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

TokenMan · Apr 1, 2015

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 :laughing7:

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!

TokenMan · Apr 2, 2015

bill from lachine said:
TM,

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

Regards + HH

Bill

Thank you for looking Bill. Hopefully can get it even closer. Just strange that there is not a whole of info I can get on the early Marines. 1/2 the fun digging...1/2 the fun research. Take care.

Ahab8 · Apr 2, 2015

Ok let's look at all of the evidence here. I'm going to show you some pics from my Tice and Alberts books. I am NOT AN EXPERT! So let's work together here and see what we come up with. First off I believe it's post civil war. The number of 5 pointed stars as well as the size leads me to that conclusion. But let me show you some info and since you've got it in front of you it may click. 13, 14, and 15 that OD showed you are all 13-5 pointed stars and various sizes. They also describe them to be dull finish bronze metal....not the gold gilt we see on most earlier buttons. The problem is that they don't really give a time frame. Here are the exact words

It just says in recent years which could mean anything. I'm sorry I can't be more help but I'm thinking def post civil war and likely early 1900s. Hopefully somebody much smarter than me will chime in

TokenMan · Apr 2, 2015

Ahab8- thank you very much for taking the time to look at. What has me mixed up is the back mark of "Extra Quality" and looks like stars on either side or dots. LOL. Oh well It is still a neat one and displays well. Maybe we will get an exact time frame or maybe we won't. Now I have a reason to get some more books :laughing7:

Thanks again for your help!

Ahab8 · Apr 2, 2015

TokenMan said:
Ahab8- thank you very much for taking the time to look at. What has me mixed up is the back mark of "Extra Quality" and looks like stars on either side or dots. LOL. Oh well It is still a neat one and displays well. Maybe we will get an exact time frame or maybe we won't. Now I have a reason to get some more books Thanks again for your help!

Hey buddy at first the backmark had me convinced that it was earlier....and it may well be. But I've been told in the past that too much stock gets put into the backmarks so I tried to just break down the style and size of the button to make a determination. I can email somebody that will know for sure. I'll do that tonight cause I'm curious now and I really want you to know what you have bud. It's awesome regardless

WildWildBill · Apr 2, 2015

I found a cuff button similar to that if you look on the first "banner" on top of the page you can view it. The anchor usually indicates Navy. I could be wrong, but that is what I think. Great find nevertheless. I never really was into buttons until I started finding them a realized they are just as cool as any other finds, including coins or jewelry. I love history and buttons that old are history!

TokenMan · Apr 2, 2015

Ahab8 said:
Hey buddy at first the backmark had me convinced that it was earlier....and it may well be. But I've been told in the past that too much stock gets put into the backmarks so I tried to just break down the style and size of the button to make a determination. I can email somebody that will know for sure. I'll do that tonight cause I'm curious now and I really want you to know what you have bud. It's awesome regardless

That would be awesome! Thank you!

TokenMan · Apr 2, 2015

WildWildBill said:
I found a cuff button similar to that if you look on the first "banner" on top of the page you can view it. The anchor usually indicates Navy. I could be wrong, but that is what I think. Great find nevertheless. I never really was into buttons until I started finding them a realized they are just as cool as any other finds, including coins or jewelry. I love history and buttons that old are history!

WWB-Thanks for looking. That is some great finds you have there, good stuff!

Ahab8 · Apr 2, 2015

TokenMan said:
That would be awesome! Thank you!

I love this stuff buddy and I'm more than happy to help if I can

Trezurehunter · Apr 2, 2015

Nice military button.

TokenMan · Apr 2, 2015

Thanks TZHunter!!

Old Dude · Apr 3, 2015

Thanks for the new pics, TM. Unfortunately, there are no exact matches in the book I have. I can't find any mention of black enamel on the Marine Corp buttons, but on Great Seal buttons, it appeared after 1902.

I-DIG-IT · Apr 3, 2015

Nice digs.

TokenMan · Apr 4, 2015

Old Dude said:
Thanks for the new pics, TM. Unfortunately, there are no exact matches in the book I have. I can't find any mention of black enamel on the Marine Corp buttons, but on Great Seal buttons, it appeared after 1902.

Thanks for poking around OD. This has been a puzzling one. I saw one on ebay, same wings and exact backmark "listed" as CW. There was some black crud on it, but didn't really look like enamel. So for now, I guess it stays as: early Marine Corps cuff button. :laughing7:

Thanks again for the help!