Coat button

Inaugural button
Copper alloy
c. 1789-1797

Status

Not on view

Label Text

George Washington's inauguration as the first president of the United States inspired enterprising craftsman to issue commemorative buttons with patriotic designs. This coat button is stamped with Washington's initials and the salute "Long Live the President," the phrase pronounced by Robert Livingston after administering the oath of office to Washington on April 30, 1789 at Federal Hall in New York.

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Datec. 1789-1797

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueCopper alloy

DimensionsOverall: 1/2 in. x 1 3/8 in. x 1 3/8 in. (1.27 cm x 3.51 cm x 3.51 cm)

Credit LineGift of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Fields, 1994

Object numberM-3748

DescriptionCircular copper alloy button; on the obverse, the widely spaced initials "GW" struck within an oval at center with "LONG LIVE THE PRESIDENT" in an arch above; plain edge; reverse plain with brazed alpha shank.
Published ReferencesJ. Harold Cobb, George Washington Inaugural Buttons and Medalets ed. Kirk Mitchell and Elmer A. Piercy (Private printing, 2005), 18. http://moscow2.pld.com/kirk/CobbGW/index.html
(general reference)

Russell Rulau and George Fuld, Medallic Portraits of Washington (Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications, Inc., 1999), 245. (general reference)

Edmund B. Sullivan, American Political Badges and Medalets (Lawrence, Massachusetts: Quarterman Publications, Inc., 1981), 1. (general reference)

Alphaeus Albert, Washington Historical Buttons (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1949), 42. (general reference)

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