GUEST: I brought in military buttons.

They were in a attic, given to my mother from f, friends who used to take care of her when she was little.

I've had them now about, I'd say, a good 25 years.

I just keep them in a box.

APPRAISER: What's the card for?

GUEST: This card belongs to an actress or a performer, uh, Bessie Gillette.

She was a performer with the Hammerstein Grand Opera Company in 1907.

APPRAISER: Were the buttons hers?

GUEST: They were not hers.

Uh, story is that these belonged to her paramours, if you will.

APPRAISER: (chuckling): Uh-oh.

GUEST: (chuckling): I'm sure-- she was a performing artist, and I'm sure she had quite a bevy of young men coming to see her.

APPRAISER: Bless her heart.

GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: We have a variety of uniform buttons, military uniform buttons.

The first two are the artillery officer eagle "A" buttons.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: They have the eagle on the front, they have the "A" in the shield, and the "A" denotes the artillery branch of service.

From the front, they look identical.

APPRAISER: What's cool about them is the back.

We have the Horstmann of Philadelphia maker mark on the back.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: Of this one.

Which is a good early back mark.

That's what you refer to the stamping on the back of the button as, is a back mark.

They change as time progresses.

APPRAISER: The construction and the makers change.

This one has a large-letter "Waterbury Button Co." GUEST: Right-- right, right.

APPRAISER: ...in Waterbury, Connecticut.

One of the largest button makers.

This particular style is post-Civil War, and to collectors, little details make big differences.

APPRAISER: This button, being Civil War, is about a $60 button.

APPRAISER: This button, being postwar, is about a $10 or $15 button.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: So it's four times more valuable being a Civil War button than a postwar button...

GUEST: Right, right.

APPRAISER: ...with the same face.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: These two on this side...

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: ...are pre- and postwar, as well.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: This one is the National Guard of Pennsylvania.

APPRAISER: It has the "NG" at the bottom for National Guard, and it has the state seal of Pennsylvania.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: You always hear about somebody that wins the lottery.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: This button won the lottery.

GUEST: Oh, yeah?

(chuckles) APPRAISER: The postwar one is only worth about $15.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: $15, $20.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: This one is pre-war.

It's for the State of Arkansas.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The northern company that made it, Horstmann & Allien, they were located in New York.

They manufactured buttons and shipped them south, which wasn't very, uh, highly looked upon in that timeframe...

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...which is the late 1850s, early 1860s.

GUEST: Okay.

Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: They shipped only a small quantity to Arkansas.

Therefore, there's only a handful of 'em in existence.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: You can get several of the states fairly commonly.

You can find Virginias, you can find South Carolinas, you can find North Carolinas.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: Very few people have Arkansas.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: In a retail situation, that button would bring at least $5,000.

GUEST: Really?

Wow.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) GUEST: (chuckles) That's incredible.