Whst is it and how old

[nuggetnoggin]

old button i found at a house built in 1775, it says best quality on back and the mystery silver found at the same colonial rock house

 

[dg39]

I think the mystery silver thing is the top to an ornamental hat or hair pin.
The button, I will leave to the button experts.
DG

Here is a close exhample. Yours is much more ornate and once was a beatufiul pin. Seldom seen of that quality.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-HAT-PIN...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item255bd61c53

 

[Breezie]

From what I can see in pics, it looks to be a flat button; sometimes called a coin button. They were used before the Civil War, and some even used by the 'good ole boys' from the South on their uniforms, since we were too poor to do much better.

I think dg39 is spot on about the other item being the head of a decorative pin. It looks to be Victorian, and some of these pins would open to hold sachet since people during that times didn't bath but once or twice a year. Those pins were worn at the neck on a scarf, on a dress, or on a hat.

Nice finds, Breezie