Returning an Over-cleaned Relic to As-Dug Condition

Here is an example of an over-cleaned Virginia coat button. A wire brush, or more likely, coarse steel wool was used to remove the 155 year old patina. Back in the day this harsh treatment may have been acceptable.  Nowadays, anything coming out of the ground is minimally cleaned and certainly never shined.  The only plus side of this over-clean was how it created the contrast of the details by hi-lighting them against the dark verdigris of the oxidized brass in the recesses.

I used a patination acid to oxidize the exposed brass and added a bit of dust to match this to another button the collector cited as coming from the same soil.

Some details are no longer as visible in the re-patinated version with the loss of the contrast but all details remain physically intact. Patination does not corrode away but leaves a thin salts layer when reacting with the raw metal. All details can be "brought out" as desired by selectively rubbing them up a bit. Doing so however would probably wear through to the underlying brass so I will leave this option to the collector.

Sometimes Gilted Sometimes Not: Two Virginia Buttons

Below are two examples of a pre-war manufactured Virginia button produced by Benedict & Burnham of Waterbury Connecticut (circa 1834-1843). Both two-piece buttons were silver-plated and manufactured using thick, flat spun backs. Interestingly, these backs, when separated from the button, look exactly like the "coin" type flat buttons so often recovered from early sites with the exception of a groove along the outer edge into which the button's face edge is pressure fitted. Both of these button backs were completely detached, loose inside the buttons. I was able to carefully turn and run the backs' grooved edges into the face rim for a snug and flush re-fitting.

Why the one button has retained so much silver and the other hardly any has to do with the amount of wear, timeframe of loss, and the soil conditions of its 150 plus years of entombment. Both were recovered in the Richmond area. This B&B variety of the Virginia state seal button is considered rare and can be referenced in Albert's book as the VA8 and in Tice's reference as the VA 2181A.