Circa 1792(?) Presidential Button. The 15-Star Pattern. Large Format. Cobb-16, Albert WI-18A, DeWitt-GW 1789-33, Baker-unlisted. Brass. Extremely Fine.

19.8 mm. Original shank intact. Pleasing medium olive brass with soft nuances of pale blue. Typical light scratches and abrasions, but it does not appear to have ever been polished so the overall appearance is a bit more natural to numismatic eyes. Sharply and evenly struck with outstanding eye appeal. A minor bend is noted in the shank. This is another extremely rare type, so rare in fact that Cobb was never able to acquire one. He knew of two in 1968, one owned by Albert and another by collector Elmer A. Piercy. It is Piercy's that was imaged for the Cobb plate, and it's nice, like this piece. Albert's is on his plate. We are aware of two more. One is a rather rugged-looking ground find that appeared in a Heritage sale in 2018 and the currently offered piece. The most recent to sell publicly is the Piercy-Cobb plate piece, which ended up in the David and Janice Frent Collection, and realized $12,500 in February 2018. That was of similar quality to this one, but this is better struck with sharper details. It also had Cobb's usual label on the back, indicating that he might have tagged other specimens he examined, or he owned this and it was sold privately prior to our receiving his collection for sale in late 2002.

From the Sydney F. Martin Collection. Purchased from Rex Stark, August 2019.