Button ID Please

[buddyb]

At first I thought this button was from England, but from the very few leters that I can read, I think it may be German. The animals on either side appear to be dogs rather than lions, but again it is very hard to tell. It is about the size of a US Nickel. My hunting buddy found it in the same area where I had previously found some Nazi medals.
Thanks for looking.

[Bigcypresshunter]

They are lions with crowns with a lion rampant in the center. The ribbon scroll is probably Latin. This button is a common civilian fashion blazer button. This type of 2 piece button cannot be older than approx 1830 but is most likely 20th century. The backside may help date it.

[buddyb]

Wow! Bigcypresshunter, I am impressed. I put this out here for a friend and told him that there probably wasn't enough detail to be identified. I cleaned it for him and I couldn't see anything on the back. Would this button typically be from a US blazer or something European?
Thanks a bunch for your ID.

[Bigcypresshunter]

Its a US fashion button but maybe Europe as well. http://www.waterburybutton.com/cart/...dproduct=29751

[Bigcypresshunter]

It may also be a career uniform button... hotel worker maybe. http://www.waterburybutton.com/cart/...dproduct=21892

[buddyb]

With all the thousands of buttons out there, I would like some education on how you would come up with an ID. I would probably never try search parameters that would narrow down the results enough.

[TheCannonballGuy]

Buddyb, for button collectors and diggers, button-ID is divided into two basic categories: Military buttons and Civilian buttons.

The two most-extensive books on American Military buttons:
"Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons: Bicentennial Edition" (with Supplement) by Alphaeus H. Albert. 511 pages. It covers US (and Confederate) militray buttons from 1776 through 1976. Cost is about $39 to $45.
"Uniform Buttons of the United States 1776-1865" by Warren K. Tice. 519 pages. Published in 1997, which is 21 years after the final version of the Albert book, Mr. Tice's book therefore contains two decades of additional research and information, including many specimens which do not appear in the Albert book. Cost is about $60 to $70.

A number of much-smaller books have been published which show and identify various types of Civilian buttons, from various eras of history. I do not own any of those, so I rely on a very educational internet website: the United Kingdom Detectors Finds database. Its section on buttons is fairly extensive. http://www.ukdfd.co.uk/

As indicated by BigCypressHunter's previous reply in this discussion-thread, the website of the Waterbury Button Company is very useful for both Military and Civilian button-identification. www.waterburybutton.com

For dating a button by the Maker's-Mark on its back (commonly called a "backmark"), the very best book is "American Military Button Makers and Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates" by William F. McGuinn and Bruce S. Bazelon. 189 pages. Despite the title, it actually also covers makers & dealers of Civilian buttons. It's especially useful for its photo-pages showing subtle changes in the backmarks of major button-manufacturers who were in business for many decades, or even more than a century, such as the Scovill Manufacturing Company/Waterbury Button Company. Cost is about $25 to $29.

[Bigcypresshunter]

Can we see a picture of the back or is it rusted away?