure hunting is strictly of the 'garage sale' variety. I'm not even entirely sure that this is really a space that is meant for the likes of me, or if you all largely literally dig for treasure as well and this is just a place to discuss non-dug loot. If it is, I don't mean to be invading your space and please feel free to kindly show me the door.

Whew! Now that that's out of the way...


I've only recently begun button hounding, scouting, and collecting, so I would say my knowledge is spotty at best. My attempt at button research is actually what brought me here. With that said, based on my novice opinion, I think yesterday I scored pretty big. I was taking my niece to one of my favorite local antique malls and while she hunted for vintage clothes I hunted for buttons. That's how I came across a $2 dollar grab bag of buttons in a ziplock bag, marked simply as 'brass.' And while I am, as previously noted, not at all experienced at this but from what I think I've been able to figure out, these are pretty cool buttons. Absolutely worth 2 bucks I say.

 

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[jeff of pa]

nice buttons

 

[moboticus]

Thanks! If I wanted to know more, check to see if my suspicions about them are correct, and maybe even get a rough value for them do you think I should x-post to Buttons, or What's It Worth? Or should garage sale type finds stay over here in their lane? I don't want to step on toes, but I am also ravenously curious.

 

[SDIceMan]

Thanks! If I wanted to know more, check to see if my suspicions about them are correct, and maybe even get a rough value for them do you think I should x-post to Buttons, or What's It Worth? Or should garage sale type finds stay over here in their lane? I don't want to step on toes, but I am also ravenously curious.

Welcome aboard, and thanks for the interesting first post. I’d hold off on the x-posting for now until we see what kind of knowledge our regular posters in the Treasure Hunting Forum have locked, loaded and ready to share. A new thread rarely fails to catch our attention, and you can bet if a button specialist is on these threads, he or she will get you pointing in the right direction. Of course you may have to wait a few hours, as nighttime contributors on the forums are a skeleton crew at best.

 

[SDIceMan]

I’ll try to tackle the low hanging fruit first off and leave the harder ones for the more seasoned members with blackbelts in Google Fu when it comes to research.

G.A.R. Grand Army of the Republic Brass Uniform Button.
Marked on reverse by Goodwins Co.


N.W.M.P. Royal North West Mounted Police, Canadian Militia, Artillery Component. Brass Uniform Button. Victorian Crown over 3 Cannons, facing to left, with words CANADA MILITIA on the sides.
Maker, JOHN MARTIN & CO MONTREAL, on back.

WAR WITH SPAIN UNIFORM BUTTON. GOLD TONE 5/8" METAL BUTTON EMBOSSED WITH A CROSS WHICH HAS THE WORDS "PHILIPINE ISLANDS, CUBA, PUERTO RICO AND U.S.A. IN EACH WING OF THE CROSS. IN THE CENTER IS "SPANISH WAR VETERANS 1898 - 1902" AROUND TWO SOLDIERS WITH A WOMAN AT THEIR FEET.


Massachusetts button, state seal arm and sword.
Maker’s mark: D. Evans & Co.

 

[moboticus]

Welcome aboard, and thanks for the interesting first post. I’d hold off on the x-posting for now until we see what kind of knowledge our regular posters in the Treasure Hunting Forum have locked, loaded and ready to share. A new thread rarely fails to catch our attention, and you can bet if a button specialist is on these threads, he or she will get you pointing in the right direction. Of course, you may have to wait a few hours, as nighttime contributors on the forums are a skeleton crew at best.

Thank you for such a warm welcome! The nighttime posting makes sense. I'm such a night owl that sometimes I forget that not everyone spends all their wee morning hours on the internet. I will take this opportunity to practice patience. I come from a forum land where everything is x-posted everywhere, all the time - I wasn't sure how things worked in that regard around here. Thanks for cluing me in!

I’ll try to tackle the low hanging fruit first off and leave the harder ones for the more seasoned members with blackbelts in Google Fu when it comes to research.

Thank you! I had a feeling they were pretty old, and I had started to piece some stuff together but not much. It's nice to see I was headed in the right direction at least. I've been looking at a bunch of charts of button shanks, but I don't trust that I have a very good eye for it yet.

With that said, I think maybe this one could be a Golden Age gilt-brass? And that all those pretty, lacy, hollow ones are called cricket cages? I dunno, I'm probably embarrassingly wrong.

 

[randazzo1]

Welcome, welcome. A deal for $2.00 in my opinion. Just the fun of looking them up would be worth the two bucks.

If ur looking af resale value, then it’s like everything else - value is a ratio of rarity to condition.

Only buttons i’ve sold so far that I got more than a few bucks for were American Rev War and Civil
War or, Coco Channel.