Menu
What's new
Find's Treasure Forums

Welcome to Find's Treasure Forums, Guests!

You are viewing this forums as a guest which limits you to read only status.

Only registered members may post stories, questions, classifieds, reply to other posts, contact other members using built in messaging and use many other features found on these forums.

Why not register and join us today? It's free! (We don't share your email addresses with anyone.) We keep email addresses of our users to protect them and others from bad people posting things they shouldn't.

Click here to register!

Need Support Help?

Cannot log in?, click here to have new password emailed to you

Changed email? Forgot to update your account with new email address? Need assistance with something else?, click here to go to Find's Support Form and fill out the form.

Zouve buttons...

brnn53

brnn53

Member
A friend and I hit a few hammered camp sites yesterday. He found his first 3 ringer and I found these large brass ball objects. Someone on another forum id them as Zouve buttons. They seemed kinda large for buttons but what else could they be? Here's the rest of the finds as well.
Mike
 
hello mike, i see you found some nice relics and buttons! a good hunt for sure. i believe they are zouave or "ball" buttons too. they come in smaller cuff sizes too. i like the intact j hook too. thanks, and hh!
 
As usual, GG is correct. I have found some of them in Tennessee. The first one that I found had the part withe shank missing and it took me a while to figure out what it was until later that day when I found a whole ball button. Great digs!!!
 
Hey Mike, nice finds! Searching behind a New York camp a few years ago, I found a ball button. Then another, and another. Just this past fall I found four more bringing my total to more than 300 from this site. Research showed I'd walked into an early war camp of Zouave troops sent to guard the rest of the infantry.

I've dug a few of those but I still enjoy digging one more. Congrats, bud. See how many you can get out of there!

Richard
 
Hey Richard, funny thing about this site. I know it was a camp for the 15th Corps so what are these early war buttons doing there? Strange!
Unfortunately wheat has just been planted in this field so that does it until next Winter. I believe that bread will be alot cheaper next year because of all the wheat being planted around here! HH!
Mike
 
I hear you, Mike. Still waiting on one field to be plowed down this way this late in the year!

As to the early stuff, I've found Marine buttons a couple hundred miles inland at late war sites. A buddy even found a New York at a very late war site. By that time it should have been all eagle buttons as the U.S. Army was identifying itself with the new central government rather than the state governments (New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey buttons, etc).

But with Beaufort, SC having been held since late '61, I believe when Sherman came through he took some of those coastal troops with him or his own troops picked up souvenirs as they made contact with the coastal troops. This explains the early stuff in late war sites farther inland than they ever should have been.

You may have the same situation. A late war unit did a bit of trading with an early war, or coastal unit.

Just my two pence.

Good Hunting!

Richard
 
They are also known as "Cadet" buttons, as they will be found on West Point Cadet and most all other military academy jackets and coats. They are wide spread and were used by the South simply because they needed buttons. Union Cavalry (early Dragoons) used them as well. Cool finds! David
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top