I can’t. I’ve used a magnifier and can’t get a read on anything.It is indeed a USMC button. Can you make out an of the back mark?
If you could maybe get a picture with better light on the right side (as it appears in this image) maybe we coudl figure it out?
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Can you make out an letters at all?I can’t. I’ve used a magnifier and can’t get a read on anything.
Leaving the light source in the same place, can you rotate the button around so that the part marked with the star is up where the arrow is pointing?
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I’ve tried over and over to make something out. Thanks for looking ..I can't make out any of the letters but maybe someone who is familiar with the backmarks can recognize the sequence of shapes and translate them into letters?
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Albert.That's one of the things that makes dating some buttons precisely so difficult. Bazelon and McGuinn's book came out in 1999 and they feel the buttons are Civil War. Tice's "Uniform Buttons of the United States 1776-1865" came out about same time, 1998. In it Tice appears unsure, as after the example with the Walton backmark he notes "Civil War?" Who are we to believe when the experts don't agree?
For those of you who do not have a copy of Alphaeus Albert's "Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons", he simply lists the Walton Bros backmark as 1860's, with no opinion as to early enough for Civil War or not. So of all 3 mentioned experts, he does have the better chance of being right.Albert.
When dealing with CW dug buttons and you can't read the back-mark, face design and back construction are key in IDing. Scovill NEVER made a USMC 19mm button with this face die design or back and thread eye.For those of you who do not have a copy of Alphaeus Albert's "Record of American Uniform and Historical Buttons", he simply lists the Walton Bros backmark as 1860's, with no opinion as to early enough for Civil War or not. So of all 3 mentioned experts, he does have the better chance of being right.