Lot# 1342
Script GW with Linked States Border. Three Leaves Between Links. Cobb 9b, WHB-unlisted, RAU.WI.4B, DeW.GW1789.9a, F/R-unlisted. Very Fine. Brass, with traces of gilding. 104.9 gns. 34.3mm. Original shank. Single piece. Rich, golden brown color with some areas of deep red, others of bright yellow. Traces of gilding remain in the more protected areas. Back shows gilding around the outside, the center slightly darker. Cobb's descriptive label on the back. GW in script letters in the center, LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT in raised letters around, the border composed of 13 linked rings each with the name of one of the original 13 colonies/states, each link separated from the next by a small, three leaf punch mark. Extremely rare: Albert also rated this R-6, with only three to five known. Cobb recorded only three examples (his, Mary McFarland's, and King's). This variety was unknown to Albert in 1949 but was included in his 1976 expanded listing. It first appeared at a button show in Massachusetts in 1950, owned by a young Connecticut man. Alice Carlson bought the button after the show. Ten years later, DeWitt turned up a nicer one, which he sold to Cobb in 1961. A few years later, Carlson brought the discovery piece to Southington, Connecticut to show to Albert and Cobb. At the time, it had no shank. Carlson sold it to MacFarland. A third turned up in 1968, owned by Stanley King. {cp8}(SEE COLOR PLATE)