I am posting this for a serious reenactor who wants to get it right!  I
posted this several weeks ago and NO ONE responded.  I know there must
be plenty of resources out there so please help steer us in the right
direction!
 
Thanks!  VivianLea Stevens
 
        I am seeking the expertise of those who have handled genuine
18th century buttons. These questions seem so basic it may perhaps seem
clumsy to air them, but one of my perpetually inquisitive unit members
pinned me down, asking whether convex pewter buttons of plain design
were *really* sufficiently inexpensive for military use, and I am
compelled to give him the best available answer. Part of my problem is
the lack of written archeological sources available.
 
        1) How common are pewter and brass buttons with flat faces as
opposed to the same buttons with slightly rounded (convex) faces? With
what kind of comparative frequency are convex-faced buttons found on
archeology sites of our period? Didn't everyone use flat buttons?
 
        2) Which sort of button cost more to produce and thus was more
expensive in the 18th century: one piece pewter or brass buttons, or
two-piece buttons with a thin stamped front over a bone or wood backer?
This may seem obvious, but the latter has been found in so many sites in
large quantities (Ft. Michilimackinac, Ft. Stanwix, Ft. Ligonier) that
it may have been in much larger use. Were the two-piece buttons cheaper
than we think? Did the cost of pewter or brass fluctuate in the latter
half of the 18th century? Why didn't armies use simple bone, wood or
leather buttons on their uniforms to save expenses?
 
        Certainly no one today makes a close reproduction of two-piece
buttons.  I know that Don Troiani will be publishing a book *someday*
about 18th century buttons, but it never fails that the questions come
up just when no easy answer is at hand.
 
        So are there any takers to this question?  I plan to forward
your answers to my skeptical friend: thank you in advance.
 
Cordially yours,
Steve Gilbert
Capt Lewis Dubois' 4th Coy
3rd New York Regt   NWTA/BAR