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Excavated Federal State Seal and Service Buttons- Mostly


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manifestdestiny

Hey y'all,

       I've been organizing my collection recently, and just wanted to share my federal buttons (and a few Confederate State Seals as well). All are excavated and all have their shanks, and I'd be more than happy to post them.

        I have yet to find a New Jersey State Seal in similar condition to the ones in the picture..or really at all (one day, I'll round out this collection). The Pennsylvania State Seal was extremely difficult to find as well.

 

        I've also found Federal Dragoon buttons with existing gilt difficult to find. I know that designation was on its way out by the time the war came, but  Mexican American War era federal service buttons are often found with much of their gilt remaining. I know they are out there, but it makes me wonder if they were somehow made differently than buttons associated with other branches.

 

   Anyway, I just wanted to share these with y'all. I know the interest in Civil War buttons is most often related to those produced by the Confederacy, and I figured this would be a good change of pace.

IMG_0605.jpg.e4d9250fece15785dbb7f275a525ab53.jpgIMG_0607.jpg.836af97ded8aaea8aaef293f40c0852e.jpg

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skypilot6670

Hello Manifestdestiny  , Those are some beautiful buttons. My compliments , I love the way the wear and patina makes the gold highlight the buttons. I always liked the New Hampshire buttons the most.  Thanks you very much  for posting .    Fraternally Yours Mike

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USCapturephotos

Thanks for sharing your collection! I love digging Civil War buttons as well as looking for them in button jars at the flea markets. That coat size Vermont is similar to the first state seal button I ever dug.

Paul

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manifestdestiny

I have always been partial to the Rhode Island and New Hampshire seals as well.

 

Paul,

      You must have been thrilled to find a Vermont seal that early on in your metal detecting days. Those aren't easy to find where I'm at all, and they are awesome buttons.

 

I always find it interesting that some buttons are more prevalent than others. Location certainly plays a factor and some are more common in other places than others, but that doesn't really tell the whole story I guess. I mentioned that dug New Jersey seals are nearly impossible to find, but that doesn't explain why a Rhode Island seal is far more prevalent than a Pennsylvania Seal and so forth especially considering the populations of those states before the war. I'll have to pull out some of my reference books to pull the numbers on what was actually produced in that regard.

 

I also love the fact that these state seals help answers the questions of who and when when investigating historic locations. To think that our federal system and the system of state government inadvertently gave archeologists/collectors traceable/state specific artifacts is one of the most interesting aspects of Civil War Collecting. 

 

  

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