Lot# 1363
Naval Button. Similar to RAU.NA.17D and Troiani BNC.l and BNC.m (British naval captain's buttons), not in Tice. Extremely Fine to About Uncirculated. Brass. 56.5 gns. 23.8mm. Original shank. Single piece. Bright, brassy yellow in color. Cobb's descriptive label on the back. Fouled anchor and chain. Cobb thought this was a Connecticut navy button from the Revolutionary War. It was discovered in January, 1961 on a pair of white navy breeches that had been owned by Burdette G. Johnson of St. Louis, Missouri. Johnson had bought the breeches in Philadelphia years earlier. On the breeches were 12 small size Eagle and Star buttons (Cobb 17) and three naval buttons. Eleven of the 12 Cobb 17 buttons were sold to collectors. One of the three naval buttons was sold to Sally Luscomb and another (this present piece) to Cobb. The breeches, with one Cobb 17 and one naval button still attached, were sold to DeWitt, who exhibited them in his museum in Hartford, Connecticut. {cp8}(SEE COLOR PLATE)