I was looking at calabashes cuff link, and I found this one last year I seriously damaged it trying to clean it, both pieces of the cuff link are still there but it disintegrated when I gave it a rub there were two characters wearing wigs and some visible words around the edge, I think they are from the US . Anyone help with ID...Thanks Bonz
Not 1812 for various reasons. It could be a depiction of King George II but he was well before 1812. King George III (revolutionary war era) wore his hair (wig) short and didn't wear a large Jabot (different era). He did wear cuff ruffles as was the fashion during those centuries.
The man on the cufflink looks more like a French gentleman with a Jabot from the 1600s.
Cufflinks weren't commonly used before the 1850 era. A properly dressed wealthy man had frills for cuffs and working men used integral ribbons to tie back their cuffs. The straight cuffs that were just coming into fashion used an attached button and then the extra long cuffs were folded over to cover the button. The "cufflinks" that were available were two buttons sewed together back to back.
Sleeve garters were more common in the mid to late 1800's than cufflinks. Cufflinks existed earlier but they were not commonly used before the late 1800's - early 1900's. The U.S. military began using them on officers dress uniforms during the 1870s. The type of decorative cufflink we have today was made popular during the Edwardian era 1900-1910.
Good guess, but the guy on the cufflink doesn't have the very visible "under-chin throat sag" seen on the coin guy at the link. Maybe the cufflink shows a younger version of a more elderly George II on the coin. He was 63 years old when that 1746 coin was struck.
