Smith & Hopkins flat button

[cosmic]

Found this between two large tree roots today.. I believe it's from the 1830-1840's still has a lot of gold gilting on the front and the shank is intact.. If you know anything about it please let me know.. After finding a pocketfull of junk I got a jumpy one at a base of a large tree... Digging iffy signals with the 12x15 on my Etrac paid off..

 

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[HutSiteDigger]

Smith & Hopkins was a rare button maker that worked out of Connecticut during the 1830's-1860's! Rare meaning not much info on company and not many buttons found with Smith & Hopkins! Great find!

Read Creskols info below!

 

[fyrffytr1]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but, wouldn't this button be better described as a two piece button? And, being a two piece wouldn't it date to the 1840's at the earliest? I ask this because I am trying to learn and Y'all are the best teachers a guy could want. I think it is a very nice find and in very good condition.

 

[creskol]

If you do a google search for: "Smith & Hopkins" button manufacturer ... you will pull up quite a few references. Below is one of them.


History of New Haven County, Connecticut - Google Books

 

[cosmic]

one piece flat button.. Two piece have a seperate front and back pressed together..

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Fyrfftyr1 is correct, it is a 2-piece flatbutton. That type is rare because they were only manufactured for a short period of time, approximately the late-1820s through 1830s. They are so rare that many diggers have never seen one... and thus can be excused for thinking that type doesn't exist. They were made because people wanted something "fancier" than the 1-piece buttons, and the first attempt at making "ornate" 2-piece buttons was to crimp a fancy thin stamped-brass front onto an ordinary flatbutton. A famous example of the 2-piece type of flatbutton is SC-3 in the Albert button-book, a South Carolina State Seal button, which has the 1827-40 "JML & WH Scovill" backmark. Albert says specifically that it is a "2-piece flat" button.

 

[Dug]

A famous example of the 2-piece type of flatbutton is SC-3 in the Albert button-book, a South Carolina State Seal button, which has the 1827-40 "JML & WH Scovill" backmark. Albert says specifically that it is a "2-piece flat" button.

Hey, I resemble that remark! IE my Avatar.

 

[Dug]

Here is a backside pic of the button CannonBallGuy referred to. Note the defining line near the rim where you can clearly see the seperation point of the two pieces.

 

[cosmic]

My mistake it is a two piece..