Odd Eagle Button.

[Digger_O'Dell]

That's quite the unusual button! Some of the oddities being the filled back, 12 start and circle orientation over the eagle, the feathers not attached to anything, the hooked beak and crest on the eagle's head, and finally the arrows pointing down as opposed to the opposite on every other example of military button having arrows.

I did do some extensive searching on the net and compared literally hundreds of buttons from the start of 2 piece buttons through WW1 era and there is nothing like it to be found. But there are very many similarities to CW era buttons from both sides of the war as well as a mix of styles from various manufacturers including the odd looking head, height of the wings, profile of the neck, etc. But none actually match any particular style. The Eagle itself looks to be a mix of eras from the early to mid 19th century.

All put together leads me to think it's an oddball button probably confederate made by an amateur maker who wasn't really up on details but instead tried to copy similar variations which would explain the poor artistry and upside down arrows. The 12 stars is unusual as there were 11 states in the confederacy, although many thought that there were actually 13 states, so maybe the maker also got that wrong? As for the filled back, it could be a repair, but as there is an eyelet still there my guess is it was made that way an it would probably be easier than making a 2 piece, possible using lead from a bullet or other available source.

So anyway, that's my 2 cent's worth of guesswork. I would suggest contacting some of the CW museums and get opinions of the experts there. I would probably start with Shiloh Relics or the National Civil War Museum and go from there. It's possible you might have a very rare or unique historical item, and I would be very interested to know what you find. Keep us updated on your research!

[fyrffytr1]

Thanks for the help. I will contact Shiloh relics first chance I get and will let you know what I find out. As for the back, it is not filled, it is a tin back. Sorry for the poor picture. I will try to get a better one asap. I have posted it on several sites and no one has been able to positively identify it.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Thanks for the help. I will contact Shiloh relics first chance I get and will let you know what I find out. As for the back, it is not filled, it is a tin back. Sorry for the poor picture. I will try to get a better one asap. I have posted it on several sites and no one has been able to positively identify it.

Yes, I did see at least one other post you made at another site while searching as I did an image search. The image search did turn up quite a few similarities, but as I stated above yours seems to be a loose mishmash of many styles, manufacturers, and eras.

Shiloh may be a big help as they are a dealer in the general area (I think?) where it was found so chances are that they have seen it before as long as it isn't unique or extremely rare. The museum on the other hand I can only guess at their response. They may not respond at all to inquiries, or they may even want to have it in hand to try and research and document it. I have heard from many detectorists that museum curators helped them ID finds, while my local museum won't even acknowledge receiving an E-mail or take any calls.

As for the button having a tin back, that's unusual at best. I haven't seen tin backs until well after the CW era when manufacturers started looking to cheapen up costs. But the real oddity is the tin back and brass eyelet. That's a real head scratcher! Seems the metal work is top notch while the art work itself much less to. But what really bothers me are the upside down arrows again making me lean towards being confederate.