✅ SOLVED A little info on this Button, please?

[NVNutcase]

I found this button yesterday and I have given it an honest look on the Button sites and can't seem to find it. It's just slightly smaller than a quarter, ( which I thought it was until I picked it up out of the hole). Any info would certainly be appreciated. Even with the rusted back, I think it will go with my Special Buttons. Thanks for looking.

 

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[DCMatt]

This button is made to resemble the back of some US gold coins from the mid 19th C to the early 20th.

The steel (rusty) back generally means the button is newer - mid 20th C or newer.

Still a cool button, though.

DCMatt

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

I agree with DCMatt... it is a civilian-usage "Fashion" button imitation showing one side of some types of mid-to-late-1800s US coins. Note that just like those coins it has multiple tiny parallel ridges (called "denticles") encircling its edge.

I think it dates to the late-1800s or extremely early 1900s, because its iron back had a typical wire-loop for the sewing-thread, AND it has an indented ring encircling the loop-base's location. Starting in the 1910s, most 20th Century steelback buttons had a "self-shank" back instead of a loop, and the steelback tended to be plain (no indented rings or other decorations).

 

[tamrock]

Almost same looking eagle as this Taussig Pollack & Co. button from the old west days. Could have a tie to what it may be http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/today-s-finds/370669-taussig-pollack-co-san-francisco.html Thats a neat button IMO.

 

[NVNutcase]

Thanks a bunch you 3. I knew I could count on you for the proper info.

 

[CC Hunter]

NVNutcase,

Your button find features a design style that copies the reverse side of a U.S. quarter eagle ($5.00) gold coin, as also provided above by DCMatt and TheCannonballGuy. The gold coin design two-piece buttons apparently gained fashion popularity here in America and possibly abroad as well, in the second half of the 19th Century. Over the years I have noted and recovered a number of these attractive clothing buttons, seeing a variety of sizes from $1. gold coin on up to larger, and both the liberty head obverse design as well as the eagle reverse design. Brass faced two-piece buttons with tinned or japanned backs of steel, were in fact quite common on many styles of 19th Century buttons, even dating to the 1840's and 1850's for some designs. These gold coin style two-piece buttons appear to have come into fashion around the time of the American Civil War, or shortly thereafter. Recovered examples will turn up with greater frequency in context with 1870's coins and artifacts, with a decline in prevalence as the Turn-of-the-Century approaches. The high quality die stamping with sharp detail is something that we may note as well, as being a good indication of 19th Century production. By the 20th Century, changes in manufacturing and cost cutting of materials, generally lead to inferior quality and detail as is evident in most buttons of the period. Later period buttons bearing coin style designs, are more often seen to be European type coins or similar. The punched self shank as described by The CannonballGuy, rather than the wire loop shank, is also a good indication of more modern manufacturing techniques.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/w...-type-i-gold-dollar-coin-any-history-age.html


The link provided by tamrock, to an earlier discussion involving the circular brass stamped disk featuring an upright eagle design surrounded by the advertising company of Taussig, Pollack & Co., is in fact the center portion of a two-piece Tongue & Wreath buckle. The buckle dates to around the 1852-1855 period. The company had offices and various partnerships affiliated with William Taussig and associates in New York and San Francisco during the 1850's. The upright spread wing eagle with lettering encircling is indeed rather similar on the button posted at the beginning of this thread, compared to the center design on Taussig, Pollack & Co. and a couple other company marked T&W buckles of the period. However, there are no clothing buttons ever known to have been produced for or by Taussig nor any of the companies bearing his name and partnerships.

CC Hunter

 

[NVNutcase]

Thanks for all of the additional info. This button seems to fit in with all of the other items around this particular area, when it comes to Time Frame. All of the coins have had 1860s dates.

 

[Ironman!]

NVNutcase,

Nice find! I just thought that I would add my thoughts to this button as well. I have found the exact same button that you have found and other coin buttons. They all were gold plated with a tin back. As you can see from the examples I attached to this reply, they look like they were made to look like a coin. So you can just imagine the excitement that is had when digging one of these up with the gold plate still attached! Every one of them were found out of early to late 1870's sites. The sites were short lived which helps narrow down the time frame of most of what I find. Keep up the good finds!!

IM

Also, out of my early 1870 sites it is common to find 1850's & 1860's coins.

 

[NVNutcase]

Very Nice buttons, Ironman! Too bad they didn't make these out of the same material, front and back.