70 buttons and counting in 1 small field
 

Hi folks I thought I'd share a few pics of the buttons I retrieved from a field on Saturday iv got 70 and there's lots more to come they cover 7 different regiments.this is just a random country field in County fermanagh which makes u wonder how they got there

Wow what a find !!!!!
Andy

A veritable treasure trove - well done that man...:)

Possibly residue from the shoddy industry in the locality!

GTB

Good gracious, Victorian and the 27th are particularly nice.

That would be my guess. Old clothes (uniforms in this case) used as fertiliser! A common practice years ago. The only other possibility would be a major military camp but I think there are too many buttons for that!

Whatever the cause a very nice haul, well done. But for your efforts these could have been lost for ever.

Roger

These buttons seem to cover a wide time span as the pewter 31st buttons have a nutting back mark and the 27th have a hebbert back mark which I beleive are early while the domed 2 piece ones seem victorian?? Was there such a thing as army surplus maybe doling old uniforms out during famine times in ireland and maybe removing buttons only a thought

Here more pics from this field

Can you provide a view of the back of the '31' numeral, please. And also a close-up of the Innisk Fusiliers badge?

Thanks

GTB

Impressive haul and well done for being so assiduously in your searching!

Wd be interesting to know whether these can be further cleaned up? Polished even?

W

This is possible but as GTB mentioned I think the 'shoddy' explanation is the most likely.

From Wikipedia - "Shoddy is the name given to an inferior woollen yarn made by shredding scraps of woollen rags into fibres, grinding them and then mixing them with small amounts of new wool. The object was to manufacture a cheap cloth which could be made into products and clothes ....... The collection of the rags for this process started in streets all over Britain by rag dealers or rag and bone men as they became more commonly known. The rags were sorted, and any seams, or parts of the rag not suitable, were left to rot and then sold onto to farmers to manure crops.".

You either have the location of an old shoddy factory (or its dump perhaps) or a field where the residue was used as manure. A lot of old livery buttons have been found in places such as the hop farms in Kent where old uniforms were used in this way for years. It may seem odd to us but it was common practice to leave buttons on the uniforms when they were scrapped in this way.

Roger

I doubt that they should be subjected to polishing. Pewter has a tendeny to flake. Also consider the length of time that these artefacts have lain in the ground.

I would definitely clean them by removing the surface soil/dirt/crud but being careful to preserve the patina. This has a twofold benefit - it is proof of age, as well as being a protective coating to the underlying metal (a preservative so to say, which consolidates the item). I have stripped patina from degraded buttons and coins and then polished them. The results showed up a rough pitted surface which looked better when untouched.
Just my opinion

GTB

I would also consider researching the history of the locale, as well as the posting of the various Regiments whose buttons were found. It could well point to the existence of a camp

GTB

Cheers for the info gtb I'll send u pics of the back when I get home

I think a lot of collectors would pay a big amount for that 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons​