US Navy bronze finished 26mm coat-size button circa 1880-1910

This is a US Navy 26mm coat-size button circa 1880-1910

Design: Eagle with wings spread, perched on a fouled anchor, surrounded by 13 stars — this is the standard general-service US Navy pattern, used with only minor stylistic tweaks from the early-to-mid 1800s right through the 20th century. The design shows an eagle looking right while clutching an anchor, surrounded by a circle of 13 stars bordered by a rope, on a lined background  

Maker/backmark: Yours reads Scovill Mfg Co / Waterbury. Scovill’s backmark wording changed over the decades, which is the main way collectors narrow a date:

• Earlier marks (1840s–1865) often included “CT” for Connecticut, or read “Scovill Mf’g Co / Waterbury Ct” with various punctuation styles.

• By 1850, the firm was known as Scovill Manufacturing Co, a name it used until 1960 , so “Scovill Mfg Co” backmarks in general span a very wide window.

• A backmark reading Scovill Mfg Co with a dot rather than a period after “Co,” with a ring of dots around the shank loop and no other rings, is generally placed at 1880 or later  (that reference point comes from an Army button study, but the same firm/mark conventions apply).