Early Marine Corps cuff button. My 1st and most favorite!

[TokenMan]

But just how early? Having a heck of a time dating this one. I do not own a button book and know I should, but I'm hoping with a little help from some button guys, I can positively date the button. 13 5 pointed stars and a back mark of "Extra Quality." I have found a lot of CW bullets and eagle buttons in this general area, so hoping it is possibly CW? I know there was not a lot of Marines in CW, but wishful thinking Any help would be great! My dad passed away last July, as a Marine, and served 2 tours in Viet Nam. So this is now my favorite button I ever dug, no mater the actual date. Thanks for looking!

 

[jdsly]

Pretty durn cool! I like the military buttons

 

[TokenMan]

Thanks jdsly.

 

[Darby]

Super nice button! Love finding military buttons too. Hope someone can date it for you. Congrats

 

[Gonehunting]

Sweet save..

 

[Old Dude]

All I can tell so far is that it is a Marine Corp button. Can you give a measurement in mm please? Is that black enamel on the front? Any way of taking a very clear pic of the front too? I am having trouble making details of the eagle out, sorry.

 

[Ahab8]

Very cool. I believe that dates from around 1860 into the post civil war. I'll dig out my books tomorrow bud. Can you measure it in mm?

 

[TokenMan]

Super nice button! Love finding military buttons too. Hope someone can date it for you. Congrats

Yeah, military stuff is always fun to unearth. I am pretty confident with the help of some of the expert button guys on here it will get dated properly! Thanks.

 

[TokenMan]

Sweet save..

Thanks GH!

 

[TokenMan]

All I can tell so far is that it is a Marine Corp button. Can you give a measurement in mm please? Is that black enamel on the front? Any way of taking a very clear pic of the front too? I am having trouble making details of the eagle out, sorry.

Thanks Old Dude, it's always a pleasure hearing from you. I gave it my best shot at measuring and got an average of about 15.48mm. Now that you mention it, I do believe there is traces of black enamel, guess that would automatically rule out CW?, the back mark is what has me confused and the rim) Without any of those awesome button books, tough for me. And this link to one on ebay, further confused me Civil War Button Civil War Marine Button Extra Quality Cuff EX Cond | eBay And I will try and get a better pic when I get home. Thanks a bunch and I look forward to hearing from you.!

 

[TokenMan]

Very cool. I believe that dates from around 1860 into the post civil war. I'll dig out my books tomorrow bud. Can you measure it in mm?

Thanks Ahab8! It's around 15.48mm. Be very interested to see what you come up with when you get time. Thanks again!

 

[richardson]

That is a very, very nice button! I love seeing everyone on TNET, including yourself, preserving all of this history. Congrats on a beautiful find

 

[Old Dude]

TM, I hope Abe or someone else has better luck than I have in helping you. I only have Albert's Bicentennial Edition of " Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons". It has a small section devoted to the Marines and lists the closest in size as being a 16mm button being used by enlisted men. There are very slight differences in the anchor, eagle and stars ( some are 6 pointed ) in this book which is unfortunately in black and white print. While this book is very informative, parts are very hard to decipher as far as dates go. According to the book, there has been pretty much the same design on Marine Corp buttons since the early 1800's with the slight exceptions I mentioned.

 

[TokenMan]

That is a very, very nice button! I love seeing everyone on TNET, including yourself, preserving all of this history. Congrats on a beautiful find

I agree. It is awesome to see all the artifacts from all over the world showing up, on a daily basis too! Amazing! Thanks.

 

[TokenMan]

TM, I hope Abe or someone else has better luck than I have in helping you. I only have Albert's Bicentennial Edition of " Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons". It has a small section devoted to the Marines and lists the closest in size as being a 16mm button being used by enlisted men. There are very slight differences in the anchor, eagle and stars ( some are 6 pointed ) in this book which is unfortunately in black and white print. While this book is very informative, parts are very hard to decipher as far as dates go. According to the book, there has been pretty much the same design on Marine Corp buttons since the early 1800's with the slight exceptions I mentioned.
View attachment 1140542

Thanks again OD! You have one more book than I do This is a tough one to find info on for me too. Looking at you attachment, I am thinking closest resemblance is #13. The wing relationship to the anchor and shape of the wings. But then they all started to look the same lol. I am sure we will get to the bottom of this. I believe the enlistment in the Marine Corps was very low during CW, so to date it to that era would be really neat. Thanks again for helping!!!

 

[Old Dude]

#13 is close, but that is why I wanted a very clear pic of the front. The neck and head of the eagle just look off as far as I can tell from your pic. The thickness of the anchor looks very close. This is one of the variations in the buttons, lol.

 

[46Wheat]

Thank you for sharing your hunt and those pictures with us

 

[TokenMan]

Thank you wheat!

 

[bill from lachine]

TM,

The 2 piece buttons started around 1860 or so....so that narrows it down somewhat.

Regards + HH

Bill

 

[TokenMan]

#13 is close, but that is why I wanted a very clear pic of the front. The neck and head of the eagle just look off as far as I can tell from your pic. The thickness of the anchor looks very close. This is one of the variations in the buttons, lol.

Here is a couple more pics OD. Not sure if they are better or not. Now I am as confused as ever lol

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