A button with extraordinary historical significance has fetched $8,225 (£6,000) at auction in the UK. At a glance, it just looks like an old brass button. However, this rare Arctic rescue button dates from the searches for the lost John Franklin expedition.
Both Franklin’s ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, disappeared in 1845 while seeking the Northwest Passage. For years afterward, dozens of ships scoured the region in the hope of finding them. The British Admiralty’s massive rescue effort lasted well into the 1850s.
Photo: Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood
These rescue buttons were part of a clever contingency plan. Each button is embossed with tiny details of rescue routes, supply depots, the year 1852, and the inscription “In search of Sir John Franklin Arctic Expeditions.” Rescuers handed them out to any Inuit they met. The idea was that if any of Franklin’s surviving crew came upon one of these buttons, they could make their way to a cache of supplies and eventually find their way home.
Rescuers also tried tying notes to balloons and putting collars on Arctic foxes containing messages.
Very few of these message buttons were produced. Today, we know of only four of them: the one from this sale, another at the Smithsonian, and two more in private collections.
This tiny piece of Arctic history sold on June 24. Initially valued at around $1,100, fierce bidding saw the final price surpass $8,000.
