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Washington inaugural button -- real? How to tell?
jonathanb
Posts: 3,747 ✭✭✭✭✭
I thought I did pretty well when I snagged this, but now that I have it in hand... well, I don't know what to think.
If this is authentic, it's a Washington "Linked States" inaugural button, Baker-1003A, Cobb 9. The color is a little strange because it's silver-plated copper and some of the silvering has worn off, but the picture is pretty accurate overall. There are about 60 known of this type. Heritage has sold several (on their Americana site), there was a big sale at Stacks in 2003, and there are some other pictures and discussion I found on the web. If anyone wants to read up more on Washington inaugural buttons, the J. Harold Cobb site seems to have the most information online.
My problem is that this is almost too good. The design matches all of the pictures I've found, and the button in hand "feels old", but the condition of this one is much better than most any other one I could find (and way better than some of them). Based strictly on the law of averages, I get nervous about outliers.
But... I'm not an expert, and I don't know who would be an expert. This is a "numismatic item" -- it's listed in Baker, and would be sold by numismatic auction houses -- but it's not exactly something that would get slabbed. How would one go about authenticating something like this?
Any advice from the wisdom of the board?
If this is authentic, it's a Washington "Linked States" inaugural button, Baker-1003A, Cobb 9. The color is a little strange because it's silver-plated copper and some of the silvering has worn off, but the picture is pretty accurate overall. There are about 60 known of this type. Heritage has sold several (on their Americana site), there was a big sale at Stacks in 2003, and there are some other pictures and discussion I found on the web. If anyone wants to read up more on Washington inaugural buttons, the J. Harold Cobb site seems to have the most information online.
My problem is that this is almost too good. The design matches all of the pictures I've found, and the button in hand "feels old", but the condition of this one is much better than most any other one I could find (and way better than some of them). Based strictly on the law of averages, I get nervous about outliers.
But... I'm not an expert, and I don't know who would be an expert. This is a "numismatic item" -- it's listed in Baker, and would be sold by numismatic auction houses -- but it's not exactly something that would get slabbed. How would one go about authenticating something like this?
Any advice from the wisdom of the board?
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Wait for BillJones to chime in
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since 8/1/6
highly questionable to me from trhe photos
but i would need to sees it in person to be sure sanything is possible
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
For reference, here is an image of a similar piece (lower grade) from the Cobb site I referenced in the first post:
I can't make a link to an individual graphic within a pdf file, but you you look at page 18 in Cobb's "George Washington Inaugural Buttons and Medalets, 1789-1793", the last piece on that page is a pretty good match colorwise for the greenish color of mine.
Just trying to learn something...
thanks!
jonathan
What is now proved was once only imagined. - William Blake
I won't be at Baltimore, but I might be able to send this with someone for me. There's a show in Boston the week after that I hope to make, so that's a possibility as well.
Thanks!
jonathan