Christopher Simmins of Newstead in Victoria, Australia, contacted me about a lovely button he found recently.
In his email, Christopher wrote that, in 2014, ‘a friend found this interesting old button in a rubbish pit at the rear of her circa 1852 pub located at Dunolly, Victoria, Australia.’
On the web he had found ‘quite a few VR monogram pressed buttons … with poor historic info. The sellers seem to misunderstand and passionately misinterpret the VR monogram as Victorian Railways, which is a wild and incorrect assumption.’
After carrying out a closer investigation and what he called ‘a cursory forensic comparison’ between the VR button on this website and his example. Christopher suggested that, although they are very similar at first glance, they contain quite distinct differences.
He wrote that ‘the subtle detail features between the two buttons are quite noticeable, in particular the change from three to six jewels and the Fleur de lis stamping on the crown. Allowing for wear and tear on the original VR monogram die stamped by HT&S, I would boldly suggest that the die that used to create the monogram on the Australian find VR button was the original and had worn over time, losing its original detail features due to the thousands of stampings. I reckon the die that stamped your button was re-sunk at a later time, mainly due to wear. Your fine VR button example seems to appears to have undergone some extra fine detail adjustments by the die engraver, and no doubt was with the approval from the Royal College Of Arms.’
