\r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n A Hidden Identity<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n This smooth face suggests it was originally a fabric-covered button<\/b>. In the mid-1800s, high-end liveries often used buttons where silk or velvet was crimped over a metal shell to match the wearer’s coat. While the fabric has long since succumbed to the Wiltshire soil, the brass backplate remains as a “designer label,” proving this wasn’t just any button, but a piece of bespoke finery from one of London’s most exclusive merchant clubs. One can easily imagine that the now-vanished fabric front was once intricately embroidered with a “Golden Grasshopper”\u2014the famous heraldic crest of Sir Thomas Gresham. This symbol would have been the ultimate mark of belonging for any member or servant.\u2014 the Gresham Club was founded in 1843 for the merchants and bankers of the City of London. To have the club’s name struck into the back of the button indicates a high-end, bespoke garment, likely part of a uniform provided by the club for its staff or for members’ personal servants.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n Livery or Member?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/span><\/p>\r\n While we might imagine a wealthy banker losing a button while out on a stroll, these inscribed buttons were most often part of a\u00a0livery uniform<\/strong>. It is highly probable that a footman or coachman, in the service of a Gresham member staying at a local manor, lost this while walking the old track toward the ruins of Clarendon Palace, or the nearby Green Dragon pub<\/strong>. (Famously mentioned in Martin Chuzzlewit as the “Blue Dragon” by Charles Dickens) \u00a0A well-known coaching inn, it would have been the natural “local” for visiting staff. While the “City” gentleman was being hosted in a nearby estate, his footman was likely heading for the Dragon\u2019s taproom, perhaps snagging his coat on a stray branch along the trackway and leaving this gilded fragment of London history behind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The signal for this one was different from the thin, erratic\u00a0zeep\u00a0of the Elizabethan jettons. This was a solid, high-tone\u00a0“BRRRR!”\u2014the unmistakable resonance of thick, high-quality brass. It sat deep, suggesting it had been there since the mid-to-late Victorian era. When it emerged, the front was obscured, but the reverse carried a clear, proud stamp in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11513,11488],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyfind","category-metal-detecting","post_format-post-format-image","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pDxlf-3GC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ABGreshamButtFeb19-1200x675-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14174"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14217,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14174\/revisions\/14217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vrharbor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ABGreshamButtFeb19-1200x675-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\r\n