rifleman's button???

[Sam Holden]

I just got my Minelab equinox a week ago and I've been using it since. We live on about 200 acres in upstate New York and on it we have the remains of an old homestead. I popped this button out of the ground and thought it was a token for a second. But as I looked closer I realized it was a button. From what I have found so far it seems to be a dragoon rifleman's button, except in all the pictures I see the back of the button has different words. From what I can see It appears to say range.gilt.fine.

Thank you in advance

-Sam

 

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[Tony in SC]

Welcome to Tnet. Sounds like a good find but we have no Pics?

 

[Sam Holden]

Just uploaded sorry and thank you

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your guess is (mostly) correct... your button is a US Army "Regiment of Riflemen" uniform button. Being made of a single piece of brass rather than a hollow 2-piece button, it is shown as button RF-15 in the button-book by Alphaeus H. Albert. Furthermore, being a 1-piece brass eagle-R button, combined with the fact that the only US Regiment of Riflemen was "discharged" in 1821 and not reformed until 1842, means your button was made sometime between 1815 and 1821. The US Army (and Navy) shifted from brass 1-piece buttons to 2-piece buttons in the mid-1830s... so your 1-piece eagle-R cannot be from the 1840s Regiment of Riflemen.

 

[Sam Holden]

cool!!!! thank you so much

 

[smokeythecat]

Cannonballguy is correct as usual. And the back would be orange gilt fine.

 

[Sam Holden]

thanks

 

[Tony in SC]

I was right!! Very good find!!

 

[Mudflap]

Neat find! Looks like in good shape too!

 

[Sam Holden]

thanks!!