For many of you beginning collectors out there, Civil War buttons can be a very interesting and rewarding hobby. As a word of caution....be aware of what you are buying. I can do daily searches on ebay and find 100's of items listed as Civil War that are either outright fakes meant to deceive or post war items sold from unscrupulous or uninformed & uneducated dealers. There are many dealers that are quite knowledgeable and honest so check feedbacks and past sales or sellers before you commit a bid especially on high dollar Confederate buttons. The old bible is Alphaeus Albert's " Record of American Uniform and historical Buttons " which is great for all periods identification, the best for Civil War period buttons is Warren Tice " Uniform Buttons of the United States 1776-1865 ". Backmarks are so varied in design and period that you must educate yourself. Scovill produced buttons from the early 1800's through 1970's ? with at least 100 variants in lettering, diework, size, design and wording with variances as small as a period or added star in the marking. A very similar but different Scovill marking can mean the difference between a $10.00 button and a $500.00 button with the difference being almost unnoticable to the casual observer. Checking some of the internet dealers sites for pictured examples of period buttons is also a great way to learn. I hope this blurb helps some beginners to make the right choice when it comes to an online or Ebay purchase.

Good Luck, Duggit99