Buttons - Am I wrong to avoid collecting?

[Keiri]

So many times I've read horrible articles about soldiers being dug up just so the grave robbers could steal their uniform buttons. I'm afraid to collect them because I feel like if I did, I might be contributing to these reprehensible people doing that. But they are intriguing, and I wouldn't mind owning a LEGIT one. What do you folks think?

 

[Legion Para]

Are you interested in non dug or dug buttons? Union or Confederate? Most dug buttons are not excavated from graves.

 

[Keiri]

I guess I should stick to non dug buttons, because then I can be sure they weren't lifted from a deceased soldier.

 

[Legion Para]

Click on the links below and then give us some idea of the buttons which interest you.

 

[UCVRelics]

Not all dug buttons came from graves. CW camp sites produced many buttons as they were easy to lose and plentiful. Each uniform had at least 9. The main thing with collecting CW buttons is the back-mark, which tells the tale of the maker and time period of the button. Collecting CW buttons is the largest collectable of the war. Below is just a small sampling of CS buttons I have found in the camp I digging in now and NO bones were found.

 

[Keiri]

Yes, but you dug them yourself... I would trust those of course, if I dug them myself. I worry more about unscrupulous traders.

 

[AndyHall]

As far as unscrupulous traders go, I suspect you would be more likely to run into fake artifacts being passed off as original.That seems to come up quite a bit.

 

[Mrs. V]

Ah, metal buttons. They do have a way of cutting through their threads on a regular basis. Even when you use button thread!

 

[UCVRelics]

I worry more about unscrupulous traders.

Buttons are one of the hardest to fake as the back-mark tells the tale. Just get either or both of the books below an you can't go wrong. Research Research Research.

 

[redbob]

I would think that as a body deteriorated, the materials coming out of the body(non embalmed) would cause metal of most any kind to deteriorate. A number of years ago, there was an article in North South Trader about what the liquids from a body would do to belt buckles (especially the lead backing) and I would think that buttons would fit in that same category. Also, I would think that while Civil War gravesites are still being occasionally found;that they are not being found in any great numbers. If you can do so with a clear conscience, collect your buttons; but beware as any collector can tell you, it becomes an itch that is hard to get rid of.

 

[Keiri]

I was referring to sick stuff like this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...diers-child-dug-spilled-Georgia-cemetery.html

 

[redbob]

I was referring to sick stuff like this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...diers-child-dug-spilled-Georgia-cemetery.html

The sad truth is that cemeteries and graves are being violated all over the country/world, sometimes for plunder, sometimes for some type of religious ritual and sometimes just for fact that there are some very sick people out there. These lowlife creatures would probably like nothing better than to know that they are causing pain to good people and preventing someone like you from following an interest that they are interested in. If we give in to creatures like these, then they have won and we are the lesser people because of it.

 

[Keiri]

The sad truth is that cemeteries and graves are being violated all over the country/world, sometimes for plunder, sometimes for some type of religious ritual and sometimes just for fact that there are some very sick people out there. These lowlife creatures would probably like nothing better than to know that they are causing pain to good people and preventing someone like you from following an interest that they are interested in. If we give in to creatures like these, then they have won and we are the lesser people because of it.

You've got a real point there. I hadn't thought of it.

 

[Badgercwcollector]

Any other collecting interest that you have ?

 

[Thomasgat]

Not all dug buttons came from graves. CW camp sites produced many buttons as they were easy to lose and plentiful. Each uniform had at least 9. The main thing with collecting CW buttons is the back-mark, which tells the tale of the maker and time period of the button. Collecting CW buttons is the largest collectable of the war. Below is just a small sampling of CS buttons I have found in the camp I digging in now and NO bones were found.
View attachment 191783

Awesome collection!

 

[redbob]

Awesome collection!

That one picture does not do his collection justice, @ucvrelics.com is a digger/collector of the first degree.

 

[mofederal]

There are some very pricey buttons out there. Missouri State Seal buttons from the war are very expensive. Rare too. I have seen a few of them. A friend of mine found quite a few of them years ago. Ten large buttons and 6 cuff sized buttons. They were at a flea market and sold as Indian Wars buttons. They were not. Buttons are fine, but hard to tell the difference between dug ones, which are fine, and those from any other source. I do understand your concern, and all I can say is stick to non dug or educate yourself more on dug buttons. At least we do not have the problems so rife in Eastern Europe and other places where relic hunting is somewhat different, and less ethical.

 

[Badgercwcollector]

I would love to go digging one day ( bucket list ) just to find 1 bullet that's it 1 bullet. Its hard to find bullets in Wisconsin lol

 

[UCVRelics]

That one picture does not do his collection justice, @ucvrelics.com is a digger/collector of the first degree.

Thanks @redbob but I'm just a poor ole country boy who loves to dig in the dirt and have just happen to find a few things over the last 45 years.

As far a CS State buttons go the rarest are below with the rarest one first. Some of these can go into the thousands of dollars as they were not that many made and not many survived.
Arkansas
Florida
Kentucky
Tennessee
Missouri

The rarest one I have ever found was this button that was from the first button order for the University of Alabama.

 

[Banjo Pete]

Is grave robbery for buttons still an issue today ? That is not a facetious question.

Just seems to me that with security cameras and cell phones nearly everywhere and the forensic science we have now it would be a rather risky proposition to would-be perpetrators for the percieved rewards... Well, at least any with brains or a conscience...