eagle button ID

[Abbey]

Hi all-
Kinda new here, and just learning how to deal w/ my detector- in my back yard. Found an eagle button, the size of a quarter (sorry, no pics) rounded face depicting 'typical' eagle w/ 'sun' at 'noon'. Says "?? MYERS WASHINGTON DC" on the back. I'm thinking it's goota be common, but I haven't found WASHINGTON DC for Meyer. I'm sure someone has info. Thanks in advance.
Abbey

 

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[PBK]

Hey, Abbey—

Does the button look something like this?

​

Could "Myers" possibly be "Meyers"? That would be the firm of Simon N. Meyer, Washington, DC, known by 1909 as Meyers Military Shop.

The earliest possible date for the button, the U.S. Army "Great Seal" general service button, would be 1902.

Meyers Military Shop remained in business at least until 1930.

 

[Montana Jim]

nice

 

[Abbey]

Hey PBK-
Thanks for the pic! It's close- your pic of button looks like the background is striped/ridged (wee horizontal lines). Mine is smooth... and the face is domed. Thanks for the Meyer info! Hard to read the back w/ bits of crud getting in the way.I did notice there were what looks like two innitials before the 'Meyer', so I think you're spot-on! Is there a website you'd recommend for IDing buttons? Thanks so much for all your help! .... I kept looking at that pic you posted, and realized I have a slightly larger 'great seal' button - flat-faced and w/ ridges- that I found in a dump (w/o detector) about a year ago! Too bad I didn't find a matching pair!
Ab

 

[PBK]

For military and other uniform buttons, a good place to start is the online pattern catalog of the Waterbury Button Co.:

http://www.waterburybutton.com/patterns.shtml

For backmarks, try:

http://www.oldcopper.org/button_makers.htm

For buttons in general— dress buttons, overalls buttons, etc.:

http://www.vintagebuttons.net/educational.html

 

[Abbey]

Thanks PBK!