A Colonial Merchant: The Ledger of William Ramsay

Alexandria, VA 1753-1756

Artifact: Man's Coat Button

Fine Silvered Coat Buttons

Materials: Fused silverplate

Dimensions: Diam: 1 3/16"

Date: 1785-1800

Origin: England, Sheffield or Birmingham

Collection: Image Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

License: All rights reserved

Ledger Entry: Fine Silvered Coat Buttons

Fine Silvered Coat Buttons

Department: Sewing

Customer: Richard Moxley

Ledger Page: 60

Imported From: While there were a few known button manufacturers in colonial America, buttons for the most part would have been imported from England or elsewhere in Europe.

Product Description

As buttons were used to fasten a wide array of clothing, they are ubiquitously found in colonial archaeological sites. Buttons came in a wide variety of styles and types. Many buttons, particularly for women's dresses, would have been covered in fabric. Metal or metal plated buttons were popular particularly for coats and could be highly ornate. Buttons could be fastened directly via holes through the button or through eyes attached to the back of the button.

Citation: Ivor Noël Hume. A Guide to Artifacts of Colonial America. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 88-93.;

Historical Price: 2 shillings, 3 pence per dozen; Modern USD: $25.2

Product Variations

The databases record sixty-six purchases of buttons. They came in an assortment of types including coat, shirt, sleeve, and breast. Their materials include silver, silvered, gold, gilt, and mettle. Other qualifiers included fine, best, black, and scarlet. They were usually sold by the dozen, but occasionally by the pair. Their prices ranged from two pence for a half dozen breast buttons to seven shillings for a dozen scarlet breast buttons.