Napoleon button

[sandchip]

A friend found this today while trenching for an electrical line when this popped up. Sent me these pictures and I told him maybe you guys could tell him what he's got. Thanks for any help.

 

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[CRUSADER]

'Imitation Coin' Button. Can't see the reverse well enough, but the plating looks 20th C.

 

[trapperart]

Congrats to your friend

 

[vpnavy]

..: Moved from Today's Finds! over to Our Discoveries > What Is It? for more exposure :..​

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Your friend will probably want to know the approximate age of his find. Enlarging the photo indicates your friend's "NAPOLEON SUPEREUR" button's back is one variety of what button-collectors call a self-shank back, and all self-shank backs are from the 20th-Century.

The term self-shank back means the button's back is machine-pressed to form a raised tunnel for the thread to sew the button onto clothing, instead of the shank being a separate piece of metal (such as a wire loop) which is attached to the button's back.

The particular version of self-shank back on your friend's button seems to first show up in the 1940s/50s, and is still being manufactured today. See the photo below.