Help with age of Flat Button

[Tony Two-Cent]

My brother took me to a couple of rural farm houses yesterday. No exceptional finds, although I did find a one-piece flat button that I was excited about. I know you guys out east find these flat buttons all the time and you probably just throw them in your junk pile, but they are a rare find here in Illinois.

It is a one-piece button and the front is blank. The back has a sunburst pattern and says Treble Gilt. Can anyone give me a general idea of its age? I am hoping to date this farm site.

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I also found a brass or bronze stirrup. It is small so it must have been a child's stirrup. I thought it was pretty cool too. I have no idea of its age either.

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[Full Metal Digger]

That back mark is GORGEOUS Tony! Reminds me of paisley. Maybe Scottish in origin?? Also, You found a FREAKIN stirrup!! That is a great find! Definitely on my bucket list. I wonder how old it is? I bet Del will know! :) What is the little disk just above the stirrup? Another button? Best wishes and HH, Dave.

[Trooper Bri]

That's a sweet button Tony! If the back mark looks like that, imagine the front. They come in so many varieties. I love digging them, even the plain ones.

[Digger Don]

That's really a cool find Tony. Your right, most of the buttons we find here in Illinois say LEVIS on them.
That stirrup is another great find.

any idea what the white piece is? :thinkingabout:

[del]

Tony , these one piece buttons that have the plain fronts , about the size diameter of an indian to nickel are often referred as "coin" buttons or "flat" buttons . these were popular buttons from about 1810 to about 1840 , the bulk of them have just the very generic quality marks but yours is on the unusually nice fancy back mark . The designed "scroll" work is on the earlier time period maybe pre 1820. the stirrup is (for me anyway) more difficult to pin down the date , if I had to guess I'd say mid 1800's . both are very nice finds :cheering:

[aloldstuff]

Love that stirrup, still looking for one. The flat button is a great find with some age to it....:congrats:.

Would that button be in the date range of the farms?

[Tony Two-Cent]

That back mark is GORGEOUS Tony! Reminds me of paisley. Maybe Scottish in origin?? Also, You found a FREAKIN stirrup!! That is a great find! Definitely on my bucket list. I wonder how old it is? I bet Del will know! :) What is the little disk just above the stirrup? Another button? Best wishes and HH, Dave.

Thanks, Dave! Yes, I was very pleased with the stirrup as well. Odd that we didn't find a single old coin, but I was happy with the relics. The other round disk is plain on both sides.


That's a sweet button Tony! If the back mark looks like that, imagine the front. They come in so many varieties. I love digging them, even the plain ones.

Thanks, Brian! The button rang up like an Indian Head cent. Like I said, they are a rare find here in Illinois.


That's really a cool find Tony. Your right, most of the buttons we find here in Illinois say LEVIS on them.
That stirrup is another great find.

any idea what the white piece is? :thinkingabout:

My brother's father-in-law says it's a spark plug out of an old one-cylinder engine.


Tony , these one piece buttons that have the plain fronts , about the size diameter of an indian to nickel are often referred as "coin" buttons or "flat" buttons . these were popular buttons from about 1810 to about 1840 , the bulk of them have just the very generic quality marks but yours is on the unusually nice fancy back mark . The designed "scroll" work is on the earlier time period maybe pre 1820. the stirrup is (for me anyway) more difficult to pin down the date , if I had to guess I'd say mid 1800's . both are very nice finds :cheering:

Thanks, Dan! I knew you would have some good information! You are an encyclopedia of knowledge, my friend. I need to clean the button up better, there is still some dirt on it that will come off.


Love that stirrup, still looking for one. The flat button is a great find with some age to it....:congrats:.

Would that button be in the date range of the farms?

Thanks, Al! The farm house where we found the button and the stirrup dates from the late 1800s but my brother's family says there was an older house on the site before that.

[Lodge Scent]

Very nice! That stirrup is an exceptional find :congrats:

[MangoAve]

Nice button, Tony. To me the front looks like there was some detail there at one time as you can see the distinct rim and something below the rim in the top of the picture. So from your explanation, buffs ring higher for you? Buttons like that would be somewhere in the 60s range like a zincoln or a buckle on my machine. In general nickels read between 23 and 28 on my machine, but every once in a while I get a few that are higher like 70s.. due to the halo effect and has no bearing on age or how long it was in the ground. There's no completely unique range nickels read, to me, that will not fall into another range from time to time. Anyway, stirrup is cool too. Quite unique.

[OxShoeDrew]

Wow Tony, stirrups hardly ever show up! :shocked03: Dan nailed the date of that button (as always). I also agree with Jim that it looks like a rim and some designs were on that button. As Dan said, they almost never have marks on the front...which makes me guess it's rare. I've never seen a back mark like that. "No exceptional finds" I love unexceptional hunts like that :lol:

[Bell-Two]

Yes the white piece is a spark plug they used to come in two pieces I have found several which I give my brother who collects such things. Buttons are ephemeral for dating a site as they were recycled and reused off of older garments.

[Tony Two-Cent]

Buttons are ephemeral for dating a site as they were recycled and reused off of older garments.

That's a good point, Tony, and I strongly suspect that may be the case here.

I cleaned the button a little more tonight.
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[MangoAve]

Buttons are ephemeral for dating a site as they were recycled and reused off of older garments.

I wonder if that might be more specific to demographics/geographic location out your way. Here in NE you hear all the time about the shoddy mills and the buttons just getting dumped anywhere such as in the water by the mill site. The movement out west obvi they took the clothes they had and maybe re-used the buttons as you said. Here for NE I am sure it applies but almost pre-colonial or before cloth and button factories were established.