George Washington Mourning Button? Hmmmmm....

[Dust Eater]

So this was kind of an exciting find. Although I'm a bit of a skeptic, this is listed as a George Washington mourning button by a few websites, including georgewashingtoninauguralbuttons.com and Stacks Bowers auctions.

It measures in at 34.5mm (very close to GW inaugurals at 34mm) and was featured in J. Harold Cobb's collection, who was the first major collector of GW's starting in the early 1950's. I dug this on Wednesday but decided to post it today, considering that George Washington died on December 14th. Again, still a bit skeptical without more documentation on it.🤔







Another example:
GEORGE WASHINGTON MOURNING BUTTON 34.56mm BRASS DUG IN UPTON MASS RJ SILVERSTIENS GEORGEWASHINGTONINAUGURALBUTTONS.COM ? George Washington Inaugural Buttons

 

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[JackalopeZL1]

Well it sure looks legit from the photos you posted. Great find!!

 

[Steve in PA]

Very cool button, first one I have seen posted. I have seen quite a few of the mourning cuff links posted and many have tried to attribute those to GW. The problem with that seems to be that so many of the mourning cuff links are also found in the UK. It will be interesting to see what Cru, IP and some others have to say about your button.

 

[Rookster]

Congratulations. Bucketlister.

 

[Thrasher]

that's an awesome find! you never know what you'll dig next.. congrats!

 

[smokeythecat]

YES! YES! YES! BANNER!

 

[Dust Eater]

YES! YES! YES! BANNER!

Too bad you can only have one at a time. Already have one up there

 

[RustyGold]

Awesome find! Does look like the real deal. Very nice!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Beautiful button, congratulations!

 

[dirtlooter]

Too bad you can only have one at a time. Already have one up there

that is sad indeed for it surely is if there ever was one. congrats

 

[Whyme]

WOW! Awesome! Congrats!

 

[smokeythecat]

I can't keep track anymore.

 

[trdking]

What a beauty. Sure looks legit to me. Who says there can't be two on top? Im voting banner anyway. Awesome find in awesome shape

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Bucketlister for sure, congrats!!

 

[A2coins]

Banner also that's a Museum piece Well done!!!Tommy

 

[Donnie B from VA]

Absolutely stunning button. Congrats!

I posted the following statement on your post in New England Cellar Dwellers: I read somewhere on the GW site that one of the collectors had period advertisements which confirmed that this variety and others were, in fact, Washington Mourning buttons. I have never seen those advertisements and I have searched period newspapers for several years looking for them. I have yet to find even ONE advertisement for a Washington Mourning button during countless hours of searching. That is not to say that they don't exist but I would like to see them.

 

[Patriot Relics]

Very interesting button, definitely have seen some attributing these as GW mourning, but the urn motif was very common. If you can confirm it banner for sure.

 

[CRUSADER]

Very cool button, first one I have seen posted. I have seen quite a few of the mourning cuff links posted and many have tried to attribute those to GW. The problem with that seems to be that so many of the mourning cuff links are also found in the UK. It will be interesting to see what Cru, IP and some others have to say about your button.

I agree, we have seen plenty of so called 'GW Mourning Cuffs' which I believe have no foundation of truth as they were produced in great numbers in the UK for general use. Some may not have even been connected to mourning, as they reflected the fashions of the times to bring back classical items from the Grand Tours. So they not only were for mourning but to show off how cultured you were.
As far as I can remember this is the first button type that I've seen posted. It's a very cool period piece, but once again, I think it's a bit of a leap of faith to connect it to GW without better documentation. I speculate all the time but it's doesn't make me right, & from all I can tell that is what this is. Believe it or believe not, are your options, & the users of this site will fall either side of the fence.
The 'urn type' is one I've seen many times on cuff-links but never on a button. Personally I would have expected a GW mourning button or cuff-link to have been commissioned in a way that would tell its story & look unique from other known buttons on the market, otherwise it suggests this was a variant of all the other commercially available types. They only needed to put "GW' on it, to make it stand out, otherwise they were just buying an off-the-shelf variant to use for that purpose, which is not quite so interesting.
Good news is that I haven't seen this type turn up in the UK yet, maybe IP knows? (Although I think this just points to it's rarity)


(PS. of course I would love to be proved wrong on this one, it's only my educated guess)

 

[CRUSADER]

So this was kind of an exciting find. Although I'm a bit of a skeptic, this is listed as a George Washington mourning button by a few websites, including georgewashingtoninauguralbuttons.com and Stacks Bowers auctions.

It measures in at 34.5mm (very close to GW inaugurals at 34mm) and was featured in J. Harold Cobb's collection, who was the first major collector of GW's starting in the early 1950's. I dug this on Wednesday but decided to post it today, considering that George Washington died on December 14th. Again, still a bit skeptical without more documentation on it.樂

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Another example:
GEORGE WASHINGTON MOURNING BUTTON 34.56mm BRASS DUG IN UPTON MASS RJ SILVERSTIENS GEORGEWASHINGTONINAUGURALBUTTONS.COM ? George Washington Inaugural Buttons

Very wise of you to be skeptical. (It's easy to get carried away)

 

[Tnmountains]

I do not see those in my area but realize how prized they are and historical. I mean George Washington rocked and was everyones hero.So to seeing history where every one was cheering our first president on is very cool.