Washington Buttons
Inaugural Button "Long Live The President" With Wreath
(1789) George Washington Inaugural Button, "Long Live The President" with Wreath Type, with Original Shank, 15 mm, Albert WI-17B, Choice Extremely Fine+ to Near Mint.
Rarity-5. 15 mm. In this rare design type of Washington Inaugural Button, the inscription, "Long Live The President" surrounds a wreath with an empty interior. This type comes in 2 sizes, the button offered here being the smaller of the two varieties. This button is in excellent condition and does not appear to have been buried. The full original shank is present on the back. Albert's Rarity-5 indicates that only 6 to 10 examples are known. This is an exceptionally choice original example of an 18th century button made to celebrate the first United States Presidential Inauguration of George Washington held in New York City. An example of this variety, in choice condition was sold in Stack's January 21, 2003 sale for $5,250 (hammer price). Another example in Extremely Fine was sold by Heritage in February 2007 for $5,975. This current example has excellent eye appeal and appears superior to both.