old flat button. .

[Vino]

Any idea if its military and years?

 

[FreeBirdTim]

Very nice find! Looks like a sunflower design, so definitely not military. Probably pre-1820, based on the shank and lack of stamping on the back. I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot since I started finding flat buttons myself.

 

[Vino]

Very nice find! Looks like a sunflower design, so definitely not military. Probably pre-1820, based on the shank and lack of stamping on the back. I'm no expert, but I've learned a lot since I started finding flat buttons myself.

Thanks Tim..

 

[Ninjafossils]

Have fun!
http://www.daacs.org/wp-content/uploads/buttons.pdf

 

[Vino]

Have fun!
http://www.daacs.org/wp-content/uploads/buttons.pdf

Awesome info..thanks alot..

 

[NJ Garrett]

I have found a few buttons that are similar to this. Folks on this site told me that they were "tombac" buttons, circa late 1700's. Hope this helps!

 

[artyfacts]

Nice decorative flaty. Looks to be mid 1750 or earlier. I dont believe its a Tombac. Tombac's are usually a white metal, and in most cases hold up better then there copper comrades depending on the soil. Here is a button back type list for future finds, sorry there are no pictures but its helpful. Just right click and save to where you want... Arty

 

[CRUSADER]

Its a 1750-80s dandy button, maybe not the usual large one but you get small/medium ones as well. Civvy not military.

 

[Vino]

Nice decorative flaty. Looks to be mid 1750 or earlier. I dont believe its a Tombac. Tombac's are usually a white metal, and in most cases hold up better then there copper comrades depending on the soil. Here is a button back type list for future finds, sorry there are no pictures but its helpful. Just right click and save to where you want... Arty

Thanks arty...that should help in the future also...

 

[CRUSADER]

Thanks arty...that should help in the future also...

Its not a tombac.

 

[Vino]

Its not a tombac.

I know that much...tombac are white right?

 

[CRUSADER]

I know that much...tombac are white right?

They almost look silver/grey when they come out the ground.

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Confusion can come from the fact that archeologists (who write the books) incorrectly call certain silvery-grey metal buttons simply Tombac buttons. In actuality, there are two basic types of Tombac: the color of one type is golden, the other is silvery-grey (or "white").

In Metallurgy dictionaries, the metal named Tombac is a form of brass, containing approximately 85% copper with 15% zinc. Simple Tombac's color is "golden" (distinctly more "orange" than yellow brass). The other version of Tombac, which we button-diggers are familiar with although most do not know its correct name, is called White-Tombac, because it is classified among what metallurgists call the "White Metals." White-Tombac differs from ordinary Tombac in that it contains a small percentage of Arsenic (which is a metal) along with the usual copper and zinc. Adding Arsenic to the molten copper-&-zinc alloy changes its color to silvery-grey. The Arsenic in the alloy may be the explanation for why White-Tombac buttons often come out of two centuries of burial with little or none of the patina-encrustation we typically see on dug buttons.

During World War Two, some Canada 5-cent coins were made of simple Tombac. Here is a photo to show you its color. The other photo (a 1998 Romania 100 Lei coin) shows what White-Tombac looks like when it is highly polished.

The confusion could be remedied if the late-1700s buttons were called White-Tombac buttons instead Tombac buttons. The DAACS document's section on "Button Metal Color," it says (but doesn't "do" in the charts there)... "Tombac buttons should be [classified as] white, unless there is evidence of gilding (goldplating)." See section 1.15 in the DAACS document. http://www.daacs.org/wp-content/uploads/buttons.pdf

 

[Old Dude]

Very nice button, Vino! Lots of great info from the kind folks here on TNet as usual too!

 

[Vino]

Confusion can come from the fact that archeologists (who write the books) incorrectly call certain silvery-grey metal buttons simply Tombac buttons. In actuality, there are two basic types of Tombac: the color of one type is golden, the other is silvery-grey (or "white").

In Metallurgy dictionaries, the metal named Tombac is a form of brass, containing approximately 85% copper with 15% zinc. Simple Tombac's color is "golden" (distinctly more "orange" than yellow brass). The other version of Tombac, which we button-diggers are familiar with although most do not know its correct name, is called White-Tombac, because it is classified among what metallurgists call the "White Metals." White-Tombac differs from ordinary Tombac in that it contains a small percentage of Arsenic (which is a metal) along with the usual copper and zinc. Adding Arsenic to the molten copper-&-zinc alloy changes its color to silvery-grey. The Arsenic in the alloy may be the explanation for why White-Tombac buttons often come out of two centuries of burial with little or none of the patina-encrustation we typically see on dug buttons.

During World War Two, some Canada 5-cent coins were made of simple Tombac. Here is a photo to show you its color. The other photo (a 1998 Romania 100 Lei coin) shows what White-Tombac looks like when it is highly polished.

The confusion could be remedied if the late-1700s buttons were called White-Tombac buttons instead Tombac buttons. The DAACS document's section on "Button Metal Color," it says (but doesn't "do" in the charts there)... "Tombac buttons should be [classified as] white, unless there is evidence of gilding (goldplating)." See section 1.15 in the DAACS document. http://www.daacs.org/wp-content/uploads/buttons.pdf

Wow!!! Thanks for all that great info. .

 

[artyfacts]

Here is a site from the UK on when backmarks started. It is a good tool for judging if your flaty is early or late 18th century.

Button Makers and their backmarks - ukdfd