Page 38 - May1997

104 NATIONAL BUTTON BULLETIN May 1997

The Identification of a
Gl,ermffi-rUtabe
U.S. Army Great Seal Button

by Virgil D. Wiggins

Since the Civil War few U.S. Military
buttons with a German or German-Made
backmark have ever been noted. Usuallv. it is
the rather
"generic" Eslra
Fein backmark
for which there is no
possible attribution to a
parlicular button maker or user. An Extra Fein
backmark has been noted on a U.S. General
Staff Officer's coat button of the GS-13-C type
(R.A. Edmondson collection).
ab
-!
{zo begin this story. several years ago I found
a couple of Great Seal cuff buttons with the
backmark "A modernistic capital A/Supreme
l/2 Quality/An unusual wheel mark around the
button shank". I couldn't identify these buttons,
but thev were interestins
so, I allocated them to my "lnteresting, but I don't
know" box. Every button collector has one
Some time later I went to a smail local
military store to ask about buttons. The owner
said "Yes. I have several boxes ofloose and
partially packaged buttons in the back of my
store that are rummaged through by people who
are looking for buttons to match missing ones on
uniforms"