SOLVED 1820's 13 star eagle and shield 1 piece button, state militia

[Jaichim24]

I found this 1 piece button not 7 feet from the foundation of a house built in 1723. It cleaned up really nicely. I believe it is either for militia or regiment. Does anyone know anything about the back mark? Can this definately be from the revolutionary war? If not, what war/era/date range could it be from. Thanks in advance for your input.

[Jaichim24]

haha, hey Ironpatch, how come when I google image search "revolutionary war eagle button" your avatar is one of the first 20 images??

[TheCannonballGuy]

Jaichim24 wrote:
> I believe it is either for militia or regiment.

It is an American State Militia button. The specific state this particular design was manufactured for is not known, but it was most probably a northeastern state, because the New York State Militia's flat 1-piece button from the same time-period also has a very similar eagle, 7 stars above and 6 stars below, all inside the same oval as on your button. (See button NY-10 in the Albert button-book.)

> Does anyone know anything about the back mark?

Yours and the very-similar NY Militia button was manufactured by Thomas Mann in Birmingham, England. Your button's backmark is one of the typical "Quality-statement" backmarks commonly seen on British-made 1-piece buttons. Your backmark's use of the word "plated" always meant silver plating (not gold, which was described as "gilt").

> Can this definately be from the revolutionary war? If not, what war/era/date range could it be from?

Not from the Revolutionary War. It is from the 1820s.

Info-sources: The various books on buttons by Tice, Albert, and McGuinn-&-Bazelon.

[Jaichim24]

Wow, thanks for the detailed information, it is much appreciated. After I posted this, some google searching had me finding similar buttons from the war of 1812, so I had a feeling it wasn't Rev war. It's definately NE in origin as it was found in CT. I'll consider this one solved. Thanks again.