Help With Military Button

shanegalang · Apr 30, 2017

Found in a site that has had late 1700s coins and military buttons. 17mm and looks like a bird cage shank.Hard to see in the picture but there is some remaining gold gilt. Can someone identify this one?

TheCannonballGuy · Apr 30, 2017

It appears to be a late-1820s-to-late-1830s "Jacksonian" button which is missing its "applied" rim. You can see the indention encircling the button's edge, which helped to "seat" the applied rim. It seems to have an anchor emblem on its front, but it can't be a US Navy button, because there never were any Jacksonian US Navy buttons. (Although some Jacksonian buttons have a US Military eagle emblem, none were ever issued on US Military uniforms... they were just "Patriotic" buttons.)

shanegalang · May 28, 2017

TheCannonballGuy said:
It appears to be a late-1820s-to-late-1830s "Jacksonian" button which is missing its "applied" rim. You can see the indention encircling the button's edge, which helped to "seat" the applied rim. It seems to have an anchor emblem on its front, but it can't be a US Navy button, because there never were any Jacksonian US Navy buttons. (Although some Jacksonian buttons have a US Military eagle emblem, none were ever issued on US Military uniforms... they were just "Patriotic" buttons.)

Does the shank look like a turret style? I value your opinion and want to get this one figured out. Thank you.

Bigcypresshunter · May 28, 2017

I dont know if its a match but there is an anchor in this picture of Jacksonian buttons. Just sayin.

Bigcypresshunter · May 28, 2017

Im not sure your anchor is fouled. Does anybody see a rope?

Bigcypresshunter · May 28, 2017

https://www.terapeak.com/worth/anti...ian-anchor-1825-1840-small-7-16/141986631647/

TheCannonballGuy · May 28, 2017

Shanegalang, no "Jacksonian" buttons have a turret shank. That type of shank is from a much earlier time, and is found only on "cast" 1-piece buttons... and that of course excludes Jacksonian buttons, which are made of thick "rolled" brass planchets. What resembles a turret shank on your Jacksonian button is actually just a bent-over and concretion-encrusted typical brass wire loop.