Money in BRASS (Military-Buttons)

[Kev in Deva]

Hallo Gents

I was sent a page from the F.T. with information regarding the Military Button Collector, I think you might find it of interest:

Polish Up Your Investing Skills.

By Money Maverick. In the FT of March 31 / April 1 2007

Military Buttons:

?Some items in Dixon Pickup?s collection are now worth many times what he paid for them,? writes Natalie Graham.

Specialist valuer and cataloguer Dixon Pickup, 68, from Warwickshire, has been interested in military insignia and uniforms since he was 14. Today he has a collection of 1,500 military and Royal Navy buttons worth more than ?20.000.

Although Pickup never intended his collection as an investment, he is sure it has quadrupled in value, and the market is still rising.

The expert?s accumulation covers the 85 years from 1770 to 1855.

He explains: ?There were no numbered or titled military buttons until 1768 when the Royal Warrant of George III decreed that regiments were now to place their precedence number upon their buttons and other appointments.

?Before this date soldiers wore plain pewter buttons, and the officers wore rather grand gold, silver, copper gilt, or embroidered buttons based on the current civilian designs.?

The first ?tunic? period, 1855 - 1881, is still a strong buying market, though the buttons were becoming more standardized.

After the 1881 Reforms and the abolition of the county militia and numbered infantry buttons, the majority of the items, though well collected, drop considerably in value.

?For the very earliest period 1770 - 1790 it is almost impossible to acquire a complete representation, be it cavalry, infantry, or militia.

At the age of 15 in 1954, I bought a card of 10 early cavalry buttons for ?6. They were officers? buttons of the 6th Dragoons, circa 1800. I still have one. The others I sold to finance further purchases. I suppose they would sell for around ?40 each today-? he says.

Pickup has on occasions resorted to a metal detector. He points out that 20 years ago the metal detector fraternity would find early military and naval buttons, but were totally unaware of their importance.

?Initially they threw them away,? he says. ?Compared with some Roman and other early hammered coinage these buttons were of no significance and no value.

Seven years ago at a metal detecting society meeting, a few members brought some buttons along for sale. They were astonished when I gave then ?5 to ?10 each for some examples.?

Pickup is well aware that if there are to many buttons of a certain type in existence the value can drop considerably. He says: ?Up to seven or eight years ago a particular pattern of button circa 1790 to 1815 of the 13th Light Dragoons was worth ?20 to ?25. Then a few of these detectorists located what must have been a regimental dumping ground for old uniforms, in an area near Canterbury. [Or somebody is making them in his garage at home!! Kev in Dev]. These buttons have been coming up in really large numbers, and are now worth ?3 or ?4 each. A similar fall in value has occurred with some early coins.

The type of officers? buttons introduced circa 1700 to 1783, had bone backs and thin metal fronts in silver, gold, silver plate or copper gilt. Not many have survived. The average price for a large ?bone back? is ?250 to ?350. Pickup possesses quite a number of them.

He says: ?They range in size from the size of a new penny to a 2p piece, as what was large for one regiment was not for another. ?Bone backs and other early items can still turn up in charity or junk shops or car boot sales, but normally you come by these through established collectors or specialist auctions.?

Five years ago the collector called into an antique shop in Lichfield. He says: ?The lady proprietor was somewhat impatient when I asked for military buttons. She produced a small tin box that she said I could have for ?15. On top was Second World War junk, but at the bottom was a little string with six officers? buttons from the Staffordshire Militia pre-1801.

?I knew this because there were no K.O. initials alongside the Staffordshire Knot Simpliciter. The extra title ?King?s Own? was granted only on 1801. It immediately meant they were worth ?30 each, nearer ?50 now. They were in copper gilt and of open back construction.?

One large button Pickup would be very unwilling to part with is of the 3rd Dragoons circa 1790 to 1810. It comes from Antigua and was dug up four years ago by a local dealer in artifacts. It is very simple, flat, made of gilt brass with the central figure 3 over D within two circles of Greek Key patterning.

The collector says: The curious thing is that the 3rd Dragoons were a regiment of heavy cavalry, so what were they doing on a West Indian Island?.

?When I got home I looked up the location of the 3rd Dragoons for that period. I found they were based in Kent from 1794 to 1815 - except for 100 volunteers who had gone to the West Indies as a nucleus of a new regiment, the 26th Light Dragoons. I have the button from one of those 100 men. With that romantic back-ground story its probably worth ?100. Who knows what this piece might fetch on ebay?

The Royal Navy introduced a distinctive pattern of button as early as 1747, but only for officer senior commissioned officers.

Pickup has only about 100 Royal Navy buttons in his collection, because so few have survived. They not only had to withstand the rigours of the sea, but when the design were simplified and cheapened circa 1832, buttons were melted down to extract the gold bullion content.

Pickup has a rare Admiral?s button dated 1747 to 1775. It is large, circular, made in copper gilt sheet with bone back, and the face bears an octagonal sign with a rose in the centre but no fouled anchor. It cost him nothing because it was a swop. Today it is worth about ?300.

RIGHT ON THE BUTTON.

Join the Military Historical Society,

(c/o National Military Museum, Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea SW3 4HT)

and the British Button Society, www.britishbuttonsociety

1. Look at a button very carefully. Always buy the better condition one if there is a choice. Pickup says: ?The very early dug up examples may be lacking the fastener, but this does not mater if the face is good. The shank can be expertly replaced.

2. Read Military Buttons of the American Revolution, by Don Toriani (Thomas Publication, Gettysburg PA).

3. Another important book for the regular buttons is "Shoulder Belt Plate and Buttons", by the late Major HG Parkyn (Gale & Polden Ltd. Wellington Press.)

4. Concentrate on one or two of the four specialist military / medals auctioneers. They are Boselys of Marlow, Bucks; DNW (Medals & Militaria), 16 Bolton St., London W1; Bonhams (Arms & Militaria) in Oxford; and Wallis & Wallis, of Lewes Sussex.

5. Educate yourself before you invest money, via regimental museums. Vist the National Army Museum in Chelsea and the Royal Naval Museum, Greenwich.

6. Other outlets for specialist buttons are militaria and medal fairs held in venues including Aldershot, Leeds, Bedford and Stockport.

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Kevin in Deva.

[Alex K]

Interesting article. just goes to show that one mans junk may well be another man's gold mine. The prices are quite scary though. I assume my staybright RAF buttons don't fall into quite the same bracket

Alex