Button?

[Garabaldi]

Could this be a button with the back missing? If so is it old?

 

[BuckleBoy]

It's a small "ball button." I would say early 1800s. The larger ones are mistakenly called "Zouave buttons", but they are occasionally found on CW campsites.

All are civilian.



Regards,



Buckles

 

[Garabaldi]

Buckleboy,
Check out this site. About half way down you will see a similar button as mine. They are calling it a "Zouave ball button 1700-1860's Misc. Buttons". Mine is 14mm just like the one on the site. So you think it could be 1700's?

 

[johnnyi]

I agree with Buckles that this one is probably civilian. Even with backmarks, it is sometimes hard or in other cases impossible to know which were the issued General Staff buttons (1810-1832) , and which ones were civilian. Because of this, as Buckles says, they ofen get bunched into the civilian category, kind of like the tombacs. Your's seems to be about 18mm which could put it in the ballpark for a General Staff, except that it has no backmark that is visible, and so would be impossible to positively identify.

 

[Garabaldi]

Interesting, can we give a higher probability that thisis military seing how I have found these other buttons?
Is the Tombac button I found military?

 

[BuckleBoy]

The other military items you found are from the completely wrong era (20th c.) to be associated with your ball button.

I found four ball buttons at a site last week that I figure dated no later than about 1830. No marked military buttons were found there. (It was a homestead site.)


Your button is civilian unless it was found at a campsite--and even then it still could be civilian. Likewise I could never claim that my flat buttons were Military unless they were found in a military camp. And even then, it could be a wide range on the date and the type of occupation at the site.


For Example, one can see all kinds of "flower buttons" and suspender clips online listed as "Civil War Finds." That is the same sort of deal. I feel Absolutely Certain that few of those flower buttons advertised online were dug in CW camps. (That's the way to charge $25 for a $2 button.)



Best Wishes,



Buckles

 

[johnnyi]

"The other military items you found are from the completely wrong era (20th c.) to be associated with your ball button.
I found four ball buttons at a site last week that I figure dated no later than about 1830. No marked military buttons were found there. (It was a homestead site.)
Your button is civilian unless it was found at a campsite--and even then it still could be civilian. Likewise I could never claim that my flat buttons were Military unless they were found in a military camp. And even then, it could be a wide range on the date and the type of occupation at the site.
For Example, one can see all kinds of "flower buttons" and suspender clips online listed as "Civil War Finds." That is the same sort of deal. I feel Absolutely Certain that few of those flower buttons advertised online were dug in CW camps. (That's the way to charge $25 for a $2 button.)"


I agree with all Buckleboy has said. It is still important to check your backmarks of all spherical buttons (all your buttons for that matter) on the very rare chance you might have found a plain spherical button backmarked "For West Point / Spies", in which case you would have a very scarce button issued specifically for West point Cadets in the 1810-20's period.

 

[Garabaldi]

Wow, thank you very much for the explanations Buckleboy and Johnnyi. Makes sense. I would never want to call an artifact something that it isn't.