Roger, the "to us," refers to some collectors (such as myself but I'm not nearly the only one) who feel that prewar Northern-made buttons don't have as high as a status/cachet/appeal as wartime-manufacture ...especially when it comes to "Confederate" buttons. Here's why:
We prefer that the odds be pretty high that the button we are paying big bucks for was on the CSA uniform of a Confederate soldier ...not just a pre-war militiaman, or a pre-war military school cadet. Believe me, MANY buttons have been dug from pre-war State Militia sites, and from pre-war Military School CAMPUSES. They weren't ever on a CSA uniform.
That same "sentiment" is why VMI Cadet buttons with the D. Evans backmark don't bring as much money as the Robinson backmarked ones do. Relic-hunters used metal detectors to hunt the (still-existing) Virginia Military Institue campus, and also the Kentucky Military Institute campus, and they dug HUNDREDS of VMI buttons and KMI buttons. None of those buttons ever got near a civil war battlefield.
Also... D. Evans continued to produce VMI Cadet buttons well into the 1870s (with the same backmark as some of his pre-war products). This is why NON-DUG Evans VMI buttons don't sell for as much as dug ones. Many collectors prefer there to be at least a pretty good chance that their VMI button (or KMI button) was worn by a CSA soldier during the war. Some other collectors don't care. I'm just telling you, since you asked, how a significant percentage of civil war collectors feel on the subject.
The situation has been aggravated by so many Ebay sellers advertizing waaay-prewar flat-buttons (often with European backmarks) as being "Confederate" buttons. Yes, some of that kind of button were worn by Confederate soldiers. But, I've got jarfulls of flat-buttons dug from farmhouse-sites and none of 'em were ever on a Confederate uniform. I've also got suspender-buckles from the same Civilian locations. I don't think I should I sell them as being Confederate. As most of you folks here already know, the definition of "Confederate" relics has gotten stretched waaay to far in today's civil war relics market. So, some oldtimer purists like me are trying to hold the line as best we can, by explaining the Facts about when (and where) certain items were actually made ...and who actually wore/used them.
Regards,
Pete [P.C. George]