Military Uniform Button Collection, ca. 1865
Watch
GUEST:
I brought in military buttons. They were in a attic, given to my mother from f, friends who used to take care of her when she was little. I've had them now about, I'd say, a good 25 years. I just keep them in a box.
APPRAISER:
What's the card for?
GUEST:
This card belongs to an actress or a performer, uh, Bessie Gillette. She was a performer with the Hammerstein Grand Opera Company in 1907.
APPRAISER:
Were the buttons hers?
GUEST:
They were not hers. Uh, story is that these belonged to her paramours, if you will.
APPRAISER:
(chuckling): Uh-oh.
GUEST:
(chuckling): I'm sure-- she was a performing artist, and I'm sure she had quite a bevy of young men coming to see her.
APPRAISER:
Bless her heart.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
We have a variety of uniform buttons, military uniform buttons. The first two are the artillery officer eagle "A" buttons.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
They have the eagle on the front, they have the "A" in the shield, and the "A" denotes the artillery branch of service. From the front, they look identical.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
What's cool about them is the back. We have the Horstmann of Philadelphia maker mark on the back.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Of this one. Which is a good early back mark. That's what you refer to the stamping on the back of the button as, is a back mark. They change as time progresses.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
The construction and the makers change. This one has a large-letter "Waterbury Button Co."
GUEST:
Right-- right, right.
APPRAISER:
...in Waterbury, Connecticut. One of the largest button makers. This particular style is post-Civil War, and to collectors, little details make big differences.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
This button, being Civil War, is about a $60 button.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
This button, being postwar, is about a $10 or $15 button.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
So it's four times more valuable being a Civil War button than a postwar button...
GUEST:
Right, right.
APPRAISER:
...with the same face.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
These two on this side...
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
...are pre- and postwar, as well.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This one is the National Guard of Pennsylvania.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
It has the "NG" at the bottom for National Guard, and it has the state seal of Pennsylvania.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
You always hear about somebody that wins the lottery.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
This button won the lottery.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah? (chuckles)
APPRAISER:
The postwar one is only worth about $15.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
$15, $20.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
This one is pre-war. It's for the State of Arkansas.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The northern company that made it, Horstmann & Allien, they were located in New York. They manufactured buttons and shipped them south, which wasn't very, uh, highly looked upon in that timeframe...
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
...which is the late 1850s, early 1860s.
GUEST:
Okay. Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
They shipped only a small quantity to Arkansas. Therefore, there's only a handful of ‘em in existence.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
You can get several of the states fairly commonly. You can find Virginias, you can find South Carolinas, you can find North Carolinas.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
Very few people have Arkansas.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
In a retail situation, that button would bring at least $5,000.
GUEST:
Really? Wow.
APPRAISER:
(chuckles)
GUEST:
(chuckles) That's incredible.
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