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Coat button

Coat button
Coat button
Coat button
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
Credit LineGift of Anne Nivin Whiteman, 1999
Object numberM-4080
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)
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
Coat buttons
Conch shell, gold, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Coat button
Conch shell, glod, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Inaugural button
Copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Coat buttons
Conch shell, gold, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Coat button
c. 1789-1797
Conch shell, gold, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
Coat button
c. 1789-1797
Conch shell, gold, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
Coat button
Conch shell, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Coat buttons
Conch shell, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Coat buttons
Conch shell, silver, copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Inaugural button
Copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
Inaugural button
Copper alloy
c. 1791-1797
c. 1791-1796
Inaugural button
Copper alloy
c. 1789-1797
c. 1789-1797
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